First, the ancient Roman liturgy keeps a station today at a church in honor of the physician brothers and martyrs Cosmas and Damian. Obviously the Gospel about the healing of Peter's mother-in-law fits right in; the propers also mention "salus," whose basic meaning is "health" although it takes on the supernatural meaning of "salvation."
The TLM, by remembering Cosmas and Damian on this day down through the centuries, puts us in immediate contact with our ancient forefathers. There is something not only moving but also charming about these seemingly "random" touches to the old rite (such as the prominence of St. Paul on Sexagesima). When the Novus Ordo abolished all these historical links, it severed us from our past.
The TLM, by remembering Cosmas and Damian on this day down through the centuries, puts us in immediate contact with our ancient forefathers. There is something not only moving but also charming about these seemingly "random" touches to the old rite (such as the prominence of St. Paul on Sexagesima). When the Novus Ordo abolished all these historical links, it severed us from our past.
How ironic, then, when the reformers claimed that their new-fangled rite was somehow "more like" the worship of the early Christians. If you want a vital link to antiquity, choose the traditional Latin Mass (or some other apostolic rite).
Here are the Orations of this wonderful Mass:
COLLECT. May the blessed feast of Thy Saints, Cosmas and Damian, magnify Thee, O Lord, for on this day Thou didst, in Thine ineffable providence, confer on them everlasting glory, and on us the resource of their help. Through our Lord....
SECRET. We offer Thee, O Lord, in the meritorious death of Thy Saints, this sacrifice, from which alone martyrdom hath sprung. Through our Lord....
POSTCOMMUNION. May we be allotted, O Lord, the salvation pledged by Thy sacrament, which we implore by the merits of Thy blessed Martyrs Cosmas and Damian. Through our Lord....
(Incidentally, you will hardly ever find this language of the merits of the saints used in the Novus Ordo, for the Protestants object to it, and one of the main drivers of the reform was ecumenism.)
However, there is a second and even more splendid layer of irony today. March 27 is the feast of St. John Damascene, great defender of icons, and so he is commemorated at Mass. Have a look at his orations, thick and rich and full of religion:
COLLECT. Almighty and everlasting God, Who, for the justifying of the devotion due to holy images, didst fill blessed John with heavenly learning, and with wonderful steadfastness of heart: grant that by his intercession and example we who venerate the images of the saints, may both imitate their virtues and enjoy their protection. Through our Lord....
SECRET. O Lord, through the prayer of blessed John, and the pleading of Thy Saints, whose images are set before us for veneration in our churches through his zeal: grant that the gifts which we offer be accounted worthy in Thy sight. Through our Lord....
POSTCOMMUNION. May the gifts we have received, O Lord, be heavenly weapons in our defence: and may the patronage of blessed John, joined with that of all Thy Saints whose images, through his means, are held in honour in the churches, plead with one voice on our behalf. Through our Lord....
These magnificent orations celebrate the saint's valiant and uncompromising defense of icons or holy images in churches, against the menace of the Byzantine imperial iconoclasts. More importantly, they resolutely teach that God is the inspirer of icons and that the images are powerful for sanctification; and they call upon the intercession of all the saints who are depicted in icons. It is like a miniature Feast of All Saints.
Well, fast forward to the missal of 1969. All of these prayers have been deleted: the liturgical iconoclasts have not spared even the great defender of icons. Damascene is reduced to an optional memorial on December 4, with a Collect that lamely refers to how he "excelled in teaching the true faith" (and generic orations for the rest).
Let us recall that historically iconoclasm targets not only images of saints, but also the veneration of saints and of their relics; it is, in essence, an anti-incarnational heresy. The savage removal from Paul VI's missal of prayers like the ones for St. John Damascene, the suppression and demotion of huge numbers of saints' feasts in the Novus Ordo, the worldwide campaign to strip churches of their many statues, altars, reliquaries, furnishings, classic vestments, and ornate vessels (or to prevent such from finding a place in new churches), and similar phenomena, all stem from a neo-iconoclasm that the Church must someday condemn as she has, in time, duly condemned other rank heresies.
