I tend to blog more when I have issues or struggles that I’m dealing with. That is mostly because blog entries that say, “Ok, so I’m going to church and everything is great” are kind of boring. I think I’ll be dipping into the mailbag here really soon, but I am doing great.
Since before Easter, I’ve been attending the Tridentine Mass. I’ve made some stickers to put in my missal so that I can follow along better, but I’m waiting on my husband to print them out all nice so that I can put them in my missal before next Sunday. I’ll take pics and post when I get the project done.
I missed church yesterday because I was traveling. I went to go visit my mother in Arkansas. I got a mini-lecture from Mom saying, “Well, you don’t want to go to church, and your brother wants to go to church but his wife is very anti-religion so he’s been watching some televangelist. I guess I’m the only one that’s left.” I wanted to go, “Um, I go to church a LOT, just not the Mormon church.” But I’m not quite ready to tell her I’m Catholic yet.
A good friend of mine has been attending the Latin mass and she’s slowly getting the hang of things, too. That makes me happy.
June 5, 2007 at 11:01 am
I went to Tridentine Mass a few weeks ago. I love all things ‘high church,’ but to be honest, it was terribly boring =( The people barely responded or made the sign of the Cross, the priest mumbled quite a bit and seemed to read as if he was bored. (The church, however, was amazingly beautiful! They even had a canopy over the altar.) Is this common of first-time experiences with Tridentine Mass, or am I missing something? Could it just be the priest?
August 19, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Eric,
My wife, kids, and I attend the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) offered by the Oakland Diocese (California). I’d say the Tridentine Mass takes some time to fully appreciate. It sounds from your description that you attended a “Low Mass” (no singing, no incense). If there’s one available near you, try attending the “Solemn High Mass” form of the Tridentine Mass (choir, organ, incense). This form is much more accessible. Even after attending the TLM for some time, I find High Mass more accessible than Low Mass.
Also, if you don’t have one, get yourself a 1962 Missal and ask your priest or a fellow parishioner to show you how to use it. That helps a lot.