Latin & Me, part 5

A little over a month ago Fr. C told me he was doing a Requiem Mass for a woman who was not a parishioner but who he had visited to give Last Rites to the week before. He said it was just going to be our Organist, the husband who wasn't Catholic, and maybe a few others and that I was invited if I was interested.

I've been to many funerals - and now working at the parish I've gone to many funerals of people who I never knew either because it was the only Mass time that worked for me that day, there were few people who were going to be in attendance, or a variety of other reasons. So I decided to attend Maureen's funeral Mass out of pure curiosity for the Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

I don't know all of the ritual that goes into the rite because it was my first time and additionally, it's a very rare experience; however, I can tell you that it was absolutely beautiful. I can say that not knowing a word of what was said. It's so hard to describe. I find that to be true with any Mass I attend in Latin celebrated in the Extraordinary Form. It's beautiful, but I can't put my finger on why.

This is the main reason why I'm beginning to love it more. Can you even believe I wrote that? Remember part one?

Having dinner the weekend after with MG and another friend, I was relaying my experience and how I decided I would like my funeral to be in the Extraordinary Form - for the sheer beauty of it. She laughed since she's been on this crazy journey with me since we've been friends but said she would ensure the right people knew what to do when the time came.

One weekend I was babysitting for Stephanie and her husband has a love for the Extraordinary Form. We got to talking about the Marriage Rite and how at one point before the couple exchanges rings, the groom presents the bride with a bar of gold and a bar of silver. He explained it much more eloquently, but it made me realize how beautiful the rite must be. How precious the woman is to this man, more precious than all of the silver and gold that the world could offer.

I haven't made any decisions, particularly, since I don't even know who would be standing in the place of that groom - but if/when I am planning my wedding, considering the Rite in the Extraordinary Form won't be off the table. A coworker and I were discussing last week when Fr. C came in and she mentioned to him that I wanted a Requiem Mass for my wedding ... which I was quick to correct ... because well, a funeral Mass as a Wedding ... not that's just crazy!

Finally, if you've never been to a Mass in the Extraordinary Form check out this video I made back in November when we had an Orchestral Mass celebrating All Saint's Day.

Anyway, next week I'm going to conclude with my thoughts on how this all fits into the rest of my faith life.  If this the first time you've visited for the "Latin & Me" series, check out parts one and two and three and four.

If you have questions that you'd like me to answer next week, comment below - that will be some great direction for my final post on the subject (well in the series, I'll probably post on the subject again).

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6