Ottawa - The pre-Vatican days of Latin-language Masses are on the rise among Catholic youth.
In Ottawa, St. Clement鱿鱼视频app parish moved its daily traditional Latin Mass to St. Anne鱿鱼视频app Church in Lowertown to accommodate its growing congregation, including many young families.
Michael and Rebecca Trolley, a couple in their 20s, are very active at Annunciation Anglican Use Catholic Church. 鈥淎nglican Use鈥� refers to a particular form, or 鈥渦se,鈥� of the Roman rite (or Mass) which draws heavily upon the Anglican liturgical and musical tradition, incorporated into a Catholic context.
鈥淲e were both nerdy bookworms,鈥� said Michael, who is very interested in Church history. 鈥淔or a lot of young people, I think there鱿鱼视频app a deep skepticism about contemporary culture. And if they want to do something spiritual, the last thing they want is something that looks like everything that鱿鱼视频app going on around them. If they鈥檙e going to do something different, they鈥檙e going to do something really different.鈥�
Prior to 1970, the Roman Mass was celebrated in Latin; this older form of the Mass is now commonly referred to as the traditional Latin Mass. After the Second Vatican Council, the Mass was translated into many different languages, including English. Some communities such as St. Clement鱿鱼视频app, however, still celebrate the traditional Latin Mass.
The Trolleys note the similarities between their traditional Anglican Use liturgy and the older form of the Roman rite.
鈥淭he differences aren鈥檛 so much the text of the liturgy,鈥� said Michael. 鈥淚n the way that they鈥檙e celebrated, our Mass has a great deal in common with the Extraordinary Form (the traditional Latin Mass). They鈥檙e both celebrated facing east, it鱿鱼视频app usually chanted, with incense. It鱿鱼视频app quieter in some ways, it鱿鱼视频app more formal, a greater spirit of reverence.鈥�
Rebecca disagrees: 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say it鱿鱼视频app more quiet, especially when we do a High Mass. It鱿鱼视频app very noisy, because we鈥檙e singing a lot. Music is more a part of our tradition. Anglicans like to sing, Catholics don鈥檛,鈥� she jokes, referring to the tradition from which their liturgy derives.
Many young Catholic Canadians do not know much about traditional forms of worship, what a traditional liturgy consists of and how it differs from what is seen in a regular Catholic parish.
鈥淲e鈥檝e actually tried to bring back some of what were originally monastic practices into the life of a parish,鈥� said Subdeacon Andrew Bennett, a regular worshipper at Ottawa鱿鱼视频app Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Chaplaincy.
鈥淭he vast majority of people at the chaplaincy are students,鈥� said Bennett. 鈥淚n a culture that often lacks an understanding of what mystery is, an understanding of how we as human beings need liturgical worship to enter into the mystery of God present in His Church, I think young people crave authenticity. And in the Christian tradition, if they see authenticity, they鈥檙e drawn to it.鈥�
鈥淢onastic practices鈥� refer to the services regularly observed in monasteries. Thus, worshippers at the chaplaincy sing Matins (a service of morning prayer) before the Divine Liturgy (the term for the Mass in the Eastern churches) every Sunday morning.
鈥淎 Roman Catholic coming in off the street would notice first of all that it鱿鱼视频app longer and that we sing everything,鈥� Bennett said.
Everything in the Divine Liturgy (except the homily) is chanted in the Byzantine rite, a collection of Eastern churches which have come into union with the Roman Catholic Church. But according to the subdeacon, this custom is not exclusive to Byzantine Catholics such as those who attend the chaplaincy.
鈥淭he Roman rite has this tradition as well, but in most parishes since the Second Vatican Council, this tradition of the sung Mass has been lost,鈥� said Bennett. 鈥淏ut now you鈥檙e seeing again a return to some of these traditions in the Roman Catholic Church.鈥�
(Candy, 21, is a third-year English student at the University of Ottawa.)