I took two years of Latin in high school. A very wise choice for a writer given how well it relates to vocabulary and learning other languages. Latin has been making a comeback in the Roman Catholic Church, especially among those who still remember the cadence, the ancient rhythm and Latins roots in the faith. A couple years ago, Bishop Thomas Olmsted reinstituted the Latin Mass and three parishes now offer them on a regular basis: a Tridentine Mass at 1 p.m. Sundays at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Phoenix; Masses at 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays at St. Augustines Parish in Phoenix; and 5 p.m. Sunday at St. Cecelia Mission in Clarkdale. Besides the language and readings from the Missal in Latin, the priest keeps his back to the congregation in the tradition of the Mass before Vatican II changed things in the 1960s. When Olmsted brought the Mass back, there was a buzz that not many priests were left who could competently lead a Latin Mass. Now, Una Voce America, based in Bellevue, Wash., is teaming with Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter to provide training to any priest interested in learning how to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass. Training starts in June at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Neb., not surprisingly in the Diocese of Lincoln, famous for its traditionalist Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, known for threatening ex-communication of Catholics who join any groups that run counter to Catholic teaching like Call to Action or Planned Parenthood and the family of Masonic organizations. (Bruskewitz has been called The Bishops Bull for his steadfastness and orthodoxy.) Preparations accelerated last fall amid speculation that Pope Benedict XVI was planning to grant greater freedom for celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, the Una Voce America news release said. UVA director Jason King lamented that most, if not all, American seminarians, study only the modern liturgy that became normative following the Second Vatican Council. Priests will learn not only how far to raise their hands and how to pronounce the Latin, for example, but the various gestures and prayers fit into the liturgical prayer of the church and reflect the faith itself, said the Rev. Calvin Goodwin of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. He provides the standard line, No prior experience with the traditional Mass is needed while it is open to all priests regardless of their current level of Latin proficiency. He assures priests that the instructors are eager to work even with those priests who have no previous Latin training. It will be packed into one intensive week at a cost of about $300, covering course materials, and room and board. Several sessions are planned for June, and waiting lists are set up for priests who want to get on board with learning the old language later. UVAs chairman R. Michael Dunnigan concluded, The Holy Father has been a courageous and eloquent defender of the traditional Mass, and if his will is to grant wider access to it, then we certainly want to do our part to promote the conditions that will help to achieve this goal. Information on the training can be requested at seminary@fsspolgs.org or call (402) 797-7700. Financial aid is available for priests who need it. Who said Latin is a dead language?
 Priests can get crash course in Latin MassMarch 20th, 2007, 4:15 pm · 1 Comment · posted by lawngriffithsOne CommentLeave a Reply |
Interesting that when people say they are Traditionalists, they usually mean they’d like things to be as they were when they were young. No way do they wish to go back to the True Original Tradition of the Church, ie sans a hierarcheial bueracracy and sans a pope who claims infallibility. Why not go to Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek? Latin; BAH Humbug. I was raised Catholic and the language of the day for me was old Slavonic; I have no desire to go back there.