SP September 29, 2007

Letter to the Editor in the Georgia Bulletin (HT to the Crescat)

To the Editor:

I am 16 years old, and for the past 11 months I have attended the traditional Latin Mass weekly, while still attending the Novus Ordo Mass during the week. Because of this, I decided to address certain points made by Carroll Sterne in the Sept. 6 edition of The Georgia Bulletin. Mr. Sterne speaks about the type of Mass that someone of a younger generation is drawn to, and I thought that a teenager’s point of view might be helpful.

Mr. Sterne in his letter gives voice to the opinion of many of today’s liturgists when he says that no one from a younger generation would be drawn to the Latin Mass (many take this even further and assume that we would not like a reverent Novus Ordo Mass either). This opinion causes many of those who plan modern liturgies to do veritable back flips in an attempt to draw teenagers and young adults in. Sometimes this works, but it has a side effect: by doing these things, liturgists show that they have absolutely no faith in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to change the lives of those in my generation. My generation knows about this lack of faith, we are able to see it every time we go to a “teen Mass” and experience priests ad-libbing prayers in an attempt to make them more relevant to us.

This lack of faith backfires; it sends us the message that we also should distrust the power of the liturgy, and it also can turn the Mass into something of a joke.

After experiencing this for months, I attended a Traditional Latin Mass and experienced something that I’d never seen before: Here was a priest who expected my life to be changed without adding anything to the Mass in an attempt to bring this change about. This priest had perfect faith in the power of the liturgy, and it showed. It was beautiful. The traditional Mass did more to change my life then any “relevant” teen Mass ever did.

Ethan Milukas, Peachtree City

Motu Proprio? Great! But where does that leave the Reform of the Reform? by Shawn Tribe
I believe we now, more than ever, need to move beyond thinking that is in terms of the reform of the reform or classical liturgy being distinct and separate camps and initiatives -- and never the twain shall meet (as the saying goes).

Michaelmas at St. Rita's in Alexandria, VA
On 29 September 2007, Fr. Paul Scalia, the son of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, offered a Missa Cantata of the "extraordinary use" of the Mass at St. Rita's Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia for Michaelmas (the Feast of Michael the Archangel on the traditional calendar).