Friday, June 8, 2007
Why Latin?
Many of us who are interested in the use of latin in liturgy may not be able to explain why we like it. I mean, how interesting could a dead language make the Mass- which is already so boring in English- more interesting? And why should we pray in a language we do not understand?
To understand this we have to thrust ourselves into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To enter the Celebration is to enter a sacred mystery. Latin is able to give the Mass a holistic sense of mystery. But, can't other vernacular languages acomplish that too? To answer that question we need to look at what worship and prayer is and how they work.
In his book, Prayer Primer, Rev. Fr. Thomas Bubay SM, talks about interpersonal union and intimacy in prayer. In chapter 9, Fr. Bubay explains that contemplation is, "a real awareness of God, desiring and loving Him...", "... there are no words." If we read the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and some modern writers such as Evelyn Underhill and Dom John Chapman OSB, we will see that God does not communicate to the human soul by words or via our intellect.
Would you believe me if I told you that worship that remains at our human intellectual level is not really prayer? Such worship is only a mutual admiration and exhortation.
Genuine Catholic worship is "a deep absorption, so deep that any distractions cease for five to ten minutes," Fr. Thomas Bubay SM. Genuine prayer also lifts us out of ourselves and to the incomprehensible and indescribable God.
The forms, words and actions we use are only symbols that help us raise our heats, minds, and soul to God. Prayer is a matter of the heart, not head. Even when we pray using words, etc... the real business should be taking place in the heart; at a much deeper level.
Fr. Thomas Bubay SM, explains in Prayer Primer, the traditional three kinds of prayer: vocal, meditation, and comtemplation. Vocal prayer is one that remains mainly in the head. Meditation, exercises the intellect- one thinks profoundly about God. Contemplation (which will be emphasised here) is a purely wordless prayer. In contemplation, "we open our hearts and minds to God, " says Fr. Francis Randolph (author of Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread), we "are aware of His presence and are longing for His love; there are no conscious or intellectual thoughts. Words mean very little; glancing lightly off the surface."
Contemplative souls find it very difficult to keep attention on the the intellectual surface of the mind and still be able to pray. A contemplative person will be frustrated if natural contemplation is forced to remain at a level of vocal prayer. He or she will feel as if he/she has not prayed at all.
This is the problem with the new Mass in the vernacular. Contemplatives are agonized when they are 'forced' to keep in touch with the words; they are 'prevented' from praying. In a Latin Mass, which is mostly silent, a contemplative will find attendence and assistance more relaxing. They wouldn't mind going to Mass again!
The problem is that many people have not read St. Thomas or Abbot Chapman, thus, they feel guilty attending a Latin Mass. Fr. Francis Randolph explains that in his experience of many years of confessions, he has been convinced that a very large proportion of people are natural contemplatives but do not know it.
The Catholic Church is a diverse community of believers, we need to respect the mode of prayer of others and cannot insist that one form of prayer is better that the other. Let the vocal/intellectual Catholic worship in the Vernacular Mass, let the contemplative Catholic worship on the Latin Mass. His Holiness, the late Pope John Paul II, the Great, acknowledged that mistake that the Church by forcing the changes the Mass without any sensitivity to the feelings of the people. In a letter to the Bishops on Holy Thursday, 1980, Pope John Paul II wrote, "I would like to ask forgiveness- in my own name and of all of you, venerable brothers in the Episcopate- for everything which, for whatever reason, through whatever human weaknessimpatience, or negligence, and also through the times at partial, one-sided and erroneous application of the directives of the Second Vatican Council, may have caused scandal and disturbance concerning the interpretation of doctrine and the verneration due to this great Sacrament." and also “to all those Catholic faithful who feel attached to some previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradition, I wish to manifest my will to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful aspirations. In this matter I ask support of the Bishops and of all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the Church.", "By virtue of my Apostolic Authority I Decree... Respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of this who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition, by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See, for the use of the Roman Missal... of 1962.” Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia Dei.
An International Language
This is an entire different consideration. In our globalized, modern world, we need a language that does not carry any political implications with it. Three of the world's most dominant languages are French, English and Spanish. But to use these languages isn't fair to those who speak minority languages and tongues. For this, Latin has the advantage. No one race or political system can claim the language. Latin belongs to the world that has already gone by- the old world.
Our cosmopolitant world, filled with migrants, refugees, tourists, etc... the abolition of an international language is absolutely absurd! I don't think it is too late to repair the damage.
In Christo,
J-PDM
Acknowledgements/References:
Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread by Fr. Francis Randolph
Prayer Primer: Igniting the Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Bubay, SM
Labels: Books, Languages, Latin, Liturgy, Novus Ordo, Prayer, Quote, Quotes, Thoughts, Traditionalism
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