Saint Kilian Catacomb Chapel

(Latin Rite)

What is the Orthodox Latin Rite (so-called "Western Rite")?

For nearly 1,400 years, the Traditional Latin Mass was the liturgy of the western world. It was the Mass at which saints and Christians of the West worshipped since ancient times. 

• It was the Mass that martyrs gave their blood to preserve during the Protestant Reformation. 

• It was the Mass that united Christian worship beyond continents and across centuries. 

• It has been described as "the most beautiful worship this side of heaven".

The traditional Latin Mass is also a safeguard against modern aberrations of so-called contemporary worship, often reminiscent of entertainment rather than worship. 

Needless to say, we as Old Calendar Orthodox use the Old Latin Rite Calendar in line with the Holy Missal, the Service book containing all elements, prayers, readings and rubrics of the Holy Mass for each day, feast and season of the year.

Why the traditional Mass?

With the crises in the world today, more and more people (especially young people) seek an alternative to the "modern world". They are returning in droves to the wisdom of the ages, to things tested and timeless. For many young Catholics as well as Western Orthodox, this has included a return to the traditional Latin Mass.

Do I need to know Latin to follow the traditional Latin Mass?

In short, participation in the Latin Mass is primarily interior; i.e., words to understand are not essential. For those interested in praying along at the Holy Mass,  we provide Latin-English Missals that contain easy-to-follow, step-by-step translations of all prayers, hymns and responsorials. The Epistle, Gospel and homily will always be in the vernacular, of course.  

How do I use the Latin Rite?

The Latin-English booklet Missal (Missalette) lays out in easy-to-follow format the structure and prayers of the Mass. There are two sets of prayers at Mass: the ordinary prayers and the proper prayers (of the current day). The ordinary prayers are those fixed prayers that repeat with every Service. They are contained in the Missal. The proper prayers, which change by the day, will be provided in the pew Missal or via a handout (bulletin).

>> More information about the Orthodox Latin Rite

Why is it called Holy Mass?

The term Holy Mass gets its name from the liturgical dismissal at the conclusion of the Service. It comes from the Latin "(ite) missa (est)". In Latin, the Mass ends with Ite missa est, which translated into English means Go, it is sent, the “it” being the Church, i.e. all faithful.  Since the times of St. Gregory the Great (†604), that wording was applied to the Latin Rite liturgy. While there may be simple cultural reasons why this took place, it is ultimately the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) telling us to go out to the world and preach the Gospel through our lives.