A Sensible Response to Current Migration Policy
Dear Editor: Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio suggests (“How Public Opinion Can Have an Influence on Migration Policies,” Aug. 23) that a good way to appreciate the history of migrants in our society is to reflect on the entry-level positions of our own forebears.
For his Italian immigrant grandparents, Bishop DiMarzio lists the production of kewpie dolls, handkerchiefs, sewing materials/buttons, and cigars.
This list provides us with valuable information about the remarkable progress of his own family in our country.
Thank you, Bishop DiMarzio, for sharing this information, encouraging others to reflect on their own families in the same way, and promoting tolerance of immigrants in general.
Edith Newman
Park Slope
In Praise of the Latin Mass
Dear Editor: Usually, I keep quiet when something negative is indicated concerning the Latin Mass and/or Gregorian chant, but this time I will make an exception (“Not the Latin Mass,” Aug. 23).
I do love the Latin Mass and see no need to ban it entirely. While I am not looking for it to replace the current Mass, I see no problem having it as an alternative.
Obviously, there are some people who still look at it in a highly favorable manner, and I don’t see the need to deprive them.
Even though I have not been to one in more than 50 years, to me, there was a degree of reverence that is not always evident today.
For many years, the Latin Mass, including Gregorian chant, was the form used in the Western Rite of the Roman Catholic Church.
Then, as now, we also had the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, which still celebrate with the priest mostly facing the altar, with his back to the people. The people in those churches seem to have no problem worshipping that way.
Latin provided a universal language for the Church throughout the world, one that all recognized when they traveled to a church in a foreign country. It happened to me several times long ago in Quebec, Canada. Gregorian chant is a beautiful form of music that uses the Latin language at that time, and although there are some more modern songs that are very good, there are many that vastly miss the mark.
For four years, I was an altar boy, only becoming one after I learned all the Latin responses.
When we had the Latin Mass, I used my Missal with Latin and English side by side. In those days, the sermon, as it was called then, was in English. This problem certainly can affect one’s ability to participate.
There seems to be a need to demonize or vilify the Latin Mass, but after all these years, there are still those who remember it fondly.
In summary, if a particular form of the Mass, or type of liturgical music, brings you closer to God, why would anyone seek to prevent its use?
Frank X. Rourke
Marine Park
Dear Editor: As one who worships at both the English Mass and the traditional Latin Mass, I find Maria Mastromarino’s letter strange and troubling.
I too am old enough to remember when the Latin Mass was the norm, but over the years when attending the millennia-old Latin Mass, which nourished the faith of the army of saints to whom we pray, many of whom were martyred for defending it, I find the churches full with many younger people and their children from whom much needed vocations have been inspired.
At this time, when polling shows an alarming lack of belief in the True Presence, the practice at the Latin Mass of kneeling to receive Our Lord is proper and instructive.
As for myself, participation is far closer and more intense at the Latin Mass.
Mastromarino prefers the new liturgy, and God bless her; it is the norm, universal, and widely available. The Latin Mass is beneficial to the faithful and no threat to her preference, as many bishops have recognized.
John Francis Salomone
Bayside