Fr. Joseph Mary explains why we used latin, the official language of the Church, in Mass from EWTN and how we are united in one voice.
Fr. Joseph Mary explains why we used latin, the official language of the Church, in Mass from EWTN and how we are united in one voice.
In the past month I have sent a couple of letters to Father Joseph Mary along with a $100 donation. I am also an author and have sent to his attention a number of my books. At the present time the check has not cleared and Amazon has not indicated the books have been delivered. Could you advise if the letters, check and total of six books have been received.
Why is there no response to Mr.Pfautschs’ e mail of 4/25/2020?
Why has AMAZON not yet replied to the whereabouts of the books and the check?
I would certainly like to think more of Father Joseph Mary and Amazon than not having replied to Mr.Pfautsch’s generosity and intellect.
Let’s get some answers here!
I enjoyed so much more the mass this morning that was using more of the English.
Ma’am….personal taste is important, but Latin is the language of the Church. I think preserving our universal tongue is of at least as important as personal taste.
And BTW nowadays with everything in English…ironically the average Catholic knows much less about what the Holy Mass IS than did the average Catholic before “the Council.”
In my opinion it is not realistically possible for anyone to dislike Latin because of its majestic cadences and sonorous beauty. Perhaps someone doesn’t like Latin because s/he doesn’t understand it. Given the fact that it is the universal language of the Church and is a point of unity, perhaps one could consider two options: (1) get and use a Missal; or (2) learn Latin.
I don’t understand Latin, I never took it in school and was told it was a dead language. Now I’m watching EWTN Latin mass and I don’t understand it and all this talk of unity, it isn’t unifying it’s dividing! Each mass all over the world is said in that country’s native tongue, americas native tongue is English! I would like more English masses! I am not feeling unified at all! It makes me sad and not feeling welcome!
Learn Latin it’s easy
You friars have a blessing to myself and my wife during our stay at home the past months. May God continue to bless and guide you.
This morning’s homily (05/18/2020) highlighted Friar Felix Cantilice was inspiring. Could you reply with the song Saint Friar Felix sang? In English please. I try to pray and share communion with patients at my VAMC Hospital, I like to murmur a little something between room visits and this seems like something I could get into.
Peace and all Good
Reviewing today’s Mass on EWTN, congregants received Holy Communion on tongue and the absence of face masks was quite noticeable. For every one’s health and safety and as an example for the world, precautions should continue.
Well look at the meter maid of COVID etiquette! One thinks, Mzzzzz Gardner, that you might make better use of your time….especially when “attending” Holy Mass.
My wife and I would like to know how we could purchase the mass missal for Sunday’s with Latin responses on EWTN?
Julian ,
If you subscribe to the Magnificat ,it contains the daily mass readings and English/Latin responses. http://www.magnificat.com
Dear Mary,
Thank you so much for the information on how to follow along with EWTN Daily Mass! I am Episcopalian, but am considering leaving that faith for the Catholic. Very similar, but our church is going in a direction I can’t abide. Have watched EWTN for some time now. God Bless you.
This is one of the many reasons I watch your televised Masses every day! It was good for the Church Fathers, the Martyrs, and all the generations down through history. It truly makes me feel part of the One True Church. Thank you Mother Angelica, St. John Paul II, and all the Franciscan Fathers of the Eternal Word Television Network!!!
My dream for the church is to see the common language of the church used at ALL masses, with missals in Latin with English ( or language of country) translations. It certainly wouldn’t hurt for the Catholic family to learn this beautiful language! This way we would eliminate the division within parishes, on Sundays and Holy Days, having masses in every imaginable language. We would all be ONE FAMILY celebrating the Mass in one universal language. There are some parishes in our country that give Spanish Mass preferred “time” on Sunday. My first language as a child WAS Spanish, but when my parents moved to the United States, we learned English. We were never given such preferential treatment nor did we ever seek it. I’m constantly hearing about how divided the church is…..like they say, it all begins at home….and the Holy Church IS our home. Some things should never have changed….
Thank you dear brothers in Christ for all you do, especially during this most unprecedented time in our lives. May God bless you abundantly!
I dont enjoy Latin said in mass at all. It disconnects me from God. I dont understand anything and I dont feel engaged at all. When this happens I just dont goto mass or watch it. In my humble opinion its better to have a native tongue mass with more attendees then to hear something that sounds beautiful but you cant understand anything.
