What Is Your Opinion on the Traditional Latin Mass? — Bishop Barron on Vatican II

Friends, I lived through liturgies in the late 60s and 70s that were completely alien to the letter and spirit of Vatican II. We need to encourage more beautiful and reverent celebrations of the Eucharist. And while I have zero quarrel with a wider practice of the Traditional Latin Mass, I also believe that the Novus Ordo can be a very powerful and very rich expression of the liturgy. Remember, Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and other great saints have been spiritually fed by the Ordinary Form. Watch this video for more.

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[corrinnemay]

The TLM is drawing lots of young people to it. Young families as well. That to me, says something about the hunger for the TLM that is not being fed by the Novus Ordo. I attend both the Novus Ordo and the TLM. But the TLM has led me to fall more intensely in love with our Lord in the Eucharist. That increased love in turn, feeds my desire for Him in the Eucharist, regardless of whether I attend mass in Novus Ordo or TLM.

[thistledownz.]

I'm fifty, not a great Catholic and in a messy life. I want the Latin. I want beautiful music. I want the silence.

[williambooth]

Two years ago I went to a Traditional Latin Mass and that is the Mass I go to every week now. God bless.

[Calrb]

Growing up Protestant evangelical my experience of going to a novus ordo in my early 20s felt more Protestant than my actual Protestant churches.. this genuinely contributed to me not understanding or converting to Catholicism.

Started going to the traditional Latin mass last year and the reverence of the congregation, the ad orientum and the emphasis on the Eucharist and not on the band or the homily made me understand the mass as a sacrifice and the real presence which lead to my conversion.

Love the TLM. Deo Gratias.

[thecatholicman]

John Paul II and Mother Teresa were all formed in the old mass. Baptised in the old rite. JPII ordained sub deacon, deacon, priest, Bishop in the old rite.

[corrinnemay]

I grew up celebrating mass in the NO and until 3 years ago, that was what my daughter experienced too. After the first time celebrating mass in the EF, she turned to me, midway through mass (she was 7 at this time) and she said "I like this mass better.". Even though she didn't understand Latin, she understood that here was something special and sacred and reverent. Something that she didn't quite experience in the same way with the Novus Ordo mass.

[bobbortolin]

If I had a choice, I would go with the TLM primarily because of the music, the ad orientem worship, the silence, and the lack of the "Sign of Peace".

[youtubecharlie]

I LOVE THE LATIN MASS. I’m 25 years old, came back to the Church in October of 2019, and was introduced to the Latin Mass a month later. It feels like home. So reverent, so beautiful, such a perfect way to pray. It really pulled me in and I’m never leaving it. This is my home now. Thank God!

[TheJewishCatholic]

As a Jewish person desiring to officially be in communion with the Catholic Church, it is the Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy and the TLM that make me truly desire to be in that type of environment. It’s holy, it’s sacred, it’s beautiful, it’s authentic and filled with amazing tradition.

The NO just doesn’t seem reverent. It’s about the people when it should be about GOD!

[irishman.]

I attended my first ever Latin Mass today.
Had confession first, when the priest gave me absolution in Latin at the end my body began to tremble. It was extraordinary and something that had never happened to me previously.
As for the Mass, I found it exquisite. The holiness was palpable. The sense of the priest interceding with the Almighty on our behalf.. I didn't understand anything much of what was said but was enriched by the experience.

[acuajera]

Novus ordo “CAN be very powerful and rich expression of the churches liturgy” but the traditional Latin mass is ALWAYS powerful and rich.

[stephenbeach]

The way the novus ordo is celebrated in 95% of parishes on the east coast is utterly horrific. I refuse to believe that’s the best we can do, having 2000 years of liturgical tradition at our disposal.

[emilyfriedl]

Just a note: JP2 turned 40 in 1960. Mother Teresa turned 50 in 1960. It seems that much of their formation happened while attending the Latin Mass, as did many of the saints.

[monicabermea]

I love either one. I am grateful to have Jesus in the Eucharist.

[SuperSaiyanKrillin]

But Bishop Barron ! Mother Teresa and John Paul 2 were both raised under the Traditional Latin Mass - Saint Mother Teresa was around 60 and Saint John Paul 2 around 50 when the Novus Ordo was made widespread.
I don't doubt that the Novus Ordo served their spiritual life greatly but I think it's important to remember that the Tridentine Mass had obviously formed the bedrock of their spiritual life.
I'm not trying to dismiss your argument entirely but I think that the argument should be presented under this context - both of them for the majority of their lives formed their spirituality from the Tridentine Mass

[jeanneamato]

A lot of heart and mystery was lost with when the Latin Mass was stopped. Latin is the language the poetry of the mass along with the words. I love Gregorian chants. They are peaceful and contemplative and help the atmosphere be more soulful and reflective.

[karendarantiere]

With all due respect, your Excellency, reverent masses in the novus ordo, such as those celebrated by St. John Paul II, are an extremely rare exception. Neither the liturgies, nor the homilies, nor the music we witness nearly universally nowadays are apt to raise our minds and hearts to the Truth, the Beauty, and the Goodness of the Triune God. No wonder 70% of us do not believe in the real presence. This is simply the manifest and undeniable reality of the novus ordo as it appears before our senses.

[macca]

I have great respect for Bishop Barron but saying that 2 saints were inspired by the Novus Ordo is a weak argument for its quality. How many were inspired by the Latin Mass? I’m in my 30s and attend the Novus Ordo but the TLM mass in the city is absolutely booming with young families while the majority of parishes around the state are barely hanging on. The young are longing for serious Catholicism that they just aren’t getting in most parishes.

[carlosgbatiz]

From the perspective of a Byzantine Catholic: There is beauty in the Novus Ordo mass and we know the consecration is REAL, but for the most part, it is also a horrible spectacle of liturgical and Eucharistic abuses. It’s like the Novus Ordo mass makes Calvary even more painful for our Lord. It’s like we forgot that tradition is one of the pillars in our deposit of faith. The Roman Rite should go back to Traditional Latin Mass.

[adeanest]

I grew up in the Novus ordo, and I am the father of 5, all ranging from newborn to 13 years old. Though I’d still be considered a young Catholic by most. The experience I have with my family is that although the Novus Ordo can be celebrated reverently – at least in California it frequently is not – and so for me and my family the Latin mass has far more spiritual benefits and far fewer detriments than my experiences with the Novus Ordo. That’s just my experience but it has been reliably my experience overtime. My children prefer, and ask to go to the traditional Latin mass over the Novus Ordo – but I realize that is not everyone else’s experience. Also, generally, when I attend most (but not all) Novus Ordo parishes, I get a lot more negative looks and comments due to having five (sometimes noisy) children as opposed to a traditional Latin mass parish, where if one of my kids drops something ( or screams) no one even as much turns around, because we are all focused on the altar and worshiping God. My children and I especially appreciate how there’s not an “active participation” but there is instead a communal/familial, but still individual, constant concentration on the altar -not the priest. My 5 year old son put it best “ daddy I like it [ the TLM] because there is no give and take, there is only give.” Just my two cents, but it is the honest experience of many of my colleagues and certainly that of my young family.