It happens I served mass for two years under the Latin Rite, from 1962 to 1964, and three when the English came in. Somehow, all of us 10 and 11 year old altar boys knew the translations of the prayers we memorized and recited without reference to texts during Mass, although when the English was adopted we were allowed to use cheat sheets, which lacked decorum. Then in High School most of us had two years of Latin, at the end of which we were expected to be able to translate Caesar's Commentaries, and the better Latin students, of which I was not one, went on to read Ovid, Cicero and Virgil for the next two years, with a year of Greek as a bonus. When it was time for my children to attend High School some twenty or so years later, it emerged that there are Catholic High Schools in which Latin is not taught, at all. So I said to one of the Priests, in all piety, during an Open House in one such school, "What happened to the "Roman" in "Roman Catholic?" He shrugged and smiled. We just absolutely cannot afford to lose the mother tongue of our Church, of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and so many of the Church Fathers. You won't find the Greek Orthodox and the Jews dispensing their children from the discipline of their religious language, for the simple reason they appreciate the language itself is water to the root of faith. And the Latin is to the English as Poetry is to Prose - consider the "Ave Maria" - just how would you translate that particular jewel of Western European art, beautifully, into English? Personally I would prefer a hybrid Mass of Latin and English, with the Greek "Kyrie" maintained as well, and hopefully many Pastors will see fit to bring their parishes up to a level of understanding at least small portions of the Latin Mass. Meanwhile, if you have a chance to attend a Latin Rite mass, you will find translations and instructions provided, and there will be no nonsense like talking in the pews, as if you're at a ballgame! The women folk should not forget to wear a hair covering of some sort, and most people take a little trouble to dress up. Enjoy! the latin, imperative plural of which may be somthing like, "gaudete", but feel free to offer improvements.

i, too appreciate the Mass in Latin, but probably prefer the Mass in vernacular. my parish celebrates the sunday noon mass in vernacular with Latin sung parts led by a schola choir. it's reverent, uplifting, beautiful. as for understanding? a little committment to the process is all is required, same as you demonstrated as an altar-serving kid.

as i had written above, the motu proprio is not the Pope's new insistence to a return so much as it is his reassertion the Latin Mass has never been banned-- that it has been a misinterpretation of V2 documents.

the motu proprio likewise does not affirm the schismatics who insist the Latin Mass is the only valid Mass.

w n c

Let us be clear: there is absolutely nothing to prevent a greater reverence for the liturgy with a vernacular mass. If you can memorize the latin you can memorize the english. There really isn't a reason to need crib sheets for english if you don't need them for latin. If people can talk in the pews at an English mass they can do so at a Latin mass. And you're wrong about women covering their heads. It was and is a bad practice.

Why can't you afford to lose Latin? Why is Latin more sacred than Aramaic or Greek? I doubt their will ever be a Bible translation in English as beautiful as the King James version (unless Everett Fox does the whole thing), but most of us move on to common english anyway with little loss and more gain.

You seem to suffer the same illusion that many defenders of the pre-Vatican 2 rites do. They compare an idealized version of the past with the actual present. The past wasn't that great. Instead of trying to recreate a past that never was, they would better serve everyone by trying to bring actual improvements to the present.

Why is Latin more sacred than Aramaic or Greek?

latin is not more sacred that aramaic or greek. Here is the list of liturgical languages used in the universal church (katolica), according to the various traditional rites:

1. Latin in the Roman, Milanese, and Mozarabic Rites
2. Greek in the Byzantine Rite
3. Syriac in the Syrian, Maronite, Chaldean, and Malabar Rites.
4. Coptic in the Coptic Rite.
5. Armenian by all the Churches of that rite.
6. Arabic by the Melchites (Byzantine Rite).
7. Slavonic by Slavs of the Byzantine Rite
8. Georgian (Byzantine Rite).
9. Rumanian (Byzantine Rite).

(from New Advent)

waltz

this is great-- liturgical tradition contrasted with liturgical novelty.

<link> click on "real thing"

don't miss the trunk monkey clip, too.

waltz

I stopped being a Catholic a long time ago, but long before I stopped being a Catholic, I found church services to be boring, boring, boring, tho Gregorian chant was nice. And the sermons. Contradictory, useless, uninspiring, I would amuse myself with picking them apart. Some of the Holy Week services used to be mildly inspiring. Nonsense dressed up in Latin, which I took 2 years of, still is nonsense. If there were a religion out there that actually made people demonstrably better, even a little bit, I would join, whether or not the preachings were objectively true or not. Alas, there is none. And the pederasty merely shows that instead of being better, those in charge are actually worse, adding hypocracy to whatever other moral ills would have otherwise been their lot.