Public Project
Mass in Latin, Like it Used to Be
The old-rite mass draws 60-to-80 people each week, with some coming from as far as New Jersey and Long Island. It is a throwback to a time when women wore mantilla to mass and communion was given only by a priest’s hand.
“It’s not for everybody,” said Bishop James Massa, who oversees the unusual rite.
The prayerbook used is from 1962, a relic of the year the Vatican ordered churches to say mass in the local language.
The congregation has its fair share of older worshippers but, surprisingly, most are young parents who weren't alive when the old mass was changed.
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