How can I recognize the celebration of the Mass according to the Extraordinary Form?
When the priest enters the sanctuary, he begins the Holy Sacrifice with the immortal words Introibo ad altare Dei (‘I will go unto the altar of God’). Hearing these treasured words, every Catholic knows he is present at one of the oldest and most venerable rites of Mass in the Catholic Church. In the Traditional Latin Mass, the Church sets forth in a fully explicit way her doctrine of the Communion of Saints. The doctrine of the intercession of Our Lady and the Saints whose merits can win grace for our souls is given frequent prominence in the Ordinary and the Propers of the traditional Latin Mass. The Offertory prayers of the Ancient Form of the Roman Mass are now unique in the Church for their doctrinal richness, employing sacrificial terminology of great rhetorical beauty. This is an important spiritual preparation for the moment of Consecration and has been handed on to us as a precious heritage of Catholic piety through the centuries. The Consecration is the culminating point of t
