FROM LATIN TO THE VERNACULAR

On March 7^th, 1965, Pope Paul VI publicly celebrated Mass in Italian for the first time in accordance with the norms established by the Second Vatican Council. It was a momentous event in the modern history of the Church. It was the first time a Pope said Mass in the vernacular since the Council of Trent in 1545-1563. In fact the Mass was said in Latin since the early fourth century. On March 7^th, Pope Francis commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of that first Mass in the vernacular saying “It was really a courageous move by the Church to get closer to the people of God so that they could understand well what it does, and this is important for us: to follow Mass like this.”

I remember that period of time fifty years ago. We did not have the internet to catch up on the latest goings on in the world. In fact, living on a farm in Minnesota, we had just upgraded from our crank telephone and gotten a radio powered by electricity. Any information we got was mostly from the paper. It was exciting times though as I was graduating from high school and soon going off to college. I remember the priest asking me if I would help guide the congregation in the new responses in answer to what the priest was saying. I stood at the ambo trying to lead everyone in something I was learning just as they were learning it. It was exciting. We were actually able to participate instead of just sitting there and reading the English version of the Latin from our missalettes. Actually, before the English came in, most everyone just sat or knelt when they were supposed to and did nothing other than attend Mass and maybe go to Communion if they had gone to Confession the week before. It was a time of change.

In his homily, Pope Francis said, “You cannot turn back, we have to always go forward and who goes back is making a mistake. Let us give thanks to the Lord for what he has done in his Church in these 50 years of liturgical reform.” There has been a lot of change. One of the big changes was turning the altar around to face the people. Before that the priest had his back to the people more or less being separated from them. Another important change was being able to receive Communion in the hand. Before that we had to kneel at the Communion rail and have the host placed in our mouth. Heaven forbid if we ever touched the host or chewed it. Some of you may remember having the host stick to the roof of your mouth but we dare not touch it with our finger or teeth. It was a different time.

In college my junior and senior year, we had a priest as our faculty resident (the president of the college). On Sunday evening he’d go around to everyone and ask if they had gone to Mass. Most had not so he had all of us come down to his room, he’d take a loaf of Johnnie bread (made by the monks at St. John’s University), pull a bottle of wine from his wine rack and we’d sit around in a circle and he’d celebrate Mass. He’d give his homily and then we would have a discussion on how the readings pertained to our lives. It was very much how I envisioned the first Christians may have gathered for the Eucharist. I have to say it spoiled me and it took me a while to go back to a traditional Mass in a Church. Some of those practices were experimental and not in existence today now but it was very meaningful.

The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, :Sacrosanctum Concilium,” defined the liturgy as “the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit.” We as Catholics are so blessed to have Mass where bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the “source of life and light for our journey of faith.” The pope said that commemorating the first papal Mass in the vernacular rather than Latin would remind people that the house of God is meant to be a source of spiritual strength, where they can hear his word and feel “not like foreigners but as brothers and sisters who are united in Christ.” We are truly blessed to have the Mass in English and participate in it.