Mass in Latin? An Extraordinary app for the Extraordinary Form

• A big prayer rally this week in Baltimore for Catholic laity near the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting venue features a day of prayer and adoration and Mass–in the Extraordinary Form. This means that while the Mass is Roman Catholic, it is not the form of Mass you may be used to (Ordinary Form). It is also in Latin. Welcome to the world of the older Mass version (pre-1962) of the Roman Rite Mass that some call Tridentine. It isn’t the Mass you know just offered in another language. It is a different form all together.  It’s the Mass probably most of your ancestors (and parents/grandparents) treasured and is always a great treat to your soul to experience. Every Catholic should experience this ancient form of the Mass at least once in one’s life. So, if you ever find yourself attending this “Extraordinary Form” of the Mass, you’ll definitely need a Missal because this Mass is rather quiet and subdued (timeless elegance) with cues you may not recognize to help you follow along. Happily for you, if you download the iMass app, you’re all set.

iMass ($1.99) for Apple | Android. Extraordinary Form of the Roman Catholic Mass in Latin (1962 missal).

Brought to you by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, this app is supremely easy to use. It provides a complete missal– the text of the Mass of the day according to the 1962 Missal (Latin on left side and English on right side in landscape format)–so you can use it for participation at Mass.  Rubrics are included. We downloaded the day’s missal and were able to use it at an EF Mass.

This was an effortless task which left us free to concentrate on the Mass itself without the concerns of following ribboned sections of a book. Everything was included in complete order, so all we had to do was scroll to the end. No need to switch to other page links in the app. It’s all there for you.  Zoom feature (pinch) can be used for the missal and breviary text, but it doesn’t work on my iPhone for some reason. Outside of an actual church setting, you can watch Masses live or on demand celebrated in the Extraordinary Form courtesy of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter at Christ the King Catholic Church in Sarasota, Florida, USA. More info. is at the iMass web site. As they appropriately warn, “This app does not serve to fulfill the Sunday Obligation of going to church and assisting at Mass, however it is an optimal way to unite yourself to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at any time of the day or night.” When watching the video version you can use a split screen for the text of the missal.  If you do not have a suitable mobile device, you can watch recordings of the Mass on your computer at this web site AND get the day’s missal.  Here’s a review by a hard-core user.

Finally, you may feel uncomfortable using your cell phone in church as your Missal–I sure was when I first used it at a Mass offered by the PFSP in Phoenix. After Mass, the priest assured me it was okay. “It’s precisely why we developed the app! Thanks for using it!”

An extraordinary app for the Extraordinary Form.