THE TRIDENTINE LATIN MASS:  AN EXPLANATION AND COMMENTARY

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THE TRIDENTINE LATIN MASS:  AN EXPLANATION AND COMMENTARY
By Fr. Kevin Vaillancourt
Copyright 1996, three audiocassettes in vinyl case
Catholic Research Institute, P.O. Box 756, Greenacres, WA 99016-0716
(509) 489-6602
$23.45

"Try as they may, they [the Innovators of the Second Vatican Council] could 
not suppress it completely.  Faithful Catholics the world over, who have 
always known the value of the Tridentine [Traditional] Latin Mass, have 
fought courageously to bring it back to the universal recognition it once 
enjoyed."

With so many thousands of Catholics returning to the Traditional Latin Mass, 
this series on the practical spirituality of the Mass for the pew Catholic 
could not have arrived at a better time.  For new traditional Catholics, 
cradle Catholics, convert Catholics, and anyone who simply needs to increase 
his spiritual understanding of and devotion to the immemorial Mass (and who 
is there who does not?) can benefit from this series.

The series is a "live" recording based on talks that the author, a 
traditional Catholic priest and editor of "The Catholic Voice," gave over the 
course of several Sundays. The introductory tape sets the general approach to 
the traditional understanding of the Mass. It explains the fundamental 
difference in approach between the Traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo 
(New Order) worship service of 1970 and goes on to describe the sacred 
vessels and vestments used by the priest.

In this regard, I must point out that the use of the word "Tridentine"  to 
describe the Traditional Latin Mass is misleading (as the author himself 
points out), because that Mass was not composed by the Council of Trent in 
the same way that the New Mass was composed by the innovators of the Second 
Vatican Council.  Rather, the Traditional Latin Mass has existed from the 
earliest centuries of the Church, in substantially the form as we have it 
today.

The remaining two tapes in the series cover the Mass of the Catechumens (the 
part before the Credo) and the Mass of the Faithful. The author explains the 
meaning of the prayers -- and frequently translates them in full or 
paraphrases them -- as they relate to the nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the 
Mass.

I have only a few minor quibbles related to the production of the tapes.  
Often I would have wished for the explanations to be spoken more slowly so 
that it  would be possible to reflect longer on the meaning of the words. 
Also, I found that the level of the background noise on some of the tapes was 
higher than it should have been.  However, it was not so high as to interfere 
with the clarity of the words.

All in all, this series will give the pew Catholic a better understanding of 
the prayers and background of the immemorial Mass. It will also clarify for 
him the contrast between the traditional approach and the Novus-Ordo 
approach, although that is not the primary focus of the series.

Perhaps most importantly, the devotion which the Traditional Catholic feels 
toward the Mass comes across quite strongly in words and explanations of Fr. 
Vaillancourt.  And what better testimony can one give than that?