Latin Mass
features, sacred space October 26th, 2007
There’s talk that the Pope may soon celebrate the traditional Latin Mass in St Peter’s Basilica. The suggested date is the first Sunday in Advent, December 2. If Pope Benedict XVI brings back the Tridentine Mass, many will wonder if other Vatican II reforms will be the next to undergo scrutiny.
I have attended three Roman Catholic services in my life. The first was the Stations of the Cross after a high school all-nighter at St. Kilian’s church in Mission Viejo. I don’t particularly remember the service, but I did learn to swing dance somewhere in the early hours. My second experience was mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris while in college. Since my French is tres mal, I suspect my level of comprehension would be similar to many laity at a Latin mass. My third Roman Catholic experience was a mass for the funeral of Pope John Paul II at a suburban church in Ireland. Strangely enough, that service led my husband and I to consider leaving Protestantism, but that’s a long story that doesn’t apply here.
My point is this–does language invoke a sense of the sacred? I believe that words are essential in our understanding of the sacred (and the profane) and that words themselves can be sacred. But what about a person’s understanding of the dialect or language in which they are spoken? That mass in French certainly inspired a sense of awe, but there was also the tourist factor going there. Since I participate in an ancient liturgy in English every week, I know I don’t have an objective opinion. However, I’m leaning for the option of a Latin mass. So much of the sense of sacred disappeared from many Roman Catholic churches after Vatican II. I think services should be conducted in the congregation’s native language, but if this mass is a step towards creating a more sacred space, it may be a good thing.
Does a Latin mass encourage a stronger sense of the sacred than one in the parish’s native language? I look forward to your thoughts.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:48 am
Peace to you.
In a word, no.
The Tridentine Mass I attended was a “low” Mass, which means the entire service was spoken, or to be blunt mumbled incoherently, by the priest and the altar server. It was one of the most spiritually dead services I’d ever attended. I have also attended and sung in the choir for Latin Novus Ordo (post Vatican II) Masses in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D. C., which were aesthetically pleasing, but not enhanced by the Latin, only by the reverence of the participants. In either case, the Latin only serves as a uniting force, not a sacralizing one. Use of Latin in the liturgy, old or new, does not aid the congregation in its worship of God, in fact it does quite the opposite. It creates a smoke screen of seeming piety and allows the congregation to tune out the service.
Using Latin ultimately causes even greater seperation between the Kingdom of God and our earthly experience of it, because it relegates the sacred to the temple and the liturgy. Jesus took on our flesh, spoke our languages, redeemed us, showed us how to live. Liturgy should also redeem the language and lives of those who attend. The use of Latin by the RCC for the past 1000 years only served/serves to keep the hierarchy removed from the laity. It recreates a pre-Incarnation world. If the Church really wants to return to its roots, it would mandate the use of Greek in the liturgy!
The real problem with the Roman Catholic Church is heresy, not languages. I love my parents, my fiancee, my friends who are Roman Catholic, but the truth is, the RCC has vastly departed from the Apostolic faith. Sadly, the current Pope lacks the courage (and it would take enormous, supernatural courage) to repeal the erroneous declarations of his predecessors. People left the RCC and continue to due to lies more than language. Humility and Orthodoxy encourage a stronger sense of the sacred than any language.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I could not disagree with the last comment more.
The Catholic liturgy is was always historically in Latin. The “Tridentine Mass” was never outlawed and now that the Pope gave a permission for all priests to celebrate it I hope it will bring back
the sense of sacred to the liturgy.
It is easy to say that the Church is in heresy or that the Vatican II was wrong. (Both are not true). The abuses that happen after Vatican II happen because of
misinformation and down right demonic attempts to destroy the church from within. It is good that God promised to secure his church till the end of the world. It is after all
build on the Rock. The tide is turning and Benedict XVI is a big part of that. He has inspired tons of young people to fight for what is ours. Our ancient Apostolic faith.
The truth is that there is a real change (slow but it is happening) in the Church. The new liturgy will be enriched by the example of the old liturgy. The Roman Catholic Church also draws new light
from its sister Churches.
Remember that parts of the Roman Liturgy are far older than anything in the Orthodox Church.
I hope that the future will bring a closer union with the Orthodox brothers. A true union of faith. Humility is so important. I think we should always look at Christ otherwise we will never be united. He unites us.
I have mumbled long enough.
Love the site.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:17 am
This is a great discussion you lads have going.
