Why do you attend the Tridentine Mass?

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i attend it because i love it. it is incredibly beautiful to me.
i love the traditions of it. it has a deep emotional impact on me everytime iam there. i attend out of love for our Lord. the same is said of those who attend the NO. I just love being there.
 
It is worship par excellence!
It is in continuity with the Church through the 2000 years!
It is mysterious!
It is solemn!
Gregorian Chant!
Reverence!
Ad Orientem posture leading us to Christ, rather than a closed in circle worship of humanity.
I love meditating on the propers.
The silence!
Receiving my Lord on my knees from the hands of a priest!
I could go on and on, but I LOVE it!

I am excited to see what the future holds for Catholic tradition and the Mass of the Ages!

I believe [edited by Moderator], but one thing it did was give us a whole new appreciation for the Mass of Ages.

I look forward to the Motu Proprio.
 
As Fr Faber once said, ‘It’s the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven’

Because it’s organic, distinctively Catholic and the same Mass that my ancestors fought and died for.

Because it’'s not a ‘banal on the spot fabricated product’. Because it is the Mass that is most displeasing to Protestants - and weathered and survived the Reformation.

Because it is the point where Heaven meets Earth.

Need I say more?
 
Irish_High_King said:
As Fr Faber once said, ‘It’s the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven’

Because it’s organic, distinctively Catholic and the same Mass that my ancestors fought and died for.

Because it’'s not a ‘banal on the spot fabricated product’. Because it is the Mass that is most displeasing to Protestants - and weathered and survived the Reformation.

Because it is the point where Heaven meets Earth.
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👍

Triumpha.
 
I attend the TLM because is is totally directed to the worship of God.

I was taught, and I believe that the purpose of Christ’s Church is to lead us to salvation. Christ founded his Church so me, me as an individual, me who is going to judgement by himself, will have the vehicle to ride all the way to paradise. The TLM keeps me focused on that goal. I, and I alone will have to make the shot.

I often see criticism of the “little old ladies” that were praying the Rosary during Mass in the bad old days. Private devotion is decried for ignoring the people around them. Since we are joined together, it seems to the modern mind, we should worship in unison, with “full participation” in the liturgy. Maybe we all ought to realize that those little old ladies understood what too many of us have forgotten. That guy you are holding hands with during the Our Father will NOT be at the judgment with you. Our Blessed Mother may well be.

The TLM is focused on God. Each of us prays the Mass in silence, realizing that it is OUR soul that is at stake. We pray for the strength to continue our journey in union with the Church to salvation. We don’t forget those that have finished their journey as we pray for the dead. Likewise, we pray for the Church, the Pope, Bishops and Priests. We pray for each other that all of us can have an easy road to Heaven. We pay to the Saints to aid us and our family in joining with them in Heaven.
 
In addition to those listed above, because it is closer to the intentions of the Vatican II Council Fathers than the NO is. 😃
 
I haven’t been able to attend one; however the things mentioned in all the post above are why I want to.
 
Marilena said:
i attend it because i love it. it is incredibly beautiful to me.
i love the traditions of it. it has a deep emotional impact on me everytime iam there. i attend out of love for our Lord. the same is said of those who attend the NO. I just love being there.
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There are lots of reasons, but mainly because I see it as an evangelisation tool.
I am still, just, a young man. If you take another young man to Mass and it is some guy with a beard strumming a guitar, and a couple of middle-aged women dishing out Holy Communion, it is kind of embarrassing. Why would a young person want to be associated with that?

If it’s lots of chants in Latin, then that is much cooler. Particularly if the friend is a university type who maybe knows a bit of Latin. It is something that people want to be involved with.
 
