Latin Mass According to the 1962 Roman Missal

Mass is celebrated in Latin according to the 1962 Missal of Blessed Pope John XXIII on the first Saturday of every month at 8 am in the morning.

If attendance is consistently high, the Mass may be extended to other Saturday mornings in the month.

The readings and homily are in English.

Latin-English Mass booklets are provided.

Gregorian chants are led by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate.

There is catechesis on the Mass given from 7:15-7:45.

On occasion, solemn high Masses will be celebrated and announced.

All are most welcome to attend.

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An article about the Solemn High Mass celebrated on the day Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio authorizing the Latin Mass went into effect is below.

Traditional Latin Mass Energizes Both Young and Old
St. Anthony of Padua Parish Celebrates Mass According to the 1962 Roman Missal
The Anchor, September 21, 2007

NEW BEDFORD — “The 147 angels in St. Anthony’s Church seemed to be smiling today.”

That’s how Arthur Motta, 50, of New Bedford, described the experience of the traditional Latin Mass celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua Church on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14.

A parishioner of Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in New Bedford, Motta said he came to the Mass because “I wanted to attend the Mass I attended as a child. It’s the continuity with the ages, the Mass of my ancestors.”

September 14 is the day on which Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio authorizing priests to celebrate Mass in Latin according to the 1962 Roman Missal went into effect. Benedict encouraged pastors to accommodate the request of stable groups of the faithful for such a Mass in Latin, which he established as the “extraordinary form” of the Latin rite.

About 150 people, the majority from the New Bedford area, but some coming from as far as New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Cape Cod, attended the Solemn High Mass celebrated by the pastor of St. Anthony of Padua, Fr. Roger Landry. Msgr. Gerard O’Connor served as deacon of the Mass and newly ordained Fr. Jay Mello ministered as subdeacon.

The large number of people who attended the Mass surprised Fr. Landry. “After the publication of the motu proprio, 23 parishioners approached me requesting the celebration of the 1962 Mass. I was hoping that at least a few of them would come on a Friday night. I never anticipated to see such a huge, prayerful and enthusiastic group of people of every generation.”

Several seniors in attendance said that the celebration of the Mass brought them back to the “joy of their youth,” as the “introibo” prayers of the foot of the altar at the beginning of Mass ask of God.

“I felt like I was 13 again,” said Jacqueline Lira, 64, of Acushnet. Lira described how as a young girl she used to sing in the Gregorian Choir. All the words, notes, and emotions from her youth all came back. “I loved it. It was so beautiful and spiritual.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Janet Ouellet, 73, of New Bedford, likewise an ex-chorister. “I loved the singing of the Gregorian Chant and the whole experience of the Mass. It was really beautiful.”

Al Cartier, 70, made the trek from SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Fall River to attend the Mass. “I saw the notice in the Anchor about the Tridentine Mass. I was very spiritually moved. I think this is something long overdue. I am also so happy to see so many young people attending this Mass.”

Among those youngsters was Thomas Da Costa, 12, one of a corps of six altar boys trained by Msgr. O’Connor to serve the Mass. “It is a challenge to learn the prayers in Latin,” he said, “but I liked the Mass very much.” Da Costa serves daily Mass at St. Anthony’s, and said that his first impression of the Mass with which his grandparents grew up is that it is “more prayerful.”

“I really liked it,” piped in Brianna Daponte, 13. 

Her nine-year-old sister, Mikayla, added that she loved the golden vestments worn by Fathers Landry, O’Connor and Mello.
The vestments were used by the priests of St. Anthony in former years for Solemn High Masses. The priest’s fiddle-back chasuble features a beautifully embroidered vision of St. Anthony on the back. “Despite the passage of years,” Fr. Landry said, “they remain in pristine condition and are as beautiful as the Church.”

Several young adults in attendance described what it was like attending the Tridentine Mass for the first time.
Twenty-two year old Peter Josefek of New Bedford said the experience was ineffable, as the experience of the transcendent through the Mass should be. “I have no words right now. It was sublime and truly the most reverent experience of my life. It was heaven on earth.” 

Steven Guillotte, 43, of Fairhaven, said it was “amazing.”

“I wanted to experience the old Latin Mass, and I thought it was beautiful. I was able to see the symbolism behind the reality that the priest ministers on behalf of the Church to God. Even though I didn’t understand the Latin words, I understood what the actions and words meant. It brought me back to the truth that through the Mass we enter the Holy of Holies.”

Marijanna Lokitis, 29, a pre-school teacher at Holy Family Holy Name School in New Bedford, said that she was “always interested in seeing how the Old Mass was.” She added that even though she was unfamiliar with the Latin prayers, “I loved the silence so that I could prayerfully unite myself step-by-step to what was going on.” She says she looks forward to attending again.

Fr. Landry announced that St. Anthony’s will hold a Latin Mass according to the 1962 Latin Missal on the first Saturday of each month at 8 am, beginning on October 6.

The youngest priest of the diocese, Fr. Jay Mello, 27, said he was happy that he was only responsible for the duties of the subdeacon rather than having to learn all the rubrics and Latin prayers for which Fr. Landry was responsible. “Unlike Fr. Roger, I haven’t had 14 years of Latin.”

Yet serving at the altar was an opportunity for someone ordained only two months, he said, to unite himself with the saintly priests and people who worshipped God in that form of the Mass for centuries.

“The priesthood is not a reality stretching back only 37 years with the new Mass, but something that reaches back across the centuries.”