The Holy Mass is a very important to the Catholic Faith, it is a sin if we don’t attend the mass every Sunday. That is why traditionally, Catholics must attend the Holy Mass. We are currently living in the 21st Century, where the mass that most people currently attend is the Mass of Pope Paul VI during the Vatican II Council, which is now commonly known as Novus Ordo Mass or the Ordinary Form of the Mass. But this Mass is not what usually used by the Catholic Church in the past.
Before the codification of the Novus Ordo Mass, the church is using the Tridentine Mass codified by Saint Pope Pius V in 1570. But since Vatican II codified a new mass, the Tridentine Mass is no longer used in most churches today. But it still continued by the Priestly Societies like Archbishop Lefebvre’s Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) under the name of “Traditional Mass” or “The Latin Mass”, until Pope Benedict XVI’s allowed the used of the Tridentine Mass under the name “Extraordinary form of the Mass”.
But traditional Catholics have a unique name for the Tridentine Mass, they called “The Mass of the Ages” or “The Mass of All Ages”. But why they did call it the Mass of the Ages? Here are the four reasons:
The form of the Tridentine Mass continues the form of the Apostle’s Mass. There are no biblical writings or any documentaries of how the Apostle’s celebrate the Mass until Saint Justin Martyr preserved the full account of the Mass in 150 AD. In this account, shows the form of the Mass that was used in Tridentine Mass, it means that this form is used by the Apostles and taught it to their disciples. As Saint Paul the Apostle said “Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15-16 – The Jerusalem Bible). The faithful disciples and Christians followed the tradition. And the Tridentine Mass is faithful to the tradition.
One of the names used by the Traditional Catholics is the “Mass of the Saints”, because the Saints in the previous centuries celebrated it. Example of the Saints who celebrate it are Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Dominic, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Joseph of Cupertino, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Pope Pius X, Saint Padre Pio and more priest who are saints. And the saints who are ordinary people who attend the mass like Saint Thomas More, Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, Saint Louis of France, Saint Isidore the laborer, Saint Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of Saint Therese and a doctor, Saint Guiseppe Moscati. Though some of them didn’t use or attend Saint Pope Pius V’s Tridentine Mass especially the saints before 1570, most of its form is still the same. Now the only video footage and photograph of Saints that used the Tridentine mass is Saint Pope Pius X and the Saint Padre Pio who has more video footage of his mass in Youtube. Though the Vatican canonized Novus Ordo users; Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, most of the saint’s holiness are formed under the the Tridentine Mass.
Another title of the previous mass is called “The Mass of the Martyrs”, because in time of persecution, many Christians risk their life to attend the mass, to see our Lord Jesus Christ and take him in the form of the bread, the Holy Eucharist. Like Saint Tarcius, a young altar server who risk his life to protect the Holy Eucharist. Now, the threat of Coronavirus spread all over the world, most Catholic churches has been forced to closed or have a minimal people to attend the mass. But the only churches who stays open and didn’t discourage people to attend the mass personally are the ones who celebrate the Tridentine Mass. That’s why recently news said that many people are currently attending the Traditional Mass instead the Novus Ordo which is more in live stream.
Today, even though the Vatican is not encouraging the priest to celebrate the Tridentine Mass and the people to attend it. Many priests want to celebrate it and many people wants to attend it. In short, it never gets old and it didn’t die. Even though we live in the modern world, traditional still lives especially this Holy Mass. If God’s will is to celebrate this mass in our time, HIS WILL BE DONE and no man can stop it, even the Pope.
