Traditional Latin Mass
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St. Joseph hosts the celebration of Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 (Traditional Latin Mass) for the Diocese of Jefferson City. This Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 12:00 noon, sometimes a low Mass and sometimes a sung Mass (Missa cantata) preceded by the sprinkling with holy water.
Confessions available before Mass, 11:30am.
Blessing of religious articles on the first Sunday of the month following Mass.
Confessions available before Mass, 11:30am.
Blessing of religious articles on the first Sunday of the month following Mass.
Traditional Latin Mass Schedule - 2024
AP= After Pentecost
August
8/4- Low Mass 11th AP
8/11- Sung Mass 12th AP
8/18- Low Mass 13th AP
8/25- Sung Mass 14th AP
September
9/1- Low Mass 15th AP
9/8- Sung Mass 16th AP
9/15- Low Mass 17th AP
9/22- Sung Mass 18th AP
9/29- NO TLM
October
10/6- Sung Mass Our Lady of the Rosary
10/13- Low Mass 21st AP
10/20- Low Mass 22nd AP
10/27- Sung Mass Christ the King
November
Sat 11/2 8am- Sung Mass Requiem Mass
11/3- Low Mass 4th after Epiphany
11/10- Sung Mass 5th after Epiphany
11/17- Sung Mass 6th after Epiphany
11/24- Low Mass 24th and Last AP
December
12/1- Sung Mass 1st Sunday
12/8- Sung Mass Immaculate Conception
12/15- Sung Mass Gaudete
12/22- Sung Mass 4th Sunday Advent
12/19- Sunday within the Octave
August
8/4- Low Mass 11th AP
8/11- Sung Mass 12th AP
8/18- Low Mass 13th AP
8/25- Sung Mass 14th AP
September
9/1- Low Mass 15th AP
9/8- Sung Mass 16th AP
9/15- Low Mass 17th AP
9/22- Sung Mass 18th AP
9/29- NO TLM
October
10/6- Sung Mass Our Lady of the Rosary
10/13- Low Mass 21st AP
10/20- Low Mass 22nd AP
10/27- Sung Mass Christ the King
November
Sat 11/2 8am- Sung Mass Requiem Mass
11/3- Low Mass 4th after Epiphany
11/10- Sung Mass 5th after Epiphany
11/17- Sung Mass 6th after Epiphany
11/24- Low Mass 24th and Last AP
December
12/1- Sung Mass 1st Sunday
12/8- Sung Mass Immaculate Conception
12/15- Sung Mass Gaudete
12/22- Sung Mass 4th Sunday Advent
12/19- Sunday within the Octave
What is the Traditional Latin Mass?
Within the Catholic Church, there are various ways of celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the other sacraments, and sacramentals. These “forms” or “usages” are distinct expressions of the single Catholic faith through different ways of carrying out the liturgy. These forms and uses often involve distinct sacred languages, gestures, rituals, etc. These differences are most obvious when we compare the Roman Rite of the Latin Church with various liturgical rites of Eastern Catholic Churches. Nevertheless, even within the Latin Church, there is a diversity of ways of expressing the Roman Rite.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI established that:
"The last version of the Missale Romanum [Roman Missal] prior to the Council, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a Forma extraordinaria [extraordinary form] of the liturgical celebration. It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were “two Rites”. Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite. (Letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum)."
According to Pope Benedict's vision, the form of celebrating Mass, the sacraments, and sacramentals as it existed in the Latin Church in 1962, prior to the reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council, is an “extraordinary form” of the Roman Rite, complementing the ordinary form, which is the form of celebrating these rites as revised following the Second Vatican Council. This extraordinary form is also sometimes called the usus antiquior (older usage), the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), or the Tridentine Mass.
