by Leo Darroch
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| John XXIII celebrating Low Mass in his private chapel |
One of the marks of revolutionaries is a complete lack of respect or tolerance for anyone who has an opposing point of view. Once they have formulated their opinions then nothing and nobody will come between them and the course of action they intend to follow. To the revolutionaries, anyone who is not singing their tune must be suppressed and removed as quickly as possible. A current example is the contemptuous way in which the sacred liturgy and its adherents, both clerical and lay, have been treated in recent years, especially from Rome. There is intrigue on a grand scale and at the highest levels in the Church, and the opinions of the laity, for example, are of no interest to those driving forward their agenda. Examples from history show that the revolution never ends until the revolutionaries are faced down and defeated.
The Mass of the traditional Roman rite, as promulgated in the Missal of Pope St. John XXIII and earlier editions, is a work of literature that encapsulates the clarity and precision of the Catholic faith in every prayer and in every phrase. Indeed, in its beauty, truth, and divine inspiration, it is beyond compare among any documents or international treaties produced by governments or nations, and surpasses all the great works of literature produced by the greatest of secular writers. It has been refined over centuries by the greatest writers, doctors and saints of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It contains not only the clarity and precision of our Faith but is celebrated in Latin, an angelic language described by Pope St. John XXIII in Veterum Sapientia (1962) as having "proved so admirable a means for the spreading of Christianity throughout the West. ". It refreshes the soul and creates a common link not only with fellow Catholics in every country but with every member of the Church down the centuries through our families back to Christ Himself. At Eastertime we are reminded in the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ that on the Cross were written words in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The traditional Roman rite also includes Hebrew, Latin and Greek and so it transports us back to the very Cross of Sacrifice on which our Saviour gave His life for us.
Pope St. John XXIII also said in Veterum Sapientia:
The inauguration of Christianity did not mean the obliteration of man's past achievements. Nothing was lost that was in any way true, right, noble and beautiful. The Church has ever held the literary evidences of this wisdom in the highest esteem. She values especially the Greek and Latin languages, in which wisdom itself is cloaked, as it were, in a vesture of gold.
Again, in this document Pope St. John teaches:
Thus, if the truths of the Catholic Church were entrusted to an unspecified number of them [vernacular languages], the meaning of these truths, varied as they are, would not be manifested to everyone with sufficient clarity and precision.
The Missal of Pope St. John XXIII is indeed "true, right, noble and beautiful' and the truths contained therein are conveyed with absolute "clarity and precision." For this reason alone it must not be lost to our Church and the faithful.
The Fathers of Vatican II, in their wisdom, decreed;
Finally, in faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognised rites to be of equal right and dignity, that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way. [Sacrosanctum Concilium, n.4].
The Mass of the traditional Roman rite is indeed the most beautiful treasure of literature there has ever been; its beauty is unsurpassed and will never dim. Pope St. John XXIII, who not only praised Latin as being an admirable means of spreading the faith, also criticised the vernacular as being unsuitable for spreading the truths of the Church with sufficient clarity and precision. Is it not remarkable that the 'old Mass’ contains all the things praised by Pope St. John? In 1961, the year before the Second Vatican Council opened, he described the Church as "A Church vibrant with vitality." Is it not even more remarkable that the 'new' rite of Mass includes those things specifically condemned by him? and, that by 1968, only seven years later when vernacularism had already taken hold, his successor Pope St. Paul VI bemoaned the fact that the Church was in a process of self‑destruction? The case for the vernacular is actually contradicted quite spectacularly by those who were responsible for its introduction. In the Preface specially written for the new rite Mass of Pentecost Sunday there is the sentence: "Today we celebrate the great beginning of your Church when the Holy Spirit made known to all peoples the one, true God, and created from the many languages of men one voice to profess one faith." [emphasis added]. Is it not nonsensical that in the new Mass, that is celebrated in any language or dialect the priest may wish, they are repeating these words in every language under the sun?
Pope Pius XII, in Mediator Dei, makes the point that “people differ so widely in character, temperament and intelligence, that it is impossible for them all to be affected in the same way”. This point is well made. We encounter God in the Mass in many different ways. Unfortunately, the creators of the new Mass seem unable to understand this fact. There is no light and shade, no time for individual reflection, no allowance for any personal encounter with our Lord and God. The congregation is regimented and controlled on a human, physical level; and no allowance is made for the transcendental and the uplifting of the soul. It is an horizontal experience.
