Traditional Latin Mass
When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Road
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."
Comments
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Ragingbear (anonymous) says…
Yep. Have sermons in Latin. Keep the masses dumb by preaching in a dead language. Why don't we bring back the Inquisition while we are at it?
deec (anonymous) says…
Yup, as a recovering catholic I remember the good old days...being forced to sit still for 1 1/2 hours in prickly Sunday clothes while some old guy in a dress stood with his back to you babbling in a foreign language. Sure was spiritually uplifting to a little kid, all right....
End sarcasm
senegal66025 (anonymous) says…
To Ragingbear. I hope they do bring the inquisition back and you will one of the first customers. As for the Latin Mass its beautiful but I like the contemporary mass at St Johns at 5:00 Sunday. We have drums, piano, and great choir and the place rocks.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
"Illegitimo non carborundum"
... Marion may be supportive of a return to Latin, but I say: "don't let the bastards grind you down."
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
As for the Latin Mass its beautiful but I like the contemporary mass at St Johns at 5:00 Sunday. We have drums, piano, and great choir and the place rocks.
... congas, maracas, timbales... the guiro....
none2 (anonymous) says…
There have been some updates in the Latin mass. For instance to make it more palatable to US culture they have changed:
Agnus Dei
to:
Angus Dei
KansasPerson (anonymous) says…
Ragingbear said:
"Yep. Have sermons in Latin."
The article he or she was raging about said:
"Though much of the service is said in Latin, the hymns and homily are in English."
(For your information, what you refer to as a "sermon" is called a "homily" in the context of the Mass.)
Ragingbear also said:
"Keep the masses dumb by preaching in a dead language."
The article said:
"The congregation has a translated copy of the Latin portions of the service, to explain what's being said."
And now KansasPerson says:
Once again, I suggest a refresher course in reading comprehension.
Not to mention (for several of you) simple lessons in manners. I know that's soooooo last century of me, after all this is the Internet and you can all say whatever you want! But even as an anonymous poster, I wouldn't have the lack of upbringing required to make hurtful, hate-filled comments on the beliefs and customs of others, even if I didn't hold them myself.
Ragingbear (anonymous) says…
Kansasperson, talking about how he's not going "down to our level" by attacking a singular person.
And people. Come on. I'm ragingbear. After 1500 post, you should know what to expect.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
"Atque memento, nulli adsunt Romanorum qui locutionem tuam corrigant."
Sola lingua bona est lingua mortua.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
Certe, toto, sentio nos in kansate non iam adesse....
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
toto: Latro! Fremo!
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
Wow, nothing seems to shut down a forum faster than a litany of Latin.
( Dog Latin, at that. )
One has to wonder about its long-term Mass appeal....
deec (anonymous) says…
Having written translations don't do much good if you are too young to know how to read!
denak (anonymous) says…
Wow it didn't take all the haters who love to do nothing more than act superior and crap all over religion to jump on this topic.
Personally, I think the idea of a Latin Mass is charming but for most of my generation (those who grew up after Vatican II), the Latin Mass wouldn't mean much to us. The reason for saying the Mass in the vernacular was so that the Mass wouldn't be so foreign to people and I think that that idea was worthy then and is worthy now. For those who want to change the Mass back, I think they will find out that most people do not want it in Latin and I would think that one would be hard pressed to find enough priests who can even say the Mass in Latin.
However, it would have been nice had I learned Latin in school. I went through 12 years of school and I think it would have done a world of good for us to have at least learned Latin so that are educatino would have been furthered.
The beauty of the Mass is found in the rituals and the congregation and the fact that it flows the same way at every Mass. I have been to a Mass in Spanish, Japanese and Korean, in my life, and it was a nice. It is nice to think that all of those people were able to understand what was being said and were able to worship as a cohesive community because they knew the language and the Mass.
Dena
deec (anonymous) says…
"...almost 3/4 of the worlds languages are Latin based. For the most part, basically Arabs, Africans and Asians-the lions share of third worlders are not Latin based. What's that tell you?"
What that tells me is that the overwhelming majority of the world's population does not speak Latin-based languages. What's your point?
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
"Wow it didn't take all the haters who love to do nothing more than act superior and crap all over religion to jump on this topic."
Non est mea culpa. Valui ad satanam in computatrum meum invocandum.
Ragingbear (anonymous) says…
Omellete du fromage.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est.
none2 (anonymous) says…
denak (Anonymous) says:
"Wow it didn't take all the haters who love to do nothing more than act superior and crap all over religion to jump on this topic..."
=========================
I count ragingbear, deec, & max1 as having rather bitter comments. Three hardly constitutes all the hateful people who post on the LJWorld. Had the subject been something like gays, war in Iraq then the discussion would have been oozing with hateful comments.
denak (Anonymous) says:
"...For those who want to change the Mass back, I think they will find out that most people do not want it in Latin and I would think that one would be hard pressed to find enough priests who can even say the Mass in Latin..."
=========================
I would agree with you. If you want to hear a Latin mass, I understand that the break-off group (The Society of St. Pius X) which has members in St Mary's Kansas (just west of Topeka about 20 miles) say the mass only in Latin. I have stopped in St Mary's a few times, and have been tempted to attend just to experience it. However, I was never there at the right time. I must admit I was kind of shocked as to how backwards their thinking was from the brochures they have. They had a pamphlet for women saying how they need to dress like Mary. Personally I feel that if a man is tempted because he sees a woman's elbow, neck, or knees, then he probably has some weird fetish that more cloth won't cure. On the positive side, at least they weren't asking for women to wear the equivalent of a burka.
denak (Anonymous) says:
"...it would have done a world of good for us to have at least learned Latin so that are education would have been furthered..."
=========================
I'm totally in agreement. When I studied French I learned more about English. Had I studied Latin first, perhaps French would have been easier. Likewise, then maybe the other romance languages wouldn't have seemed so foreign. From a religion standpoint, I think it would also help to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
deec (anonymous) says…
Wrong. Indo-European languages are #4.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
Indo-European ("Romance" languages) aren't even spoken by the majority of the world's population:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
Care to post some more lie-based insults?
curmudgeonkc (anonymous) says…
The delightful thing about all this is, simply ... that we backwards people in shabby suits, who "make" our wives cover their heads in church, who put ties on our boys, who dress our little girls in skirts like...little girls, who listen to a priest mumble to the wall in Latin . . . we will win.
While the unchurched and the "modernized" Catholics contracept most of their children away and lose the rest to the culture they've allowed into their homes via the TV, the traditional Latin Mass Catholics are breeding quite prolifically, and they're bringing their children up to be counter-cultural. The granolas and free spirits in Lawrence aren't counter-cultural or cool anymore; they're blah-zay, decades out of date, and oh-so-establishment. Now WE are the new counter-culture.
Waa haaa haa haa!
curmudgeonkc (anonymous) says…
The delightful thing about all this is, simply ... that we backwards people in shabby suits, who "make" our wives cover their heads in church, who put ties on our boys, who dress our little girls in skirts like...little girls, who listen to a priest mumble to the wall in Latin . . . we will win. The battle will be fought over generations, and over the generations, we'll win. The counter-revolution will be a demographic war.
While the unchurched and the "modernized" Catholics contracept most of their children away and lose the rest to the culture they've allowed into their homes via the TV, the traditional Latin Mass Catholics are breeding quite prolifically, and they're bringing their children up to be counter-cultural. The granolas and free spirits in Lawrence aren't counter-cultural or cool anymore; they're blah-zay, decades out of date, and oh-so-establishment. Now WE are the new counter-culture.
Waa haaa haa haa!