For Cecilia Bogowith, Latin isn’t a dead language – in fact, it helps to keep her spiritually alive.

Bogowith, a Kansas University master’s student, is organist for a Kansas City Catholic church that worships using a traditional Latin Mass. She favors it over the more commonly celebrated English Mass.

“There’s a beauty, a reverence and a history to it,” Bogowith says. “There is deep meaning in the rituals, and a lot of that is lost in the new Mass.”

Catholics in Lawrence will have a chance to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass in their own town this weekend. The Rev. Denis Buchholz of the Institute of Christ the King in Kansas City, Mo., will celebrate a Latin Mass at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Road.

The Mass represents a shift in the Catholic Church, which performed Masses in Latin – also known as Tridentine Masses – until 1970. At that point, the Vatican decided to begin translating the Mass into vernacular languages for services around the world.

Though Latin Masses weren’t forbidden – in fact, several orders of priests only perform Masses in Latin – they weren’t particularly encouraged, either.

A directive issued earlier this year by Pope Benedict XVI changed that. Previously, parishioners had to petition their bishop if they wanted a traditional Latin Mass at their parish. Now, they only have to ask permission from their own priest.

That’s exactly what a group of parishioners at the St. Lawrence Center did, and the director, the Rev. Steven Beseau, not only allowed the Mass, he’ll deliver the homily.

‘Transcendent’ mass

Bogowith says the timing is perfect to revive the old Latin Mass. Many in younger generations, she says, weren’t around when the decision to switch from Latin to vernacular languages divided the church in the 1960s.

“I think what’s happening now is we finally have a generation that is not caught up with the arguments and the emotional angst that went into a lot of this stuff in the 1960s,” she says. “People of my generation can be a little more unbiased.”

Though much of the service is said in Latin, the hymns and homily are in English. The congregation has a translated copy of the Latin portions of the service, to explain what’s being said.

Also, the priest faces the altar – the same direction as the congregation -which is different from newer services.

“It’s certainly more of a transcendent experience,” Beseau says. “There’s something mysterious, a greater contact with the divine in the traditional Latin Mass. That’s not to say that doesn’t happen in the new Mass, but the focus is more about a community gathered and not on God.”

Beseau says the Mass may become a regular occurrence, if there’s enough interest.

“Most older people have an aversion to the Latin Mass. They see it as a reversion to their childhood,” Beseau says. “Young people are very open to it. They’re very curious.”

Catholic ‘renaissance’

Paul Scott is among those who are excited to have a traditional Latin Mass offered in Lawrence.

The KU assistant professor of French and Italian drives to Kansas City for Latin Masses each week.

“People go to the Mass for a spiritual experience,” says Scott, who helped organize Sunday’s Mass. “It’s not the same type of music they hear in their daily lives.”

Scott says Catholics are looking for something to come together about, and he thinks the traditional Latin Mass just might be that something.

“There is a renaissance at the moment,” he says. “There’s a huge crisis in the Catholic Church. There’s the problem with vocation. There’s the terrible problem with clergy sexual abuse. There are churches closing. People are very aware of the problems.”

He says the aesthetic quality of the traditional Latin Mass is something most Catholics can relate to – especially if they decide to learn about what is being said later.

“It’s like the first time you meet a beautiful woman or a beautiful man, and you’re attracted,” Scott says. “Then, you get to know them better. It’s the same way with the Mass.”