On Tuesday I Went To An Ef Mass For The First Time.

[BigJon16]

And it was really interesting. It was a Solemn High Mass for the (memorial?) of Bl. Karl of Austria. The Mass was done at a parish ran by the Canons of Saint Augustine. (Who have a really cool habit, btw.) 

 

I'll admit that I was lost throughout the whole Mass. I understood the more important moments that were preserved in the NO, but some of the more non-post VII practices were unexpected. 

 

Understanding some basic Latin, as well as the basic canon of the Mass helped. 

 

But what really threw me off, was how much of the Mass was basically said in silence, as the celebrant whispered the prayers. I wasn't expecting that, for some reason, and kept waiting for him to start talking aloud and missed a good portion of the Prayers before the Altar and the Introit. It wasn't until the readings that I started to catch on. 

 

The schola was really beautiful, singing a number of chants--and the chanting of the readings and the Gospels also struck me as something quite wonderful.

 

I was also made acutely aware of how important the ringing of the bells are during the Mass. When you're as lost as I was, the bells really helped to give me a heads up at the important moments that I should be paying attention to. I feel like I've lost that sense of importance in my day-to-day prayer life. It's not really the fault of the NO, just of me being ignorant of what is truly important in my participation within the Mass--ie. paying attention... It was a beautiful realization. 

 

 

All in all, it was definitely a positive experience. I definitely have a deeper interest in learning more about the Mass as a whole,--both the NO and EF--not just the simple stuff you learn in CCD. As a seminarian I'm learning a lot about the Liturgy as it is, but now I think I've found a new fascination for it. 

 

And I couldn't wait to tell all you guys about it! :)

[Nihil Obstat]

Anything you want any insight or perspective in? Glad you enjoyed it!

[Gabriela]

I feel like I've lost that sense of importance in my day-to-day prayer life. It's not really the fault of the NO, just of me being ignorant of what is truly important in my participation within the Mass--ie. paying attention... It was a beautiful realization.

 

That was my experience, too. The MEF is so silent... it wakes you up. :-)

 

Of course, I was frustrated out of my mind the first few times I went, because I was obsessed with "getting it" and "following along". It wasn't until Dom Daniel explained to me that I should just focus on my own prayer in between responses—and I actually accepted that—that I really began to love the MEF.

 

Thank you for sharing, BigJon! May you attend many more MEFs and grow in faith thereby!

[BigJon16]

Anything you want any insight or perspective in? Glad you enjoyed it!

 

Thanks! i will probably have a few questions as I delve more into it, but for now my brother seminarians who know much more about it have been able to answer most of my immediate questions. Any good book recommendations? 

 

 

That was my experience, too. The MEF is so silent... it wakes you up. :-)

 

Of course, I was frustrated out of my mind the first few times I went, because I was obsessed with "getting it" and "following along". It wasn't until Dom Daniel explained to me that I should just focus on my own prayer in between responses—and I actually accepted that—that I really began to love the MEF.

 

Thank you for sharing, BigJon! May you attend many more MEFs and grow in faith thereby!

 

 

Thats awesome. 

 

Thanks! 

[RachelB87]

Thanks for sharing :) I've always been too chicken to go to anything but the novus ordo

[brandelynmarie]

I'm intrigued. Attending an EF is something I want to try sometime. I already attend & love the Maronite Rite. :)

[Not The Philosopher]

I too was a little bit clueless the first time. If you go often enough eventually you internalize the rhythm of it.

 

Speaking of which, this Sunday I'm gonna be serving as Thurifer at an EF Mass. I've never served before, ever, and was unexpectedly roped into this one. Gonna get a crash course on the thurible on Friday.

[Nihil Obstat]

Thanks! i will probably have a few questions as I delve more into it, but for now my brother seminarians who know much more about it have been able to answer most of my immediate questions. Any good book recommendations?




Thats amesome.

Thanks!

Yes! Restoration and Organic Development of the Roman Rite, Laszlo Dobszay, anything by Alcuin Reid, and anything by Dom Prosper Gueranger.

[Luigi]

Lost throughout the whole Mass... couldn't hear a lot of it... could figure out a little bit of the language.... but it had pretty music... and bells... Oh! and cool habits. So it was a positive experience. 

 

Well. I suppose that's what Mass is all about - pretty music and nice bells to tell you when something important is happening (because you can't figure it out with your own five senses). 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, the seminary will take your understanding of liturgy beyond pretty music and bells. 

[Nihil Obstat]

Growing up in the Novus Ordo we are very used to the way things are typically done, so it is quite jarring and confusing to suddenly be thrown into a traditional Mass. You can hear comparatively very little, and what you do hear is hard to understand at first.

So we latch on to what we do know: bells, incense, chant, whatever else. These aesthetic elements serve an important liturgical purpose. Everything about the Mass draws us up away from ourselves to worship of God. ESPECIALLY the Proper chants, which are sadly neglected in most parish churches, and have been for dozens of decades now (with notable and praiseworthy attempts to reverse the trend). In fact the Proper chants, the 'pretty music' from the traditional Mass, are some of the most important elements of living Tradition that exist in all of Christendom. Those proper melodies are in many cases 1500+ years old. They are the heart and soul of our liturgical patrimony as Roman Catholics.

There is nothing wrong with recognizing and appreciating the "pretty music and bells", especially for one's first time at what is, to be blunt, rather alien to the vast majority of Catholics. In fact it is good that those elements were there for him to focus on.

 

It sounds to me that BigJon had a fulfilling, reverent experience, and IMO it sounds like his attitude was entirely in the right place.

[Ice_nine]

Lost throughout the whole Mass... couldn't hear a lot of it... could figure out a little bit of the language.... but it had pretty music... and bells... Oh! and cool habits. So it was a positive experience. 

 

Well. I suppose that's what Mass is all about - pretty music and nice bells to tell you when something important is happening (because you can't figure it out with your own five senses). 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, the seminary will take your understanding of liturgy beyond pretty music and bells. 

 

 

you kind of sound like a jerk here dudebro. Any reason for the hostility?

[Luigi]

you kind of sound like a jerk here dudebro. Any reason for the hostility?

 

No - I'm just a jerk.

[Eowyn]

The silence is one of the things I love about the TLM. It helps me to pray.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

The silence is one of the things I love about the Traditional Latin Mass. It helps me to pray.

 

This. The silence is an oasis. I can't stand the nearly constant noise in the Novus Ordo. 

[PhuturePriest]

The silence for me is what turns me off. I'm an active person, so sitting down for an hour and not walking is difficult enough as I begin to stop paying attention, but when there's silence the whole time I might as well not go. I'm pretty much in my own world as I think and imagine anything that comes to mind. The noise and the talking is what draws attention back to the Mass. That's not to say the OF is superior or the EF is bad -- I'm just an OF type of guy, and I understand why Saint Therese had such difficulty with falling asleep constantly during Mass.

There needs to be tons more incense, chant, and cool vestments in the OF, though.

Edited October 24, 2013 by FuturePriest387