Young people are drawn to the Traditional Latin Mass by its “beauty”, “sense of mystery” and “transcendence”, Archbishop Alexander K Sample has said.
Speaking during a Pontifical High Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, Archbishop Sample praised Pope Benedict XVI for the “great gift” of Summorum Pontificum – the document that allowed the traditional Mass to be more widely celebrated – and said the “reverence and sacredness” of the old Mass would enrich the Novus Ordo.
The Archbishop of Portland, Oregon also noted how many young people were in the congregation, saying: “You are a sign—a great sign—of encouragement and hope for the Church tossed about these days on the troubled waters of secularism and relativism. As they say: you ‘get it.’”
The sermon – which was broadcast live on EWTN – has been widely shared on social media. Archbishop Sample added: “Maybe the experience of these young people growing up with the Ordinary Form did not carry with it the beauty, reverence, prayerfulness, sense of mystery and transcendence, or wonder and awe that the Traditional Latin Mass has provided for them.
“Perhaps this is the answer to the question… about why so many young people are drawn to the Holy Mass celebrated according to the 1962 Missal.”
