Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury,pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Tridentine Mass

I was fortunate enough today to attend a Tridentine Mass in Canada with a couple of my friends. What a beautiful celebration of the most blessed sacrament of the altar!

I have always been told that the Latin Mass was difficult to follow and that it is hard to feel connected to the Mass when the priest has his back to the congregation. Now that I have experienced this Mass for myself I can say that I felt neither lost nor disconnected. In fact, I felt more connected the Mass than I have in a long time.

I realized what Mass should be about, the Blessed Sacrament. It is not supposed to make one focus on how the choir sounds, what songs are sung, who's wearing what, how are the Lectors, and does the priest 'speak to me'. It is not about how I feel, it is about the most holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, the sacrifice of the altar.

Because it was a High Mass, the congregation participated in the responses, all sung in Latin. I sometimes found myself struggling to keep up in the Latin/English guide, but that made me actually pay attention to what was happening in the Liturgy. There was also a communion rail which I thought was awesome! It allowed us to kneel in front of the most blessed Eucharist and to not feel out of place receiving on the tongue. I was a little bit nervous that I was the only woman without a veil, but then I saw a few others who weren't wearing one. The veils were beautiful, and I am almost tempted to start wearing one myself. The Gregorian Chant choir made the Mass even more beautiful.

I am so happy that I was able to have this experience and I hope to attend many more Tridentine masses in the future. If you ever get a chance to go, I would highly reccommend it!

God Bless!

4 comments:

stocad said...

Nice. I need to get my Motu Proprio on and hit up a licit latin mass asap. Good to hear the Canadians are on the ball ;)

Oh and welcome to the blog-o-sphere.

Molly said...

Dude! Bomb! I'd love to hit a Latin Mass. I'll bet it was especially cool for you, Ms. PM-of-Liturgy, to learn about the faith and the Mass in such a unique and time-honored light.

Unknown said...

Corina-
You rock. I praying for your trip to India.
Mike Mauss

The Herring family said...

What a post. You said it all, Corina.

Definitely linking to it.