If it’s that big a deal, why don’t you learn Latin?
Ma’am, you think with the mind of the Universal Church. The “reforms” of the late 1960s were not only in flat contradiction to the minds of the VII fathers…..they were also a nearly practical self-sabotage of the Church. As profound intellectual Dietrich von Hildebrand then said, “if a demon from Lewis’s SCREWTAPE LETTERS had been tasked with destroying the rite of Holy Mass, he could not have done a better job.”
But now we see the first springtime shoots of the perennially young Church in her usual organic process. Witness all the many young orders and communities where only the 1962 Missal is used. God is not mocked.
Out of all the streaming mass being done by hundreds of churches, the Franciscan Fathers of EWTN is what we watch. Our family loves your choir and the hymms. They all have a beautiful gift of voice. We love your mass, homilies, but mostly because you are using the official language of the church which makes it more reverent.
Now, my kids pray in Latin. Thank you for what you do. God bless you all fathers!
I would like to know who are the altar servers and the men and women in the choir also why the Latin in mass
The lockdown prevented me to go to daily mass. Our diocese allowed us to use other outlets to attend mass. Thanks to EWTN. I can’t say I am bored. I eat h the 8am mass and before that the Zholy land rosary and after mass the rosary with the Franciscans. The holy rosary novenas from Lourdes is my second rosary for the day if I have other things to do or places to go like a doctor’s visit. This is how I spend the lockdown. And even after the lockdown. Thank you Mother Angelica.
How do I find the Mass time on Sunday TV, Alexandria VA.
Mass when I was young & still until 1960’s the mass was in Latin and priest back was at the congregation. It really brought you into the mass more when it changed to English. Now it is back to Latin and I now as a shut in do not have what we had in church, the quarterly booklet to follow. I find it hard to follow much of the beauty of the mass not understanding or remembering Latin enough. Also, may I ask why the camera centers so much on the beautiful music of the choir and less on the altar why they are singing. The altar, I feel should be the center of the mass.
I am sure there is a reason for this. As beautiful as the choir music is I would rather most of the mass should not be centered on viewing the singers & music director but rather on the crucifix, statues, priest etc. That way we could all be lifted to what the choir is telling in song.
When I was actively involved in Music Ministry I would try to introduce the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei during Lent. We would sing the Kyrie often without thinking. After the people became familiar then I would add it during Advent. My goal was to sing the Latin Mass parts year round. At some parishes I was successfull and at others not so much!
Thank you Father Joseph for explaining why parts of the Mass are in Latin. I love love the Latin, what I learned in Latin is watching the EWTN Mass. I bought the Order of the Mass Handbook there back in 1994 but it is falling apart, also have Jubilate Deo Handbook also. I just received my Latin Grammar book from there. I check with several college here to see if they offer a course of Latin, but found none. I do say my nightly prayers in Latin maybe all the words might not be correctly express, but God know what in my heart. I love the Latin so much and want to learn that in the late 90’s I sat in a 8th grade Latin class at a Catholic school. May God bless you and everyone at EWTN.
I truly enjoy “participating ” in the televised Mass on EWTN. I’m a travel nurse currently in Chinle, Az working among the Navajo people. Our Mission church has not opened yet and most the time the live stream MASS from my parish church back home doesn’t come through, so I’m very blessed to watch EWTN. THANK YOU.
Father Joseph this just a suggestion would you’ll think about doing a Latin class online for the parts of the Mass that is sung in Latin. It came to by heart and mind today, that I should at least asked.
Great idea!
Yes.. please.. great idea
Is it possible to request one of Fr. John Paul Mary’s homily? His words were so inspiring; thank you. Respectfully, Elaine
If you say the mass content in Latin, why do you give the homily in English?
We pray the unchangeable parts of the Mass, such as the Roman Canon, in Latin. We pray the parts that change each day such as the opening and closing prayers in English. The homily is always in the vernacular. Hope that answers your question!
Funny. Maybe cause the prayers of the Holy Mass are addressed to God (in particular, most are addressed to the Father), while the homily is addressed to the congregation. See the distinction?
