I may have mentioned earlier that I had looked into 
some the effects of the microphone in the Catholic 
liturgy. Speaking to the Fathers hereabouts, I was 
told unanimously that the microphone on the altar 
simply eliminated the Latin Mass because the 
stepping up of the Latin sounds to the higher 
intensity made them meaningless. The vernacular, 
on the other hand, which has long been at high 
intensity via the microphone and via the printed 
word, does not provide opportunities for meditation 
that the Latin Mass did. You see, the “blessed 
mutter” of the Mass did not prevent people 
meditating and praying during Mass, whereas the 
vernacular does prevent them.