What follows are my students’ reflections on their first experience of the TLM. I have left their quotes unaltered, except for an occasional correction of punctuation, capitalization, or spelling, for the sake of uniformity and to avoid filling this article with “[sic].” These are teenage boys, and because they are minors, I have omitted their last names.
“Overall, the Traditional Latin Mass seemed more holy than the ordinary Mass I’m accustomed to. Rather than an interaction between the priest and the people, as it seems to be at an ordinary Mass, the Extraordinary Mass was almost exclusively an interaction between the priest and God. The priest was almost entirely focused on the altar, which made it truly seem like the ‘holy sacrifice’ of the Mass. This sense of sacrifice was furthered by the actions of those attending the Mass, as the majority of the time we were kneeling in silence. The silence and reverence of the Mass is significantly greater than that at ordinary Mass; personally, this made me feel and understand the sacredness of what was truly happening. This sacredness translated to all parts of the Mass, most notably the reception of the Eucharist, which was different than what I have previously experienced. By kneeling and receiving the Eucharist, I felt the real presence of Christ stronger than in times past. The final obvious difference was the use of Latin for most of the Mass instead of English, which, although hard to follow, made it seem more sacred.” ∼ Jack
“The Latin language as a whole, I feel, is much more fitting for what the Mass really is. […] I felt more in the presence of God than I normally do during a normal Mass. […] I also really enjoyed the relative silence and meditativeness that came with it. […] It was much more beautiful in comparison to the modern Mass.” ∼ Peter
“One thing I really liked about the Latin Mass was the meditation that is involved. For me, it forced me to examine my conscience. It helped me realize how much I sin, and how I need to do a better job of going to Confession and to try to avoid committing the same sins. Another thing about the Mass I really liked was the way we received Communion. We went up and knelt down in front of the priest. It was like I was kneeling before Christ. When we received Communion, I also liked having the priest place the Eucharist in our mouths without me touching it. […] I felt I was receiving Communion directly from Christ. […] I also liked how the priest was turned around most of the Mass. I felt like he was offering everything up to God.” ∼ Noah
“I thought the Traditional Latin Mass was better than the ordinary form of the Latin Rite Mass. […] It sounded as if angels were singing […]. Everything they did and said was meant to be respectful towards the Sacrament and God. […] If I had to choose between going to the Traditional Latin Mass and a normal Mass, I would definitely choose the Traditional Latin Mass, because everyone there is very reverent, dressed nicely, and everything they do is for the honor and glory of God, not for the people like the regular Mass.” ∼ Brett
“I like the Latin language, and the way that it sounds is much more beautiful than the English language and is very fitting in a Mass. […] I think it gives the Body of Christ much more respect and the authority it deserves when the priest gives us the Eucharist by mouth when kneeling.” ∼ Alex 1
“The Mass itself just, to me, seemed right. The way that the priest was facing toward the altar seemed that he was talking more to God than he was to us, and I thought it was better. Also, I liked that we, as witnesses to the Eucharist, had to kneel when the priest was talking to God. The Mass seemed more like an offering to God. I also liked the way we had to receive the Eucharist.” ∼ Alex 2
“The music seemed to fit very nicely with the tone of the Mass, which allowed for a more reverent and beautiful Mass. When I went up for Communion, I noticed that we had to kneel in a line and Father would give us Communion on our tongues. I believe receiving on the tongue is a lot better in some ways than receiving in the hand.” ∼ Blaine
“I had a much easier time staying alert and focused, which is sometimes hard for me to do at regular Sunday Mass. […] I also noticed that everyone there, including the women, was dressed very modestly. This usually isn’t what you see in regular Sunday Mass, and without these distractions it was easier to spend my time focused on the priest instead of the people around me. Another thing that I noticed was that when I went up for Communion, I had the Body of Christ placed straight in my mouth, which was new for me, and it was much more humbling to have it placed directly in my mouth instead of me doing that myself. […] Although most of the Mass was said in a different language and it was hard to follow along, it was a lot more holy in my opinion, because I don’t speak that language, so it put me in a different mood than I would have been if I was speaking in the language I do every day.” ∼ Tommy
“I was speaking and listening to the prayers, blessings, and consecrations of the Mass in a language the earliest Christians used. […] It is truly amazing to experience something that has withstood the test of time, truly showing the power of Christ’s established Church, an extension of Christ’s Kingdom on earth, and demonstrating the eternal reign of Christ the King, as the Church, which has been persecuted and scrutinized since its beginning has remained one, holy, catholic, and apostolic through schisms, attempted destruction, and other evils.” ∼ Drew
Topic: First Experience of the TLM (Read 1743 times)