Traditional Latin Mass – Usus Antiquior – what is it?

“Mass of the Ages”

Episode 1: Discover the Latin mass

“After her husband dies, Kristine seeks refuge in Traditional Catholicism. An introduction to the Traditional Latin Mass with stunning visuals and an original score.”

Episode 2:

Attempts to try to cancel the traditional Latin rite (“Usus Antiquior”) of the Catholic Church and hostility towards those humbly devoted to it, will ultimately be judged by God Himself.  Do unto others.

The Catholic Church has over twenty rites. Why persecute faithful Catholics who are devoted to TLM? They are part of the Body of Christ and His members.

Question asked to His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke: “I wanted to ask if you have any statements about the Church post Traditionis Custodes?”

Cardinal Raymond Burke: “Simply that the More Ancient Usage of the Roman Rite is a great treasure in the Church, going back to the time of Pope Saint Gregory the Great and even before. It must be fostered and continued in the Church. The interpretation of the present legislation that would limit the faithful from having access to this most beautiful form of the Roman Rite must be corrected. I am confident that Our Lord will have that come about. The lay faithful and the priests should not be discouraged, because Our Lord will not permit that this most beautiful form of the Roman Rite be lost. In reality, it is clear that it is desired as the form of our most perfect encounter with Our Lord sacramentally. And it will continue to nurture the faithful spiritually, as you can see here today, with the participation of so many lay faithful – with their families, young people, old people. It’s just beautiful. [You can see] their deep love for the Church, and for the Sacred Liturgy.”

Source: 1Peter5

For this and other reasons, for the good of the faithful, some bishops opted not to enforce restrictions against the more Ancient Usage of the Roman rite and continued to grant permissions Pope Benedict XVI ordered be given.

Resources for Usus Antiquior (traditional Latin Mass):

Most of the resource links for the  below are courtesy of Una Voce

Why do Scott Hahn and others attend the traditional Latin Mass?

Many families go to the traditional rite because they appreciate the sermons there that provide thorough and faithful doctrine and moral teachings, as well as a beautiful uplifting liturgy, sacred music and Gregorian chant. They want to be with, and want their children to meet, other sincere Catholics who are serious about educating, living and defending the Church’s moral teachings and catechism.  Many are home-schoolers with larger families, who have seen the moral collapse in Catholic schools  or who brought their children to the Novus Ordo at their local parish and heard sermons containing errors. They also may have been persecuted there, for wanting their children to be able to kneel to receive Holy Communion on the tongue. If it happens at their parish, parents will question why they should be forced to undergo medical interventions in order to avail themselves and their children to the means of their salvation, the Mass and the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church?

At one parish that currently offers two rites (Novus Ordo and the Usus Antiquior) in 2022, it was noticed that at the Usus Antiquior (always using the Communion plate which is still mandatory in the old rite), there were eleven altar boys, eight choir members, congregational singing, more community building fellowship after Mass and a Confession lineup, compared to the Novus Ordo Mass where there is one server. Why is that?

Pope Benedict XVI declared regarding the traditional Latin mass: “As for the use of the 1962 Missal as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgy of the Mass, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted” – July 2007 Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Bishops on the publication of the “Motu Proprio” Summorum Pontificum on the Use of the Roman Liturgy Prior to the Reform of 1970 (https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/editorial/dossier/a-new-papal-document-provokes-controversy/)

Even Francis made the generous pastoral provisions of granting to the priests of the SSPX the ordinary faculty to hear confessions and conditional faculties to celebrate canonically marriage. During the year of mercy Francis said Catholics who attend (did not specify they must be members) the SSPX for whatever reason can receive valid absolution in Confession and then Francis extended this to continue after the year of mercy.

Care for particles of the Host:

Someday we will become aware of and there will be an accounting for particles of Christ in the Host that have been lost, discarded and not properly cared for. The 2006 Novus Ordo Vatican document, Sacramentum Redemptionis, instructed: “The communion plate [aka chin paten] should be retained for the communion of the faithful, so as to avoid the danger of the sacred host or some fragment of it falling”.

Then the 2012 General Instructions on the Roman Missal G.I.R.M for the Novus Ordo omitted to mention this. As of 2022, a canon lawyer and another priest who is faithful to the rubrics, verified that it is currently optional and “perfectly fine” to use the communion plate/paten. It is “strongly recommended” for the Novus Ordo and not verboten.

The communion plate/paten is currently used every day in the Novus Ordo on EWTN which can viewed on TV and on the Internet worldwide. Many years ago, EWTN was told by their bishop that they could not offer TLM on TV and could not offer Masson TV from the new beautiful Monastery, but EWTN retained the Communion plate etc.

