Today I went to a Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (also known as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”) It was a Missa Cantata, or “Sung Mass.”

I had some idea of what to expect; I had gone to one (also a “Missa Cantata”) before, perhaps 15 years ago. I had no clue then as to what was going on. This time I was better informed from prior study.

I loved it, although I still didn’t quite understand everything. My knowledge of Latin is about what you’d expect: my only sources of it are EWTN Masses and Looney Tunes cartoons. 😉

Adding to my lack of adequate comprehension was that much of the Mass is silent; the priest says most of what he says quietly, unlike the Ordinary Form of the Mass (the one you’re used to.) I tried to follow along in a missal the parish had but was largely unsuccessful. I had been advised by numerous people that I should dispense with using a missal for the first few times I attend an EF Mass; I should just “experience it,” to “take it all in” and basically treat it (at first) like a devotional, such as a Holy Hour. Then, once more familiar with the whole event from just observing, find a missal and follow along. So, for the next few times I go I will ignore the missal.

The priest is offering the sacrifice on behalf of the people; we observe and unite our prayers to his. The offering of the Mass is between him and God, we are present but in a less participatory role than in the OF. I may have said this with less than precise terminology. If in error, I will accept charitable correction. But this is what I believe I’ve gleaned from my study and observation. The Mass is a sacrifice, the priest offers it, we observe. The OF Mass has altered this understanding, and I think the manner in which it was done has been detrimental to contemporary Catholicism. The emphasis seems to have shifted from worshiping God to the Mass being some sort of communal celebration about us.

Anyway, it was a transcendental experience; despite my newness to it I sensed that something was different, something otherwordly was taking place. A kind of awesome mystery. I felt completely detached from the outside world, something that rarely ever happens to me at an Ordinary Form Mass. I can just imagine the experience after I am more familiar with it.

This is the “Mass of the Ages,” the Mass the Catholic Church celebrated for centuries prior to Vatican II. I felt somehow connected to those who had celebrated it before… not just ordinary priests and laity, but saints. This is the Mass that St. Maximilian Kolbe offered.

They say that Vatican II created a rupture in the continuity of tradition between the contemporary Church and the one of ages past. I will not comment on that but it is apparent that we lost a lot. Although I will not become bitter, angry and resentful over “what we lost,” for I well know what those emotions can lead to, I will develop a much greater interest in the liturgy and its importance in life. I already have to some great degree taken the liturgy to be something more than something done on Sundays or how you pray. I do live a fairly liturgical life: from taking a keen interest in the liturgical seasons and deriving a personal connection or life application from them to praying the Divine Office. The liturgical year contributes to the ebb and flow of my life, almost like the temporal seasons and their connection to growing things.

I will be attending the Mass in both forms. My wife shows little interest in the EF. That’s all right. I like a good OF Mass said with due and proper attention to the rubrics. (The OF lends itself to abuse.)

I will blog about this more over the coming weeks.

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