A year after Pope Benedict XVI allowed wider use of the traditional Latin form of the Mass, the Diocese of Rockville Centre has seen a noticeable increase in interest in such celebrations.

A year ago, notes Msg. James Pereda, the diocesan judicial vicar who has celebrated an approved diocesan traditional Latin form Mass at St. Pius X Residence in Uniondale since 1989, there was only one other such approved Mass in that form regularly offered in the diocese — once a month at Sacred Heart Church in Cutchogue.

Since Pope Benedict’s “Sum-morum Pontificum,” an apostolic letter which allowed for regular celebration of the extraordinary or traditional Latin form of the Mass in parishes and other Church settings, St. Matthew’s Church in Dix Hills and Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park have instituted such celebrations — once a week at St. Matthew’s and twice a week at Our Lady of Lourdes.

Moreover, the Mass at Sacred Heart in Cutchogue is now offered each Sunday at 3 p.m. Msgr. Pereda coordinates the scheduling with several priests for that Mass. For most people on Long Island, “there is usually a (traditional Latin form) Mass within a reasonable driving distance for anyone wishing to attend one,” he said.
He also noted that the diocese sent Father Eric Fasano, former associate pastor of St. William the Abbot Church in Seaford who has been assigned to studies in canon law in Rome, and Father Walter Kedjierski, associate pastor of Our Lady of Victory Church, Floral Park, for training at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska.
The seminary is operated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. The fraternity is a society of apostolic life founded by Pope John Paul II that trains priests and fosters celebration of the Mass and administration of the sacraments in the older form.
“Personally, I consider it a wonderful opportunity and a privilege to celebrate the form of the Roman rite that nourished the holiness of the saints and of all the faithful for so many centuries,” said Father Fasano. “What a blessing, to experience the Mass as my own parents did in their childhood.”

“I can only express my sincerest thanks to our Holy Father for allowing so many people to be exposed to a beautiful treasure that was very difficult to find,” said Father Kedjierski. “The extraordinary form has a spirituality behind it which is rich.” 
The diocese has also tried to accommodate requests for celebrations of sacraments, “such as baptisms and weddings in Latin when possible,” Msgr. Pereda said. Bishop William Murphy last month conferred confirmation in the extraordinary form at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre (See TLIC 6/18/08).

Pope Benedict’s apostolic letter and an accompanying note reaffirmed the validity of the 1970 Roman Missal, which formalized the reforms called for by the Second Vatican Council, as the “ordinary form” of the liturgy of the Mass. He also called for wider use of the 1962 Roman Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII as an “extraordinary form.”
“It is not appropriate to speak of these two versions of the Roman Missal as if they were two rites,” Pope Benedict noted in an introduction to the apostolic letter. “Rather, it is a matter of a twofold use of one and the same rite.”

The 1962 missal represented the latest revision to the form of the Mass established by Pope Pius V following the Council of Trent in 1570 — sometimes referred to as the Tridentine Mass.

Pope Benedict’s apostolic letter called for pastors to “willingly accede” to requests for celebration of Mass in the extraordinary form when “a group of faithful attached to the previous liturgical tradition exists stably.”

At present, Msgr. Pereda explained, the Mass at St. Pius X in Uniondale continues to draw about 160 worshippers each week while about 30 worshipers attend the weekly Mass at Cutchogue.

At St. Matthew’s, “usually about 180” people attend Mass offered in the extraordinary form each Sunday at 9 a.m. in the parish’s chapel, Msgr. Pereda said. Before Pope Benedict’s apostolic letter, the parish each week had a Latin celebration of the 1970 form of the Mass.

Our Lady of Lourdes in Massapequa Park instituted two weekly Masses in the extraordinary form, on Sunday morning at alternating times, and Wednes-days at 8 a.m.

Msgr. Pereda noted that he finds the interest in the extraordinary form positive because of its own value and because “both forms inform each other because they each have their own strengths.

“The Holy Father noted that the extraordinary form offers a sense of reverence that can benefit the celebration of the ordinary form,” Msgr. Pereda said. Use of the older form reminds Catholics of the longer tradition, but also that “the Novus Ordo did not spring from nowhere but is a continuation of the long tradition of the Church.”
Msgr. Pereda said that he is encouraged with the interest that has sprung up, “particularly among young people,” and is optimistic that the interest will grow. “Good things by their very nature are expansive.”