TO THE EDITOR:
I just finished reading “Celebrating the Latin Mass” in the July 8 issue of the RI Catholic. (aka The Visitor) I am left with several questions.
Why were the only lay people quoted from Massachusetts? Does no one from Rhode Island attend these Masses?
I read the phrase, “A lot of lay people and clergy had an affection for the traditional Mass.” What constitutes “a lot” of people? How many people actually attend these Latin Masses? Holy Name has been offering the Latin Mass since 1978. Have the number of people attending increased, decreased or stayed stagnant?
I read the phrase, “It’s over 1,000 years old.” How can the Tridentine Mass, which comes from the Council of Trent (1545 1563), be 1000 years old? Mass has been celebrated in the Catholic tradition since the Last Supper. That means, if my math is correct, that Mass has been celebrated in a variety of forms for 1977 years. The Tridentine Mass was the norm for only 401 of those years. Those 401 years are certainly significant, but we need to face the fact that for 1576 years the Church prayed the Mass without the Tridentine formula.
As for Latin being a liturgical language, Latin is a dead language that was used in our liturgies far longer than was necessary or effective.
When I finished reading the article, I was left to ponder two Latin aphorisms: “De gustibus non est disputandum” or “Illigitimi non carburundum.” Yes. I realize the second quote is bogus Latin but I’m leaning towards it anyway.
REV. JOSEPH CREEDON
Pastor, Christ the King Church, Kingston, RI
