In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognóvit.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.
How do you approach the Mass?
Do you come to Mass with certain air of confidence? “I’ve got this!” Is there an atmosphere of expectation that my feelings will be confirmed, my spirit renewed, and I will feel perfectly at home among friends and family? The priest will be engaging and encouraging, The Mass will make me happy, and confident in what we believe. The music will provide some immediate gratification. I hope to learn something from the readings, but why did she wear that dress, and I wonder who arranged the flowers this week?
There is something about the Traditional experience that has been lost. It now goes by the name of Extraordinary Form.
We approach the Mass with a sense of mystery. I haven’t got this at all! We come before the “unsearchable richness of Christ[1]” to immerse ourselves in the “immeasurable generosity of God.” Yes, the mass is in Latin, and only a few of us understand it. But I did not come to Mass to understand anything. If you can understand it, it isn’t God. Love is the Goal, Love is our end. To grow in love is our only hope.
I remember one charismatic Christian who came to Mass one of the first times I celebrated the Extraordinary Form. She wondered why I did not wear a microphone during the Mass. She said she could not even hear the Canon. I tried to explain that the Canon was prayed silently, but she would not hear of it. “How can we understand it?” she wailed. In my opinion the one single thing that has done the most damage to the Liturgy is the microphone. The microphone has turned the priest, the cantor, the lector and the choir director into a performer. In the Extraordinary form (and as it should be in the Ordinary Form,) our goal should be to disappear.
Yes, I shall read or sing the readings in Latin. You would not understand it any better if it was in English. After Mass I could ask you if you remembered the Gospel and you would probably say, “No”. If you had a Missal and could read and pray over the readings, and the other scriptures of the Mass, before, during, and after Mass, then possibly you might remember them and maybe even apply them to your life. But I doubt that you would really understand them. Next year you would read them again and get something completely different out of them. No, understanding is not our goal. But together may we grow into a greater love and devotion for the “unsearchable richness of Christ”
[1] Eph 3:8
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.
How do you approach the Mass?
Do you come to Mass with certain air of confidence? “I’ve got this!” Is there an atmosphere of expectation that my feelings will be confirmed, my spirit renewed, and I will feel perfectly at home among friends and family? The priest will be engaging and encouraging, The Mass will make me happy, and confident in what we believe. The music will provide some immediate gratification. I hope to learn something from the readings, but why did she wear that dress, and I wonder who arranged the flowers this week?
There is something about the Traditional experience that has been lost. It now goes by the name of Extraordinary Form.
We approach the Mass with a sense of mystery. I haven’t got this at all! We come before the “unsearchable richness of Christ[1]” to immerse ourselves in the “immeasurable generosity of God.” Yes, the mass is in Latin, and only a few of us understand it. But I did not come to Mass to understand anything. If you can understand it, it isn’t God. Love is the Goal, Love is our end. To grow in love is our only hope.
I remember one charismatic Christian who came to Mass one of the first times I celebrated the Extraordinary Form. She wondered why I did not wear a microphone during the Mass. She said she could not even hear the Canon. I tried to explain that the Canon was prayed silently, but she would not hear of it. “How can we understand it?” she wailed. In my opinion the one single thing that has done the most damage to the Liturgy is the microphone. The microphone has turned the priest, the cantor, the lector and the choir director into a performer. In the Extraordinary form (and as it should be in the Ordinary Form,) our goal should be to disappear.
Yes, I shall read or sing the readings in Latin. You would not understand it any better if it was in English. After Mass I could ask you if you remembered the Gospel and you would probably say, “No”. If you had a Missal and could read and pray over the readings, and the other scriptures of the Mass, before, during, and after Mass, then possibly you might remember them and maybe even apply them to your life. But I doubt that you would really understand them. Next year you would read them again and get something completely different out of them. No, understanding is not our goal. But together may we grow into a greater love and devotion for the “unsearchable richness of Christ”
[1] Eph 3:8
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