Back in Print: Ferdinando Antonelli's Revealing Diaries During the Liturgical Reform

Based on the diaries and notes of Ferdinando Cardinal Antonelli, a pivotal figure in the Catholic Church's liturgical reform movement for over twenty years, Nicola Giampietro's The Development of the Liturgical Reform reveals many important details about the forceful personalities that drove the process from Pius XII to Paul VI, the systems and methods by which decisions were made, and the competing principles invoked, with at times chaotic results.

Like his collaboratores Fr. Louis Bouyer and Fr. Boniface Luykx, Antonelli had an insider's grasp of the personnel, dynamics, and designs. He witnessed firsthand the good, the bad, and the ugly. For example:

“[The Consilium] is merely an assembly of people, many of them incompetent, and others of them well advanced on the road to novelty. The discussions are extremely hurried. Discussions are based on impressions and the voting is chaotic. What is most displeasing is that the expositive Promemorias and the relative questions are drawn up in advanced terms and often in a very suggestive form. The direction is weak." (166-67) "Many of those who have influenced the reform... have no love and no veneration of that which has been handed down to us. They begin by despising everything that is actually there. This negative mentality is unjust and pernicious, and unfortunately, Paul VI tends a little to this side. They have all the best intentions, but with this mentality they have only been able to demolish and not to restore." (192)

"While I would like to be mistaken, I can say that [Bugnini's] greatest lacuna was his lack of any theological training or sensibility. This was a grave defect and lacuna because in the liturgy, every word and every gesture expresses a theological idea. I have the impression that much has been conceded to the Protestant mentality, especially in matters regarding the sacraments." (196)

It's this kind of information that the conservatives and progressives don't want you to see: the admissions, from within, of all that went wrong. No wonder we are still suffering the consequences decades later.

In the interests of transparency, I should mention that this is not really a "sensationalistic" book. It's pretty technical and detailed, a sort of blow-by-blow account of various stages of reform, and Antonelli in the end was not an outspoken critic of the Novus Ordo. But it does contain a lot of valuable information for those who are serious students of the liturgy. Originally published in 2009 by Roman Catholic Books and out of print for some time, Os Justi Press is pleased to add this new edition of Giampietro to its growing Studies in Liturgical History and Reform series, where it joins Le Brun des Marettes, Guéranger, and Hazell.

Available in paperback and hardcover from the publisher or from any Amazon outlet. I talk about the book in a video:

"Mystic Rose in God's Fair Garden Growing": Dr. Kwasniewski's New Book on the Blessed Virgin Mary

In this month of the Most Holy Rosary, I am delighted to announce my new book: Mystic Rose in God's Fair Garden Growing: Our Lady on Prayer, the Mass, and Union with Christ, published by Arouca Press.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the authoritative guide to living the Christian faith—above all, when it comes to its pulsing heart, the Holy Mass. Mystic Rose weaves together theological, liturgical, and devotional insights into Our Lady, drawing out the subtle splendors of the Holy Rosary and its intimate kinship with the Latin Mass, discovering unsuspected riches in the familiar Leonine prayers, unfolding the meaning of select Marian feasts and apparitions, and specifying the obligations a Catholic has toward approved private revelations.

How the New Lectionary Came to Be — First-ever Translation of Internal Documents of a "Consilium" Committee

The Lectionary for Mass—drawn up by Group XI of the Consilium, the “super-committee” charged with carrying out Sacrosanctum Concilium—is often held up as one of the greatest achievements of the post-Vatican II liturgical reform. Yet until recently, the full details of their discussions and labors have remained unpublished, accessible only to archival researchers and specialist scholars.

Newly published, The Post-Vatican II Reform of the Lectionary: The Schemata of Group XI offers an English translation by Matthew Hazell of the Latin and French schemata of Group XI in their entirety—the first time, in fact, that the complete documentation for any of the Consilium study groups has been made available in translation. The process of the reform of the lectionary can thus be traced through the various draft orders of readings as well as the debates among the members and consultors.

Hazell's detailed and masterly introduction contextualises the reforms within the history of the 20th-century Liturgical Movement and the Second Vatican Council. The introduction alone is a major addition to the scholarly literature, followed by a comprehensive bibliography of secondary sources ranging over many languages.

Latest Book by Fr. Claude Barthe Compares & Contrasts the Traditional & New Sacramental Rites

In 1969, A Short Critical Study of the Novus Ordo Missae was published with the signatures of two powerful cardinals, Bacci and Ottaviani. Nicknamed The Ottaviani Intervention, it quickly become a classic, and has never gone out of print. But... where was its companion volume? You know, the one about the other six sacraments?