Disclaiming once again that I have no real experience with the Roman Catholic mass, is there a way to unify the Latin with the native language?
I’m thinking back to high school choir performances where we sang religious pieces in Latin. The change of the language made it otherworldly, and there are certain phrases that are widly understood. I can see the point that it would be easy to “tune out” during a completely Latin service, but is anyone out there doing a combination?
December 6th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
My apologies to you and to Matthew for my vehemence in the first response. While I do not retract my comment, I admit the tone was stinging. So to ammend, here’s some more of my observations about Latin in the Roman Church and the languages of prayer.
I have for years sung Latin motets, Masses, etc. as part of my training in classical Western music, in secular and sacred settings. Earlier in my life, I felt that the return of Latin was very important to the life of the Roman Church. I attended colloquia to learn to read Gregorian chant notation. I read and listened to the arguments of those who really understand the Vatican II documents (the authoritative Latin originals, not English translations) which clearly state that Latin should retain pride of place in the services of the Roman Church, except in missionary circumstances. What is odd, is that outside of these conservative circles, the pro-Vatican II guitar strummers have made no effort to teach what the documents of Vatican II actually proclaim. For instance, the documents state that the Lord’s Prayer is to be sung if anything is sung at all. This rarely happens. If a parish is not a mission, it’s services are to be in Latin. This is the teaching of Vatican II, but you will rarely find a parish that heeds it.
I enjoy the sound of Gregorian chant. I listen to it as a remedy to the cacaphony of modern life. I do not want Mass to be sung entirely in Latin (or a Divine Liturgy in Arabic, Greek, or Slavonic), however, unless a congregation understands, word for word, what is being sung. This is not going to happen except on very good academic campuses (and in emigre congregations). Most people do not have the time to learn another language and should not be required to spend their time at Mass reading back and forth across the pages of a bilingual missal.
Furthermore, Latin was not always the only liturgical language of Europe. It is not the original written language of the scriptures. Ambrose of Milan actually started the Latinization of the liturgy in Italy herself. I cannot recommend “The Orthodox Church” by Timothy Ware (now Metropolitan Kallistos Ware) enough to those who wish to learn a little history of how the western church came to be what it is today. It may prompt more questions, but that is probably a good thing if they arise from the attitude of a humble student desiring the truth.
No language, not even Hebrew, is magical, and therefore, no language has power in itself. We may have feelings of reverence, a sense of the sacred, but we must be careful about these feelings. They can be evoked in us by a demon as easily as by true humility and awe in God’s presence. Beware of the trappings of piety. I may have affection for Slavonic, because of experiences in the Russian Orthodox Church. I may have honor for Greek, because it is the language of the epistles and Gospels. Nonetheless, I pray in English because it is the language I understand best. Praying in English prevents any false sense of magical closeness to God and His Saints, while emphasizing the real relationship He has with me. Praying thoughtfully in English makes my life in an English-speaking community sacred. Praying in English makes me aware of what I am saying/singing.
Glory to God for translators and holy missionaries who journey into wildernesses, physical and spiritual, proclaiming the Gospel in whatever language they must. May God’s love be proclaimed in all languages of the world until the bright and appointed day of Christ’s return. If we should all come to understand a common language, good. Let us not try to force ourselves into seeming solidarity. Christ saves us, not Latin.
Peace,
David
December 6th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Oh, and yes, many parishes, in my experience, add a Latin motet or chant to an otherwise English Mass. If it is a motet, it’s usually by a Renaissance master composer like Palestrina, Tallis, Byrd, or Des Pres. Great artistry, for certain. Don’t know how much it really causes the congregation to do better in their struggle. If they meditate on the similarities between the work a composer must do to produce a complex piece of music like a motet and the work a Christian must do to produce a holy life, maybe there is worth in addition to the inspiration beauty can evoke in us.
Peace,
David
December 7th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
The Latin in the Mass is important as it ties the entire universal Church. It is part of the Church’s catholicity. Imagine being in a strange country whose language you don’t speak and walk into a Catholic Church hearing the familiar Latin of the Mass.
I don’t think every part of the Mass should be in Latin. More Latin should be used in the parts that majority of the people know. Our Father is one example. The readings and Eucharistic Prayers should remain in local language because they contain a wealth of theology and spirituality that everyone needs to feed from.
I have attended many Liturgies where the marriage of Latin and local language was done beautifully and the result was a truly beautiful encounter with God in the Eucharist.