Kids won't understand the Latin Mass?
...by Jerry Benitz
You've probably heard the objection that the Latin Mass would be incomprehensible, especially for children. While that is technically true until a child can read a missal, it doesn't necessarily follow that he isn't learning some very valuable lessons, as Mary Alexander recently pointed out. Once he can read, the world of Latin begins to open.
Children catch on rather quickly, I've observed. At age 8, my daughter could follow the Gospel in Latin and English with her missal. At 9, she could recite some of the prayers by heart. By age 10 her Latin aptitude exceeded that of the ICEL (International Commission on English in the Liturgy) in translating the Mass.
This happened one Sunday at an "indult" Mass while we were on vacation. It was at a parish that has both Latin and English liturgies. During Mass, my daughter picked up a missal in the pew and started reading it. It was a hymnal and missal for use at the English Mass. About the time I decided to end her distraction, as we mean daddies persistently do, she was nudging me and gesturing as if something were wrong. And wrong it was! She had found the Gloria, and was pointing at the first sentence, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on Earth."
Imagine that! Forty years of liturgical malfeasance undone by a 10-year-old girl. What could I say? No, I didn't point out the rest of the adulteration of the Gloria. Nor the changing of Our Lord's words, "for many," in the Consecration. I did tell her that Pope Benedict is trying to fix it, which is fortunately true.
To those who say that children won't understand the Latin Mass, I say try it, and you may be surprised. Your children will not only learn the Latin, but they may also get a step up on the charlatans who would defraud them of their Faith.
Jerry Benitz
Comments (2)
To this I would add that in addition to finding errors, children can go anywhere in the world, attend a Latin Mass and be at 'home.' With the NO Masses, they may not even be sure they are in a Catholic church.
When I was a child I was raised in the NO church. When I was in college, I was one of the few who would get up on Sunday and head out to Mass. One day a girl asked me why I did that. I told her that it was like being home. I could go to Mass and feel at home. Of course this was 20 years ago. There were less abuses then (though they existed). I honestly felt like I could go anywhere and even if I didn't understand the language, I knew what was going on.
Now I could go in any of the NO churches around here, there are about 5 within an hour's drive, and each one is so different. Some are not recognizable as Catholic churches, about half have a hidden tabernacle. This is why we travel to the TLM now, it is just too frustrating!
Posted by Lily A. Thorns | September 2, 2007 10:36 AM
Posted on September 2, 2007 10:36
Another good example is the altar boys who serve the Latin Mass. As early as 8 years old they can memorize the Latin responses. They might not understand it all but they are praying with their lips and by their reverent posture—something usually lacking in servers of the Novus Ordo. I remember what an honor it was to serve Mass, to be able to actually help the priest and to respond in Latin.
One of the awards we received was a plaque with a poem something like this, “To be Christ’s page on the altar, to serve Him freely there, where even angels falter, bowed low in fervent prayer…. Throughout life’s endeavor, His graces to employ, and be in heart for ever a holy altar boy.”
Yes, I think this may be categorized as nostalgia, but what of it?
Posted by Thomas McDonough | September 2, 2007 8:48 PM
Posted on September 2, 2007 20:48