With the recent release of our Holy Father’s motu proprio (analysis and commentary to follow shortly), the traditional Mass according to the Missal of 1962 will once again be celebrated in parishes throughout the world. Thanks be to God!

For those unfamiliar with the Tridentine rite, I present to you three videos depicting it ‘in action’.

This first video was filmed on the Feast of the Sacred Heart int Saint Curé d’Ars, Flavigny, France, in 1999. The priest speaks in Latin (albeit with a French accent); Latin helps protect the liturgy of the Mass from improvisation and keeps the meaning of the words identical from century to century. Notice the attention to detail — the Confiteor (I confess) before ascending the steps to the altar, the genuflection at the name of Jesus Christ, the respect with which the Host is handled and elevated… The music in this recording is particularly beautiful.

This next instructive video, recently released from France, is perhaps the best of the three in terms of showing some of the attention to detail. (Unfortunately, it starts out rather annoying because of introductory thematic music. If the music bothers you, please continue watching; just lower the volume.) Notice in particular how the digits are kept in apposition after the priest first touches the Host until after the ablution (e.g., at 02:01 in the video). This is done to ensure that not even one little particle of the Host (which is Christ transubstantiated) should fall to the ground.

The rich symbolism requires catechesis. (That — catechesis — should have been the focus of Vatican II.) For those who did not understand the French explication in the previous video, in the following video, Archbishop Fulton Sheen provides narrative accompaniment to the Solemn High Mass of Easter, 1941, at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Chicago. As a high Mass, it features the polyphonic motets, orchestra and gregorian chant.