Emily Dore
Asst. Religion & Ethics Editor
AS STUDENTS PASS by Alumni Hall on Sunday mornings, they may begin hear an ancient language issuing from its chapel. Campus Ministry announced this summer that it plans to begin offering the Tridentine Mass, the older, traditional rite celebrated in Latin.
After Vatican II, the format of the Catholic Mass changed dramatically. In 1970, Pope Paul VI issued a revision of the Roman Missal, establishing the new form of the Latin Mass, which is currently in use. Major changes in the revision included switching from the Latin text to the vernacular, including more Scripture passages, and having the priest face the congregation. In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council wished to make the Mass more “accessible” and encourage more participation from the congregation. “This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change.”
However, due to alarming drops in mass attendance and vocations over the past decades, many “traditionalist” Catholics believe that the revised Mass has led to a decline in reverence and a sense of the sacred in the Mass and are clamoring for a return to the original pre-1970s Mass that had been used for over 300 years.
On July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI passed the motu proprio, or statement “of his own accord,” called Summorum Pontificum, which will have a major impact on the availability of the Extraordinary Rite throughout the universal Church. This document decreed that the Extraordinary Rite of the Roman Missal, or the Traditional Latin Mass, established by Pope John XXIII, could be used as another option for the celebration of the Mass, along with the Ordinary Rite, or Pope Paul VI’s Roman Missal. Prior to this decree, the Tridentine Mass could only be celebrated under certain conditions with specific permission from the local bishop. Now, provided that the congregation has a priest knowledgeable of Latin, both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Rites are available for worship.
About a month following the motu proprio, on August 22, Notre Dame’s Campus Ministry released a statement announcing its desire to hold the Tridentine Mass on campus. Campus Ministry announced that celebration of the Latin Mass is imminent, with plans to hold Sunday Tridentine Masses at 8 am in Alumni Hall.
At Notre Dame, Catholics eager to celebrate this traditional Latin Mass are excited about the prospect of a weekly liturgy. “I’m very proud and thankful that Campus Ministry was so quick to respond to the Pope’s document. We are the first university to publicly announce the return of the extraordinary form,” commented Mary Liz Walter, President of Notre Dame Right to Life and proponent of the Tridentine Mass.
Students may worry about their unfamiliarity with the Latin Mass. However, with knowledge of the Ordinary Rite, it is not difficult to follow the Latin translation of the prayers and the hand motions. Some of the prayers would also be said in the vernacular.
“It is prayed mostly in Latin, which several other languages present in various prayers and with the proclamation of the epistle and Gospel often being repeated in the vernacular,” Philip Carl Smith, founder of the Orestes Brownson Council, said.
It would also serve as a way to unite students, while expanding their experience and understanding of Catholic worship. “The Extraordinary form of the Mass, which is unfamiliar to many Notre Dame community members, could be unifying in the sense that we could attempt to deepen our knowledge of it together as a community. Pope Benedict wrote in a letter accompanying the motu proprio that ‘What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too’ -- therefore, the embracing of this wonderful and sacred form of the Mass could not but play a positive role in strengthening the ‘Catholic character’ of Notre Dame,” Smith remarked.
All in all, the Tridentine Mass can only serve to bring closer together the Catholic community at Notre Dame, strengthening our awareness of the faith. As the Catholic Church is faced with the challenges of the new millennium, it is important to remember the foundation of the Church—Christ—which can be found in the most beautiful form in the Mass. “I believe that its reintroduction will help us reconnect with our roots so to speak. It will also challenge us to reconsider the ordinary form of the Mass - and hopefully help us to better understand the Mass regardless of the liturgical form used,” Walter said.
“The Mass is the heart and soul of Catholicism - and this form [the Extraordinary Rite] is particularly rich in beauty and history,” Walter said. In the Catholic faith, it is essential to balance the two elements, Tradition and Scripture. The Latin Mass helps contemporary Catholics reconnect with the past and the traditions of those who have come before. In this way, the Church continues to be a universal and timeless presence throughout history.
“It is important that we embrace this form of the Mass so that we might pray the Liturgy in the form in which our ancestors prayed,” Smith said. With the Tridentine Mass, Notre Dame has embraced a ‘new’ movement in the Church—a return to its traditional past.
Emily Dore is a sophomore History and Italian major who serves as Assistant (to the) Regional Editor of Religion and Ethics.e. Contact Emily at edore@nd.edu.
| 