In 2021, Pope Francis restricted the celebration of the older form of the Roman Rite Mass and assigned a more active role to Bishops. The details and implications of these changes are still being studied.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI established that:
"The last version of the Missale Romanum [Roman Missal] prior to the Council, which was published with the authority of Pope John XXIII in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be able to be used as a Forma extraordinaria [extraordinary form] of the liturgical celebration. It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were “two Rites”. Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite. (Letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum)."
According to Pope Benedict's vision, the form of celebrating Mass, the sacraments, and sacramentals as it existed in the Latin Church in 1962, prior to the reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council, is an “extraordinary form” of the Roman Rite, complementing the ordinary form, which is the form of celebrating these rites as revised following the Second Vatican Council. This extraordinary form is also sometimes called the usus antiquior (older usage), the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), or the Tridentine Mass.
In 2021, Pope Francis restricted the celebration of the older form of the Roman Rite Mass and assigned a more active role to Bishops. The details and implications of these changes are still being studied.
Why make the Traditional Latin Mass available?
Pope Benedict XVI explained it, briefly, this way:
"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." (Letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum)
In other words, the way of celebrating the Roman liturgy prior to the Second Vatican Council is not a threat to the way of celebrating it in accord with the liturgical books promulgated after the Council. Rather, it is a good, true, and beautiful part of our heritage as Roman Rite Catholics, worth preserving and valuable for the worship of God and growth in sanctity today as it has been over the centuries.
"There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture. What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." (Letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum)
In other words, the way of celebrating the Roman liturgy prior to the Second Vatican Council is not a threat to the way of celebrating it in accord with the liturgical books promulgated after the Council. Rather, it is a good, true, and beautiful part of our heritage as Roman Rite Catholics, worth preserving and valuable for the worship of God and growth in sanctity today as it has been over the centuries.
What is the Traditional Latin Mass like?
There are many videos of extraordinary form Masses (and Baptisms, etc.) online. Some of the Masses are Low Masses (a priest celebrates the Mass and does not sing); some are Missae cantatae or “sung Masses” or “high Masses” (a priest celebrates and sings the Mass); and some are Missae solemnes or “solemn Masses” or “solemn high Masses” (a priest celebrates, assisted by deacon and subdeacon, the Mass is sung).
Certain options that are available but rarely used in the ordinary form (form of Mass developed in the late 1960s) are common in the extraordinary form.
For example:
Other features of the extraordinary form include:
Certain options that are available but rarely used in the ordinary form (form of Mass developed in the late 1960s) are common in the extraordinary form.
For example:
- Mass is celebrated in Latin.
- The priest faces with the people toward the altar when praying instead of facing the people.
- Holy Communion is distributed to the people under the form of the Host only and is received kneeling and on the tongue.
Other features of the extraordinary form include:
- Lengthier and more detailed ceremonies and prayers.
- More silence.
- More ceremonial gestures, like signs of the cross, bowing, etc.
Further Resources
Diocesan Articles on the Older Form of Mass
Church Documents
Learning More
Recommended Books
- "Old and New: Finding Unity in the Diversity of Liturgical Forms" (13 August 2018)
- "Description of Some Features of Mass in the Extraordinary Form" (24 August 2018)
- "How Do I Participate in Mass in the Extraordinary Form?" (6 September 2018)
- "Sung Mass in Extraordinary Form Draws 250 to Jefferson City" (21 September 2018)
- "Mass offered in Latin in Westphalia for the Sacred Heart" (19 September 2019)
- "Careful implementation of Traditionis custodes is essential" (21 July 2021)
Church Documents
- Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum. 2007.
- Benedict XVI, Letter to Bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificum. 2007.
- Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Instruction Universae Ecclesiae. 2011.
- Francis, Traditionis custodes. 2021.
Learning More
- SanctaMissa.org
- Instructional Video on the Low Mass (EWTN and FSSP)
- What is the Extraordinary Form of the Mass? (Catholic Answers)
Recommended Books
- Baronius Press 1962 Daily Missal.
- Treasure and Tradition by Lisa Bergman.
- Nothing Superfluous by Rev. James W. Jackson, FSSP.