The Latin Mass Comes to Small Town Montana

See the "Latin Mass" can be had to even us Catholic out here in the sticks!!!

There is a nice video here.

Article and picture located here.

This is a very good article. Also I have included the interview with the Bishop. I shall post the whole thing in full since sometimes these archived stories disappear.


FRENCHTOWN - When St. John the Baptist Catholic Church started tending its Frenchtown flock in 1884, all the records were kept in French or Latin.The old French has faded, but Latin has returned. And Catholics are coming from 200 miles around to hear the Tridentine Rite celebrated with all its ancient rigor.The Missale Romanum, as it's formally known, was buried under ecclesiastical paperwork for much of the past four decades. The Second Vatican Council's call for delivering church ceremonies in the locally spoken language did not prohibit using Latin rites. But it did require permission from a regional bishop. Meanwhile, local congregations forsook the spit-and-polish formality of the Latin Mass for more enthusiastic and contemporary services.

The Roman Missal doesn't simply deliver the Sunday church service in another language. It dictates every word and move the priest makes. It even tells him the position of his fingers when he lifts the communion wafer.“Ritual is nothing the Catholic Church invented,” the Rev. Kevin Christofferson said. “Human beings have always experienced a gravitational pull toward ritual.

Ritual has the power to form and shape the one who performs the ritual. It's the way members of a group are formed in their identity.”Inside St. John's white, blue and red sanctuary, Christofferson had established a distinctively reverent form of the modern Mass in English. He also felt drawn to the Latin Mass. So when Bishop George Thomas announced in October that the Roman Missal would return to western Montana, he asked Christofferson to lead the effort.“I didn't study Latin in seminary,” Christofferson said. “I really knew nothing about the traditional Latin Mass. But when I moved here, I found traditionalists lining up outside my office door. So I began studying on my own.

I've never closed the door on traditionalists. And everywhere I've gone, Miles City, Butte and here, there've been these traditionalists.”The first thing most newcomers notice about a Latin Mass is how much time the priest has his back toward the congregation. For some, this has an exclusionary feel. Others find it one of their favorite aspects of the Latin rite

.Parishioner Mark Lebsock said he didn't encounter the Latin Mass until he was in his 30s. At first uncertain what to think about it, he took the advice of a friend who suggested he spend time reflecting on its opportunity for quiet observation.“It brings a more meditative effect,” Lebsock said. “It's more focused on Christ and vertical prayer and meditation, rather than on your fellow parishioner and more horizontal worship.

We appreciate that more personal relationship to Christ than to everybody around you.”Traditional Latin Mass possesses several features of special appeal. Tradition, obviously, predominates.“It isn't just in the language,” explained Carolyn Hathaway, who teaches children's religious education classes at St. John's. “The prayers are more extensive than those in the English or vernacular Mass. It's always the same - the words, the actions of the priest, the responses. Whereas in the vernacular, there are choices the priest can use, and a tendency by some priests to add their own.”

For example, the typical English Mass begins with the priest reading a prayer that reflects present or coming religious events (such as the current 40 days of Lent). Every traditional Latin Mass starts with a prayer based on Psalm 43.“Once you start the service, you can't stop,” Christofferson said of reciting the Mass in Latin. He doesn't return to English until the middle of the service, where he delivers his sermon.

To help make his points, he also re-reads the Epistle and Gospel in English as part of his homily; they have already been recited in Latin.The Latin missal features subtle but distinctly different turns of phrase. Christofferson said in an offering of peace, the English version reads “peace and goodwill to people on Earth.” In the Latin, peace is offered “to men of goodwill.”The confusion is still getting sorted out.

Despite decades of official use, the English-language Mass continues to get editorial revisions to bring it closer to the Latin version. A part of the Creed that used to read “Jesus Christ, one in being with the Father,” has recently been changed to “Jesus Christ, consubstantial with the Father.” Christofferson said even though the two terms are synonymous, church leaders opted to use the term that's closer to the Latin.The use or disuse of Latin in the Roman Catholic Church has troubled the waters over the years.

For some people, discouragement of the traditional Latin Mass led to hard feelings, disillusionment and even the formation of splinter churches, Christofferson said. The Society of St. Pius X, which has a chapel in Missoula, maintains there hasn't been a legitimate Catholic Pope since Pius XII's reign ended in 1958 (just before the Second Vatican Council began).In a July 8, 2007, letter to bishops explaining the new policy on Latin use, Pope Benedict XVI noted the ongoing struggle to keep the Mass both correct and current. The switch of forms after Vatican II “caused deep pain” to many who loved the more traditional forms, he wrote.“(I)n many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal,” Benedict wrote, “but ? actually (were) understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear.

I am speaking from experience, since I too lived through that period with all its hopes and its confusion.”In 1988, Pope John Paul II made overtures to Latin Mass adherents in hopes of attracting the Pius X members back. One of his efforts was to create the Fraternity of St. Peter to bridge that schism. Its priests work primarily in Latin.

