Latin Mass — not just for conservative Catholics today.
June 9th, 2007In doing research for this story, sources have consistently told me that Ave Maria is far more conservative than the average American Catholic. One aspect of their liturgical conservatism being the practice of a Latin Mass.
So today I decided that I should experience one of these for myself. Keep in mind that as the product of a typical hippie union, I think I can count the number of times that I have been to church on one hand (excluding weddings, of course). So this, I thought, was going to be quite a treat.
By the time I arrived, the small parking lot was nearly full. Teenagers strolled in the late afternoon sun with their parents, and groups of little girls lingered just outside the church doors. I went on inside, grabbed a red leather-bound hymn book, remembered to dip my finger in the holy water, and quickly found a seat near the center aisle.
Like its budding sister city across town, Ave Maria University is impeccably groomed. It’s Stella Maris Chapel exudes a breath of calm from the baby blue walls and soft globes of light that hang from the ceiling. Three copper reliefs are displayed near the altar, one depicting the Crucifixion in its customary place behind the altar. I looked around at the dozens of mostly white faces around me; several elderly couples sat in the front rows, a father with his two young daughters next to them; to my left an entire family; on either side of the row behind me, two young men in their early twenties — latin mass had garnered quite the turnout.
I read along with the hymns, wishing I could recall more from my high school latin class besides the declensions. But after a period of intensly studying the words, trying to make sense of them, I put the book down. I could feel the slight vibrato of the rhythmic hymns being repeated in unison by dozens of off-key voices, and the collective breaths between stanzas.
