RSSTraditional Mass in Latin makes a quiet comeback in the Valley
Yakima Herald-Republic
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MABTON -- How quiet the sanctuary is this Sunday evening.
The only sounds during most of the Mass are those people make when they move: standing to kneeling, kneeling to sitting, sitting to standing. When they shift positions, pews creak, clothing rustles.
The low voice of the priest melds with the shuffling of pages worshippers turn as they follow along in the "Latin-English Booklet Missal for Praying the Traditional Mass."
It's traditional because it's centuries old; parts of it date back about 1,500 years.
And to the delight of local Catholic traditionalists, it's making a comeback in the modern-day Yakima Valley.
The Traditional Mass, also known as the Tridentine Mass or Extraordinary Form of the Mass, is being celebrated here again for the first time in about 40 years. It returned last month in front of nearly 60 Catholics, who gathered in Mabton's Immaculate Conception Church to experience Mass the way it used to be celebrated.
"We've been praying for the Latin Mass to come back for 40 years, ever since Vatican II," said 72-year-old Sharon Chase, standing just inside the front doors of the church. She and her sister, who both live in Yakima, were among the first to arrive for the Feb. 24 Tridentine Mass.
"It's more spiritual," said 70-year-old Janet Chase. "And we feel it gives more direct glory to almighty God."
The Traditional Mass, sometimes inaccurately called the Latin Mass, is celebrated in Latin with the priest's back to the people. It's a solemn, serious and reverent service, punctuated by moments of silence. There's no "Sign of Peace," no break before Communion to shake hands with people and say, "Peace be with you."
The congregation follows along quietly in private prayer. Sometimes, the celebrant at the altar doesn't address the assembly, but whispers prayers, inaudible to the people in the pews.
The movements and gestures of the Tridentine Mass are precisely dictated. Everything happens strictly according to rubrics. There's no freedom for personal variances. The Traditional Mass is always the same.
And that's part of its appeal to many traditional Catholics.
"It has more meaning than the new Mass," said Jerry Metzger of Benton City. He attended the Tridentine Mass in Mabton last month and said he plans to keep coming back for its "tradition and ceremony."
The modern Mass, or New Order of Mass, can also be said in Latin. And it was for awhile at Yakima's Holy Redeemer Church. But unlike the modern Mass, revised in 1970, the Tridentine Mass is steeped in tradition. Portions date to the sixth century, and it was standardized at the Council of Trent in 1570.
"It's more than just a language issue," said the Rev. Gary Desharnais, pastor at Immaculate Conception as well as Grandview's Blessed Sacrament Parish. "It's a tradition issue."
But after the sweeping reforms of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, the Tridentine Mass nearly faded into history. Held from 1962 to 1965, Vatican II included radical changes to the Mass to foster people's "full, conscious and active" participation. One of those changes was allowing the Mass to be celebrated in the local language rather than Latin as it had been for hundreds of years.
"I was very happy to see it changed," said 74-year-old Monsignor John A. Ecker, pastor of Yakima's St. Paul Cathedral and vicar general of the Diocese of Yakima. He was ordained in 1958, a few years shy of Vatican II.
"It's not just the language; the whole ritual is different. Your back is to the people," he said. "It's not my thing. I'm not inclined to do it."
And neither are other priests throughout the Pacific Northwest.
"The larger dioceses in this region are not the leaders in promoting the Traditional Latin Mass," said Ron Placzek of Grandview. A lay volunteer, he was the altar server at last month's Tridentine Mass in Mabton. "It is one of the poorest dioceses that is taking the lead."
The Diocese of Yakima, with just under 80,000 adherents, is made up of 41 parishes in seven rural counties in Central Washington. Three of those parishes are currently offering the Tridentine Mass. Mabton's Immaculate Conception is the latest one to add it to its regular schedule.
Since last fall, parish priests have been allowed to celebrate the Tridentine Mass without having to first seek permission from the local bishop -- as long as a "stable group of faithful" Catholics request it. In a Summorum Pontificum, or Apostolic Letter, issued last summer, Pope Benedict XVI relaxed restrictions on celebrating the Traditional Mass. The new directives -- issued "motu proprio," signifying a pope was acting on his own initiative -- took effect on Sept. 14, the Feast of the Holy Cross.
Now, "It's up to the people," said the Most Rev. Carlos Sevilla, bishop of the Diocese of Yakima. "The Holy Father Pope Benedict has the hope this would bring about a wonderful spirit of communion in the whole church, and that certainly would be my hope, too."
Sevilla echoed that sentiment in a recent memo to local priests, deacons and seminarians, writing: "I pray ... the Tridentine Mass will promote the unity of the Church and the spiritual growth of many Catholics."
In addition to Immaculate Conception, the Traditional Mass is celebrated at Kennewick's St. Joseph Church at 4 p.m. on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. It's also celebrated every Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at Ephrata's St. Rose of Lima Parish.
In Mabton, the plan is to offer the Traditional Mass at 4 p.m. on every fourth Sunday of the month -- except for today. For Easter Sunday, the priests who celebrate the Traditional Mass -- there are about four of them among the approximately 70 priests in the Diocese of Yakima -- are too busy within their own parishes. The next Traditional Mass at Immaculate Conception is scheduled for April 27.
The Revs. John and William Shaw -- longtime priests who are also brothers -- will alternate celebrating the Tridentine Mass in Mabton as they have in Kennewick for about a dozen years.
"We were raised in this (Traditional Mass), and we have an affection for it," said 80-year-old John Shaw, a retired priest in residence at St. Aloysius in Toppenish.
"There's no competition between the new Mass and the old Mass," he said. But, "It adds to the tapestry, if you will."
And, he said, "The pastor has to be open to it."
Desharnais requested the return of the Tridentine Mass in Mabton.
"I grew up with the Latin Mass," he said. "I think it's a blessing. ... It's part of the full expression of how we worship God."
And he was pleased with last month's turnout, especially since "Mabton is off the road."
During the Mass, which ran about an hour, worshippers followed along in red, softcover prayer books with English translations as 78-year-old William Shaw, pastor of St. Mary's Church in White Swan, celebrated the Tridentine Mass in Mabton for the first time in nearly four decades. They knelt in the first pew -- in a line resembling the old Communion rail -- to receive the host on their tongues instead of standing to receive it in their hands. And some of the women, including the Chase sisters, wore lace scarves on their heads, covering their hair.
The sisters hope the revival of the old Latin Mass in Mabton will spread throughout the Valley.
"We're hoping to get one in Yakima," Janet Chase said. "We believe in the Traditional Mass. It's more God-directed than man-directed. We get more of a sense we're offering a sacrifice."
But Sevilla said he has no preference between the Traditional and the new Mass: "Mass is Mass," he said. "There's no difference in the quality of the prayer."
