Friday 21 June 2013

What the Traditional Mass Did With Me

Having converted to the Faith some 33 years ago all I ever knew was the Novus Ordo. I had been well instructed, so I knew the Mass to be the Sacrifice of Calvary re-present-ed, and I knew the Holy Eucharist to be the Lord Himself, but I had never even heard of another form of Mass until a lady in our congregation asked me to go with her to a local hotel where the ‘old Low Mass’ was being celebrated in conjunction with the SSPX. It was certainly different and was more demanding: we were not led by the hand via constant dialogue. Not until I entered seminary did I discover the liturgy (and therefore the Mass) was used as a kind of flag-waving exercise (surely an odious attitude). I discovered it only having been allocated my ‘group’ (seminarians from each year being placed in ‘groups’ led by a faculty member). Each of these groups took it in turns to arrange and serve the liturgy for one week, some taking the opportunity to use Missa De Angelis; others to sing ditties. In this the liturgy became a kind of political focus rather than a purely spiritual event.
From first year onwards until my after ordination I was given the opportunity to work with the Day Pilgrim service in Lourdes. While there I saw the kind of ‘Youth Mass’ that was planned like a performance and which turned me off doing anything outside the rubrics. Of course I had to celebrate school Masses where they played pop songs or skits performed for the Gospel. I was never at ease with such things but thought that as a curate (assistant priest) I had no real say in what would be done. When I was appointed a Parish Priest (Pastor) for the first time some 12 years ago I ensured that we engaged the youngsters by having them introduce the Mass, proclaim the readings, lead the General Intercessions and provide the music. We kept mimes and pop music until Mass had ended or for paraliturgies.
Then, about ten years ago now, a priest friend asked me to celebrate his Traditional Mass while he was away on holiday. I worked hard over two weeks to study the rubrics (I still made mistakes the first few times) and discovered the Mass a-new. I was aware that this was the Rite known to St Dominic, St Francis, St Ignatius, St Alphonsus, St Gregory and to my favourite Popes, St Pius X and Pius XII. I suddenly felt a deep need to be personally holy in order to celebrate such a venerable Rite.
Now it is not that the Holy Sacrifice is less holy or requires less reverence in the Novus Ordo, but that I did not experience that requirement since it was celebrated it with folk-style music, laughter, applause etc. Beneath these the sense of the sacred seemed all but lost. We were trying to engage the people it is true, but we were doing so by mere activity rather than active contemplation (I thus became very uncomfortable with concelebrated Masses because I never knew with what I would be presented). A major awakening occurred for me when I came to celebrate the Traditional Rite: we were singing the Mass, not singing at Mass, and it was not the kind of music I would hear on the radio. The chant had an altogether different, even ethereal quality, and was sung in a language that united all people in every land at every time in one common voice of praise. From its very opening, the Traditional Rite did not seem open to a loss of the sense of the sacred: I was, even before approaching the altar, asking God ‘who gives joy to my youth’ to send forth His light and His truth; I was encouraging myself:  ‘why groan within’; ‘hope in Him, my Saviour and my God’; I was asking Him ‘have mercy’, to ‘grant absolution and remission of our sin’. It occurred to me that in the Novus Ordo I approach the altar as if by right rather than by grace. It also occurred to me that I could ‘rest’ in the Traditional Rite -I no longer had to be careful of facial expressions or tone of voice, for I was facing the Lord and ‘whispering the sacred words into his ear’. I was learning here that I could not only reverence the Eucharist Itself, but the liturgy; the clothing with dressed and presented.

The most profound effect of learning the Traditional Rite was not that it brought me to offer every Mass well, which it did, but that knowing this was the Rite loved by the saints of the centuries, defended by the martyrs and hallowed by time, it seem to require me to seek a new depth of holiness which, though I daily fail, I yet strive to achieve by making gains in patience, humility, generosity, industry and courage.

12 comments:

  1. Absolutely gorgeous post.
    Thank you for your wonderful reflection.
    Joseph

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Joseph. Please say a prayer that I achieve my goals!

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  2. wonderful post! Very inspiring and reminded me why I go to the trouble of celebrating la Messe du toujours despite the opprobrium it brings.

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    1. Thanks, Father.

      I think celebrating the Traditional Mass brings a kind of mini-martyrdom to priests who celebrate it today -don't you?

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  3. Thank you father for the post! I am fortunate here in California to have access to a FSSP parish with three young and very dedicated and inspiring priests. And I'm inspired by your blog--thank you!

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    1. Thank you for your comment.
      You are indeed fortunate to have such a parish.
      As for an inspiring blog, I would much rather be an inspiring priest by fully assimilating the virtues I note in the last line of the post. Thank you, though, since if we waited for the perfect man before we had preachers, the Gospel would never have been preached post-Ascension...

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  4. Just back from holiday (again) so please forgive the delay. I totally agree with you Father but not only does the priest gain from the EF but (just as importantly) so does the congregation. In the OF (I find) I watch for slight changes which occur because of the different variations & whilst on holiday abroad these slight alterations can completely 'throw' visitors when trying to follow the Mass. I recall shortly after Vatican II a senior diocesan cleric calling such arguments "The Cook's Tour Syndrome" & yet even moreso now that we travel more it becomes more important to have a Mass which is recognisable throughout the world & thus proclaims the universality of our Faith.

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    1. Thanks for the comment.

      The ordinary Form does have rubrics though, and I think if these were followed there would not be so much variation around the place. Even so, it does not hold for me the same demands as does the EF -or for the congregation, who must learn to pray in silence rather than be led by the hand via constant dialogue. That said, I do feel the 'Dialogue Mass' has a real place in celebrations of the EF, especially for the prayers at the foot of the altar and the dialogue before the preface. I know this is not to everyone's taste. Similarly, I think the silent canon should be required in both the OF and EF forms of the Mass.

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    2. I attend Mass of all the ages every Sunday albeit with a bit of travelling involved however during the week I go to my own parish where only Novus Ordo is available. When attending Mass in my own parish I use my 1962 missal and say Mass as best I can using my missal in conjunction with the N.O. Mass. I feel awkward but the spiritual benefit i gain makes up for any feelings of discomfort on my part

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    3. Thanks for your comment, Patrick.
      I'm glad you can attend the TLM on Sundays.
      I know a number of people who read their TLM missal while at a NO. I understand that, but I encourage them to read the TLM Mass through before the NO begins, as a sort of prepartion for Mass, so that they are fully involved with the NO liturgy at which they are present. To allow for this it seems to me that the celebrant ought to conform to the NO rubrics because if he deviates from them and ad libs texts etc., it can disrupt the attention of those who are struggling to do their best at the NO. God bless you for doing your best, Patrick.

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  5. Father,

    You said: "I think celebrating the Traditional Mass brings a kind of mini-martyrdom to priests who celebrate it today -don't you?"

    From the point of view of a layman I think that having to attend the NOM when there is no TLM available is a kind of mini-martyrdom to laypeople who attend it. Priests are fortunate in that they can celebrate the Mass of their choice: lay people just have to sit in the pews and suffer what is put in front of them.

    I think it best if I remain anonymous on this one.

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    1. Thanks for your comment.
      Yes, I'm sure that for many laity who prefer the TLM attending NO Masses can be a trial -it misses so many ancient prayers and as such can seem 'empty'. It only adds to the difficulty when the NO is celebrated badly. But priests are not always at liberty to celebrate the TLM -the readiness of the people in the parish and the openness of our fellow clergy are factors to be considered as to when and how it can be introduced to a parish. We do though, have the benefit of being able to celebrate the NO without deviations from the text and ad orientem.

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