I enjoyed very much Fr Leonard’s sermon today(2 Aug) For the first time I hear the truth about our current national situation and the relative stance of our two parties proclaimed from the Altar! This is in contrast to the “cancel culture” that seems to dominate the speach of many of our bishops (i.e. Washington, DC). I am grateful to EWTN for choosing your celebrations of the Holy Mass to broadcast to the many faithful. Due to personal health reasons and the COVID-19 I do not expect to be able to attend mass in person in our church or quite some time. Pardon my curiosity but why do we only seed the first name of the Celebrant?
I prefer an all English Mass because I feel more connected in a language I know. When I became Catholic, 1957, the mass was still in Latin but was changing to the vernacular. I would also like to send Kudos to the EWTN Music Ministers. What a pleasure to have such professionalism in the instrumental and vocals of the music. Today’s Ave Maria was the most beautifully rendered. Thank You
Latin is the most angelic language iv ever heard. I think the opposite.
I love to watch Mass and try to follow along with my Magnificat. I would like to know, what is the prayer that is being said by the congregation after the priest leaves?
I don’t know about the prayer after Mass on that particular day, but after most of the ETWN Masses I have watched online, I hear the congregation pray to St. Michael the Archangel after Mass. It starts “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil…” Pope Leo in the late 1800s encouraged this prayer.
Greetings to all,
I hope father Joseph Mary will soon return to celebrating the televised holy mass on ewtn? I miss his sermons, i understand his father recently passed and no doubt it is a busy time for him at present, may his father’s soul rest in peace.
Thank you, EWTN, for bringing the Mass to us when we can’t attend church in person. I would like to suggest that you add an additional time slot in your programming to have the Mass in all English since many people will not learn Latin.
It’s my understanding that Mass is not directed at us but rather it is an act of worshiping God. It’s not an entertainment nor is it preformed for us. If people don’t understand the Latin it is very easy to get a book which side by side has Latin and English making it easy to follow along.
Thank you for your beautiful liturgy. My wife, children, and I love the reverence shown by the priests during your YouTube streamed Mass. The Latin is reasonably placed and respectful to the tradition of the Roman(Latin) rite.
I have been to many masses around the states and I must say California is most complicated. No latin spoke, masses are Spanish and Chinese .. I wrote the Pope recently expressing how not holding into the Latin mass, which invites us all under one roof, now separate us. I feel I am not welcomed in the churches in California and that’s NOT what our Lord wanted in his church. I’m saddened because as a child every kid learned the entire mass in latin in Detroit. Now it’s Chinese and Spanish. Thank you Father Joeseph Mary for expressing how truly beautiful unity is especially in our latin language. 🙏 God bless his creation 🙏
The Latin mass saved my life–I late August of 2021, I fell about 12ft from ladder in my back yard- the next day in the intensive care I learned I had a broken C2 ( the hangman’s fracture) + 3 more vertebrae, 3 broken ribs and a broken/separated sternum . I was on 12L of high flow oxygen, could not get out of bed – I could move fingers and move my arms some and wiggle legs. I was told on day 3 that, if I could start breathing better and get down to 6L of oxygen they were moving me to a long(3-6 months) duration rehab nursing home, ASAP. On day three I was able to eat my breakfast with my fingers. I was disgusted and despondent, so I turned on the TV, it was just past 8am in the FL hospital- I saw and heard the Catholic Morning Mass in Latin for the first time. In a couple minutes I was fervently praying to God with tears in my eyes- “God, I screwed Up, I knew I should not have gone up that ladder, but please don’t let my wife and daughter have the burden of taking care of an invalid. Heavenly father, either heal me or let me die. Please heal me Jesus! ( I was 71 yrs old). I am an unaffiliated Christian, and have never set foot in a Catholic service.
One week later I told the Dr, I’m off of all narcotic painkillers, off of oxygen and I can get out of bed, dress myself and use a walker- “you have no medical reason to keep me her any longer”- So the next day the head nurse checked me out.
She said, ” I have been a nurse for almost 25 years and I have never seen a person with the severity of injuries your have get out of bed and leave on your own power, they always go to a rehab and the lucky ones leave using a walker”
I asked her, “would you call this a miracle?” YES, she answered.
I can’t explain it, but the Latin mass was the instrument of my healing. Jesus was standing beside me, telling the nurses through me- What treatment/drug changes I needed – and they worked.
Today, nobody can believe I was ever injured like that when I tell them this testimony, so I show them the pictures. I have no disability of any kind from that fall.
Thank you, Franciscan Missionaries for the Latin Mass! I promise to stop in and thank you in person soon.