WOONSOCKET – The traditional Latin Mass is experiencing something of a comeback in several parishes across Rhode Island, most recently at St. Joseph Church in Woonsocket.
For those interested in learning more about the traditional Latin Mass, the parish will offer an informational session on Sunday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the church.
Father Michael J. Woolley, pastor at St. Joseph, said the talk will focus on many of the differences someone who has never attended a traditional Latin Mass will notice. The priest will be facing in the same direction as the congregation, for example. There will likely be a language barrier, and symbolism will be different. "The rituals are different; many of the prayers are different," he said.
Like many of his parishioners, Fr. Woolley said he does not remember the traditional Latin Mass and grew up with the modern English Mass. After Pope Benedict XVI relaxed restrictions on the Latin Mass, the priest said he was approached by several parishioners, many of them young people, who were interested in the traditional Mass. That’s when he decided to learn to say the Mass and offer it in his parish.
For three Sundays – April 20, May 18, and June 15 – at 5 p.m. Father Woolley will celebrate the traditional Latin Mass at St. Joseph. He said that the three Masses are rather like a trial run, and that if there is a core group of people interested in celebrating the Mass regularly he would consider making it a more permanent fixture of the parish.
Father Woolley said that the "sense of the sacred" is one of the most important aspects of the Mass that many people who grew up with the traditional Mass will remember.
St. Leo parish in Pawtucket and Holy Name of Jesus parish in Providence also celebrate traditional Latin Masses regularly.
