Every June I go camping with my family in the Forest of Dean, and during our time there we’re blessed to be able to attend an Ordinariate Mass. For those who haven’t experienced it, the Ordinariate liturgy is often characterised as being akin to “an Old Rite Mass translated into English”.
The Anglican Use preserves many of the distinctive elements of the Traditional Latin Mass, such as prayers at the foot of the altar, the dual Confiteor and the Last Gospel. While the language is in the vernacular, it’s the kind of elevated English where “your spirit” becomes “thy spirit”, “It is right and just” becomes “It is meet and right so to do”, and imperatives such as “vouchsafe” abound.
