Many people superficailly dismiss interest in the Tridentine Mass as the "nastalgia" of an older generation that can't cope with change. I'm forty-four years old. I was born during the first session of Vatican II. From childhood I witnessed nothing but the Novus Ordo Mass. For me, then, the Tridentine Rite is the "new thing," and I prefer this "new" to the old - the Novus Ordo. Many young people are also drawn to this unsearchably sacred experience of holy Mass. It is not because they are "nostalgic," backwards, or even because their parents drag them to this Mass. It is soley because they have made an informed decision in favor of the ancient Rite over the new Rite. For those of us who have made this same decision, it is quite entertaining - in a miserable sort of way - to hear modern liberals chastise anyone who similarly prefers this "change" back to the Tridentine Rite. Apparently, the new tradition is the only "orthodoxy" they will tolerate. This is HYPOCRISY.

Timothy O'Keefe, Westfield, MA USA

If Mass is offered in the "incomprehensible language" of Latin, people will "drift away in droves?!" Pardon me, Sylvia, but, in case you've missed the past forty years of Church history, the drifting away, the mass exodus of people out of the Church, occured immediately AFTER the Mass was offered in English. Now, Mass is a noisy chit-chatty excercise in the nauseating and most comprehensible language of politically correct and ever-evolving contemporary English. The language of the Novus Ordo Mass is perfect for Hillary Clinton's campaign speeches, but for the worship of the Almighty God, it is a disgrace. Latin possesses a beauty and a dignity that university and marketplace English could only stand back and admire.

Timothy O'Keefe, Westfield, MA USA

Anyone who thinks that active participation has been enhanced by the modern Mass should travel across Europe attending Mass. Sit in the front row at each Mass, and at the Sanctus, prior to the Consecration, take a backwards glance at the congregation. Then go to a Latin Mass and do the same.

The Latin Mass is not being forced on anyone and in Brussels where I live, it is a magnet even among those who know no Latin. The mere externals so often found in the modern Mass, modern man and woman see as distractions, ultimately banal.

Christopher Gillibrand, Brussels, Belgium/ Europe

I knew the whole of the Latin Mass by heart by the time I was a seven years' old working class Liverpudlian. I had not then been taught Latin, but I was inspired by the solemn beauty of the Latin Mass even by that tender age. I was very sorry to see it abolished when I was ten years old. I question whether young people would drift away in droves. I now sing Palestrina et al in an Anglican church choir every Sunday, more often at liturgical feasts such as Easter, Christmas, Trinity etc. Our congregation is growing, including people of all ages and backgrounds; drawn in, I am convinced, by the beauty of the sung Eucharist. I think that now Latin Mass should be optional, but I would certainly not describe it as "an esoteric pleasure" - pleasure yes, esoteric, not necessarily.

Elizabeth Haggis, Buxton, Derbyshire