The Traditional Latin Mass (often abbreviated in the colloquial "TLM") is a term commonly used to refer to Masses offered according to the Missal of 1962, declared "Extraordinary Form" by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in Summorum Pontificum in 2007. For centuries prior to 1970, this was the way the Mass was celebrated all around the world, the same Mass that nourished the souls of saints and sinners for centuries. The priest faced the altar with the people, offering a sacrifice to God, present in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle. With the exception of the sermon to the people, the Mass was sung, chanted, or spoken entirely in Latin.
The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, says "the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites." Latin, the official language of Holy Mother Church, is our universal language, and is an international standard in our universal Faith. We pray the Mass with one voice and tongue, in harmony with all the Masses around the world, throughout time. In the Traditional Latin Mass, or the Extraordinary Form, we offer to God with our unworthy hands His just due of our adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication through the unbloody re-presentation of His Son's one and only sacrifice for us on the Cross.
Most of my years as a priest — a good deal of them — were spent right here at the cathedral in Tyler, and I only really began to understand the desire for the traditional Latin and the liturgy with Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum. I was working with my predecessor, Bishop Álvaro Corrada del Río, who, of course, knew of the Latin Mass. … Once the motu proprio was established and we were encouraged to make the Latin Mass available, we did this — his secretary was a FSSP [Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter] priest, so I know he was comfortable with the rite. He chose to bring the fraternity to establish a little community here, and, again, it was very foreign to me. So, when they would approach the cathedral — and this sounds so pejorative now — I found myself often saying, “Oh, here come those people.” Of course I was encouraged to be welcoming and inviting as rector of the cathedral. They later would establish their parish, St. Joseph the Worker, and one of the very first things I did as bishop was to celebrate confirmation for them in Latin. That was a little different for me, celebrating a confirmation outside the Mass — as is done in the traditional rite. They joked my Latin had a Spanish accent!
We do have priests and seminarians who have expressed interest in the extraordinary form, along with families — young families — participating, going to the fraternity parishes. More and more, I found people expressing their desires to me to permit the Latin Mass — and, of course, I did, following the motu proprio. I found myself, more and more, becoming aware of the Latin Mass and the draw of the people to it, that it wasn’t this antiquated, negative thing that needed to stay buried. The writings of Benedict — Summorum Pontificum and The Spirit of the Liturgy, which I read — and honestly being caught up praying in [Eucharistic] adoration all helped me to deepen my appreciation. Adoration has become the center of my life as a bishop, in fact. I try to be in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the mornings and the evenings every day that I can, as much as I can.
Praying before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament drew me to this rite. I find my spiritual life has skyrocketed since I became a bishop and especially as I have centered my focus on our Eucharistic Lord. You know, I try to have adoration twice a day, to accompany my morning and evening prayers — and the [Divine] Office can be pretty long. Yet I find that I now pray the Psalms as if I am talking to him. I have made the Psalms my own personal prayer.
What I experienced was that this rite focuses so much on him. Understand that, before January of this year, I hadn’t even read the prayers of the extraordinary form. I was literally starting from scratch. What prompted that was my earlier declaration that 2020 would be a “Year of the Eucharist” in my diocese. Honestly, all of this has been building for me, since I began being a bishop, but it was that declaration right as Advent started last year, and I encouraged the focus on the Eucharist in different ways, such as processions and adoration.
I encourage those in the traditional congregations to remember why they love the liturgy, why and how the reverence points to him. … There is such a great opportunity for setting an example of simple, joyful reverence in the extraordinary form. That sense of awe that I experienced should be experienced by all. After what I have experienced, as bishop, I cannot help but encourage everyone towards meeting Jesus in wonder, within the beauty of the extraordinary form of the Mass.