Today I attended the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite for the very first time. I'd wanted to go for a while, and never managed it. Luckily, however, the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest has an oratory site in Green Bay and celebrates both High and Low Masses every single Sunday. Mindy, Jason, and I went along, and I'm still processing, but I have some observations:
- Having been interested in Latin Mass for some time, I've done my research, so I knew a bit what to expect and felt comfortable most of the time. I didn't have a missal with all the prayers, but I had my Handbook which contains the text of the Ordinary Form in both Latin and English as well as collects and Prefaces for each Sunday, so followed along as best I could. I didn't find it daunting to not know exactly what the priest and altar boys were saying. I knew the basics, and that was enough to foster an atmosphere of prayer.
- I loved loved loved that the people there were really dressed in their Sunday Best. Many men wore suits. Most wore, at the very least, nice shirts and ties. Women were all in skirts and dresses of modest length (ie, knee-length or longer). Shoulders were covered. No tank tops, shorts, jeans, stiletto heels. Even little children were in "nicer" clothes.
- The importance of Confession was obvious. Not only did the priest remind us all in his homily the requirements for receiving Communion worthily, but the line to the confessional was long both before and during Mass.
- Of the perhaps 150-200 people present, less than 50 had grey hair. That is to say, the vast majority of people there were my age or close to it, young families in their 20s to their early 40s, usually with many beautiful children. The children were squirmy sometimes, but it didn't seem to bother anyone. And those old enough to receive Communion and serve at the altar knew how to behave.
- Speaking of altar boys, holy Moses! There were ten of them. I've since learned they have a variety of jobs, from the master of ceremonies (who looked about 17 and did the most "work") to the candle bearers (couldn't have been more than 8. Precious). Every Sunday for High Mass they have this many boys serving, and judging from the calendar of liturgical ministers in the bulletin, there is a veritable army of them waiting to serve. Amazing.
- I loved being able to receive Jesus kneeling on the tongue! That is my preferred way to receive, and I so seldom get the chance it was a wonderful treat. I feel so much more passive and receptive to the Lord when I'm not dealing with worries about being too tall to receive on the tongue standing or irreverence by receiving in the hand. And the lovely gold paten the server used put at ease any worries I had about anyone dropping the Host (that happened to me once when I received standing, and I was horrified but lucky enough to catch just in time. With the paten there are no such worries)
Overall, I enjoyed the Extraordinary Form, although I don't think I'll become an regular Trid myself. But it's important to remember that regardless of my feelings, the Holy Mass is not intended to be enjoyed. My opinions and feelings, both positive or negative, matter not a whit to the validity of the Sacrifice.
I'm so thankful for Papa B's Summorum Pontificum!
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this Maggie. Can I ask why you don't think you will continue at the Oratory? Were there things you didn't like about the experience?
Hi Matt, thanks for stopping by!
I really did love the Extraordinary Form, and would go again (in fact I am bringing my Confirmation students there for a field trip later this year so they can experience what the Mass was like in their grandparents' day... and learn a thing or five about reverence!) However think my hesitance to become a regular EF Mass goer is three fold: logistical, evangelical, and musical.
Since I'm a youth minister, I'm usually at the parish in which I work at least two Sundays out of four for events and relational ministry with families before/after Mass. It's 45 minutes to get to Green Bay, and while I know that many people drive much farther for the EF, the timing wouldn't work out for me more than once a month. I usually attend our Diocese's beautiful Cathedral on Sundays I'm not working, where the priest is a young, orthodox rockstar.
Evangelically, I am torn about the EF. I love it because of the beauty, the reverence, and its otherworldiness (the focus is on God and Heaven, not on us, as it should be!). However, I'm a convert from an Evangelical background, and I remember the first time I went to Mass six years ago (Ordinary Form, but reverently celebrated by a staunch say-the-black-do-the-red fellow). While today, four years into my Catholic faith, I find the EF extraordinary indeed and a way to enter into deep prayer and experience the Mass, my Protestant self would not have felt the same way had I wandered into an EF Mass first.
Since I see such a deep need to evangelize fallen-away Catholics and our separated brethren, I'm not sure becoming a regular part of the small EF community would be a way to do that. Maybe I'm mistaken; that's just my perception. Because it's usually celebrated in the vernacular, the OF is easier for new Mass goes (or returning ones!) to appreciate and follow.
I will, however, concede a point my friend Mindy made after we attended EF that day: the EF expects that you will know what's going on and doesn't coddle anyone. It's not difficult to follow the Missal and pay attention, and if you get lost it's kind of your own fault for not keeping up (ie, EF treats you like an adult). In the OF, there is so much happening- congregational responses, sign of peace, etc - that it's almost as though the liturgy's goal is to keep people engaged by changing every five minutes, much the way my lesson plans for seven year olds cater to their short attention spans. But I will say that, as confused as I was when I first attended OF Mass as a Protestant, I knew what was going on because of the vernacular and responses.
(continued below... my loquaciousness can't be contained by blogger's silly character limit, especially with all the HTML markup!)
Finally, and least importantly, I'm a musician who loves to worship God in song (reverent, liturgically-appropriate song, that is, not wishy-washy fluff that makes of 70% of hymnals published between the 70s & late 90s).
I know that as a regular EF person I could join the schola (which in Green Bay is a women's schola, so far as I remember, rather than a men's). I do love singing in Latin, and singing traditional hymns. But I know I won't be at the EF regularly enough to do that, so I'm loathe to give up what I love, which is singing in an OF Mass, whether in the choir or the congregation.
(yes, I know, "be still and know that I am God..." and that I don't *need* to sing to "participate," but it's just a matter of taste, not very important)
Who knows what will happen in time? I am thankful that the EF exists and is growing thanks to Summorum Pontificum, but I also love the OF when it is celebrated properly without any added claptrap.
Thankfully as the hippies who introduced things like clapping, liturgical dance, and other such nonsense age and retire, the OF Mass, especially with the corrected Missal translation, will continue to be a place of liturgical renewal, and thus avenues that point us to heaven.
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