But what about The Mass? 1 think it is particularly significant that in years pre‑Vatican II with the universal Latin Roman rite, people said they were going to Mass. It was quite specific. Nowadays, with the multiform, multi‑lingual, multi‑vocal new rite, the more common expression is that they are going to church ‑ perhaps, because as they are not quite sure what awaits them when they get there, it is best not to be too specific. To repeat the question! What about the Mass? The Novus Ordo Missae of 1969 is undoubtedly a valid Mass in itself. Unfortunately, as we all know, it allows such freedom to the celebrating priest that many Masses in the intervening years have strayed so far from the guidelines, and abuses are so rife, that such ‘celebrations' are completely unrecognisable as 'The Mass' to those of us au fait with the old Latin rite. The accusation is often made that we will not, or cannot, move with the times and are locked nostalgically into a particular period in time like liturgical fossils. But people are only nostalgic with a wistful affection for something good and pleasing. Those who understand tradition have a greater appreciation of the immensity of our Church and its great sweep of history over two millennia. It is the modernists who are locked into a particular period of time ‑ their own.
An erroneous opinion leads some to confuse liturgical unity with liturgical uniformity. Some European peoples feel a compelling psychological and cultural craving for uniformity as an expression of unity. They struggle, therefore, if they succeed at all, to understand unity in complementary diversity. The Bishop is Sponsus Ecclesiae, or espoused to his local Church. It makes sense, therefore, that since the Bishop is the Celebrant, traditional liturgies of the Latin Catholic Churches flowed from the various sees which lend their names to those liturgies (eg, Roman, Gallican, Ambrosian, Sarum, Dominican). That alone precludes the notion of uniformity as a necessary expression of ecclesial unity. Far from afflicting the ecclesial unity, the differences between the liturgy of the Roman Curia and the liturgy celebrated in the Roman basilicas enriched the beauty of unity of the Roman Rite.
From what has been affirmed above, it is not difficult to make the due distinction between liturgical unity and uniformity. Uniformity of the Roman Rite became a fundamental issue, albeit not a defining quality, only subsequent to the Council of Trent. It is, therefore, ironic to see bishops appeal to an ethos of the Tridentine era, to object to a rumoured broadening of the authorisation of the “Tridentine” Mass.
In a speech in New York in 1970, Dr Eric de Saventhem, the first president of the International Federation Una Voce, said:
The Church has always known a plurality of recognized rites and of liturgical language. But that "Pluralism" - to use the modern word - grew out of respect for tradition: The much-decried unification and indeed uniformization of the rites of the Mass which was achieved by the Missal of Pius V was undertaken by that holy Pope at the express request of the bishops assembled in Council who asked Rome to prescribe a uniform rite for the entire Latin Church because they had found that on the diocesan, or even synodal level, it was impossible to stop, or even curtail, the proliferation of unauthorized texts for the celebration of the Sacraments. We are just witnessing a repetition -- both of the proliferation of unauthorized texts and of episcopal inability to cope with it. Perhaps we may also see a repetition of that act of wisdom which, just over 400 years ago, made the Bishops ask the Pope to draw up and to enact "in perpetuity" the uniform ritual of the Mass which was promulgated in 1570 (14th July) and which has brought such immense blessing to the Church.
It is an undeniable fact that there has been a growing crisis of Faith in the Church especially since the 1960s. It is a crisis of identity which has been caused by a general abandonment of a faith of two millennia in favour of a false ecumenism that has its roots in modernism. Even allowing for the good intentions of many of those who were instrumental in bringing forth the revised liturgy and other changes, the tangible result has seen great harm self-inflicted upon the Church. In many parts of the world our churches and seminaries are emptying and closing; monasteries and convents have also been devastated, and the faith of the laity has suffered cruelly through the introduction of new catechetical courses that no longer teach the Catholic Faith in its fullness. Many millions of adults have abandoned the practice of their faith because, in part, what they were taught in their younger days has been undermined and ridiculed by a new wave of theologians and catechists who appear to enjoy the full protection, and encouragement, of diocesan authorities. Many millions of children stop practising their faith even before they leave school because the Catholic 'faith' they are being taught is no longer based on doctrine, faith and morals, but is simply treated as one faith among many where Jesus Christ is listed in religious education books on the same level as Gandhi, Mohammed, and Buddha.
