As you might have guessed, I do have a strong affinity and devotion to the Latin Mass. Although I have offered dozens of Latin Masses both public and private, surprisingly I have never offered a Solemn High Mass.
With two Latin Mass already publicly offered and another one coming up on March 19th for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the parish will offer a Latin Mass approximately once a month or every other month. It would be about 10-12 Latin Masses a year. For the time being, there will be just one server due to the circumstances that we are in.
If you have never been to a Latin Mass before, I recommend that you watch my explanation of the Latin Mass which is currently available online on our parish website and on our Facebook account. However, there are other videos that are available online on YouTube that explain it better than I. One of these videos is titled Extraordinary Form of the Mass Explained. It is narrated by Father Calvin Goodwin from the Fraternity of Saint Peter. It is approximately 34 minutes long.
Permit me to share with you a prayer that is said in the Latin Mass during the offertory. As the sacred music is being sung, the priest says this prayer in a low voice while holding the paten with the host on it and looking at the Cross.
Accept, O Holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this unspotted host, which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offenses, and negligence’s, and for all here present: as also for all faithful Christians, both living and dead, that it may avail both me and them for salvation unto life everlasting. Amen.
How I love this prayer. It is one of my favorite prayers of the Mass. It is a reminder that we are unworthy sinners. Yet God by His sheer goodness offers himself as the sacrifice for us so we may be with Him in Heaven.
The Latin Mass has a deeply devotional aspect to it. The priest kisses the altar 9 times. Makes the sign of the cross 52 times. In fact, from the Council of Trent to the early 1960’s the Mass was unchanged, and it was the same Mass exactly both in ritual and language in any country across the world.
I have to say among the youth there is a growing affinity for the Latin Mass. The interesting part of it is that the Latin Mass is new to them, but it is older than then the town of Southold.
Well, if you never been to a Latin Mass please considering going to the Mass on March 19th at 7:30PM. If you know nothing of the Latin Mass, please watch a video explaining it. Your love for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist may grow more by it.
In Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Jeff Yildirmaz
