Tridentine Mass

The other day, I got the wonderful opportunity to attend my very first Tridentine Mass. I'd been looking forward to this ever since Bishop Rhoades authorized the weekly celebration of a Latin Mass. I went with my best friend and her mom, who remembers the days of old when it was alwasy in Latin.

It was held at the Cathedral Chapel of St. Lawrence, right by St. Patrick's Cathedral in Harrisburg. The church itself was pretty. Not knowing a whole lot about architecture, I can't tell you much about it, but it had really pretty stained glass windows and an elaborate sanctuary at the front of the church. It had a great churchy smell too -- wooden pews, burning candles, and the faint scent of incense left over from another mass.

Personally, I really liked it. It felt so... Catholic. We were sort of worried when we first went in, because we were the only three ladies there without a veil of some sort. We were early, though, and as time wore on quite a few others came without a head covering. They were saying the Rosary before Mass.

I was really just in heaven the whole Mass. Although the priest (FSSP) wasn't very loud and it was really hard to follow, especially for a first timer like myself, it was really beautiful. I liked his sermon, too -- there was nothing conciliatory about it. It elaborated on the Gospel, quoted about half the saints on record, and didn't try to dress sin and guilt up to seem better than it was. After it ended, I felt like I had something to think about and I felt challenged to examine myself and change my ways. It was pretty sweet.

And receiving Communion kneeling and on the tongue... I think it's more reverent than your average Mass these days. Oh, and the bells. And the altar servers. And the Latin. It really rocked, I tell you what. I appreciate that Mass for its reverence and mostly for its focus on God. When you go, you have no doubts why you're there. It's not for an hour of amusement. It's not for good music, good stories, or good company. It's to worship God.

Plus, it's really neat to think that you're participating in something that has been around in some capacity since the sixth century, and really didn't change much since the sixteenth century. The fact that you're worshiping in the same way countless saints and other holy people have worshiped down through the centuries... it really makes you feel good.

Unlike some people who really enjoy the Latin Mass, however, I'm okay with a well celebrated "New" Mass, too. I have a weakness for singing pretty hymns. I don't like most of what these "new fangled" liturgical composers have come out with -- it makes me want to retch, which isn't a feeling I like to associate with Mass. But really old music (say, Gregorian Chant and that sort) I like, and slightly newer music (in relation to chant -- up until the mid-ish 1900s or so) really drives me wild. As much as I disagree with Protestants on a lot of things, they have produced some pretty good music. I'm a Charles Wesley fan, m'self. Hymns drive me nuts with pleasure.

I just wish that there was more conformity in the celebration of Mass, and that priests and laypeople wouldn't try to change and water down the Mass to make it appeal to more people. If Protestants come to my church, I want them to feel lost. I want them to see the grandeur, the ritual, the beauty, the reverence, and the worship of Catholicism.

I wish the English translation of the Mass was better, too. Just reading the translation in the Latin Mass missal, I was struck by how much more beautiful and profound it seemed. I wish we would go back to some of the text translated from the Latin. I think the Novus Ordo has potential, but I think people take advantage of it.

We need to win back the Mass for God.