The Latin Mass

[Erik]

These are just some thoughts that occurred to me after I attended another German Mass-

I noticed how much more I was paying attention to the words and the meaning behind them when praying in a language that wasn't native to me (you can probably see where I'm going with this...). Of course, I had a study of the grammar so I knew how to recognize when something was a command, what case it is in, etc and it made the prayers somehow more meaningful (unrelated side note- Germans use the informal/familiar form [the "du" form, it's called] when speaking to God, as opposed to English how we oftentimes use outdated Elizabethan usage).

So my thoughts led to this- perhaps this is why (and I'm a "liberal's liberal" on this one) that Catholics before Vatican II seemed more spiritual, because they were praying in a language that wasn't their own. Of course, I'm probably speaking anachronisticly- maybe Catholics weren't more spiritual and, undoubtedly, a majority of them did not have an education in the Latin language. But maybe it made it more meaningful.

Just my thoughts.....maybe this sensation wears off over time as I go to more German Masses :P

[Joseph the Worker]

I think it depends on the person. Some people were probably able to be very spiritual in a Latin mass (and still are today) but some people were obviously lost and sat in their pews praying the rosary the whole time with very little actual mental participation in the mass while it was going on.

[cvbreno]

I understand -- over the past year I have attended Masses in Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, German, and Latin. I love the fact that I can follow along with everything (except maybe the scripture readings and homily). Honestly, I love the Tridentine Latin Mass, but I wouldn't want to have it all the time. I actually prefer the new Mass, IF it is done reverently and properly, with the priest singing his prayers and the congregation singing their responses. Unfortunately, that seems fairly rare in the US, especially out here in the West. I would love to have some prayers and music in Latin and some in English, just because it helps to focus the mind and because it seems beautiful and reverent. When praying the Rosary, I usually alternate saying each decade in English and Latin for the same reason.

My $0.02 on English: I think the Elizabethan "thee" and "thou" were familiar second person pronouns -- as opposed to the more formal "you". They fell out of use in common speech but remained in use for poetry, prayer, and scripture, partly because of the popularity of the King James Bible and partly because of the poetic beauty and utility of that familiar second person form. Having been raised to use these forms in prayer, I thought thee and thou sounded kind of silly and gave them up in the 1970s, about the same time we all in the CoC switched from KJV to NIV Bibles. However, I admit I sometimes I still miss the sound of them.

My kids read a lot and are familiar with these archaic forms. They think it's preposterous that most people find thee, thou, and the corresponding archaic verb forms (wert, art, wast, etc.) are so hard to understand. It's kind of the same thing with Latin, as well as chant music. People really didn't have much of a problem with understanding it when they were raised with it and learned it. We sing in an independentLatin choir for several parishes around the diocese. We usually hand out the psalm responses, kyrie, etc. in chant notation, and find that most people can sing along just fine with 5 minutes of practice. My 13 year old daughter is in the district-wide honor choir, and had to help the director with the correct pronounciation of "Domine, Fili unigenite", LOL.

[mllevaleur]

I know what you mean about paying more attention when something is in another language, or maybe just noticing certain things that you don't in English!

I tend to agree with Joseph that there was probably a mix. I do think preserving the Latin helps with some translation issues, especially when there are nuances in Latin that aren't translated well into English, etc.

I also agree with Chris that I'd prefer a good mix of vernacular and Latin...it's a good thing for people to know their Latin prayers and such, but I do love a reverent Ordinary Form mass, and we're lucky to have just that at my parish! Sometimes they'll even sing the Sanctus in Latin, we often sing the Agnus Dei in Latin and of course the Kyrie in Greek.