Why wouldn’t we do all we can to prevent particles of the Host (God) from falling and being trampled on? The Communion plate remains in use at Novus Ordo Masses where there are no altar boys – it is simply held under one’s chin and carefully passed along to the next communicant, for example in Mother Teresa’s convents and in Masses in Catholic schools for girls or in parishes. Altar boys can put the Communion plate under the hands of those taking communion in their hands in order to catch Hosts and particles. We see this at Novus Ordo Masses.

How do we show repentance and reparation for lack of faith and reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament?

What if a Host Falls in the Novus Ordo?

At Novus Ordo Masses, without Communion plates, Hosts are sometimes seen falling on the floor. When they are picked up, why is nothing done to purify the area for particles when we believe the Host is the Body of Christ?  Novus Ordo GIRM 280. “If a host or any particle should fall, it is to be picked up reverently. If any of the Precious Blood is spilled, the area where the spill occurred should be washed with water, and this water should then be poured into the sacrarium in the sacristy.”  Hmmm…

What is the Traditional Latin Mass protocol when a Host falls?

 Excerpts from this webpage:  https://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2015/11/proper-reverence-for-dropped.html
“This reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, and even for the smallest particles, was incorporated into the traditional Mass — the Old Latin Mass — which contained strict rubrics on this point:1) From the moment the priest pronounces the words of the Consecration over the Sacred Host, the priest keeps his forefinger and thumb together on each hand. Whether he elevates the chalice, or turns the pages of the missal, or opens the tabernacle, his thumb and his forefinger on each hand are closed. The thumb and forefinger touch nothing but the Sacred Host;2) During Holy Communion, the altar boy holds the paten under the chin of those receiving Communion, so that the slightest particle does not fall to the ground. This paten is cleaned into the chalice afterwards;3) After Holy Communion is distributed, the priest scrapes the corporal (the small linen cloth on the altar) with the paten, and cleans it into the chalice so that if the slightest particle is left, it is collected and consumed by the priest;4) Then, the priest washes his thumb and forefinger over the chalice with water and wine, and this water and wine is reverently consumed to insure that the smallest particle of the Sacred Host is not susceptible to desecration.”…
 
“The pre-Vatican II rubrics for when a Host is dropped, like the rubrics of the Latin liturgy, safeguarded the reverence due to the Blessed Sacrament. The May 1949 American Ecclesiastical Review explained:‘This procedure requires that the spot on which the Sacred Host has fallen be purified, usually with a dampened purificator, and then scraped and the scrapings thrown into the sacrarium [small sink in sacristy that drains into ground under the church]. Authors, generally, in order to avoid delay in going on with the distribution of Holy Communion, interpret the fulfillment of the rubric to allow marking the spot on which the Sacred Host has fallen, either with a linen cloth or with the plate used with the cruets, the priest returning after Mass to purify the place in the manner prescribed in De defectibus.’This strict procedure not only gives God the reverence that is His due, but profoundly impresses the spectator, as it impressed me at a young age.The year was around 1965, I was a boy of about 7 years old. My father took me for Sunday Mass to the “Italian Parish”, Our Lady of Consolation in Philadelphia. The Mass was still in Latin, the sacred atmosphere still pervaded the church and the liturgy, though the first updrafts of change were in the wind.During Communion time on this particular Sunday, the priest accidentally dropped a consecrated Host. We were sitting up front, and my father drew my attention to it.The priest briefly interrupted the distribution of Communion to fetch a small white cloth which he placed over the Host on the floor. The distribution of Holy Communion resumed, with the priest and altar boy carefully stepping around the Veiled Guest.My father purposely kept me after Mass so that I could see the purification rubric from the front pew.All was done simply, quietly, for there was no talking in church whatsoever back then, in reverence to the Blessed Sacrament.The priest and the altar boy approached the spot near the altar rail inside the sanctuary, the spot covered with a white cloth. The priest then dropped to his knees, lifted the veil, retrieved the Sacred Species and consumed it with dignity and decorum. Slowly, reverently, still on his knees, he then cleaned and purified the section of the floor where the Host had dropped.He took his time. There was no rush. An air of solemnity, holiness and adoration pervaded his every move.I was fascinated and edified by the procedure. I remember thinking to myself, “truly, the Sacred Host is the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” because the priest tended to It with awe-inspiring care and reverence.It was the best catechism lesson on the Real Presence I ever had.”

 

More danger of sacrilege with Communion in the Hand

There is more danger of sacrilege from Communion taken in the hand at Novus Ordo Masses, compared to exposition of the Blessed Sacrament where at least one or more adorers are always present to make that no one walks off with the Host.

Perhaps one reason some prefer the traditional Latin Mass is because of all of the particles of Christ being lost and discarded on the floor through Communion in the hand at the Novus Ordo?

The following video promotes  Eucharistic catechesis, reverence, Communion on the tongue, and Ad Orientum.