I just find myself so much more spiritually nourished at the traditional Mass. I grew up with the NO Mass in an orthodox parish… I also “enjoy” worshiping at reverently said NO Masses and am happy for the people who are nourished there. But, the more that I attend the traditional Mass, the more dissatisfied I am with the NO Mass. Everything’s so reverent… everything’s so geared toward God. Mass in Latin allows me to meditate and pray quietly if I don’t feel like following along with the prayers of the priest. I know that I’m worshiping at the say Mass that Roman Catholics worshiped at for 1500 years and that a time-tested spirituality that created so many saints is being given to me for my sanctification. I like the formality of it… no room for personal expression. The priest and, to a lesser extent, the laymen, are always humbling themselves by following the rubrics. It’s not about being a pharisee… it’s about submitting our natural desire for self-expression to the superior wisdom of the Church. I like the clear-cut separation between the sanctuary and the pews… between the priest and the people. So many people don’t love and respect their priests as they used to do… they think of them more as one of them as opposed to being other Christs. This mindset is almost impossible in the traditional Mass. I love the fact that the Church’s doctrines are unchanging and that I can attend a liturgy that has undergone only minor modifications for centuries. I even like the fact that I don’t understand everything. I don’t know Latin… I don’t always know why the priest performs certain actions at certain times. And, in many ways, I don’t care. The Mass is a supreme mystery that not even the Angels and Saints fully understand. Why should a puny layman have everything simplified and dumbed-down for him? In the end, I don’t think why someone attends the Tridentine Mass can be even articulated. I attended a NO Mass said by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate that possesses many of the attributes of the traditional Mass… the priest faced the tabernacle, incense, no altar girls or readers, Communion kneeling down and on the tongue, use of the Roman Canon and Latin. It was a gorgeous, reverent Mass. But it wasn’t the traditional Mass.. There’s something intangibly different about the spiritually of the Masses that must be experienced, not explained in words.
 
I attend the Tridentine Mass out of a desire to serve the Church coupled with my formation as a singer and an organist. Upon my conversion from Lutheranism, I was accepted into the Gonzaga University Gregorian Schola in Spokane where I learned the chants of the Graduale and learned to chant Solemn Vespers according to the traditional office. When I returned to my hometown I was excited by the chance to spread my newfound knowledge to as many people as I could in the parishes here. Much to my naive surprise, nobody wanted to learn how to Chant, and it didn’t seem to bother them that the church in America has forgotten her heritage.

Enter the Tridentine Mass. I went out of curiosity, mainly, to find that they had been without a musician for the past few years. I volunteered to start a schola and be the organist, and they accepted. We’re up to five members now, and we’re slowly working our way up to being able to chant a High Mass. I have found that the Chant fits the Tridentine Mass quite nicely, particularly the Gradual and Alleluia. In the Pauline Mass, I feel that the significance of these chants has been lost.
 
CatholicNerd said:
I attend the Tridentine Mass out of a desire to serve the Church coupled with my formation as a singer and an organist. Upon my conversion from Lutheranism, I was accepted into the Gonzaga University Gregorian Schola in Spokane where I learned the chants of the Graduale and learned to chant Solemn Vespers according to the traditional office. When I returned to my hometown I was excited by the chance to spread my newfound knowledge to as many people as I could in the parishes here. Much to my naive surprise, nobody wanted to learn how to Chant, and it didn’t seem to bother them that the church in America has forgotten her heritage.

Enter the Tridentine Mass. I went out of curiosity, mainly, to find that they had been without a musician for the past few years. I volunteered to start a schola and be the organist, and they accepted. We’re up to five members now, and we’re slowly working our way up to being able to chant a High Mass. I have found that the Chant fits the Tridentine Mass quite nicely, particularly the Gradual and Alleluia. In the Pauline Mass, I feel that the significance of these chants has been lost.
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Thank you for this, it is the best post I have ever read on the subject of chant in the Mass.

Not for nothing did the Fathers of the Council (yes, that one) direct that chant was to be the first choice. (of course I realize you already know this)

“The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman Liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services”. - Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium §116 (1963)
 
proud2bcatholic said:
It is in continuity with the Church through the 2000 years!
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???

I don’t really understand this one here. Mass in the Western Church used to be said in Greek. The Christians did not want to use the language of their persecutors, and it wasn’t until Christianity began to flourish throughout the empire did they dare begin translating the liturgy into the vernacular (Latin).
 
Semper_Fi said:
???

I don’t really understand this one here. Mass in the Western Church used to be said in Greek. The Christians did not want to use the language of their persecutors, and it wasn’t until Christianity began to flourish throughout the empire did they dare begin translating the liturgy into the vernacular (Latin).
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Its not just about the language…it was how the way it was done.
 
Semper_Fi said:
???

