In Frenchtown, Montana, about 9 miles northwest of Missoula on I 90, Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church is the oldest continually used Catholic church in Montana. At one time it held masses in French and even Latin, but those days have passed, with masses being held in English for many decades. Recently, however, the church has attempted to appease traditionalists by offering a traditional Latin Mass known as the Tridentine Rite. Further explanation is offered below by
, which published an article on the church's adoption of the Tridentine Rite in 2008. The Tridentine Rite seems to have been overwhelmingly accepted, with people coming from as far as 200 miles away to attend.
Words of tradition: Mass at Frenchtown's
St. John the Baptist returns to Latin
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian Feb 16, 2008
FRENCHTOWN - When St. John the Baptist Catholic Church started tending its Frenchtown flock in 1884, all the records were kept in French or Latin.
The old French has faded, but Latin has returned. And Catholics are coming from 200 miles around to hear the Tridentine Rite celebrated with all its ancient rigor.
The Missale Romanum, as it's formally known, was buried under ecclesiastical paperwork for much of the past four decades. The Second Vatican Council's call for delivering church ceremonies in the locally spoken language did not prohibit using Latin rites. But it did require permission from a regional bishop. Meanwhile, local congregations forsook the spit-and-polish formality of the Latin Mass for more enthusiastic and contemporary services.
The Roman Missal doesn't simply deliver the Sunday church service in another language. It dictates every word and move the priest makes. It even tells him the position of his fingers when he lifts the communion wafer.
"Ritual is nothing the Catholic Church invented," the Rev. Kevin Christofferson said. "Human beings have always experienced a gravitational pull toward ritual. Ritual has the power to form and shape the one who performs the ritual. It's the way members of a group are formed in their identity."
Inside St. John's white, blue and red sanctuary, Christofferson had established a distinctively reverent form of the modern Mass in English. He also felt drawn to the Latin Mass. So when Bishop George Thomas announced in October that the Roman Missal would return to western Montana, he asked Christofferson to lead the effort...
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