Born in 1955, I am old enough to remember the TLM. When I received First Communion, we knelt at the altar rail and received on the tongue--in fact we practiced receiving on the tongue in religion class! We wore "chapel veils" in church. These were little round pieces of lace that we pinned on our heads; they folded into a little case so we could easily carry them to school. And I also remember bringing a breakfast to eat after Mass at school because the fast was from midnight. As soon as I could read, I had absolutely no trouble knowing what was going on at Mass.
However, I also remember the changes after Vatican II, and I was not thrilled. The English Mass just didn't sound as good to me, and even as a child I did not like the new hymns. Some of them still make me shudder in retrospect, especially one called "Sons of God." I can't believe that adults wrote this stuff. The high altar and tabernacle were torn out, and we had an ugly modernistic stone table put into our English Gothic church. The tabernacle has been in several different places since then, but it was restored to the center of the sanctuary a few years ago. For many years we had a "risen Christ" crucifix in the front of the church, but some time ago it was replaced by a real crucifix (after a neighboring church closed and was sold, unfortunately).
Probably the wackiest experiences with liturgical atrocities happened at my Catholic high school, where readings from Kahlil Gibran sometimes replaced the Bible readings at Mass. My high school religion classes were also something of a train wreck: on priest-teacher made us listen to the Moody Blues, while another priest-teacher told us that Jesus was not really God. That teacher left the priesthood a year later, at least a year too late in my opinion.
Years later, as a mother going through preparation of my oldest child for First Communion, a nun from my Catholic college told us that Holy Communion was just a communal meal, with no Real Presence of Christ. How I wish that I had stood up for the truth; I was too hesitant to disrupt the "class."
I mostly owe my own faith to my parents, who were both devout believers. My father especially knew the Faith thoroughly due to his prep school training by Benedictine monks and his own reading. He could answer any question, and I hope to be literally eternally grateful to him. But so many of the people I knew, including most of my extended family, have fallen away.
Older than you. Went to daily Mass in grade school beginning in 1960. Kneeled a lot. Communion was received at the rail. Lots of incense and Latin, which we quickly learned. (We knew the Tantum Ergo by 2nd grade.) The girls wore little caps or “beanies” as we called them and women veiled. It was all very solemn and very lovely and imprinted upon my mind the profundity and beauty of God.
After many years of going through the various adaptations of the modern Masses, I’m back at a TLM parish, kneeling, veiling, and being awed by God.
Started going to Mass later than you (mid 70s) and our very post-VII church had no pews (we used chairs) or kneelers. I have a memory of attending my first Stations of the Cross and trying to do all the kneeling without kneelers and it was a bit tough on the knees...:-) We also knelt in a group for Confirmation (still got a gentle slap back then when the bishop went down the row) and I don't see that at all anymore. As a deacon, I'll say that there isn't a lot of "uniformity" when folks come up for communion. Some smile, some frown,some hold their hands up high while some have them so low I have to bend over to give them the host. A few receive on the tongue and a couple kneel. All part of the wonderful diversity of the People of God...:-)
Born in 1955, I am old enough to remember the TLM. When I received First Communion, we knelt at the altar rail and received on the tongue--in fact we practiced receiving on the tongue in religion class! We wore "chapel veils" in church. These were little round pieces of lace that we pinned on our heads; they folded into a little case so we could easily carry them to school. And I also remember bringing a breakfast to eat after Mass at school because the fast was from midnight. As soon as I could read, I had absolutely no trouble knowing what was going on at Mass.
However, I also remember the changes after Vatican II, and I was not thrilled. The English Mass just didn't sound as good to me, and even as a child I did not like the new hymns. Some of them still make me shudder in retrospect, especially one called "Sons of God." I can't believe that adults wrote this stuff. The high altar and tabernacle were torn out, and we had an ugly modernistic stone table put into our English Gothic church. The tabernacle has been in several different places since then, but it was restored to the center of the sanctuary a few years ago. For many years we had a "risen Christ" crucifix in the front of the church, but some time ago it was replaced by a real crucifix (after a neighboring church closed and was sold, unfortunately).
Probably the wackiest experiences with liturgical atrocities happened at my Catholic high school, where readings from Kahlil Gibran sometimes replaced the Bible readings at Mass. My high school religion classes were also something of a train wreck: on priest-teacher made us listen to the Moody Blues, while another priest-teacher told us that Jesus was not really God. That teacher left the priesthood a year later, at least a year too late in my opinion.
Years later, as a mother going through preparation of my oldest child for First Communion, a nun from my Catholic college told us that Holy Communion was just a communal meal, with no Real Presence of Christ. How I wish that I had stood up for the truth; I was too hesitant to disrupt the "class."
I mostly owe my own faith to my parents, who were both devout believers. My father especially knew the Faith thoroughly due to his prep school training by Benedictine monks and his own reading. He could answer any question, and I hope to be literally eternally grateful to him. But so many of the people I knew, including most of my extended family, have fallen away.
Older than you. Went to daily Mass in grade school beginning in 1960. Kneeled a lot. Communion was received at the rail. Lots of incense and Latin, which we quickly learned. (We knew the Tantum Ergo by 2nd grade.) The girls wore little caps or “beanies” as we called them and women veiled. It was all very solemn and very lovely and imprinted upon my mind the profundity and beauty of God.
After many years of going through the various adaptations of the modern Masses, I’m back at a TLM parish, kneeling, veiling, and being awed by God.
Started going to Mass later than you (mid 70s) and our very post-VII church had no pews (we used chairs) or kneelers. I have a memory of attending my first Stations of the Cross and trying to do all the kneeling without kneelers and it was a bit tough on the knees...:-) We also knelt in a group for Confirmation (still got a gentle slap back then when the bishop went down the row) and I don't see that at all anymore. As a deacon, I'll say that there isn't a lot of "uniformity" when folks come up for communion. Some smile, some frown,some hold their hands up high while some have them so low I have to bend over to give them the host. A few receive on the tongue and a couple kneel. All part of the wonderful diversity of the People of God...:-)