As anyone reading my little blog might have guessed, I am Catholic. I come from a strongly Catholic family. We did, and do, celebrate Mass every Sunday along with every holy day of obligation.
But in recent years, with the arrival of a new parish priest, we as a family have been introduced to the celebration of our faith in Latin!
Known in short as TLM; Traditional Latin Mass, the Tridentine Mass, The Extraordinary Form of the Mass...whatever it is called, it sounds slightly old-fashioned with maybe just a hint of grandeur. And in truth, it is.
This is Mass 'old-school'...the priest has his back to the congregation at all times except the homily and the entire service is conducted in, yep, you guessed it folks, Latin.
And in truth, this poses a few problems for me in some respects. I find it hard to engage with the service fully as I mentally scrabble with the translation whilst straining my ears to try to hear what Father is saying.
And yet, through the most unlikely of people, I have seen the Mass through fresh eyes. Last night, as I attended our monthly Sung Latin Mass, I was, as usual, grappling to keep up with the rapid pace and the foreign language when I caught a glimpse of my daughter's face as she sat happily in my husband's lap. Smiling brightly, and cooing, she looked blissfully happy and entertained. The lights, the incense, the organ and the singing. It is a beautiful experience. And by her face, I was instantly reminded that Mass need not be an intellectual experience. I was forgetting it's true purpose, getting lost in my worldly thoughts and frustrations. No real comprehension is absolutely required. Even a 5 month old baby is capable of participating in and enjoying the experience.
Mass, even the Latin Mass, is truly for all. The Catholic Church is the Universal Church and every Mass is the opportunity to be close to Christ, to remind ourselves of the sacrifice He made and to ask Him to help us. Most crucially, it is THE time to ask Him to forgive us.
Everything else...the music, the lights, the candles, the rhythmic sound of the Latin prayers...they're all just the icing on the cake.
Last night, sat in that smoky church, it dawned on me that for me, T.L.M might just mean 'To Learn More'.
2 comments:
I love this! You might also enjoy the book Sacred Then, Sacred Now, which gave me a whole new understanding of the Tridentine Mass. Not that our parish is Tridentine...ah well :)
Thank you so much for commenting Bethany...I have been reading and enjoying your blog for months, so it's a thrill to have you comment on mine!
Thanks for the book tip, I'll have to check that out. :-)
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