I’ve been following Dr. Taylor Marshall on youtube for about a month now. He is a traditional Catholic. I’ve been enjoying his videos. He knows a lot about the Catholic Church. He is not afraid to speak about the problems in the Church. But he is also good at encouraging us in our faith.
I’ve been wanting to learn more about the Latin Mass because I have friends that drive quite the distance to go to one. I hear that people are willing to drive an hour or two to go to a Latin Mass. It leaves me wondering what is so amazing about it that people are willing to go so far when they live just a few minutes away from the regular Mass.
I watched a couple videos talking about the Latin Mass and realized that there is a lot of deep symbolism in it. There are quite a few prayers that were changed or taken out of the new Mass. There are some things that are a part of the High Latin Mass such as sprinkling of holy water and incense that we only have once or twice a year in the new Mass.
Last Sunday we were sick so we stayed home from Mass. I used the opportunity to watch a High Latin Mass online. It was beautiful. But I still wanted to experience it myself.
Today I was able to attend a High Latin Mass about an hour away from my home. It was absolutely beautiful. I was so moved by it that I cried towards the end.
First, there was quite a few families there. Lots of children. The majority of people weren’t wearing masks. This made me feel comfortable and was such a relief. I’ve been having a hard time with wearing a mask at church for the past few months. I’ve been getting used to physically wearing the mask. But I still feel the emotional and spiritual effects of the mask.
The Mass was beautiful. I didn’t understand most of it. But I did recognize when the choir started singing “Sancta Maria, Mater Dei” (Holy Mary, Mother of God) at one point. There was beauty and significance in hearing the Mass in the language that most of the world for most of history used in Mass.
The homily was in English. It was about suffering. God uses suffering to correct us and bring us to Him. Often we suffer because God loves us, not because of His wrath. I have seen this in my own life. I’ve been through some sorrowful times but I’m thankful for them now because God has molded me into a better person.
Then it came time for the Eucharist. Not having a mask on was wonderful. I was able focus on receiving Christ instead of taking my mask on and off quickly. I was able to receive by the mouth which is the way that I prefer receiving and always have except for this year (and the very first communion which I received by the hand.)
Receiving Christ by the mouth while kneeling made me weep. I had been missing this for months. I had been missing celebrating Christ without being distracted. I had missed being able to be in Mass where faith was put in front of social distancing and masking. I had missed seeing faith before fear. I had missed seeing people able to worship how they pleased instead of having to adjust their worship to follow “safety” guidelines.
I enjoyed the Latin Mass and so did my children. On the way home we talked about what we liked. We decided that it is worth the drive and that we are going back next week.
onetuffmama 