Oo oo! I've been there!

'A greater sense of the sacred'
With pope's blessing, Latin masses reborn in Rome, drawing pilgrims anew

By Christine Spolar | Chicago Tribune correspondent
10:27 AM CDT, July 13, 2008

ROME — In the cool recesses of Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini church, a Roman Catholic rite steeped in Latin has been reborn in this country.


Three priests, garbed in lace-trimmed white and golden robes, take to the altar as a band of brothers every Sunday, their backs to worshipers, their eyes on the mass at hand.

Dozens of people dutifully follow a service studded with long silences and soaring choral song. Many women have pinned lace mantillas to their hair. When parishioners, young or old, seek the sacrament of communion, they move quickly to kneel, with mouths humbly open.

A celebration at Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini is a visit to your grandfather's mass—and that is exactly the chain of devotion that Pope Benedict XVI wants honored and maintained.

The 16th Century church, located near the lively Campo dei Fiori in Rome's historic district, was built about the same time that Latin liturgy was formalized. It now bears the distinction of being the first large parish in Rome to be granted free rein to celebrate the long-gone liturgy known as the Tridentine rite.