The Power of the Traditional Latin Mass

For most of my life, despite much suffering and many struggles, I have had a strong sense that to leave the Catholic Church would mean certain death. My father only converted to marry my mother. He stopped going to Mass when I was young and my catechesis was slim to none. Even the confirmation class I attended didn’t offer me all that much, and given where I was personally, what I was taught didn’t really sink in.

Still, I possessed a deep longing to truly understand the Faith. I knew there was much more that I wasn’t getting. I had to pursue it on my own.

In terms of discerning my vocation, I was completely paralyzed. I had zero idea of what to do for a career. I didn’t believe anyone’s compliments or any aptitude test. Finally, at one point, I thought about the priesthood, which then became discernment of monastic life as a Benedictine at Mount Angel Abbey.

What does my personal faith journey have to do with an argument in favor of the Traditional Latin Mass? In a certain sense, everything. My personal experience and search for spiritual stability have now led me to the power of Tradition and the Latin Mass even without easy access to actually attend.

My time at Mount Angel was my first experience of something much closer to true reverence in the liturgy. It was my first experience of the power of Gregorian chant. I even remember spending time with our Blessed Mother while one of the brothers started practicing on the organ before Mass; had it not been for my own fear, I would’ve been completely enraptured in the joys of the eternal liturgy of heaven.

Contrast that with my home parish, which I mentioned in an earlier post on the modernist heresy. There, we had girl altar servers, guitar, drums, and plenty of music more suited to a praise and worship concert than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The worst practice, and I cringe just thinking about it now, was performing the Passion on Good Friday. The part of Jesus is sung by a layman. I regret to say that I once sang the part of Christ however pious I tried to be.

Even then I felt uncomfortable with it. However, I simply went along with it because I had no other choice. I desired faithful and reverent liturgy and had experienced it at Mount Angel. Although I had heard of the ‘Extraordinary Form’, I didn’t have a clue as to what it really was and is. On top of that, I believed all of the lies about Archbishop Lefebvre and the SSPX.

Fast forward to the election of Pop Francis. I won’t go into detail here as I have already written about being red-pilled. Suffice it to say that the Holy Father’s words and actions continually become more and more indefensible. While I still pray for his conversion, as do many faithful Catholics, he doesn’t show any signs that he will change course any time soon.

I made the official switch to the Traditional Latin Mass (though there as yet are no easy options where I live) and the traditional lectionary on the traditional Feast of Christ the King. On my birthday, I purchased the 1945 Saint Andrew Missal. It arrived on the First Sunday of Advent.

I am still new to the TLM. I am still learning and know that I will continue to learn more until the day I die. Even so, when I first opened up this missal and prayed the First Sunday of Advent the superiority of Tradition over the Novus Ordo became abundantly clear. The reasons for its superiority are far too numerous to cover in a single post so I mention on only one: the unity and focus of the liturgical calendar.

The Novus Ordo calendar is spread out to three years and broken down into the special seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter with “Ordinary Time” in between. This has the detrimental effect of allowing the faithful to lose focus on the centrality of Christ in our lives and the importance of imitating Him. We lose focus on the eternal and the temporal order becomes more important.

Contrast this with the old calendar. Instead of “ordinary time” there is After Epiphany and After Pentecost. And there is only a one-year cycle. This serves to keep us grounded and focused on where we fit into salvation history. Keeping our eyes on Christ means preparing ourselves for eternity.

Jesus desires to be intimately united with us at all times. The traditional lectionary and cycle help us to enter more deeply the mystery of the Incarnation. By being more prayerful, we are led ever deeper into each mystery of Christ’s life and so are strengthened to carry our crosses. The darkness of our minds caused by sin is dispelled in order for us to see the full reality. We are more fully equipped to fight the good fight.

While there is so much more that could be said, I must end it here for now. Let’s call it a pause. I can only say that in finding Tradition I have found the solid ground which I’ve desperately thirsted for so much of my life. I pray that the revival of the Traditional Latin Mass continues to grow and to spread, that we may be strengthened in the battle against sin and hell.

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