Why a Latin Wedding?

Whenever people here of our engagement, people always ask "So where are you going to be married?"  When they hear St. Josaphat in Detroit, a lot of people know how beautiful the Church is.  Seriously, its reputation precedes itself.  When they hear that we are having the nuptial mass according to the Extraordinary Form (or a Latin Mass Wedding), the reactions are mainly mixed, in and of itself a good thing.

That the reaction is simply "mixed" and not outright scorn and ostracizing is a sign that yes, the Latin Mass has found itself a place in today's Catholicism.  Is some of that scorn still present?  Indeed, yet for the most part that scorn is kept silent.  The far more likely reaction is either curiosity or confusion.  A lot of non-catholics (or those no longer practicing) have given most of the curiosity.  In an irony of ironies, traditionalism is a novelty today, and they are fascinated by the novelty if nothing else.  Others love the beauty.  To those curious, they can only attend our wedding and find out.

My focus today (and for quite some time) is on the confused.  It isn't that they are hostile to the idea of a Latin Mass Wedding.  They just don't understand what the big deal is.  I do not know if I can accurately convey why I view it a big deal.  Yet I hope to offer an explantion for why I love this way of celebrating Mass.

Throughout 2011 I did a series here at Common Sense Catholicism explaining various facets of the Extraordinary Form.  I'd like to revisit those works and reboot them with these considerations in mind.  The first section of postings will center around various questions about the Latin Mass and some basic answers, while the second portion will focus on the individual prayers contained in the Mass and the great meaning behind them.  Even if one attends nothing but the Ordinary Form, I hope this helps you in achieving a greater understanding of the one Mass, no matter how it be celebrated here on Earth, for it is the same in heaven.