I'm intimidated by the TLM

I agree about loving the liturgy! I don't have a nearby opportunity to attend a Latin Mass, but I think I would love to go because I'm trying to learn a bit of Latin, with phone apps and because I'm such a fan of history, including Church history. But if I went at first I'd probably approach it more as a respectful spectator than a participant....hide out in the back and be quiet

You are not alone in those feelings. I have less than fond memories of the TLM, and the feeling of oppressiveness in what was a dark space with stale air that smelled of candle wax and incense. Little joy or even connectivity was apparent to me; I always wondered why we were there, since we really didn't do anything but watch a couple of guys on the altar do stuff and mumble in an unintelligible manner. In some ways it was like going to a foreign film without subtitles.

I've been to a few old masses. The liturgy is beautiful. There is very little in the modern world that feels truly ancient, and that mass conveys the feeling of something that's truly old and mysterious very well. And, though the people who generally attend such masses would probably cringe at me saying so, I do think there are some elements of pre-Christian Roman religious thought and practice that make their way into the mass, and are sanctified by it, and that the mass is better for it.

Having said that, I think for me the TLM mass is more an act of meditation than anything else. It's outside time in much the same way as meditation with Buddhist monks is outside time. All masses and Eucharist services exist outside time and in a string of lineage that goes back and forward thousands of years- from the Last Supper and the Crucifixion through two millennia to us and who knows how many millenia to come.

Whether this is viewed as literal or figurative, or somewhere in between, I think it's there.

My only concern with the old mass is that there is a culture that surrounds it in modern society that is ultra-conservative and not in keeping with my values and ideals, or what I believe and hope are God's values and ideals. The sermons (Which is what they are in the old mass- not homilies) are interesting when viewed almost anthropologically, but can be somewhat scary when viewed as literal spiritual beliefs and advice.

I don't think that this fringe is good for the Church, although I have met some folks who attend these masses and are very nice service oriented people, so please don't take that as an indictment of every individual.

It'd be nice if we could divorce the mass from the culture that has come to surround the mass and reclaim it as part of our progressive Catholic heritage, but theology and liturgy seemed tied together in Roman Catholicism in a way that they aren't always in other churches and denominations, probably because a lot of theological changes occurred at the same time as a lot of liturgical changes during and after Vatican II.

As a progressive myself, I'm expected to be rather liturgically "low-church" as they'd say in Anglican circles, and I find myself really appreciating "high-church" accoutrements like smells and bells, and ornate vestments and ceremonies related to liturgical seasons and commemorations and whatnot.

Of course, I also like Dan Schutte music, and strongly prefer masses to be in the evening, so we'll call that a draw, I guess.

It would also probably be fair to say that the actual words of the current ordinary form in the language of the people is closer to my theology than the translation of the Latin words from the Tridentine mass, and that I'm to the left of both of them. So, I can see from that perspective also why liturgies and theologies get intertwined.

It's a very complex subject, the way culture, theology, and liturgy cross-pollinate and define people and groups. A sociologist could write a very interesting book on the subject, I think.

[QUOTE="tadoflamb, post: 69672188, member: 179255"Even the TLM's I've seen on TV seemed unnecessarily fussy and distracting. I'm more busy wondering about all the pomp than immersing myself into the liturgy, which is, by definition, the work of the people and where my heart should be.
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Ah, but your heart isn't your thoughts, thank goodness! Give it a go, be distracted, forgive yourself and enjoy your distracting thoughts. Just keep paying attention despite them; not in resistance of them, but in spite of them.

I like the Tridentine style of the Mass--but only when they sing the whole thing out loud. My mother has very fond memories of the Latin Mass. When I brought it up to her that a lot of people said that they could say their rosaries during the Mass because the whole thing was done silently, my mother balked and was surprised that other people had had that experience because in her community, everything was sung or said loudly in Latin where the parishioners were truly able to participate in the Mass and where there was much more of a call and response aspect to the Mass.

If I had the option between a sung Mass and a spoken Mass, I'd go for a sung one all the way. For a taste of what it's like sung, have a listen to the Divine Liturgy in the Greek Orthodox Church. It's positively beautiful!

I attended thousands of Tridentine Latin Masses before the reform of the liturgy .

Here the Mass in English was first allowed on the first Sunday of Advent 1964 .

I don't recall attending a Tridentine Latin Mass since then , except for one occasion .

People kept going on about the Tridentine Latin Mass , so in the summer of 2007 I travelled to a city one Sunday to a church where I knew they had a Tridentine Latin Mass .

I have never desired to go to another one .

I don't know why people have such a problem that they have to make any Mass other than the Tridentine Latin Mass seem inferior .

I am happy with the reformed Mass in English .