For hundreds of years, it was the way most Christians worshipped. Then, in the early 1970s, it nearly disappeared.

It involves a priest speaking a "dead" language and keeping his back turned to the audience for most of the service.

And now, thanks to a directive this month from Pope Benedict XVI, it could start making a comeback.

Mass in Latin, currently confined to a few parishes in each diocese, was until the early 1960s the only Mass that Roman Catholics knew. But the church, in an effort to make Mass more approachable, decided to conduct worship in the language of the people, whatever language that might be in a given locale. The old-style Latin Mass also contains some phrases, such as one about Jews, considered offensive in the modern world.

Currently, about 150 U.S. parishes offer the Latin Mass but the liturgical books are scarce and only a few hundred priests know the Mass. The director of the Vatican publishing house told the Catholic News Service he doesn't even know who holds the copyright to the text.

But the pope's directive opens the door for more churches to adopt the traditional style of worship — a style that can be seen in Indianapolis only at Holy Rosary parish. There, in what was once an Italian parish, the Rev. Michael Magiera, whose priestly order specializes in the traditional rites, conducts nine Latin Masses a week. On most weeks, there are just three services in English.

Magiera, a 56-year-old former opera singer and childhood fan of the Latin Mass, considers it to be worship in its purest form — using a language less subject to the whims of change, with long periods of silence for contemplation and not crowded with songs. For non-Latin speakers, it requires a fair amount of concentration to follow along. And Magiera says that is precisely the point.

"Sometimes you can hear the attention, the rapt attention," Magiera says. "The silence screams, because people are so mentally engaged, which is a participation of a very different level."

The priest, who faces the altar for nearly the entire service, isn't turning his back on the congregation, Magiera says, he is joining them in facing God.

Will Riley, a 43-year-old Indianapolis lawyer, comes to Holy Rosary's Latin Mass on Sunday while his wife goes to an English Mass closer to home. He even comes for the Latin service on weekdays. It is the liturgy of his Irish ancestors and the one his father and grandfather took part in. But there is more to it than family ties and nostalgia.

"I find it very spiritual," he says, following a noon weekday Mass in Latin. "You probably noticed there were long periods of silence. In that, it is not as if nothing is happening, but that's where one begins to really focus on the presence of God."

Aside from the use of Latin, the traditional Mass — sometimes called the Tridentine Mass — differs from the English service in other ways. There are additional prayers, different scripture readings and different gestures the priest makes.

Traditionalists who have lobbied the pope for years for this are delighted with easier access to the age-old elaborate rites, rich with chants, gestures, and prayers that will sound the same for any Catholic worldwide.

And while Magiera says that most people can decipher the gist of Latin on their own, the church offers visitors a booklet with English translations of the prayers. Sermons also are offered in English. To help the cause, a member of the parish teaches weekly Latin classes for those who wish to learn more.

The pope's directive gives priests the authority to conduct traditional Latin Mass in their parishes if they see a demand. Previously, bishops had to give the OK for it in each case.

Catholic leaders aren't predicting a sudden flood of demand for Latin Masses. For one thing, few young priests are trained to celebrate them. And most priests are booked up as it is, with services in English and Spanish.

Magiera hopes that with wider availability, more people will come to appreciate the Latin Mass to which he and his brothers in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter have devoted their lives.

Magiera said the Mass is already popular among some of the younger-than-40 crowd, especially the most devout Catholics.

"They will see it once and say 'wow,' " he says. "They might have come out of curiosity. But they come and think it is great."