Ilonggo faithful hear first ever Latin mass
Hundreds of Ilonggo Catholic faithful on Wednesday flocked to the first Latin Mass held here in decades.
Around 700 parishioners of Mandurriao District here attended the Latin Mass, also known as Tridentine, held in time for the Feast of the Espousal of the Virgin Mary at the Mandurriao parish church.
Priests from other parishes also attended the Latin Mass. It is the first held on Panay Island since the 1960s after the Second Vatican Council ushered in Masses in the local vernacular, according to Fr. Espiridion Celis, Mandurriao parish priest.
The High Mass was celebrated by three priests: Msgr. Juanito Ma. Tuvilla (celebrant), Fr. Oscar Andrada (deacon) and Fr. Winifredo Losaria (subdeacon). Fr. Renato Cuadras served as the master of ceremonies, according to Celis.
The priests spoke in Latin except in delivering the homily which was in Hiligaynon. Handouts with English and Hiligaynon translation of prayers, responses and hymns were given to the parishioners.
In his homily, Msgr. Juanito Ma. Tuvilla explained why the Mass was held and the history of the rites of the Catholic Church. He said the holding of the Latin Mass does not mean returning to Latin and doing away with Masses in the vernacular.
Whatever language is used, the elements of the rites of the Catholic Church started 2,000 years ago are still there," said Tuvilla.
The Mass, which lasted for more than two hours, was accompanied by hymns from Gregorian plainchant from Gounod's Messe Solennette in honor of St. Cecilia, Mozart'sAve Verum and Franck's Panis Angelicus.
Celis said the holding of the Latin Mass was in response to a directive of Pope Benedict XVI that provided for the wider use of the Tridentine as was the practice before the reforms instituted by the Second Vatican Council in 1970.
In July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued his Summorum Pontificum (Of the Supreme Pontiffs) which designated the Latin Mass as "an extraordinary form" of the Roman Rite. The form introduced in 1969-1970 after the Second Vatican Council was designated the "ordinary form."
The document grants greater freedom to use the Tridentine liturgy. It replaces the Ecclesia Dei of 1988, which allowed individual bishops to establish places where Mass could be said using the 1962 Roman Missal.
Before the Second Vatican Council, Masses were celebrated in Latin by a priest who faced the altar with his back to the congregation. The Second Vatican Council instituted the celebration of Masses in the vernacular with priests facing their flocks.
Many of the post-council reforms were meant to encourage the congregation to feel more involved with the ceremony.
After the reforms took hold, the Latin Mass virtually disappeared until 1984, when Pope John Paul II allowed some churches to again offer the Tridentine Mass, as long as the local bishop approved.
Under the Pope Benedict's Summorum Pontificum, permission to celebrate Mass in Latin for "stable groups" can now be given by the local pastor or rector of the church.
Some Catholics have expressed concern over Summorum Pontificum, as they view it as reversal of progressive changes made during Vatican Council II especially on bringing the liturgy closer to the faithful with the use of the vernacular.
Cita Lamprea, 81, a member of the Catholic Women's League and Parish Pastoral Council said she had previously attended Latin Masses before World War II.
We understand Latin because we learned and got used to it. Celebrating it in the traditional way is inspiring for us," said Lamprea.
Celis hopes other parishes will also hold Latin Masses based on the directive of the Pope.