E COULD STOP sending out CCW fundraising letters if I had a dime for every time someone said:
Latin is not important. After all, Christ didn’t say the first Mass in Latin. Did you know that?
Obviously, in a short blog entry, I can’t adequately address all the reasons that statement is false. For instance, there are the “typical” responses, like pointing out that if we really believe what we claim about the Mass, a natural human instinct is to “clothe” it in a lingua sacra. Then, there are the not so apparent reasons. For instance, one reason such hatred for Latin exists in certain quarters has to do with hatred for the Church of the Middle Ages. In other words, they’re correct that Christ didn’t say the first Mass in Latin (although He did use a linga sacra). However, it just so happens that a large part of Salvation History was revealed to us in the Latin Rite. So many saints belonged to the Latin Rite! So much of what we believe comes from the development of doctrine in the (Latin) Middle Ages, and that is what is often being attacked and rejected covertly when folks denigrate Latin. Certainly, God could have chosen a different language if He wished. St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Augustine, St. Francis, and all the rest could have (conceivably) had their liturgies in Polish or Portuguese or Tagalog. But, as a matter of fact, they didn’t.
ANYWAY, ENOUGH OF ALL THAT. Let’s take a look at something positive. Young Catholics everywhere are waking up and discovering they’ve been robbed of their inheritance:
* * Diary of a Latin Mass Wedding (Regina Magazine)
Here’s an excerpt:
I’ve been attending the Traditional Latin Mass since 2009. I took Latin in school, and one day someone told me, “Did you know that in the Middle Ages the Mass used to be in Latin?” I thought, “I wish that still happened, somewhere on earth.” Then, I found out there was a traditional Latin Mass at St. Agnes in New York City, so I started taking the train from Connecticut to attend. I had no idea there were any Traditional Latin Masses anywhere else, much less any in Connecticut.
The story comes from an sensational Catholic women’s magazine called Regina. I’d never heard of this magazine before, but more than seven thousand people subscribe (based on their Facebook page). The writing, photography, and “professionally done” layouts are to be commended. Please let your female friends know about this!!!
By the way, my wife and I also had a 1962 Tridentine Wedding (back in 2007) and the celebrant was none other than Bishop René H. Gracida, who wore a special chasuble that had belonged to a canonized saint:
Someday, God-willing, I hope to share more information about the music we had at this Mass. The men’s Schola had nineteen men, and the polyphonic choir had fifty mixed voices.
