The richly dramatic and poetic form of the Traditional Latin Mass is a true work of religious art. It is, in modern terms, "performance art." Its edifying beauty cannot be conveyed by writing about it, by simply hearing it, or by motion picture or television. It is a living celebration of the momentous events of Christ's life. It is indeed an art form of inestimable artistic and spiritual value, and it should not be relegated to oblivion.
When Christ asked Nathaniel to become one of his apostles, Nathaniel was sitting under a fig tree. Shaded from the sun perhaps on a hot day, a setting undisturbed by ugly chimneys belching smoke and noxious gasses, it was a setting of open vistas, rolling hills and magnificent space -- a beautiful setting for an alliance with God.
After Christ's death early Christians gathered together for the reenactment of the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of Calvary in the homes of the faithful where the priests consecrated the bread and wine for the Eucharistic service. Later, with the increase of numbers of Christians, special houses or churches were designated for worship. The supper was soon abolished, and the celebration of the Eucharist, the Sacrifice, the Mass, became the central act.
As time passed, the ceremony became more elaborate. For the religious, the cathedral and other churches took the place of a fig tree as a place to meet with God in a beautiful and magnificent setting commensurate with the age. In the churches the artistry of talented men and women flourished, music flourished, and the ceremony of the Mass followed suit.
The Tridentine Mass, which can be an enigma to the uninstructed, is nowhere vain or repetitious. Every word has its relation to the whole, every gesture and genuflection; every change of vestments has its symbolic significance. All the elements of the rite are merged into a unity under the sway of the central act of consecration and oblation. All the lessons, prayer responses, and hymns are designed to lead up to it, to prepare the officers and people to share in it, and to impress upon them its meaning and effect. In addition, the architectural, sculptural, and decorative beauty of the altar chancel and apse finds its justification as a worthy setting for the august ceremony and as a fitting shrine to harbor the very presence of the Lord. The display of lights and vestments, the spicy clouds of incense, the solemnity of priestly chants and the pomp of choral music are contrived solely to enhance the impression of the rite and to compel the mind into a becoming mood of adoration. --Prof. Eduard Dickenson, Oberlin College, 1931
To a Catholic, the Mass is not just a memorial of the atonement on Calvary, but a perpetual renewal of it on the altar through the power committed to the priesthood by Christ and the Holy Spirit. "The Sacrifice of the Mass," said Cardinal Gibbons, a world-renowned American Cardinal, "is identical with that of the cross, having the same victim and the same high priest -- Jesus Christ. The only difference is in the manner of the Oblation. Christ was offered upon the cross in a bloody manner; in the Mass He is offered in an unbloody manner."
The changing of bread and wine to the body and blood of God by the priest does not depend upon the priest's personal qualities. It does not make any difference whether he is short or tall, handsome or ugly, old or young. It does not make any difference whether he is verbally adroit or quiet, or whether his personality attracts or repels. The Traditional Roman Rite obscures the minister in the central function of the sacrifice and worship. For example, only for a short space of time do we get to see his face. The Eucharist -- God -- is the central focus.
The music of this Mass, in the form of chant (plainsong), is a musical form that allows the words of prayers to be put to song whereby the prayer itself determines the musical score. The prayers are not shortened or elongated to fit the whim of a composer. It is the prayer that is paramount. Modern music requires a set meter or time as determined by the composer, but the words of holy prayers do not often suit modern rhythms. The chants of the Church can and do convey a solemnity of song that is truly artistic and beautiful, yet they are also a prayer and act of worship.
In recent years "modern music," that is, music based on a diatonic scale with definite rhythms, has been allowed, with great spiritual effect, but the music is only an accompaniment and never overshadows the greatness of the central reason of the Mass. Additionally, except in monastic communities, the choir and organ providing the music are placed, in the traditional church, away from the altar, usually out of sight of the congregation. Thus, the flailing arms of the director and the unsightly open mouths and straining faces of the choir singing or chanting do not in any way impinge on the beauty of the ceremonies at the altar. Sadly, modern congregational singing of the Mass music is like having the audience at a symphony concert randomly take up the instruments of the orchestra members to render a composition of one of the masters with less than satisfactory, even distracting, results.
The official language of the Traditional Roman Rite is Latin. Whether selected for special reasons or whether because it was the language of the Church Fathers, it serves its purpose well. With a few exceptions, a phrase in Latin of 1500 years ago means exactly the same thing today as it did then. The use of Latin in the prayers of the Mass provides for a purity of language impossible with any language in use today. Furthermore, it provides a consistency in the celebration of the Mass, disallowing trite or inelegant language to despoil the elegance and meaning of the ancient prayers.
"Catholic Church" means "universal church," one and same Church wherever the Mass is celebrated. The use of Latin allows a Catholic to attend any Traditional Latin Mass anywhere in the world as fully and attentively as in his home parish. Today, as almost all Novus Ordo worship services are said in the vernacular of the region, the American in Germany or the Italian in Cambodia can find no Mass in any church that he can understand. Such language use can even be divisive -- as in San Jose, California, where a group of Vietnamese demanded their own church with their own language, virtually excluding other nationalities.
There are several variations of the Mass that differ only in certain details or in ceremony with respect to the occasion of the celebration. The simplest form is the Low Mass, in which all of the prayers of the Mass are said in a speaking voice by the priest. There is no chanting or choir. There is a dialogue of prayer between the priest and one or two servers, who are boys or men usually without any clerical status.
The Missa Cantata (Sung Mass) is like the Low Mass except that parts of the prayers are chanted by the priest and the choir. The High Mass, or Solemn High Mass as it is sometimes called, is replete with special ministers, subdeacon and deacon, and other special servers in a more elaborate ceremony that includes the use of incense, chanting, and choir. A Pontifical Mass (a Mass offered by a bishop) has additional ceremonies and ministers befitting the celebration of Mass by an acknowledged spiritual and temporal leader.
At every Mass the same prayers are said and sung without variation, and there are readings from the Scriptures that vary according to the day on which the Mass is said. While the Mass is in progress, the faithful can follow every word by the use of a prayer book, or missal. There are hand-size missals that have the Latin in one column and the vernacular translation in an adjacent column. Many of the faithful simply meditate and absorb the rich ceremony, yet they are still in concert with the priest in the great Eucharistic mystery and sacrifice.