Use of Latin makes some uncomfortable

A recent "Dear Father" question is answered by Father Thomas G. Keller who is a part-time associate at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica Parish, archdiocesan master of ceremonies and associate director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship.

Occasionally, he teaches classes at the Paul VI Center. If you have the opportunity to enroll in a continuing education class which he teaches, don't pass it by. You can learn a great deal from him - which is probably why he is one of the outstanding priests who provide answers to the weekly questions in the St. Louis Review.

Dear Father:
I recently completed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and have noticed that occasionally my parish sings the various Mass parts (Holy Holy, Lamb of God, etc.) in Latin. Since I did not grow up Catholic I feel left out. Why do they do that?
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The reply:
I did not grow up with the Latin liturgy either and have a couple of Latin teachers from the seminary who would testify that I am probably left out also during the singing the Sanctus (Holy) and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). But I have always tried to improve my comprehension of Latin.

The purpose of liturgy is to be an instrument of participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, therefore the use of our own language facilitates this goal. However, as the recently televised liturgies from Rome demonstrate, the Catholic Church is multinational and Latin is our common language. If you viewed Pope John Paul II’s funeral or the following conclave liturgies on TV, you would have heard Italian, English, Spanish, Polish and other languages. But Latin was used most often.

Possibly anticipating the use of media to broadcast the liturgy or seeing the increasing frequency of international travel, the bishops of the Second Vatican Council in their "Constitution on Sacred Liturgy" offered this reflection in paragraph 54: "Nevertheless, steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them."

We are a Church of many cultures, traditions and languages, but we all draw on the common heritage of the Church of Rome and the contribution of the Latin language. If your parish uses Latin occasionally or even regularly, I encourage it to help you and others born since the advent of vernacular liturgy feel more comfortable with it through the use of worship aids or even occasional practice. Just as the presence of other cultures and their languages enhance our worship, so does our common language Latin.