Mystical Language

There have been a few things to come out of Rome recently that I disagree with. This is not an entirely unusual occurrence as I was raised Presbyterian and generally disagree with most things that are said by Rome. The one that raised discussion points at my house most recently was the choice to begin masses in Latin again.

I tend to be more from the Lutheran tradition that people should be able to understand what they are being told in church and that they have a right to interpret things in their mother tongue. The person I was having a discussion with had a very unique point of view. He supports the move back to Latin. He is from the Greek Orthodox Church and never really understand half of what goes on in the services anyways.

There seems to be a large difference between what goes on in most of the Protestant services and what happens in those of other denominations. Perhaps the services in English have lost some of the magic they used to hold. Fewer people are going to services, but I'm not sure if that's just because of the language. In making everything understood, for some, the magic and mysticism has left the services.

It's amazing how much the language of something can change it. I never really realized that until I became a part of this community. We have a great deal of languages represented here and each one sounds so different. English is spoken for the most part until more of the assistants get together. As soon as there are many of us gathered, there is French, English, German and Portuguese. Occasionally another language will appear, but it's hard to say. Each of those languages has their own mystical qualities that we don't always realize.

When you hear something spoken in a language that you don't understand, you always feel something towards it, whether you know it or not. This is why German is sometimes called a harsh language and Italian is considered the language of lovers. There is something incredible about not being able to understand a language that allows you to react to not what is said, but more to how it's said. It requires more motion and more tone to be understood on any level. It requires less listening to what is being spoken and more of what is being said.

There is something mystical and comforting about being spoken to in another language. The only reason I learned Spanish was because of the way I was first spoken to in that language. It's nice to not be able to understand all the time, but the intention behind the words can always be understood.

While I do not support the move back to Latin for masses as I think it would be less fulfilling for many worshippers, I can understand those who would enjoy that. There is a comfort in tradition that is centuries old that doesn't exist in what we have now. It is less mystical, which is too bad somedays. But it can also be more real.