The Mass of the Ages Documentary, Part I -- "It was overwhelming to me how beautiful it was!"

"It was overwhelming to me how beautiful it was!" Msgr. Eugene Morris about learning to celebrate the Latin Mass

It takes time to get used to the Latin Mass because it's unfamiliar. Most people have never experienced the seriousness and God-centered reverence and the profound silence of the traditional Latin Mass.  

I grew up with the Latin Mass and attended the daily low Latin Mass frequently with my mother when I was in high school. When I returned to regular attendance during the COVID shutdowns (the only Mass available was offered by SSPX priests at our local fairground on Sundays), I experienced once again the profound reverence of the Mass. I had to become re-accustomed to the Latin, the silence, the incense, the Gregorian Chant. I had forgotten so much. Thank God I had my old dog-eared missal, a gift from my parents on my 9th birthday. What a reminder that the Latin Mass truly is the Mass of Ages, the Mass of my parents, my grandparents, my great-parents going back and back and back.

Now, my heart lifts up at the beginning of the Mass and until the priest reads the last gospel and processes out. I feel such a connection to all the saints and all my ancestors who've gone before me who passed on the faith. Even the Old Testament figures come to mind. I recently studied Leviticus describing the beauty and dignity in the meeting tent. God himself ordained how HIS HOUSE was to be arranged and designed and how the priests were to offer the sacrifice. The offering of the unblemished lamb from the flock, prepared the world for the offering of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

 When I look at the altar and see the priest facing God and leading us, I'm overwhelmed. If every Novus Ordo did one thing, returned to saying Mass ad orientem, it would help reestablish the right orientation with the shepherd leading the flock. This photo was from a Novus Ordo daily Mass at St. John the Baptist in Front Royal.

My thought as I watched Father was that he and the arches created an arrow head with the congregation the arrow's shaft. The Holy Mass, like an arrow from the archer's bow, shoots us straight up to heaven.

The music at the Latin Mass, the Gregorian Chant, draws me into an atmosphere of worship without distracting me. It enhances my Thanksgiving after Communion instead of distracting me from it which so much of the music in the Novus Ordo does. It often sounds like a Broadway stage or a cabaret. 

If anyone has questions about the traditional Latin Mass, just ask. All who love the Latin Mass want to share it with others. It's a feast to be shared with the whole world. All are invited to the wedding feast; no one is excluded. We don't want to hoard it; we want to share it, because it truly is the great good news.