First Thing
We went to Winnipeg last weekend. I went to a Latin Mass.
I never want to go back to an Ordinary Form Mass again.
I made some notes about the experience that I want to share:
It was a Low Mass, which is what I expected. They had little missals to borrow, and it wasn't hard at all to follow as it had a clear explanation of what the priest was saying/doing even with little diagrams to make it easy to figure out where we were.
I can't believe the sense of peace I came away with.
The long stretches of contemplative silence while the priest faced the tabernacle, faced God(!) and did what he needed to do. Sometimes I followed the text of what the priest was saying (but I can't hear, it's not for my ears after all!), but sometimes I allowed myself to fall into prayer.
The way you need to pay close attention, as the priest will abruptly turn or speak or do something that requires a response that snaps you back to the moment.
The way we are all equals, there is no showman or readers or dancers or anything else. We all face God, even the priest. He is bridging the gap, not acting as the cork.
The way the Latin responses rolls off you tongue, it reminded me so much of speaking in tongues, me not understanding what is coming from my mouth but knowing God understands and that's what's important. It's not about me.
The cries of babies and little children, and no one seems to mind because they are part of the prayer, of the silence.
The knowing I was connected, for that brief moment, to the Church Triumphant in a way I never have been before. This was their Mass, of countless individuals before me stretching back across time.
So I've been worried all week about what will happen next Sunday when we go back to our regularly scheduled Ordinary Form Mass. Next Sunday is tomorrow. We'll see what happens, I'll keep you updated?
Second Thing
Remembrance Day was November 11th.
I felt it very deeply this year. Not many old-timers left. If my grandfathers were still alive, they would have been part of those "old-timers". One grandfather fueled planes for the Air Training Plan here in Canada. The other served overseas and came perilously close to losing his life.
That leads me to...
Third Thing
Paris.
The terror attacks.
ISIS.
Pope Francis calling this a piecemeal Third World War.
Fatima.
A lot has happened this week. Considering how peaceful I felt at the beginning, I am disquieted now.
Time for another rosary.
I know what you mean about the Low Mass. I feel so much closer to God during one, much more than at an OF or even at a High Mass. The silence moves me.
ReplyDeleteI find that so interesting. We live in a world that is busier all the time - more noise, more movement, more lights, more things - and yet it's still in the still and silence that we hear God's voice. In the OF, there is the mantra of "full and active participation", which I think at times can be good. But if we're preoccupied with *doing*, how do we find that small, still voice inside? I think the Low Mass gives us the space we need to find that inner voice, one that I have come to recognize over the years very often is the voice of God.
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