The Catholic Caveman has some trenchant observations about why some priests won’t learn the Tridentine Mass. And we’re not talking your happy-clappy, good-times, rock-n-roll, ad-libbing priests here, but very orthodox priests who will celebrate the Mass in Latin using the Novus Ordo.
The problem is not with the Tridentine Rite itself, but sadly often with those who advocate it.
He cordially told me that while he often said the Novus Ordo in Latin, and had concelebrated the Traditional Latin Mass, he had no interest in learning the TLM. Why? Because, he told me, while the strict rubrics were certainly daunting, he was surprised how nasty some of the congregants were after Mass in pointing out all his mistakes. They, he said, obviously knew the Mass better than he did and made no bones of telling him were he screwed up.
And of course some humorless soul without a spark of irony illustrates the problem in the very first comment on the post:
I dont (sic) buy it - this priest gave a lame excuse (not a reason, an excuse). Does anybody realize the amount of complaining and criticizing that all priests receive, regardless of which rite they celebrate? Once again, a priest without much of a backbone finding excuses not to minister, but instead to retreat.
Now, I know this does not describe all Traditionalists, many of whom are very nice and charitable and exhibiting great humor. But there are so many bitter, unhappy, and downright crabby folks who only seem to complain even when everything is going their way. Why is that? Sure, Traditionalists have had it rough over the years as they fought for the TLM, but so have conservative Catholics who aren’t Trads. So why don’t you see the same crabbiness to the same degree among them?
With the rumored motu proprio expected to be revealed sometime between now and the Second Coming (although at this point I think the over/under is now outside this millennium), folks who are thinking of asking their local priest to start providing the TLM to them should start boning up on their manners and charity. Because it looks like the agélaste is not only on the Left.
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