Here is a nice story from the website of the Diocese of Venice.
My emphases and comments.
Tridentine Mass Enriches Catholic Culture at St. Martha Church in Sarasota
Although Pope Benedict XVI just authorized a wider use of the old Latin Mass in the Catholic Church this weekend, tradition-minded parishioners of St. Martha Church in Sarasota have been celebrating Mass in Latin for well over a decade.
Coincidently this weekend, the Diocese of Venice also welcomed a new priest, Father James Fryar, who is trained in the celebration of Mass in Latin. Father Fryar will be in residence at St. Martha Parish.
“That’s just something that happened to coincide,” says Bishop Frank J. Dewane. “We didn’t know when the Holy Father was going to be releasing the ‘motu proprio.’ It had been rumored for some time that it was going to happen.”
Because of growing interest in the Latin Mass, Bishop Dewane approached the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order established by Pope John Paul II in 1998 to promote ecclesial unity and traditional Roman rites, and asked for a priest who would celebrate the Latin Mass and minister to the growing number of families in the diocese who prefer the old rites.
In the Tridentine Mass a priest faces away from the congregation and whispers prayers in Latin, a language unfamiliar to most Catholics. [A couple of the usual chestnuts.] The current vernacular Mass was approved as the standard in 1970 [Well… not really.] after the Second Vatican Council, and many Catholics were unhappy with the modernization of an ancient ceremony.
“You hear “Latin Mass” and everybody goes…old style, old ways,” observes Bishop Frank J. Dewane, “but it’s tradition, and tradition is not always bad. Tradition can be a very positive thing.” Bishop Dewane points out the artistry of Gregorian chant which is currently part of the Tridentine Mass at St. Martha every Sunday. “Some of the tones that the priests sing in various parts of the Mass are certainly beautiful, very melodic,” he says. “It was a whole art…a very expressive part of the Church’s tradition in music was in Latin and in chant.” [Well said!]
“I’m delighted as we all are,” says Stan Valerga Chairman of Ecclesia Dei Society www.ecclesiadei-sarasota.org. “I think the Pope brought it to a level even we didn’t expect and it’s a positive,” [This is a very positive statement!] he adds. The Ecclesia Dei Society organized informally in Sarasota in 1994 to bring back the old Latin Mass in the Diocese of Venice. With approval from then-Bishop John J. Nevins, the first Tridentine Mass was celebrated at St. Martha on January 22, 1995.
Parishioners from across the diocese attend the Tridentine Mass in Sarasota. Valerga estimates between 25 to 30% are younger families who have discovered the Latin Mass.
“The interesting thing is, many of them are young people who did not grow up with the Latin Mass, and some would say they harken back to what they don’t know,” says Bishop Dewane. “I think very much it is a movement of the spirit and we have to be open to that…alert to that within the church, where you have young men and women raising their families, and they want their children to experience this Latin Mass and bring them up in the tradition of the Church.”
Currently St. Martha Church in Sarasota is the only parish in the diocese that celebrates Tridentine Mass, but Bishop Dewane says a second Latin Mass will be scheduled at another parish in the southern part of the Diocese of Venice.
St. Martha Catholic Church is located at the corner of Fruitville Road and Orange Avenue in downtown Sarasota. Mass is celebrated in Latin every Sunday at 1:30 pm, every first Friday of the month at 12:45 pm and every first Saturday of the month at 9:15 am. For more information on the Tridentine Mass contact St. Martha Catholic Church at (941)366-4210, or e-mail psec@mycomcast.com.For more information on the Diocese of Venice contact Communications Director Adela Gonzales White at 941-486-4702, or e-mail agwhite@dioceseofvenice.org.
Here is a bishop who says that the Motu Proprio was better than he had hoped it would be!
Excellent, Excellency!
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Very nice! I wish he’d talk to our bishop here in St. Augustine. I suspect that our bishop thought he was taking the easy way out by having his diocesan liturgist restrict the MP out of existence. But the reality is that it would have been much easier for him to have been generous and encouraging about it. The bishop of Venice is providing a good model, and I hope that the other Florida bishops who have already signed on to the St. Augustine statement will realize that they have actually created problems for themselves, problems that would not have existed if they had actually just done what the Pope wanted (as the Bishop of Venice is obviously doing).
Excellent.
