Campus Catholics argue Latin Mass is worth the drive

Every Sunday, thousands of Catholics celebrate Mass. Most celebrate the Novus Ordo, or the New Order Mass, established in 1969. But a growing number of Catholics are attending the traditional Mass in Latin, called the Tridentine.

Junior Raymond Spiotta and sophomore Eric Jensen attend the Tridentine on a regular basis.

Although Jensen hasn't taken Latin, he understands the Mass due to gestures made by the priest and missals with English translations. But both Jensen and Spiotta attend the Tridentine Mass so often that they've committed the hymns to memory.

"Sometimes we go to Detroit," Spiotta said. "We also go to the Eastern Rite Catholic Church in Lansing and in Detroit."

Spiotta and his friends seek out these churches looking for something deeper. They said they attend the Tridentine Mass not because of the novelty but to save their immortal souls. They consider the modern Mass a fabrication made up by Protestant influence.

Jensen, scratching his thick five o'clock shadow, said the Novus Ordo seems like a submission by the church to man, something that should never happen.

"The traditional Mass was to show that man's purpose was not to make authority, but to submit to it," Jensen said.

Spiotta agreed and explained how the church's faith and liturgy are intertwined. Changing one damages the other. To protect the purity of their own faith, he and his friends sought pure liturgy.

"We believe that we should pass on what was given to us," Spiotta said.

Sophomore Evan Williams said that the Tridentine Mass was passed down from St. Peter, who was inspired by the Holy Ghost.

They said the crux of the argument against the Novus Ordo is its attempt to democratize Mass.

For example, in Tridentine Mass, the priest faces the altar with the rest of the congregation. In Novus Ordo, he faces the congregation and preaches to them.

In Tridentine Mass, Catholics kneel to receive the Eucharist on their tongue, and in Novus Ordo, they handle the body of Christ in their hands.

Freshman Danielle Rose said she attended a Latin Mass once for a wedding. Noting its length and language, Rose said she would attend another Latin Mass only for special ceremonies. For now, she prefers the Novus Ordo.

"You get more out of it, instead of going through the motions and not understanding what you're doing," Rose said.

Charles Le June, a former Hillsdale student, said the attendee doesn't need to understand what is being said.

"The whole point of the Mass is to gain those graces from the sacrifice," Le June said. "I mean somebody with an impaired intellect, somebody who's illiterate, somebody who is deaf can still receive those graces."

Spiotta agreed.

"It's not necessary for them to know what the priest is doing, because they know what the priest is doing in the larger sense," he said. "The priest is going before God."

Williams said most of the missals have translations for the uninitiated, but the chants are so short that most people can memorize them.

Most Tridentine Masses last about an hour to an hour and a half; however, Le June said he has attended Masses that have lasted from three to five hours during celebrations.

Spiotta referred to a quote by Pope Benedict XVI. The pope - then Cardinal Ratzinger - referred the Novus Ordo as "complete fabrication… a banal, on-the-spot product."

And they all agreed. Spiotta argued that liturgy is not invented. Instead, it is carried on.