I don’t really understand this one here. Mass in the Western Church used to be said in Greek. The Christians did not want to use the language of their persecutors, and it wasn’t until Christianity began to flourish throughout the empire did they dare begin translating the liturgy into the vernacular (Latin).
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To add to what sparc wrote, it is not primarily about Latin. Just look at the changes:

Latin: gone
Gregorian Chant and polyphony: gone
ad orientem: gone
prayers at the foot of the altar: gone
offertory prayers that are explicit about sacrifice: gone
many other prayer that are explicitly Catholic: gone
prayers in a low tone: gone
secret: gone
communion rail: gone
kneeling to receive: gone
communion on tongue: greatly reduced
priest as the only one to distribute Communion: EMHCs
silence before and after mass: nearly impossible to find
altar boys: dwindling
choir in loft: not in new churches

What were these replaced with?

Latin: Extremely poor English translation of Latin original
Chant and polyphony: campfire songs
ad orientum: priest facing us at a table
prayers at foot of the altar: nothing
Offertory prayers: Jewish meal blessing
other prayers: nothing
prayers in low tone: everything is audible and amplified
secret: nothing
communion rail: must stand in communion line
kneeling to receive: must stand or get dirty looks
communion on tongue: slap it in the hand buddy!
priest as only one to distribute: armies of EMHCs
silence before and after mass: noise of a pep rally
altar boys: girl altar boys
Choir loft: choir up front and center

Maybe I am just overreacting, huh??
 
I would say that of all the reasons I prefer to attend the TLM, two stand out as most important.
  1. The TLM speaks my language.
    No, I don’t speak Latin. I’m trying to express something that’s harder to pin down, so maybe you’ll understand or maybe you won’t. I was raised in the NO (born in '83), so I didn’t have firsthand experience of the TLM that would predispose me to thinking it was the “real” or “authentic” way of celebrating Mass. Rather, I was taught by priests and nuns with solid heads on their soldiers about reverence, solemnity, and prayerfulness. This helped me develop a great love for the liturgy within the context of the NO, but when I assisted at my first TLM (as a young adult - it was technically my second but I couldn’t remember the first very well) I realized, “This is the high point of the spirituality they’ve tried to form me in. This does it better. This speaks to my heart so much more forcefully.”
  2. The TLM challenges me, and, I think, most individuals, to greater personal involvement in the Mass.
    Now, some will read that claim and say “I feel much more involved in the NO,” and that may be the case. But notice I didn’t say everyone meets the challenge, just that it’s presented. Assisting at a TLM, where the language is foreign and much is sotto voce, requires more effort than a vernacular Mass, but I think the extra effort pays off in spiritual benefit. I often find it harder to concentrate at the NO because the easy intelligibility makes it easy for my mind to wander and the base level of effort required to follow along with the Mass can lead to a lower amount of effort being put in. Do I like that fact? No. But I recognize it, and thus recognize that the challenge of the TLM brings out a better me than the NO.
 
arieh0310 said:
In addition to those listed above, because it is closer to the intentions of the Vatican II Council Fathers than the NO is. 😃
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Did you see the article in Latin Mass that explained this very truth?

CH
 
I attend a chapel because I feel safe there.

I know that I am surrounded by people who believe the Catholic faith, whole and entire. I know that there are no agendas. I know that there is an awareness of the heresies, e.g. Modernism, and that the people there recognize that it the Catholic Church which is to be leaven to the World and not vice-versa. I know that the homily will encourage a correct view of the Church, the world, and of myself–encouraging me to sanctity. I know that I am in an environment that is entirely similar to the Catholic Church as it has been for centuries.

To the extent of my knowledge, I recognize that the Pauline reform of mass is a legitimate and true rite of mass, and that the ordination rites are true rites of ordination. But, I believe that modernism has infected the liturgical movement to a great extent, and that one way or another, the Novus Ordo is just a bad place to be.
 
arieh0310 said:
To add to what sparc wrote, it is not primarily about Latin. Just look at the changes:

secret: gone

secret: nothing
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It’s not gone…it’s retitled and aloud. On Epiphany, for example, it was the same in both the TLM and NO. Also happens in many of the Commons (and by extension, the feasts of the saints)
Maybe I am just overreacting, huh??
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No, but some of the things on the list are sort of local- noise of pep rally in church, to name one
 
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