More adventures with the Old Rite Mass

Today I attended my second Mass in the Extraordinary Form with the The Confraternity of the Holy Cross. Though I had intended to try and make attendance at these Masses a regular occurrence, for various reasons, I haven't actually managed to make one for almost a year. I include below how attendance at my second mass made me feel. It shows my gross lack of understanding of Mass in the Extraordinary form but I hope that it may prove useful in highlighting some of the difficulties devotees of the rite may come across in reintroducing it to Catholic practice.

In a previous post, I related how my first experience of Mass in the Old Rite left me feeling curious rather than spiritually enriched, especially as I perceived that there was a greater divide between the role of the priest and that of the laity. I felt this to be particularly evident during times of silence when the priest appeared to be performing his tasks for which the laity were irrelevant. [1] On this occasion, this impression was lessened by the fact that the Mass was accompanied by an organ and a choir. I was able to concentrate on the beautiful music and this drew me into the Mass to a degree I had not experienced on my first visit. I even chanced my arm and joined in for the Credo and Sanctus.

As I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing during the periods of silence so this time, I decided to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet as Mass started at 3pm. I was able to concentrate on the chaplet to a greater degree than was usual which was a pleasant surprise and spiritually gratifying.

Though I left Mass feeling slightly more comfortable than last time, I still have more questions than answers. I find it rather odd than the laity can be saying or singing prayers whilst the priest whispers his own at the same time. Likewise, the priest asks for the people's assent to his prayers at various times through out the Mass but for all we know, he could have been thinking about his shopping list or asking to win the lottery.

I definitely need to put some time and effort into understanding what is expected of the priest and the laity during Mass in the Extraordinary form if I am to address the frustrations I experience when I attend it!

[1] http://lucascambrensis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/attending-old-rite-latin-mass.html

Attending an Old Rite Latin Mass

On Sunday July 20th, I attended my first Latin Mass with The Confraternity of the Holy Cross at The Sacred Heart in Morriston, presided over by Father Jason Jones, with a congregation of ten or so.

The Altar

I deliberately did no preparation for the Mass so that I might be better able to gauge the differences and relative accessibility of the different rites. What I have to say here is based solely on my perceptions; I'm sure I'll have Old Rite devotees tearing their hair out so I ask them to forgive me!

In general, I found the experience very interesting though I have to admit that I was surprised that even for someone who has attended the New Rite Mass their whole lives (and very much enjoys that rite in Latin), I was often unsure what the priest was doing and how I was supposed to respond. I was totally reliant on recognisable "anchor points" like the Agnus Dei or elevation of Blessed Sacrament. Alas, my GCSE Latin is even rustier than I thought.

I was also surprised to find out that the old rite uses a different set of readings - I knew the liturgical calendar was different but had assumed the Sunday readings would at least be the same. Come to think of it, I don't think the same first reading, psalm, second reading, Gospel format was used either.

The Role of the Priest

One of the most striking differences I perceived between the two rites is that of the role of priest. Though I know that in essence, the role exactly the same, the difference in how I perceived that role was quite striking. For most of the Mass, I felt that the priest was performing his duties quite separate from the congregation, as if I was looking from without through a window. Only when he turned to address us did I seemed to be pulled into the Mass. It is not something I have ever experienced with the new rite even though I am fully aware of the necessarily differing roles of the priest and the laity. I was also quite surprised that many of the prayers which are said by the whole congregation in the new rite are reserved exclusively for the priest in the old.

The priest also uses a different set of gestures and performs certain prayers from different positions on the sanctuary, the purpose of which I was ignorant.

Silence

The old rite Mass has numerous silent periods which far exceed the duration of those in the new. I find the silent periods in the new rite Mass of critical importance and get exceedingly irritated for example when a hymn is sung immediately after Communion. With the old rite however, I was unsure how to use the periods of silence. Was I supposed to be praying the prayers I thought the priest was praying or was I free to pray as I wished?

It's Mass Jim, but not as I know it

My overriding impression from attending Mass with the Confraternity of the Holy Cross is that unless one is fluent in Latin, it is imperative to do some research before attending an old rite Mass in order to better understand and pray it. As such, it may be a greater barrier to an "average non-Catholic Joe" who walked off the street compared to the new rite.

I came away from The Sacred Heart more intrigued and curious than spirituality uplifted but I hope that curiosity will eventually lead to spiritual reward as I learn more about what many people insist is a gem of Church tradition.

The "New" Rite Mass: The Source of all evils?