For many of those who find spiritual solace in the traditional liturgy, the Missal of Pope St. John XXIII, and earlier editions, is their secure foundation, their doctrinal certainty, their beacon of light and faith in the dark night currently afflicting the Church, and wish to attend Mass according to this venerable and ancient usage; untouched, and without modification or adaptation. Their concern is for the Catholic Faith and to ensure that the faith of their forefathers is handed down in its fullness to their children and grandchildren.
With the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, (2007), Pope Benedict XVI clearly wished to come to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church. He declared that "what earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place."
Following the disastrous events that have engulfed the Church in recent decades, the opportunity presented by Pope Benedict XVI to heal wounds is being squandered. Why are so many, especially in Rome, so opposed to something that was never abrogated and is perfectly valid? Why have priests been removed from their parishes because they wished to celebrate the Mass of centuries, the Mass that missionaries took around the world, the Mass that many of the priests’ forebears died for in martyrdom? This is provoking dismay, frustration, and simmering resentment among priests and faithful.
There is an endemic (ingrained) failure in the corridors of power to publicly acknowledge the root cause of this desperate malaise – the virtual abolition of the solidly Catholic traditional Latin Mass, instantly recognisable as Catholic liturgy as understood by all, both inside and outside the Church, for the past 1500 years and more. Monsignor Klaus Gamber, in his book The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background, writes:
The Reformers of our liturgy have failed to consider adequately and address the issue of how the traditional forms of liturgical worship inspired among the faithful a sense of belonging. They also failed to consider and deal with the issue of the extent to which simply abolishing these forms of liturgy would also result in a loss of faith among the people.
Monsignor Gamber was absolutely correct; many Catholics no longer feel at home with their liturgy and the loss of faith has been catastrophic. Perhaps the most positive aspect for those who desire the restoration of the traditional Latin Mass is their very strong sense of unity in the faith and a sense of being at home in a universal Church.
In the traditional Mass the young people are discovering the beauty, the spirituality, the angelic language, and the dignity of the older form of Mass and are becoming attracted to that. The prayers at the foot of the altar: Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam (I will go in unto the altar of God. Unto God who gives joy to my youth), immediately concentrates the mind on what is to follow. Here we have this wonderful Mass of antiquity going back 1,500 years and more; this ancient and venerable rite as Pope Benedict XVI called it, and yet every generation experiences it anew to themselves, fresh to themselves, and the phrase that came to this writer’s mind is, it is the Mass of eternal youth.
So, in spite of the harsh restrictions which have been imposed over the decades, many young people have discovered the traditional Latin Mass and have become captivated by its sense of the sacred, and its enduring history in spite of persecution down through the centuries. And, indeed, its inherent Catholicity. They have found the pearl of great price and wish to share the discovery with their family and friends. Of course, this was not supposed to happen. In 1969, the new form of Mass was unveiled as the model for the future. This was to be the form and style of liturgy that would rejuvenate the faithful and bring the lapsed back to the practice of their faith. Like many things in the 1960s the impetus for change was driving everything. New was good, youth was the great god to be worshipped, and activity was essential, The reality is that the faithful have been force-fed a diet of liturgical, architectural, and musical mediocrity the like of which has not been seen in the Church over the past two thousand years. And if the liturgy, the architecture, and the music is mediocre then everything descends into mediocrity. And once we descend to this level who, then, can lift us out?
The answer is there for those with eyes to see it. Far from imposing savage restrictions, the Holy See must fully restore the ancient Roman rite to our altars and sanctuaries and remove all restrictions on its celebration. The Mass of Pope St. John XXIII, of Pope St. Pius V, and of Pope St. Gregory the Great, cast its blessings over untold generations in the past. Let us not deny future generations the blessings gained by those who have gone before. Whatever is of God will prosper and true men of God will welcome this. If it is not pleasing to God it will wither, and true men of God should also welcome this. The restoration of the Mass of Ages which unified and nourished the Church for nearly two millennia would be only the first step, but a huge step, on the road to recovery.
