Frequent reader/commentor Henry sent the following:
Knoxville Catholics’ First Solemn Latin Mass in Decades
At 2 pm on Sunday, April 20 at Knoxville’s historic Holy Ghost Catholic Church — currently celebrating its centennial — area Catholics will enjoy the city’s first solemn Latin Mass celebrated in the four decades since the newer vernacular Mass was introduced in the years following the Second Vatican Council.
As a special feature for this festive occasion, a combined multi-parish choir and orchestra directed by Mary Frazier Garner will sing the principal choral parts of the Mass in the famous "Coronation Mass" setting composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This unique event will afford the opportunity of hearing some of the Church’s greatest sacred music presented not solely in concert but as an active part of the liturgy in a "live" church worship service.
This commemorative celebration follows Pope Benedict XVI’s recent restoration of the older traditional Latin Mass for regular usage as the "extraordinary form" of the Roman rite of the Catholic Church. The newer post-Vatican II Mass is designated the "ordinary form" of the Mass, which is the central act of Catholic liturgical worship. But the pope decreed that parish priests no longer need special permission to use the older form of Mass.
The Latin Mass can be offered at three levels of ceremony and solemnity. The "low Mass" is recited with little or no music. The "sung Mass" is chanted by a priest, usually with music and congregational singing. The "solemn Mass" is offered by a priest assisted by additional clerical ministers and a choir. All parts of a solemn Mass are chanted or sung, the actions of the ministers at the altar are elaborate, and the fragrance of incense combines with sight and sound to provide an enveloping atmosphere of reverence and worship.
This solemn Mass at Holy Ghost Church will be celebrated by Fr. John Arthur Orr, with Fr. David Carter (assoc. pastor at St. Jude’s Church in Chattanooga) and Fr. Patrick Resen (assoc. pastor at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa) functioning as deacon and subdeacon. Holy Ghost pastor Monsignor Xavier Mankel will attend in choir.
Fr. Orr, spiritual director at Knoxville Catholic High School and pastor of Clinton’s St. Therese Catholic Church, has served the Knoxville Latin Mass community since his 2005 appointment as its chaplain by then Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz. Latin Masses have since been held on Sundays at 1:30 pm at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Farragut and more recently at St. Therese Church in Clinton. This special Mass at Holy Ghost Church was scheduled earlier to celebrate the new St. John Neumann Church in Farragut, where the building dedication has been delayed.
All are welcome to attend who would like both to view the traditional Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church in its fullest form and to hear the music of Mozart that was inspired by and in turn supports this liturgy. The Knoxville Latin Mass community’s web site at www.knoxlatinmass.net can be consulted for further information including a map and directions to Holy Ghost Church.
