Taking a breath

I've been rather pissed off lately, haven't I? I figured I needed to take a break, breathe a while, and find some news that wouldn't send my blood pressure through the roof.

So here it is:

Pope Benedict XVI has approved a document that relaxes restrictions on elebrating the Latin Mass used by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries until the modernizing reforms of the 1960s, the Vatican said Thursday.

Benedict discussed the decision with top officials in a meeting on Wednesday and the document will be published in the next few days, the statement said. The meeting was called to "illustrate the content and the spirit" of the document, which will be sent to all bishops accompanied by a personal letter from the pope.

When I was a young'n my father brought me into church with a challenge. The challenge was to learn the Mass of the Shepherds for Christmas Midnight Mass.

It was in Latin. It had to be sung. Four part harmony, with a pipe organ for accompaniment. There's a reason society has traditions and customs, and a big part of that reason is to keep us connected with where we came from, what we are a part of, and who we are in total. If it weren't for the traditions that I became a part of, Catholic mass would just not be the same. Even now, I'm bringing some of those traditions to the chapel I go to.

Dropping Latin from the Catholic mass was a mistake, in my opinion. I'm glad to see that corrected, at least in part.