Diversity on Display – Priests Learn to Sing the Latin Mass

The Traditional Latin Mass can seem challenging to many priests today for several reasons. First many have not studied or mastered the Latin Language. The Latin of the Mass and Breviary is not difficult Latin but it can take a few years for most to feel comfortable celebrating Mass in that language. Second, the ceremonies of the Traditional Latin Mass are much more detailed than the more simplified rituals of the modern Mass. There are more genuflections and signs of the cross, there are details about where to stand at the altar even how to extend one’s hands. These too are not impossible to learn but it takes a little training and a while before a priest might feel comfortable. Third, even if a priests gets comfortable with the low (recited) form of the Mass, the music of the sung form can also provide challenges. Here too the chants are not hard but they are slightly different than the tones used in the modern liturgy.

All these challenges can be met with a little training and time. The following video shows a workshop designed to teach priests how to sing the Traditional Latin Mass