Clarification on Ateneo Latin Mass Society (ALMS) membership: Members and associates

20 Jan 2010

Dear ALMS members and friends,

In view of the coming General Assembly this Friday and of our future application for accreditation as a recognized organization in Ateneo de Manila University, it is important to clarify the ALMS identity and membership.

1. ALMS Members

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the posting of the Mission and Vision of the Ateneo Latin Mass Society (ALMS) blog (http://ateneo-latin-mass-society.blogspot.com) by Mr. Rene Raneses Jr. of the Ateneo Political Science Department. He defined the ALMS as follows:

“We are a group of Ateneo students and professionals seeking to (re)introduce and promote the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (also called the Tridentine Rite or the Mass according to the 1962 Missal of Pope John XXIII) and traditional Catholic prayer and spirituality in campus.”

Thus, only those who are part of the Ateneo community can be ALMS members: faculty, staff, students, and alumni. And the Mass is specifically the Tridentine Mass according to the 1962 missal and not the Novus Ordo Latin Mass.

2. ALMS Associate Members

But since it is the vision of ALMS to help other schools establish their own Latin Mass Societies, the ALMS accepts as Associate Members students and professionals from other schools. The associates are introduced into the ALMS way of proceeding which is rooted in the Ignatian Spirituality as defined by the following mottos: Magis (More), Cura Personalis (Personal Care), and Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the Greater Glory of God).

The ALMS way of proceeding is also governed by St. Ignatius’s “Rules for Thinking, Judging, and Feeling with the Church”, which is found at the last part of his Spiritual Exercises. There are fourteen (14) rules, but all of them can be summed up in the first rule on Obedience:

“Rule 1. With all judgment of our own put aside, we ought to keep our minds disposed and ready to be obedient in everything to the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, which is our holy Mother the hierarchical Church.”

When the associate members of a particular school think that they have a TLM stable group and a priest who is willing to say the Traditional Latin Mass in their school in public, they can form their own autonomous Latin Mass Society, and also invite students and professionals from other schools as associates. And the process repeats itself. In this way, all schools in the Philippines
will soon have their own Latin Mass Societies.

3. Distinction Between ALMS Members and Associates

Only ALMS members may be elected as ALMS officers of different committees. ALMS associate members may join the choir and altar servers; they can join the meetings and give their opinions but they cannot vote. The Publications and Finance Committees are only for ALMS members.

In Christ,

Dr. Quirino M. Sugon Jr.
Coordinator
Ateneo Latin Mass Society