Traditional Latin Mass Articles

Pope would like Mass in the extraordinary form in each parish, says Vatican official

The East Tennessee Catholic 6/22/2008

LONDON (CNS)—Pope Benedict XVI would like every Catholic parish in the world to celebrate a regular “traditional” Latin Mass, a Vatican cardinal has said.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos also told a June 14 press conference in London that the Vatican was writing to all seminaries to ask that candidates to the priesthood are trained to celebrate Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, also known as the Tridentine Mass, restricted from the 1970s until July 2007 when Pope Benedict lifted those limits.

“The Holy Father is not returning to the past; he is taking a treasure from the past to offer it alongside the rich celebration of the new rite,” the cardinal added.

When asked by a journalist whether the pope wanted to see “many ordinary parishes” making provision for the extraordinary form, Cardinal Castrillon, a Colombian, said, “All the parishes. Not many, all the parishes, because this is a gift of God.

“He [Pope Benedict] offers these riches, and it is very important for new generations to know the past of the church,” said Cardinal Castrillon, president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which works to help separated traditionalist Catholics return to the church.

“This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful,” he said. “The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure. The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.”

Solemn Latin Mass returns to Knoxville

Hundreds fill Holy Ghost Church for an extraordinary-form liturgy with a Mozart setting.

The East Tennessee Catholic 5/11/2008

Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville was filled to capacity as it hosted the city’s first solemn Latin Mass in nearly 40 years April 20.

The Mass in the extraordinary form, as the traditional Latin liturgy is now known, took place as one of the centenary celebrations of the host parish and featured a choir and orchestra performing Mozart’s Coronation Mass setting. Father John Orr celebrated, with Father David Carter serving as deacon and Father Patrick Resen as subdeacon. Holy Ghost pastor Monsignor Xavier Mankel attended in choir. .....

The choir included some 35 to 40 voices representing parishes in all four deaneries in the diocese. A 15-member orchestra joined organist Mary Hendershott in the choir loft. Directing the group was Mary Frazier Garner of St. Therese in Clinton. “It was exhilarating,” she said. “It was very hard to hold back the tears standing in front of all of them.”

Knoxville TLM Success and eye candy

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's coverage at the leading Catholic blog www.wdtprs.com on Knoxville's first solemn Latin Mass on four decades. Includes our posted account with Father Z's emphases and his selection of pictures from our photo gallery.

Will the Real Mass Please Stand Up

Perhaps the best one-page explanation yet of the motu proprio and why it is a gift to the whole church, and not just to Latin Mass devotees. A message from chaplain Fr. John Shramko in the October 2007 issue of Spiritus, a publication of St. Pius X Catholic High School of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. With the headings

Continuity or Rupture?

Why write the motu proprio?

Why the fascination with the Latin or the old Mass?

Old vs. New? Tridentine or Mass of Vatican II? Or Both?

Two forms of the Rite of the Mass
Perhaps the finest of the plethora of episcopal and diocesan statements on Pope Benedict's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. By Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, who recently ordained two priests in a 4-hour solemn pontifical (Tridentine) Latin Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. (Click here for a description of this "Four Hours in Heaven", and here for photos.)

If additional requests of the regular celebration of the extraordinary form of the Rite of the Mass are received, I will work with the parish priests in responding appropriately and generously to the requests. Also, courses of liturgical formation pertaining to the Roman Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII will be provided for priests who desire it. The seminarians at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary will be provided the liturgical formation necessary to celebrate the Mass according to the extraordinary form. Their studies of Latin will also give attention to the texts of the extraordinary form.

In concluding my brief reflections on "Summorum Pontificum," I express, in the name of us all, deepest gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI for providing so richly and well for the worthy and beautiful celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, especially the Holy Mass.

The Latin Mass not cause for contention

The finest secular newspaper article on the Latin Mass yet to appear in a secular newspaper in the wake of the Pope Benedict's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. By Lorraine V. Murray in The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

After all, isn’t a Latin liturgy confusing and unintelligible? And doesn’t the priest show disrespect to the congregation by turning his back toward them during these Masses?

No on both scores: Catholics who cherish tradition find beauty in Latin, which is an unchanging language. And even children follow along at Latin Masses without confusion, since the missals post the vernacular side by side with Latin.

People who favor Mass in their local language are not being asked to give it up. But those who have sat longingly in the pews, missing the powerful liturgy their ancestors enjoyed, now can have their day.

Pope Benedict boosts Latin Mass toward comeback

One of the better individual Catholic responses to the motu proprio, byThomas E. Woods, author of “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.”

Pope Benedict has just shaken up the Catholic world as no pope has since John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962. In his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, the pontiff announced that any priest in the world may offer the traditional rite of Mass, the liturgy of the Catholic Church before the new Mass was introduced after Vatican II. ..... This is a great and generous act of liberalization. When people cherish something so beautiful and hallowed by tradition, ruthlessly denying it to them is the attitude of a fanatic. Granting it to them is a matter of justice and common sense - all the more so when the thing being granted is a priceless jewel of Western civilization.

The Freedom to Love Our Heritage

An eloquent assessment by a prominent Catholic musician of the benefits of the coming Motu Proprio freeing the traditional Latin Mass — not only to those of us who attend it, but to the Church as a whole:

As the Motu Proprio freeing the classical Roman Rite approaches, I'm gaining a greater personal clarity about what it could mean and what its restriction has done to the culture of the Catholic Church. It opens up our history as Catholics in a way that has been sadly and unnecessarily shut off from us for nearly forty years. We are going to be free to learn from the past in ways that we oddly haven't been permitted to do. ..... What the Motu Proprio gives us is the freedom to love and learn from our heritage, openly and without fear. From this, we can expect glorious things to unfold over time, the fruit that comes with a renewed affection for our history, and the blessings that come from feeling part of something much larger than ourselves, and the wisdom and beauty that will unfold from turning to the accumulated experience of the centuries as creating a pathway forward.

Not to be missed; read the whole post (and perhaps also the comments).

The Classical Roman Rite and the Renewal of the Liturgy

Very likely, the finest article of recent years telling why we love the ancient Mass so deeply. And why its restoration is so important to the whole Church:

To close this short talk, I can only tell you at least that the document [the motu proprio freeing the Tridentine Mass] is ready and that the person who is responsible for all of it does not want to discuss it any longer. We have now only to pray that the appropriate time to publish it will be found soon. This will bring about a great strengthening not only of Traditional Latin Mass groups -- it will bring about a renewal of the liturgy, it will bring about a renewal of the clergy, it will bring about a renewal of the beauty of the Church. It will be like seeing your mother all dusty and in rags on the streets; you go up to her and rip off the old dusty clothing and below that you see the golden clothes that she has brought for the most beautiful ball she has ever attended.

And that will be Holy Mother Church with the Traditional Latin Rite liberalized for everyone.

Enthusiastic Catholics clamor for Mass of past

Baltimore Sun article about growing interest in the ancient Tridentine Mass.

Traditional Solemn High Mass at Birmingham Oratory

Eloquent description with beautiful color photos of the 2007 Solemn High Mass of the Epiphany at Birmingham Oratory in England (where our own Fr. Orr has celebrated Mass).