Latin mass was a new and different experience for me.
I thought Medical Terminology class would help me here, but singing in Latin was another thing altogether. I was about to get a cephalgia (literal Latin for "pain in the head" meaning "headache") but somehow I kept up with that.
It's interesting to try different things, but it would have been more helpful if there was some kind of a guide for newcomers. At least at English mass, the service's steps are outlined clearly from beginning to end. There were a few portions of the Latin mass that were outlined clearly, but some of the steps were taken from outside of the book and that's when I got lost.
If you've never been to a Catholic church, I recommend you familiarize yourself with the English mass first, or you'll really be lost. For those who are familiar with the customs of a Catholic mass, the Latin one is not very different. They still have the communion, the sign of the cross, and they recite the Hail Mary. In the midst of the Latin world, I felt like a star when I could actually join in and finish a prayer completely. Hehe.
It starts with the opening hymn as the priest walks in with the altar boys, the opening prayers and readings from the Bible, then a hymn, then at this point the mass diverged into a new, unfamiliar direction. I was lucky to have a friend who goes here so he could show me. But I remained a bit lost until the very ending during the communion offering and then the closing prayers.
The funniest part for me was when my friend handed me a head cover for my niece. It was kind of small so I mistook it for a fancy hair-bow, but my niece had to correct me to show it was supposed to sit on top of her head, not to the side. Apparently, the women cover their heads at the mass in the Philippines, too. Except over there it's not in Latin either. I was also given a hair covering as well, but mine kept falling off.
It's a little church but there were about 20 or so people gathered to hear the word. There were a few families with children of elementary age. The adults averaged in their late 30-40's with a few older.
After the mass, they have the usual fellowship gathering with donuts (I wonder who eats more donuts -- cops or churchgoers?) and coffee. The church is really small and the kids playing outside in the grass in their Sunday's best in front of a quaint little church just reminded me of old Americana movies, like say Little House on the Prairie.
Sure, I'd like to come back again. But if your kids are not used to the Latin mass you might want to let the little ones stay at home. Me? I'm used to being in a room of full people who were not speaking English, so in a way it felt like home. read more