I just got home from Mater Ecclesiae's Candlemas Mass, and it was beautiful as always. But I got to thinking as the Solemn High celebration of Our Lady's purification, how anyone who goes to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite cannot fall in love with it? As the Mass progressed, and the sounds of the chanting and polyphonic music struck my ears and the scent of sweet-smelling incense enveloped my nostrils, you could feel yourself in the presence of the Almighty and fully participated with the angels and saints in adoration of Christ truly present on the altar. Absolutely breathtaking.
Not to put down the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (yes it's a valid Mass, so quit your whining hippies and lower your egos trads), when it is celebrated PROPERLY, it can be beautiful as well. But there's something about the traditional Roman form of worshiping the One, True God that cannot be explained because there is no word in any dictionary that can explain the beauty of the mystery that unfolds before our eyes at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Perhaps it's the uniformity, the ideal taken from our Jewish roots of following precisely what is prescribed in the rubrics of the Mass, that adds to the beauty. I know it plays a part in it, but is it? I don't know.
What I do know is that in the Extraordinary Form, our souls fly to God Who is the center of worship, unlike many a parish where irreverence continues to occupy the sacred space and people wait for Christ the rock star to make his big entrance while the band plays on. The traditional form of worship draws people of all ages, and especially young Catholics who flock to these Masses, and makes the toughest of pompous men break out in tears (I've seen it). It made saints since the earliest days of the Church, it released many souls from purgatory, and it drew many back into the fold of Christ and His Church. And it will continue to do so until the triumphant second coming. Wow!
You want to save the world? Then save the Liturgy! LAUDETOR IESUS CHRISTUS IN AETERNUM!
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