Well, That Was Unexpected...

[fons_vitae]

I consider myself to be a pretty traditional (though not Traditionalist) Catholic, so I was rather surprised when I attended an Extraordinary Form Mass and was actually a bit disappointed (maybe just because I couldn't hear much from the back). Are there any other medievalist Catholics out there that prefer a reverent Ordinary Form? :)

[truthfinder]

Was it a low or a high Mass?  The first EF Mass I attended, despite being a high, I sat in the back to not look like I knew nothing.  I sat much closer afterwords to be able to hear some things.  Low masses are always just different feeling if you've grown up with the OF, but I'm finally starting to get into them and their silences.

[PhuturePriest]

I'm a Novus Ordo guy myself, and I'm pretty traditional.

[fons_vitae]

Oh, it was High Mass, but I didn't grow up Catholic (I came in by way of a small Protestant sect then a very high-church Anglicanism). I knew pretty much what to expect, as this is the Mass you always see in the movies :P. I guess I just had trouble following along when quiet or silent prayers took me by surprise.

[Basilisa Marie]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with being underwhelmed by the EF.  I know it's easier for me to be "spiritually fed" by the OF, but I do like attending an EF every so often.  The local parish with Dominican priests does a fabulous EF every year for Memorial Day, black vestments, string quartet, everything.  They have special handouts to help people follow along.  

[fons_vitae]

I'm a Novus Ordo guy myself, and I'm pretty traditional.

I understand entirely. I love my sumptuous architecture, but an expanded lectionary and Mass in the vernacular are lovely as well. (And of course, none of these are mutually exclusive.)

[Gabriela]

I'm a convert to Catholicism and I positively HATED my first MEF experience. There's a reflection piece around here somewhere about it (on PM; this has come up before). Now I LOVE the MEF, and if I could go only to the MEF, every day, I totally would.

 

It takes time. :-)

 

EDIT: I was also totally taken aback by the fact that I could not stand the MEF my first few times. I'm very traditional in every other way, so yeah, it was unexpected, to say the least.

 

Can any of the traddies remember where that reflection I wrote was posted? Which thread? I really have no idea...

Edited July 30, 2013 by curiousing

[truthfinder]

I had known about the EF for years and read a lot about the rubrics and such, but the silences and even the multiple things happening at one time (choir singing one thing, priest doing another) really threw me off.  But I stuck with it, and in about a month and a half, two months, I had it down pretty well.  The confusion was still better than the nonsense going on in my local OF parishes, and I really needed sanity - so I exchanged annoyance for confusion, and it paid off.  I love the EF. 

[arfink]

I don't really have much taste for the EF at all. :P But, it's just the same mass in different clothes, so it's alright.

[ChristinaTherese]

The first time I went, I was rather confused (it didn't help that I went in through the side door and the books with the Ordinary were in the back, so I didn't see them) and I didn't see too much sense in it that day because I was able to neither receive the Eucharist (not having been Catholic yet) nor understand what the priest was saying or anything except that the consecration was happening (I mean, it's the Mass...) and the few texts I had memorized because of choir (kyrie, agnus dei, gloria, sanctus/benedictus (normally separate in secular choral music, IIRC), and maybe a little bit more). So... I was unimpressed.

 

The next time I went, it was merely because I had no choice if I wanted to get to Mass every day (not required, I know, but a personal wish all the same), and I was still confused. (But at least I learned to walk in through the front door, not the side door, so that I could see the sign explaining what the feast of the day is (if applicable) and get one of the booklets with the Ordinary.) So I just stayed, through my confusion, and learned to love it over time.

 

Now, I find that I need predictability, however it comes. So long as the liturgy is reverent, I'll probably be okay with most things. But if I'm going to attend the EF, I need to do it on a regular basis or I'm just going to be confused. If I'm visiting NYC (or somewhere else) and go to a high Mass one Sunday (Thanks for the recommendation, TJTM!), that's a fine amount of abnormality, but I pray better if I attend it on a regular basis. The same goes for the Liturgy of the Hours: I'm fine praying on my own or with a group, but if I switch from one to the other it takes time for me to adjust and be able to pray well.

 

As far as your actual question: I guess I just stated my answer: So long as it's reverent, there isn't any abuse, and I'm reasonably used to it I'm fine with whatever. Although I'll be much more amicable to a change to a more reverent liturgy than a change to a less reverent one. And if I hadn't attended the EF for a while, I might prefer a reverent OF. (Preferably, though, a longer Mass than usual. I really like it when Mass takes a long time.)

[Amppax]

I can't stand High Mass. Too much going on.  

[MithLuin]

I've been to three or four EF masses, and the first of them was essentially a private mass, so there wasn't an option to be far away ;).  

 

I'd say that it's fairly normal for people to find them confusing (and even a bit off-putting) at first.  If it's important to you to like it (if you call yourself a medievalist, I assume you are interested in the history of the mass and such), I'd say give it a few more tries and see if you change your opinion after you get a bit more used to it.  If you still don't like it... :unsure:  :idontknow: well, that's okay, the NO is good too.  But even after some fairly meh experiences, I'm still open to the possibility that I'd really enjoy the EF...eventually.  I'm just not in a place where I get to 'try it out' very often.  I *did* get to attend a Ge'ez rite Catholic mass for Christmas, though, which was a pretty neat experience.  Not that I'll be repeating that one, either, but it's nice to be open to different ways of celebrating the same mystery.  

 

It's nice that the Church has room for lots of different tastes within the context of orthodoxy and orthopraxy.  

[Apotheoun]

I'm a Novus Ordo guy myself, and I'm pretty traditional.

I'm a divine liturgy of St. John Chrysostom guy myself, and I am very traditional. :dance:

[PhuturePriest]

I'm a divine liturgy of St. John Chrysostom guy myself, and I am very traditional. :dance:

 

...And I'm a Mormon.

[PadrePioOfPietrelcino]

I'm a divine liturgy of St. John Chrysostom guy myself, and I am very traditional. :dance:

I love the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom...As to the OP I prefer a reverent NO form (which I thankfully have lots of options all around me) over the EF. I've gone to the EF several times, but I prefer to be able to hear my Priest when in the only EF around the only thing you can even hear is the homily...even sitting I. The front row all you can hear is in audible mumbling by the servers and the Priest...so maybe I've just been exposed to bad examples of the EF.