Shawn McEelhinney writes some interesting suggestions to reform the Tridentine Missal. I attend the traditional Mass occasionally and have found that I appreciate it and wish many aspects of the Mass (and the people attending it) could be found at my local parish. The choir always sounds excellent, the best music I have every heard. The people are serious Catholics who get there early, are quiet and respectful, and have the most well behaved children I have ever seen. The Mass is followed by “convivium” which must be latin for light breakfast. This affords the opportunity for what the protestants call fellowship. Attending this Mass has made me a more serious Catholic and if my parish did not have the orthodox priest it has, I would attend this Mass weekly. On the other hand, there are also aspects of the Mass that make me see the value to the reforms of Vatican II. Hearing the prayers as the priest intones them makes sense as does responses said or sung by the people. The reading of the epistle and Gospel in Latin and then in English seems redundant. One post-Vatican II change I like is bowing instead of genuflecting during the Creed’s 3 lines “By the power of the Holy Spirit…”, but hardly anyone does this at my parish. I have never noticed anyone praying the Rosary during the Mass and if they did I wouldn’t think it the worst thing to do at Mass, so I think the fear of “private devotions” is unfounded. Perhaps this is due to the reforms of Vatican II which emphasized active participation in the Mass. I know I understand the traditional Mass and can follow it even though I never learned any Latin and this must be due to attending the Mass in English each week. It seems to me that there was a need for some reforms in the Mass but that the reforms done around 1970 went too far and changed the Mass too much. Everything since then seems to have pulled us further away from tradition. I would love to see a true reform that is more traditional while keeping the good reforms.