Will the TLM go extinct? How can we promote it?

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dostoyevskyfan

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Is it an irrational fear that this beautiful service will eventually become a fossil of the past, decimated by the meteor we call Vatican II? In most states there are really only a couple of places you can go. Some people from my parish are forced to drive 1 or 2 hours to get there.
Our priests appear to be on their last leg of life, and look as though they will be meeting God any day now.
  1. What is the best way we can promote the TLM to make it more popular and have more churches offer it? I’ve seen people with the bumper stickers “I (heart) the Old Latin Mass” but I don’t want to put one on my car and decrease the value of the vehicle. What are some good practical ways to spread this service?
 
This is a surprising post, as the number of celebrations of TLM has been growing for many years, especially over the past three years. There is less of a chance now of its going away than there has been in a generation.
 
Well, for one thing we can pray for the SSPX and that their status will be regularized. They would provide a huge influx of priest able open up many areas to the TLM and provide exposure to this form of the Mass. This is an important time in the process of normalizing their relationships and we must keep this intention in our hearts.
 
dostoyevskyfan said:
Is it an irrational fear that this beautiful service will eventually become a fossil of the past, decimated by the meteor we call Vatican II? In most states there are really only a couple of places you can go. Some people from my parish are forced to drive 1 or 2 hours to get there.
Our priests appear to be on their last leg of life, and look as though they will be meeting God any day now.
  1. What is the best way we can promote the TLM to make it more popular and have more churches offer it? I’ve seen people with the bumper stickers “I (heart) the Old Latin Mass” but I don’t want to put one on my car and decrease the value of the vehicle. What are some good practical ways to spread this service?
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It didn’t die in the years following the introduction of the Pauline Mass, despite the best efforts of many to destroy it. It remained and will always remain as far as I see. Man cannot destroy it, no matter how hard he tries to.

I remember from the 70’s to the early 90’s it was next to impossible to even find one let alone attend one regularly. That continued even after the Holy Father asked that it be given wide and generous application. In one notable archdiocese the Archbishop allowed exactly one Traditional Mass to be celebrated weekly, and they had to move every week to a new location. The same Archbishop forbade anyone who had not been an adult in 1962 from even attending them. Other areas refused to allow the Mass to be celebrated in a Church at all and many were reduced to using the meeting rooms of hotels and small chapels that were generally to small to accommodate the crowds. In San Diego for instance they were allowed a permanent place, the mausoleum Chapel at a local Catholic cemetery’

So no, I don’t think that it will ever become extinct. No matter how much the progressives loathe, fear and despise it. . They have already tried to accomplish that. And failed. 👍
 
I don’t know how many older Catholics who, like me, have become increasingly upset over the tinkering with, and abuse of the VII Mass and are returning to the TLM Mass, many I suspect based on my acquaintances. What’s interesting is that a few devote VII Mass adherents on this forum actually pushed me that last inch to action! I attended Exposition and Adoration at the TLM church yesterday and was quite impressed at the number of younger Catholics, the under 40 group, who were there with their children. I was also extremely impressed with the attitude of deep reverence evident in the genuflecting, kneeling and quiet of the congregation, for the first time in years I could actually pray and meditate in church!

Is the TLM dying? I really don’t think so and it’s salvation may actually be in the evolution of the modern Mass, or is that devolution?
 
dostoyevskyfan said:
What is the best way we can promote the TLM to make it more popular and have more churches offer it?
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  1. *]Remind the clergy that it was never abrogated.
    *]Establish a Vatican commission to oversee and facilitate its use.
    *]Give special permission to certain orders to use it.
    *]Encourage bishops to provide it for stable communities.
    *]Permit individual priests everywhere to use it.
    *]Get a pope to use it.
    *]Get entire families to embrace it.
    *]Get bloggers to talk about it.
 
The EF Mass will always be with us. For the last 40 years, the EF Mass was suppressed by many Bishops and Cardinals. They deliberately ignored requests for its celebration and refused to implement the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei. They labelled the Traditional Mass schismatic and made traditional Catholics feel like black sheep for wanting to pray as their Father’s prayed.

The Traditional Mass has many enemies within the Church who see its continued use as an affront to the Second Vatican Council. They fear the EF Mass because it represents the pre-conciliar Church and goes against the so-called Spirit of Vatican II. For some strange reason, many within the Church fear the EF Mass and would love to see it totally abandoned.

