Easter Online

By Clare Bowskill

This Easter was the strangest of times. No packed churches, filled with sweet incense and the sound of the organ ringing out. The bells remained silent, the pews gathered dust and the heavy church doors stayed shut.

For the first time in our history, Catholics across the world had no Mass to go to.

In these unprecedented times however, our Priests decided if the people could not attend Mass then they would bring the Mass to us and so cameras were hastily assembled, wifi networks upgraded and the online, digital live-streamed Mass already available in some larger churches went ‘viral.’

From the comfort of your armchair you could choose your location, pick your church and even decide whether you preferred a Low Mass or a High Mass. 8am, 9am, 10am, even 6pm, Masses were available whenever was convenient.

Birmingham, Ramsgate, Oxford, York, New Brighton, Cardiff, London, Leicester, Gosport, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury, Preston, Manchester, the list went on. Masses on Facebook, Masses on Twitter, Masses on Youtube, and even specific live-streaming websites. If you were online, laptops, and phones were sending live updates informing you Masses were about to start, sermons were being uploaded, and there was even sung Tenebrae and other services from the Divine Office available at all hours of the day.

Like, love, share, retweet, happy, sad. The Latin Mass had mass appeal.

The extraordinary thing that appeared to be happening was people who had never ‘tried’ the Traditional Latin Mass before were opting to give it a go. Many viewers realised watching a Mass ‘versus populum’ just seemed peculiar and the Mass made much more sense ‘ad orientem.’ Even the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales made the decision that is was essential that the Latin Mass was available for all during the Sacred Triduum and so Archbishop McMahon OP of Liverpool asked The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) in Warrington to provide a full sung liturgy in the Extraordinary Form during the Triduum and to live-stream the ceremonies.

Fr de Malleray FSSP agreed to do this and so, for the first time in England and Wales, Catholics could follow all the services of the Paschal Triduum, including Tenebrae, via the internet with the website LiveMass.

Admittedly, watching Holy Mass at home is no replacement for attending, but I dare anyone not to have shed a tear hearing the organ for the first time on the Vigil celebration. Fr Ian Verrier, a very fine musician, treated the online viewers on LiveMass to a rousing burst of the Widor's Toccata from Warrington and so the celebrations could begin. Mass was barely over and the champagne was flowing. Pass the TV remote, Surrexit Christus Alleluia!

These are indeed sad times and whilst we were fortunate to have the Mass streamed into our homes, in normal times the Churches teaches that “Virtual reality is no substitute for the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the sacramental reality of the other sacraments, and shared worship in a flesh-and-blood human community. There are no sacraments on the Internet; and even the religious experiences possible there by the grace of God are insufficient apart from real-world interaction with other persons of faith.” (cf The Church and Internet # 9, by the Pontifical Council on Social Communications). But these were not normal times.

Despite all the efforts of our priests to bring us the sacred liturgy at the Triduum, many people naturally found it difficult to maintain a life of prayer without the real presence of the Lord. For some, making a spiritual communion was just a step too far, while others adapted their homes to aid their prayer. Photos of the Stations of the Cross going up the staircases were uploaded, candles were lit either side of laptops, statues were veiled in purple and in some homes small altars were even constructed. There were even stories of people ringing other parishioners who had no internet, to play them the Mass on speaker phone.

So, on this not so glorious Eastertide with our churches still closed at the time of writing, we continue to tune into the Traditional Latin Mass online, shouting ‘et cum spiritu tuo’ and singing the Regina Caeli not too loudly as to annoy the neighbours. While the church doors remain shut, we can at least take solace in the knowledge that we can join together remotely in prayer to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord, that is, broadband speeds permitting.