What is the point of a Latin Mass?

There's a lot of TLM folks in the sub so I have put on my fireproof suit, but to me the Latin Mass is pointless. I'm gonna respond to a few points people usually make.

  1. It inspires reverence in me: This is 100% in your head. Your feelings of reverence are up to you.

  2. It inspires reverence for everyone else at mass/ Mass is more solemn: Totally depends on the people (see point 1). People talk on the cell phones and show up late/leave early at Latin mass.

  3. Dead language, word meanings don't change: That's fine for preserving form, but every generation needs to learn what the Latin means in their vernacular so the translations change anyway. A Latin to English missal today will have different English words in 500 years.

  4. Know what's going on no matter where you go in the world: Only if you learn Latin and don't rely on the ranslations. If you rely on the translation you're SOL if you speak English and go to a TLM in Germany and the translation is in German. Yeah, you could bring your English missal, but you'd get the same effect if the whole Mass was in German.

  5. Preserves ancient tradition: Yeah, but not a Biblical or Apostolic tradition. The Vulgate showed up in the 4th century (to be in the vernacular of the location, BTW) and people decided there's something special about Latin. The psychology is exactly the same as with KJV-only Protestants.

Basically, in the Middle ages if you were educated enough to read you read in your native language and Latin. Having Mass in Latin made some sense. It doesn't make any real sense today. It's basically an aesthetic that some folks attach a spiritual significance to.

/r/Catholicism Thread