Chris Hathaway, Carolyn's son, attended a retreat at the Fraternity of St. Peter's seminary and decided to become a priest. He was ordained in its brotherhood in 2001 and now heads a Roman Catholic parish in Texas that has a Latin Mass emphasis.“After that, he said, ‘This is where I want to be,' ” Carolyn Hathaway said. “It renewed our interest. It's brought us back to our roots.”Other traditionalists prefer the older version's no-nonsense doctrine and morals.

Christofferson said some may have had bad experiences with “awkward religious education texts” that confused the message and rules of the Vatican II changes.“They fear if we lose our grip with those roots and traditions, they'll lose their sense of identity,” he said. “We're faced with things like globalization, international markets and modern communications. These things can transmit the Gospel, or child predators. Some folks would rather retreat from that.”Christofferson said he enjoyed mixing with fans of the new and traditional Masses.

One thing that experience has made clear to him was the need for generosity of spirit to all involved.“The Mass is identical,” he said. “To say one is better is unfair, because it demeans the other. It's like if you like filet mignon and your friend likes New York steak, and you berate him for his choice. I have to be comfortable with the ways that faith is expressed.”

Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com

Celebrating Mass in Latin takes much planningBishop
George Thomas leads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena.

He is the spiritual leader and administrator for about 70,000 parishioners spread across 52,000 square miles, twice the land area of Ireland. Of the 97 parishes and missions in the diocese, only St. John the Baptist Church in Frenchtown is presently authorized to hold Latin Mass.

In a letter to priests last September, Thomas rolled out a plan to offer the Latin Mass in western Montana. Last week, Thomas spoke with the Missoulian about the effort and its goals.

Q: Where did the impetus for this decision come from?

Thomas: When the motu proprio (Pope Benedict XVI's letter encouraging Latin Mass use) came around, it turned the burners up on this question. It's coming from the Holy See, so we looked for ways to turn it out.It's something that requires a considerable level of planning. The reason for the difficulty is we don't have enough priests to go around in the diocese just for the celebration of Mass in English.

I don't have resident pastors in all the places I'd like to have them. We don't have a lot of priests who can read Latin anymore. It must be someone who understands the meaning of the words, rather than just parroting the words. It also requires a certain level of pastoral care for people who come with this particular need. In addition to Mass, we expect they'll be seeking baptisms, sacraments, marriages and confirmations, in due season.

Q: Are there cities or communities within the diocese that have particularly strong interest in the Latin Mass?

Thomas: There were three different groups from different areas which expressed interest in holding the Latin Mass. A group in the Gallatin Valley area was expressing interest, as well as a group in the Kalispell valley and the greater Missoula area. Since Father Christofferson was willing to take leadership in this, and he's got a strong competence in Latin, we decided we'd let that be the place where a solid base could be founded.

Q: Pope Benedict specifically mentioned using the Latin Mass as a way to reconnect with Catholic breakaway groups like the Society of St. Pius X. Are you involved with any local efforts to reconcile with those groups in Montana? How significant a community are they in western Montana?

Thomas: I see that as part of my responsibility to maintain unity within the fold. Most of the priests who've read the letter see this as a gesture of conciliation and unity. It's a way to open the conduits. Statistically speaking, I don't think it's very significant. But while the numbers may be relatively small, the desire for Latin is quite deep. I've been in fruitful dialogue with them for a couple of years. We just haven't had the manpower to carry it out.What I've discovered in my dialogue with the people who've come to see me, they're people of extraordinary goodwill. They've been extraordinarily patient as well. I want to keep the dialogue open with them

.Q: Is there a timeline or review period after which you may make further changes to the Latin Mass policy, either expanding, reducing or rotating its use? What are the benchmarks or results you will evaluate in that analysis?

Thomas: The celebration will go on for a year or so and then we'll look back at it and see if we need to make adjustments.

There may be a need for resources and other venues. I want the present celebration to go well and have stability before we ask those questions.I'm basing some expectations on my experience in my former diocese in Seattle. I know from there a certain number will be attracted to the Latin Mass by its novelty. I don't expect people to consistently drive 200 or 300 miles to experience this. In Seattle, the Latin Mass went on in a downtown chapel. It's now in its fifth year, and draws about 150 to 200 people very consistently.

Here, if there's a sense of mutuality and support, this is something we'll continue on for another year. If I have to place this in other venues, we'll have to ask where we can get the manpower and how we deal with the priest shortage.

I can't pull rabbits out of hats.I've not been a great fan of imported priests. I'd rather provide pastoral care with the people I've got. There are three or four venues offering the kinds of skills in mastery of the Latin language and the celebration of that particular form of the Mass.

But I don't have a line in front of my door of priests asking to do that.I grew up in the pre-Vatican II church. I trained as altar boy in the old system, and studied academic Latin. Yet I still don't feel competent to celebrate this Mass without a bunch of legwork.