A Convert’s Perspective Going From the Novus Ordo to the Traditional Latin Mass
Many Catholics are afraid to venture into the mysteries of the Traditional Latin Mass. One of the many reasons I have heard is that they are unfamiliar with what is going on. As a convert, I can understand where they are coming from.
There was a time where I had no clue what was going on with the Novus Ordo. I had no clue what anybody was doing, or why they were doing it. I was lost. I didn’t have the benefits of being a cradle Catholic and knowing what everyone was up to (albeit, maybe not understanding). But, this didn’t stop me.
I continued to go to Mass week after week, and I learned what we were doing. Eventually, I picked up a missal so that way I could follow along. As time progressed, I even began learning about the theology behind the Mass as to why we did what we did. It took some time, but eventually I got there.
Now that I have made the jump into the Traditional Latin Mass, even though it is not as often as I’d like, I can attest that the situation is very similar. I am now going to a Mass that is “unfamiliar” and “foreign.” I’m having to learn again what the congregation is doing. I’m back to following along in a missal. I have to learn the theology behind the Mass, again.
Having reflected upon these similarities, it raises questions.
When someone comes into the Church, the Church doesn’t make excuses or compromises about why the convert can not come to the Mass. Instead, we teach them what the Mass is and isn’t and how to follow along. We do this because Catholicism is the Truth and you do not compromise the Truth.
When it comes to the Mass of All Ages, we are far too comfortable making the same excuses that a convert might make and these are all accepted as stumbling blocks. Somehow, these reasons are severe enough that we can’t have the Traditional Latin Mass. It’s too hard, and people might leave.
The Traditional Latin Mass has been the Mass which has been in effect for centuries; it is as Catholic as you can get when it comes to the Mass. It is worth every effort to restore into every single Catholic Church in the world.
The Truth is something worth fighting and sacrificing for, even if it hurts. I think it is time we stop making excuses for why we can’t make the transitions and start making reasons for why we can.
Nice read. I think it is an ingrained human reaction to anything that we don’t understand and, especially if it is the truth, we tend to avoid rather than embrace it. I know this was my experience years ago when I first went back to the Latin rite. Satan is a powerful adversary and does not easily relinquish a soul. Patience, faithfulness and fortitude allows the grace of God to work in us. I love the idea that we focus on the “how can we” and proceed with small steps. Truth will triumph!
I think it is a Very wise comment, to remind us that 1/Satan is a Very Clever and 2/ very Persistent adversary, who tries his utmost not to let go of a soul. In this time in which we live, I think we have to seriously consider in a way that is more widespread, but not alarmist, that a/ as per Pope Leo XIII’s vision in 1888, Satan was given Much More Power for a 100+ years, and undoubtedly he is using this to the utmost, perhaps in ways neverbefore done. In this regard, the evangelist St. Paul in his epistle warns of “the operation of a (strong) spirit of Error (sent to whom/it is not said), as “they” Love Not the TRUTH. This seems to imply that there is/will be a Strong Error or Lie of some kind or kinds, which could coop and deceive the minds and lives of many on earth, perhaps even traditional Catholics. Perhaps it could be something in way of what has been prophesied in Isaiah, in the Apocalypse, and in old and new private revelations of the Church, to the effect that a brave new and wonderful world is coming in the Millenium/1000 years of Peace that follows the defeat of the AntiChrist and False Prophet, and that “God”? is calling, in new ways, everyone to help prepare for the work of this Millenium, in ways that are morally novel and perhaps questionable. I have personally noticed many Catholics, among others, in my large city, starting to behave very Untypically as allegedly mature and spiritually sound individuals, in terms of e.g. abandonment of conservative dress, educational and interpersonal behaviors, up to and including making of interpersonal relationships under the belief that the Millenium will be the “Civilization of Love” that JP2 speaks of cryptically in his philosophical writings. I do not feel competent to respond further, except to say that we must be Prayerful, Vigilant, and Prepared to Counter-react, if and when we further determine if and when something like a Strong Deluding (widespread) Spirit of Error is operative. (Let someone’s who know Reliable biblical commentaries on the Apocalypse and Millenium undertake the best studies they can. It may also be relevant here to consider, as fully as possible, but always from an orthodox position, the true implications of the Fatima prophecy about the “period of peace” promised by the Blessed Virgin Mary, once the Correct and Complete Consecration of Russia is made, by the Pope, in union with All (?) the Bishops, is finally done). In the context of the need to reveal the ultimately Masonic cause of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930’s, the great Spanish philosopher of morality, Jose Ortega y Gasset, warned cryptically that “someday, what has been whispered in Silence, Will be Shouted from the Housetops”. The Bible says the same somewhere I cannot remember. We may be called upon to be witnesses=martyrs crying the Truth to the deceived, as the ‘hierarchy’ and even many clergy may not be willing or able to do so.
I do not claim to have ‘revelations’, ‘locutions’ or any kind of superior mind. I do have Great trepidation about our dangerously-threatened Church, both from the inside and outside, and how during this period of weakened critical awareness and ability to resist, the “operation of the spirit of a (strong) spirit of Error” may already be beginning to operate.
Apologies for this missive.
( I promise I am not preparing to sell yet another ‘the apocalypse unveiled’ paperback, and as regards most of those extant, Caveat Empor).!