I had the same reaction, Lane3, and I was about to type the same thing about returning just for the ritual! I loved the Latin and the mystery, the smell of incense, the processionals, the rosary, the stations, all the performance art of it. We received enough training in Catechism to understand and participate, and our missals had the Latin page opposite the English, so it was very easy to follow. It was one reason I couldn't wait to be old enough to study Latin-- which I later did for six years. I left the church in college after Vatican II, partially because it was the 60s and I was questioning everything, but then when I returned it was no longer the church of my youth. It no longer felt comfortable and it no longer made me feel as if I were in touch with something beyond me, a part of something greater.
As for the privacy thing. Yes yes yes. My husband started hating church for the Sharing of the Peace. I swear that was one of the reasons we stopped going. It's just all too "collegial", like a PTA meeting with a speaker.
Awe-- that's what I miss. |