Thankfully, the Holy Father has ensured that it will never die. The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum will ensure the continued survival of the Traditional Mass. Summorum Pontificum takes the power to suppress the EF away from Bishops’ and grants unrestricted permission for its celebration. The enemies of the EF now have no power; they cannot restrict or suppress tradition.

In time, more Catholics will come into contact with the EF Mass. The Catholic Church will reclaim the traditional Mass and it will be given a chance to blossom in the mainstream Church. Thankfully, groups such as the FSSP and the Institute of Christ the King will ensure that there are many traditional priests for the future. I thank God that these traditional Orders and associations are growing rapidly; in fact, their seminaries are packed to the rafters!
 
Apollos said:

  1. *]Remind the clergy that it was never abrogated.
    *]Establish a Vatican commission to oversee and facilitate its use.
    *]Give special permission to certain orders to use it.
    *]Encourage bishops to provide it for stable communities.
    *]Permit individual priests everywhere to use it.
    *]Get a pope to use it.
    *]Get entire families to embrace it.
    *]Get bloggers to talk about it.
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    1. Teach basic ecclesiastical Latin in Catholic schools, Catechism classes and RCIA so folks can follow and understand better
    2. Teach Gregorian chant
    3. Teach it in seminary
 
Chatter163 said:
This is a surprising post, as the number of celebrations of TLM has been growing for many years, especially over the past three years. There is less of a chance now of its going away than there has been in a generation.
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Agree.

Also, I think that the next generation of Catholics will start to close the gap regarding Latin Mass attendees and Novus Ordo attendees, partially because traditional-minded families tend to have more children, who are then more likely to grow up to be practicing Catholics (in my experience).

I also know about 3 times as many FSSP seminarians than “regular” ones.

P.S.- I agree with OraLabora that Latin should be taught in Catholic schools. It would be a good replacement for “Kite-Making”, “Rocket Making”, “Christmas Elves”, or “X-Games”- which are actual graded courses offered at my old Catholic high school :whacky:
 
Remember that in the time of St. Francis the Roman Rite was not even used in the diocese of Rome itself, except on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Most today know nothing about it and the interest level is probably at a minimum.

However, I don’t think that it will ever become extinct.
 
Apollos said:

  1. *]Remind the clergy that it was never abrogated.
    *]Permit individual priests everywhere to use it.
    *]Get a pope to use it.
    *]Get entire families to embrace it.
    *]Get bloggers to talk about it.
Click to expand...

  1. These have already been done, though it is largely ignored by bishops, hence why the Pope had to give permission to individual priests since authority to priests through bishops didn’t work.
 
Justin1982 said:
These have already been done, though it is largely ignored by bishops, hence why the Pope had to give permission to individual priests since authority to priests through bishops didn’t work.
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The Pope hasn’t used it yet.

I would add, get it taught in every seminary as part of a Roman rite priests formation along with latin which is also not taught anymore in some seminaries which effectively cuts priests of from the primary sources of the Churches teaching and traditions.
 
One thing we can do is to simply play up the inherent positive elements of the Tridentine Mass. Don’t go on and on about the negatives about the current Ordinary Form, just talk about how the peculiarities of the TLM are positive and desirable, such as how the use of Latin means that Catholics anywhere in the world are praying in absolute unison with each other by way of using a common language, or that the TLM was the form of the Roman rite that inspired and nourished the souls of great Catholics throughout time, such as Saint Patrick of Ireland or Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Catherine of Sienna. Hundreds, indeed thousands, of saints had their souls fed and strengthened through the particular form of prayer and worship of the TLM, and not just saints but great Catholics regardless, like J.R.R. Tolkien or G.K. Chesterton or Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
pnewton said:
Well, for one thing we can pray for the SSPX and that their status will be regularized. They would provide a huge influx of priest able open up many areas to the TLM and provide exposure to this form of the Mass. This is an important time in the process of normalizing their relationships and we must keep this intention in our hearts.
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Amen; this is one of the most important things. If the SSPX is regularized, that will send a clear signal that Catholic traditionalism is OK, even more so than having several other post-SSPX traditionalist groups already in existence, such as the FSSP.
 
Amen; this is one of the most important things. If the SSPX is regularized, that will send a clear signal that Catholic traditionalism is OK, even more so than having several other post-SSPX traditionalist groups already in existence, such as the FSSP.
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I agree.

The day when the SSPX is regularised is the day when traditionalism will lose any and all stigma. The enemies of tradition will no longer be able to incorrectly use words such schism, dissent, and heresy to silence those who favour a return to traditional spirituality and practice.
 
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