dUSt Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 A church about 15 minutes from my house has a tridentine mass every Sunday, so I figured I'd go today. I got there about 20 minutes early, and the few people that were already there were saying the rosary. Most of the women were wearing either a headcovering or a hat, and most of the men were wearing suits, which was different than what I was use to. I took that time to look through the misalette. The left page was in Latin with the English version on the corresponding right page. I was immediately struck on how different the order of the mass is from the Norvus Ordo. I always thought that the main difference was the speaking of Latin, but after reading through the misalette, I realized that the actual structure is different. So mass begins. No music. No entrance procession. Simply a ringing of bells. Another thing is that the priest wasn't mic'd, and I was sitting about 3/4 the way back, so he was barely audible. Besides the noise of the congregation standing and kneeling, from where I was sitting, it was pretty much silent. The gospel was read in English at the mic, as well as the homily. The homily was interesting, as the priest (he was fairly young, I'd guess 30 something--and was wearing a really cool Matrix-like cassock after mass), warned the "Tridentine Catholics" about thinking that they are somehow more faithful to the Church than the "Novus Ordo" Catholics. He related the two groups to today's gospel readings, and said that the Novus Ordo Catholic that doesn't judge will have more favor with God than the Trid Catholic who judges. He then made some comments about how the Trid Catholics who don't respect and honor JP2 should question why they are even Catholic in the first place.... It was quite the homily to say the least. After reading the bulletin, I noticed that he's the only priest at this particular parish, and this parish is the only parish in the entire diocese that offers the tridentine mass. The rest of the mass was more silence, besides the occasional bells ringing, and beautiful chanting a couple times. I followed along the best I could, but at times was just plain lost. In fact, if it weren't for the bells, I wouldn't have had a clue what was going on. I guess that would change after a few more times attending. Receiving communion was different, as everyone lined up on their knees at the altar, the priest then went down the line, and then people filled in again, and the priest went back to the beginning of the line, etc, etc, until everyone received. The body was dipped into the blood and placed on my tongue. I noticed in the missalette that you don't say "amen" before receiving in a trid mass, so I didn't. What I absolutely loved about the mass was the reverence. I also loved the chanting. The mass was beautiful, but like I said, mostly silent. If I was to go again, I'd sit in the front so I could hear the priest. After the mass, about 1/2 the people left, and 1/2 stayed. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was next, and I stayed for that too. There was more chanting for that than there was for mass. One thing I noticed is that there is really no big indication of when mass begins or ends. There's no entrance or dismissal procession or anything. You pretty much know it's over when your at the end of the misalette. haha. Another thing was that the church was almost empty. There weren't more than 100 people attending, and the church probably held over 1000. All in all, I'd say it was a beautiful experience. I'll have to be honest and say that I prefer the Novus Ordo mass, simply because it's easier to follow along and understand what's going on, but I really wish that there was a Novus Ordo mass around here that displays the reverence of the tridentine mass. I really like the chanting too. To me, it's such a powerful and beautiful form of prayer. Well, that's it. That's what I did today. God bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 How amesome for you, dUSt! There's a Tridentine parish in my diocese, and I've been saying for some time I'm going to Mass there one day! It would be about a 2-hour drive, but it would surely be worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 I am glad you enjoyed it. I love the chant as well. There are lots of CDs with it available. I have been to both, but still prefer the Mass we have today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleflower+JMJ Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 wow that sounded like an amesome experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroX Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 The Latin Mass (Trid) is an incredibly beautiful Mass. I go to the local one occasionally, they still have the old High Altar and everything. I really wish that the use of the rite was more wide-spread. I would like to point out that this is one of the beautiful things of Catholicism to me. We can have both at the same time. We don't create a separate church to simply have another way of doing things. In my last years of Protestantism I kept seeing new churches pop up so that people could do things they way they wanted to. peace... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PedroX Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 One more thing, if you like the chanting, try to go and hear Mass or the Liturgy of the hours at a Benedictine Abbey. Absolutely beautiful. peace... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 Yeah, this church had the high altar too. I love that. It was a very beautiful church, although really old and kinda in bad shape. It's actually located almost in the center of the ghetto in downtown Ft Worth TX. Almost surreal. Here's some pictures of it: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopherball33 Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 doesnt look like it is in that bad of shape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 (edited) That was thoughtful of you to post the pictures. After the last blessing ('Benidicat vos omnipotens Deus: Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus') was there: 1. "The Last Gospel" (at one point all the people would kneel) 2. Concluding prayers after Low Mass: the 3 Hail Mary's, Hail Holy Queen, etc; Michael the Archangel prayer? I ask, because that is standard at Low Mass; and when the concluding prayers are done, the priest and altar boys line up, make a last genuflection togather and leave the sanctuary...so people know Mass is over. But it's really different, the first time being there, esp. from 3/4 of the way back. Thanks for telling us about this. Edited August 18, 2003 by Donna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 That was thoughtful of you to post the pictures. After the last blessing ('Benidicat vos omnipotens Deus: Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus') was there: 1. "The Last Gospel" (at one point all the people would kneel) 2. Concluding prayers after Low Mass: the 3 Hail Mary's, Hail Holy Queen, etc; Michael the Archangel prayer? I ask, because that is standard at Low Mass; and when the concluding prayers are done, the priest and altar boys line up, make a last genuflection togather and leave the sanctuary...so people know Mass is over. But it's really different, the first time being there, esp. from 3/4 of the way back. Thanks for telling us about this. Yes, there was. But only 1/2 the people left, and the other 1/2 stayed, so it was a little confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benedict_x Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Lucky you Dust. They dont offer the triditine mass here. If I wanna go for one I'd have to go to the SSPX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 Yeah, this church is very accomodating. lol They have two Novus Ordo masses in the morning. A Spanish and Korean mass in the afternoon, and a Latin mass in the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inDEED Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Sounds amesome, bro!!! Mandy I having been attending a Mass here at St. Mary's where the entire Consecration is in Latin and, while I don't understand it, it's beautiful... Also, most of the songs we sing are in Latin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 There's an English translation of the Latin Mass (including consecration) in the thread "The Ordinary of the Mass". I think the consecration is the last post on Page 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theoketos Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 There is some thing important to note: the Novus Ordo can be said in Latin. Also most valid old school masses are said by the Fraternity of St. Peter http://www.fssp.com/main/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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