TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS

A Short History

The Traditional Latin Mass, more formally known since the promulgation on 07 July 2007 of Pope Benedict XVI's motu propriu, Summorum Pontificum, as the "Mass of the Roman Rite in the Extraordinary Form," is the Mass that generations of our forefathers knew, virtually without change, until the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s resulted in the "New Mass" of Pope Blessed Paul VI, the "Novus Ordo" or "Ordinary Form." With post-Conciliar changes to the Mass having begun almost immediately upon the issuance of the Council's Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, on 04 December 1963 and its implementational directive Inter Oecumenici on 26 September 1964, and essentially finalized with the imposition of the new Roman Missal in 1970, for forty years Masses said in the "old form" were rare and offered only by special permission of the local bishop.

In recent memory, i.e., since the appearance of Summorum Pontificum in 2007 removed the juridical necessity of such special permission, there have been two periods during which the Traditional Latin Mass or "TLM" has been celebrated publicly and with some regularity at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Natchitoches. The first period was between 2007 and 2010, when it was celebrated at various times, either Sunday or weekday, by Rev. Ryan Humphries during his assignment to Immaculate Conception as Parochial Vicar. The second began after Fr. Humphries was reassigned to the Basilica as Rector in mid 2013, with the TLM being offered on a weekly basis at 5:00 pm beginning on the First Sunday of Advent, 01 December 2013, and continuing at that time to the present. During the interim period 2010-2013 there was no priest assigned to the parish who was willing or able to offer the TLM. The mid-2016 diocesan pastoral reassignments brought the departure of Fr. Humphries and the arrival of Rev. Blake Deshautelle, who has continued celebrating the TLM at the same time without interruption.

A History of the Schola

Most typically, and from its beginning in Advent 2013, the 5:00 pm Sunday TLM at the Basilica has been celebrated as a Sung Mass. Building on a more informal gathering of chant enthusiasts from his days as a graduate student in Sacred Music at the Northwestern State University School of Creative and Performing Arts, Mr. Thomas Myrick, newly hired as Director of Liturgy at the Basilica, formed the Schola Cantorum of Natchitoches to provide music in the form of Gregorian Chant. Under Mr. Myrick's tutelage, the Schola gradually developed from simple psalm-tones for the Propers of the Mass to the more complex full Gregorian Chants that appear in the official song-book of the Roman Mass, the Graduale Romanum, for most of the Propers.

Then, the beginning of 2016 brought the departure of Mr. Myrick from the Basilica. Not wanting to see the Mass bereft of its music, nor Mr. Myrick's achievement at the Basilica to be entirely lost, the members of the Schola determined to continue singing for the weekly TLM to the best of their ability. And so was born the Nova Schola Cantorum Natchitochensis -- a.k.a "The Motley Schöla." Realistically, given that the current members of the Schola -- including the leader -- have little or no formal training in music, that has meant dropping back to the simple psalm-tone versions of the Propers in most cases, with the more complex full Propers reserved for special occasions. [Update, Sep 2017: We have successfully reintroduced a more complex Alleluia and the full Gregorian Introit. Baby steps....] Myrick's consultation and help both from afar and during his frequent visits to the Basilica have been crucial in keeping chant alive at the Basilica -- and greatly appreciated.