| | Earlier today, I had discovered that there would be a Tridentine Mass at a local Korean parish. It turns out that a (German? or maybe Austrian?) priest serving in Shanghai came to Korea and was willing to offer the TLM. I'm not sure how it was organized (I have not taken the time to figure this out), but according to this site, the news of this mass was available last week. Immediately upon reading about the news on the Western Confucian, I called several friends and invited them to come along.
Time is limited at the moment, but here are a few things that come to mind:
The Mass was said in a typical Korean Novus Ordo parish. The actual chapel looked like a big brick box on the outside, (and the main parish looked somewhat like a school). In fact, upon arriving, I wasn't even sure the building was a church. The interior, however, looked much nicer. Little to no effort was made to make the atmosphere look more 'traditional' (i.e. well-decorated altar, 3 candles on each side of the altar, the priest didn't have the proper vestments, etc). But, I didn't see any need to criticize, since it is likely that these things were not readily available. Incense, however, was available!
Interestingly, the priest faced the novus ordo altar, as there wasn't much of a high altar. So, he faced ad orientem even though he was a step or two away from possibly tripping by missing a step behind him. The only altar server was a foreign and elderly gentleman. He seemed to know exactly what was going on.
Unfortunately, for the rest of us, knowing when to kneel, sit, or stand was quite difficult at times. I did, however, prefer this over being prompted to stand, sit, and kneel as it is always done in Korean Masses. While I had a general idea, it seemed the only group of people who knew were a group of young people sitting up at the front. I had a sense that they were the group that had gotten together from Confraternitas Liturgiae Traditio Latini. As expected, a large number of the women wore veils, yet a good number didn't, though I would say the number of women wearing veils still beats any traditional Latin Mass in the States. Additionally, most of the women did not wear dresses as can be seen in most TLMs. Clearly, they did not know. I didn't think they would have known anyway, as it seems some of them were expecting that the mass would simply be a bit different. I prefer not to criticize anyway.
Generally, everyone seemed to not know when the gospel was being read, as nobody stood up, until the Korean version was read by the translator. I knew we had to stand at the gospel reading, but I also wasn't entirely sure, even though he had faced north. Basically, I wasn't sure if he was reading the gospel or reading a prayer aloud. I haven't been to enough TLMs to know. ;)
I was anticipating an entirely low mass, yet the choir was very well prepared with Gregorian chant.
If I had to make one complaint, it was that the priest apparently was not 'properly' trained in the TLM. After washing his hands, he did not lift the chalice correctly. He did not keep his thumbs and forefingers together. It's not really a big deal for me anymore, but it highly suggests that he did not learn about the significance of it. Maybe he's still new to the Tridentine liturgy?
(After the homily, when the priest washes his hands, the idea is that that the priest's thumbs and forefingers should never touch anything, so as to keep them clean. If the body and blood of Christ is real and therefore very sacred, the priest would naturally want to keep his fingers clean, so as to distribute communion carefully to the faithful without any blemish.)
Interestingly, throughout the homily, which was translated in Korean, he did emphasize how the TLM stresses the importance of the Eucharist. My friends certainly were able to feel the difference in this particular mass. On a typical Sunday Novus Ordo Mass, I often find that I want to hurry out, yet for this mass, I find that it's significantly easier to meditate on the Eucharist and the significance of what it means. As expected, my friends felt the same.
I particularly liked the long periods of silence, which forced me to focus on our Lord. This, I think, is what makes the Tridentine Mass so special. To my surprise, as I was leaving the chapel, a good number of the attendees had said good things about the Mass even though it was very different, and in a completely different language.
Also, I remember in the past hearing a lot of critics of the Tridentine Mass complain that the language barrier is a problem, yet I found that it wasn't a problem at all. This mass, after all, was the mass that first came to Korea even before Koreans had priests. As I write this, I'm trying to imagine the first Korean Catholics celebrating the Latin Mass without even a priest. Why would a bunch of laymen take it upon themselves to learn about a foreign religion that is from a different culture halfway around the world, whose worship also involves a radically different and 'dead' language? It suggests that the Mass goes far beyond language. I personally would prefer to attend a vernacular tridentine Mass if such a thing existed since it is much easier to comprehend, but I think there is something particularly interesting about keeping the mass in Latin. Perhaps it's because I have an interest in languages :)
Other things I haven't mentioned: The priest and the altar server genuflected a LOT, and some of the attendees did as well (to my surprise!). Everyone knelt to receive the Eucharist, since they really didn't have a choice, but I noticed the priest did something different. I recall in my previous experiences at a TLM, the priest would say, "Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam" (May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto everlasting life.) and then distribute the Eucharist, yet he simply said, "Corpus Christi". Maybe he's still trying to memorize it (?), and assumed that most of the attendees wouldn't know/care of the difference? Who knows. Either way around, the Mass was quite wonderful. My girlfriend was initially frustrated with the idea of attending Mass after work (since she wanted to go home), but after the Mass, she said it was definitely worth it :)
Hm.. seems like I had more time that I anticipated. I suppose I could reorganized all my thoughts to make this neater, but it's now time for me to get some rest
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| | Posted 5/13/2009 12:18 PM - 54 Views - 4 eProps - 6 comments
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