I find it surprising how many people use the terms “Latin mass” and “Tridentine mass” interchangeably and don’t seem aware that the Novus Ordo can also be celebrated in Latin. Is the N.O. never celebrated in Latin anywhere in the United States? I live in England and two churches near me celebrate a Latin N.O. Sunday mass. Although I don’t really know what the situation is in other parts of the country..
Dev:
I use “Tridentine” on the bulletin for our “extraordinary use of the Roman rite,” since it is a common term most lay people know and use the most; moreover, it is a nice reference to the time of codification. I rarely simple say, “Latin Mass.”
I don’t think there are a lot of places in the United States (correct me if I’m wrong) that celebrate the Novus Ordo in Latin. Although I celebrate the Tridentine Mass on a regular basis, I do not celebrate the Novus Ordo in Latin; only English. I’m not a big fan of the way EWTN does their daily Mass either. I would also guess that most of the “Latin” Masses in the U.S.A. are actually Tridentine Masses.
“the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order established by Pope John Paul II in 1998 to promote ecclesial unity and traditional Roman rites”
Small correction in the artcle. The FSSP was established in 1988, not 1998. That is right, they are 19 years old already…
In Canada they would be old enough to buy beer!
“the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order established by Pope John Paul II in 1998 to promote ecclesial unity and traditional Roman rites”
Small correction in the artcle. The FSSP was established in 1988, not 1998. That is right, they are 19 years old already…
In Canada they would be old enough to buy beer!
My guess is that there are far more TLMs in the US than Novus Ordo masses in Latin. The suppression of Latin, and its replacement by bogus translations, were prime reasons for the spread of the traditionalist movement.
John Collorafi writes:
My guess is that there are far more TLMs in the US than Novus Ordo masses in Latin.
Your guess is correct. You can check the web site of the Latin Liturgy Association (latinliturgy.org) for a list of all the episcopally-approved Latin Masses in the U.S., both Tridentine and New. There are many more of the former.
… but Bishop Dewane says a second Latin Mass will be scheduled at another parish in the southern part of the Diocese of Venice.
Indeed, a Tridentine Mass scheduled at 8 am each Sunday began on August 26 at St. Agnes Church in Naples, near Ave Maria University, among whose students and faculty Fr. Fryar has been warmly received.
First Tridentine Mass celebrated at St. Agnes Parish in Naples
http://thefloridacatholic.org/articles/2007/070831/070831-ven-1sttridentinemass.html
“NAPLES — Preceded by three altar boys and wearing a black biretta, Father James Fryar walked down the aisle of St. Agnes Parish Chapel in Naples Aug. 26 to celebrate the first Tridentine Mass in decades in the southern part of the Diocese of Venice.”
This nice article, including a color photo of Fr. Fryar and two altar boys, is in the diocesan Florida Catholic newspaper.
Bishop Dewane is our Bishop here in Venice, and yes, he is as friendly towards the TLM as he seems. There is also word that he is quickly implementing the call to say more of the NO in Latin in our diocese as well, with plans to start saying the Gloria and Creed in latin at the Cathedral Masses at first, and later extending this practice to the rest of the parishes. There is also now a second TLM in the Diocese, at St Agnes in Naples at the south end of the Diocese. Things are moving quickly here in Venice!
“The FSSP was established in 1988, not 1998. That is right, they are 19 years old already…
In Canada they would be old enough to buy beer!”
I assumed that, in Canada, the government just issues you your beer.
Father Z, thanks for sharing this. It’s so
heartening. I particularly like hearing the Bishop
is going to start using more Latin Chant in his
own Cathedral. I guess his flock isn’t as ignorant
as Bishop Galeone’s who don’t know Latin. Tom
It might be mentioned that Fr. James Fryar, FSSP is he of the DVD Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti ( http://www.thefirstmass.com ). This twin DVD package of Fr. Fryar’s first solemn high Mass provides both the solemn high Mass itself and also a disk of additional material including the entire Mass as seen through the eyes of a newly ordained priest — with commentary offering his reflections and thoughts as he celebrated his first Mass. Fr. Fryar’s description of the relationship between the celebrant offering the Holy Sacrifice in persona Christi, and the Eternal High Priest Himself, is powerful and inspiring.
And also that Fr. Fryar made a quick overnight stop in Knoxville (TN) on his way to Florida in July, and celebrated a local parish church’s first Tridentine Mass, with a group of about 35 Catholics who gathered almost impromptu at 7 am for an unannounced private Mass ( http://www.knoxlatinmass.net/gallery/gallery.htm ).
In a posting above it listed latinliturgy.org that should be latinliturgy.com