When Jean Carlson returned to the Latin Mass of her childhood, she immediately found something she had been missing.

"There's just a sense of humility when you walk in and participate in the Mass," she said. "There's a mystery about the Mass."

Carlson and her husband Al attend the Latin Mass daily at Immaculate Conception Church in Rapid City. ICC is the only Catholic church in the Rapid City Diocese that has regular Latin Masses. The Rev. Chris Hathaway officiates.

A recent decree by Pope Benedict XVI has now made it easier for all churches to celebrate Mass in the Latin form. But the decree had little impact on the local diocese. Latin Masses have long been allowed, said Bishop Blase Cupich.

In 1965, Vatican II ushered in major reforms to the Roman Catholic Church. One of those reforms was a call for churches to celebrate Mass in the spoken vernacular instead of in Latin, Cupich said.

The change also altered the format of the Mass. The earlier Latin Mass form is referred to as the Extraordinary Mass and the current form as the Ordinary Mass.

In the Extraordinary Mass, priests face away from the congregation. The Mass is celebrated in Latin, and there is less interaction between the congregation and the priest. A different liturgical calendar also is followed.

Ordinary Mass is celebrated in the vernacular, with priests facing the congregation. There is also more interaction between the congregation and priest.

After Vatican II, churches could celebrate Extraordinary Masses in Latin only with the permission of their bishops.

Some Catholics, who objected to the restrictions, broke from the church and continued to worship in the Extraordinary Latin Mass format. In 1992, Pope John Paul II asked bishops to welcome those congregations back into the church, allowing them to celebrate Extraordinary Latin Masses as long as they embraced Vatican II.

The bishop of the Rapid City Diocese at that time, Charles Chaput, did just that. "And they came back into union with the church," Cupich said.

Under the pope's recent decree, churches no longer need permission from their bishops before celebrating Extraordinary Masses, although Cupich asks all priests in his diocese to inform him of that intent.

Hathaway said about 170 parishioners attend the Sunday high Mass at ICC. High Masses are entirely sung. About 15 to 20 people attend the daily low Masses, which are spoken. Both are Extraordinary Masses celebrated in Latin.

Hathaway, who was ordained in 2001, grew up in the Ordinary Mass form, but found himself drawn to the Extraordinary Mass. "Even though it's in Latin and the priest faces away from you … That in and of itself helps to reveal the mystery of God."

The quiet contemplative atmosphere of the Extraordinary Masses appealed to him. "The new Mass … There's so much distraction."

Carlson and her husband began attending the ICC Latin Masses three years ago, after a friend invited them. Carlson enjoys the quiet of the Latin Masses. It allows her to better prepare for communion, she said. "We didn't understand the Latin right away, but it was like that didn't matter. We like the sacredness and the quiet … We are so lucky to have it here."

Carlson is pleased that people can celebrate Mass in both Extraordinary and Ordinary form. And she wants people to understand that the church accepts the Extraordinary Mass as well as the Ordinary Mass.

"I'm afraid people don't come because they don't think they're in line with the pope, and that's not true," she said. "It's wonderful to have both rites."

Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at 394-8414 or lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com