Fellow compatriot Ragazza Gallese's most recent blog post [1] offers a lot of food for thought regarding the the relationship between good theology, catechisis and liturgical practice. In it, she exasperates that she is "sick to the back teeth of hearing people complain about clergy who turned (and continue to turn) a blind eye to abortion, contraception, cohabitation, divorce" but still "still regularly (and freely) attend a mass where [there] is ... clapping, ... singing of various dodgy hymns, Communion on the hand, immodest clothing worn by young (and some not so young) girls, ... no catechesis, where the priest celebrates mass with his back to the Blessed Sacrament, .. where lay people distribute Holy Communion as if they were themselves priests, where said lay people then stand around a table and drink what is left of the Precious Blood as if they were finishing off the last dregs of a pint, where confession is rarely available and where the Sanctuary (and indeed the whole church) has been stripped bare of anything that might remind you of the Holy Sacrifice".

I sympathise with much of what she has to say post but am alarmed by the prospect of creating a two tier church of "us and them", a profoundly un-Catholic concept for a Universal Church. I am well aware that there is a de facto split in the Church, largely centred around issues of morality, but allowing these differences to be entrenched in parish life will eventually lead to schism. I could never be an Anglican because accepting diametrically opposed theology makes absolutely no sense.

From my experience, orthodoxy and reverence are in no way intrinsically opposed to Mass in the New Rite. I accept that liturgical malpractice has proliferated under the reformed liturgy but it is disingenuous to suggest that they never occurred under the Old Rite. It is not beyond the realms of plausibility to suggest that it is the lack of belief and true understanding of the Mass that is responsible for the liturgical abuses - I'm quite sure if Rome decreed that every Mass should take place under the Old Rite then liturgical abuse would continue to take place.

One's own soul must take precedence in matters of salvation as one is unlikely to effect the salvation of others if one is in danger of losing Faith. If such a scenario were to arise over the type of Mass at one's local parish then finding a new parish would certainly be warranted. For those of us not in such a situation, if we want to effect change in the Church and promote a more appropriate liturgy which greater reflects the splendour and glory of what actually takes places at every Mass (reverent or irreverent thank God! [2]), then we need to be in our parishes, working for change. 

I suspect that poor catechesis for both priest and laity alike are at the root of these liturgical abuses. It would be impossible to perform poor liturgy if one has a true understanding of what take place at every Mass and this is where those who have received such a grace can help their fellow parishioners. After all, deliberate liturgical abuse is tantamount to "eating the bread", or "drinking the chalice of the Lord" unworthily, a sin which incurs the most grievous guilt of the body and of the blood of the Lord. To be truly culpable of such a sin is grave indeed. Without wishing to be condescending, those with greater depth of understanding regarding the Mass have a duty to help those who do not. If you are interested in developing your understanding of the Mass, I recommend starting with "What Happens at Mass" by Jeremy Driscoll OSB [3]. It's a short and very readable book, which is quite profound in its simplicity.

Speaking mainly as a thirty-something-singleton, I don't know where Ragazza Gallese's opinions on liturgy have been formed but perhaps she too feels left rather bereft by life as a Catholic in Wales. I regularly attend Mass in either one of two local parishes and, while I am thankful for two priests of excellent but different charisms, I cannot shake the feeling that we are rather impoverished in terms of cultural life when compared to some of the parishes I have attending when visiting friends in England. In this however I truly am to blame because I am not making any effort to affect change, nor have I gone out of my way to look for opportunities to support my Faith. Perhaps it's time I made a start...

Addendum 
In thinking more about the issues raised here, I was reminded of letter XVI in C.S. Lewis's Screwtape letters. There the erstwhile demon writes to his diabolical nephew:

Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that "suits" him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.

... The parochial organisation should always be attacked, because, being a unity of place and not of likings, it brings people of different classes and psychology together in the kind of unity the Enemy desires. The congregational principle, on the other hand, makes each church into a kind of club, and finally, if all goes well, into a coterie or faction.

I have already written a little about my university experiences and how liturgy became a divisive topic in Oxford [4] and the final statement from Screwtape describes the results perfectly - certain individuals used the Church and the liturgy to develop their own exclusive club from which they could condescendingly regard those who were not part of it. I am not suggesting that this is the ultimate end for all those who start down the path but it is at least a possible destination. It is a temptation to which I have been guilty of indulging in the past, as I felt a certain superiority to liberal Catholics or Protestants. Thankfully, my University experience forced me to venture outside of the artificial bubble of orthodoxy to which I belonged and I met individuals in whom the Holy Spirit was clearly at work, even though I sometimes  had profound disagreements with their opinions on particular issues. I hope those experiences have remedied that fault in my character - one down and many more to go!

[1] http://ragazzagallese.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/do-you-know-the-blog-post-here-comes-the-rant/
[2] http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/what-does-the-expression-ex-opere-operato-mean
[3] http://www.acnuk.org/products.php/70/what-happens-at-mass
[4] http://lucascambrensis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/liturgical-wars.html