 

For, indeed, the reform of the Mass was accompanied by a profound overhaul of all the other sacraments—baptism, confirmation, marriage, holy orders, penance, and extreme unction (the last two renamed reconciliation and the anointing of the sick). And the changes to these were no less profound, no less meaningful, no less consequential.

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Song of Songs Through the Heart of Jesus Christ

If you’ve ever read the Song of Songs (also called the Canticle of Canticles) in the Old Testament, you probably had more than a few questions about it! What is this very sensuous book about a lover and a beloved doing in the canon of Scripture? 

Newly Published Study of Vatican II Implementation Breaks New Ground in Historical Research, Answers Crucial Questions

People today often ask questions like: “What in the world happened at the time of Vatican II, that the Church seemed in such an unholy hurry to change? Why were the changes so drastic and so sudden? What were the causes, the motives, the expectations, the assumptions about reform and its expected fruits? Who were the main actors? Was it planned out or random? Who benefited (cui bono)? How responsible were the bishops for it, versus the middle managers, versus the laity?” and so forth. It can be very hard to disentangle so many threads. 

The True, Wild, Inspiring, and Tragic Story of Monastic Britain

Britain is full of monastic ghosts. Street names carry them: Monks Lane, Priory Road, Abbey Close. The landscape, too, still bears the imprint of communities that shaped it for a thousand years. The ruins of Fountains, Rievaulx, Tintern, and dozens of lesser houses stand in fields and valleys across England, Wales, and Scotland, drawing visitors who admire their picturesque qualities while knowing almost nothing of the civilization that produced them.

St Thomas Aquinas on Salvation and the Epistle to the Hebrews

In honor of the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas (his dies natalis, March 7, as observed in the traditional calendar), Os Justi Press has released two major Thomistic publications.

The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae — A Publication to Assist in Pre-55 Services

Those who are blessed with access to Holy Week in the Tridentine Rite, that is, the rite celebrated for a thousand years and more prior to Pius XII's changes in the mid-1950s, may find helpful a resource published by Os Justi Press: The Masses of Holy Week & Tenebrae, which contains the liturgy (in Latin with English translation) for Palm Sunday, the Triduum Masses, and the Office of Tenebrae, including complete Gregorian chants. Summary rubrics are indicated. No page turning is required. The book features many medieval illustrations as well.

This second edition features a new cover and, for the first time, full-color printing throughout, which dramatically enhances the beauty of the illuminations found within. Additionally, some typographical errors discovered in the first printing have been corrected.

Prayers in Honor of Saint Thomas Aquinas, gathered in one book for the first time

We’ve hit some huge Thomistic anniversaries in recent years:

• in 2023, the 700th of Aquinas’s canonization;

• in 2024, the 750th of his death;

• and in 2025, the 800th of his birth.

The Broad Ocean of the Latin Rite: What True Liturgical Diversity Looks Like

Recent years have seen a surge in curiosity about the classic Rome rite, its forms, symbols, and history. Everywhere neophytes can be heard asking cautiously about “the Latin Mass,” while those who are more versed in the traditional Catholic world may be found disputing the merits and shortcomings of the ’62 missal and the Office of St. Pius X, or extolling the glories of the pre-’55 Holy Week.

Launching "Theological Classics": Newman on the Virgin Mary, St Vincent on Novelty and Heresy, Guardini on Sacred Signs

At a time of turmoil, nothing could be better or more important than rooting ourselves deeply in the Catholic tradition. One of my favorite quotations is by St. Prosper of Aquitaine (390-455), writing in his own age of chaos: “Even if the wounds of this shattered world enmesh you, and the sea in turmoil bears you along in but one surviving ship, it would still befit you to maintain your enthusiasm for studies unimpaired. Why should lasting values tremble if transient things fall?”

Announcing a Complete Guide to the Theology and Use of the Chapel Veil

Os Justi Press's latest release is a revised and expanded new edition of Anna Elissa's Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ, this time in full color. (It first came out 9 years ago in Indonesia and quickly become a favorite of many readers until it sold out; it was time for a superior presentation, with better distribution channels.)

Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ is the most thorough, insightful, and serene guide to veiling ever written—one that will equip you with answers to your own questions as well as the never-lacking questions of friends, relatives, and strangers.

Resting her account on Scripture and Tradition as interpreted by the Church Fathers, St. Thomas Aquinas, and papal, liturgical, and canon law texts, Anna Elissa—a wife, mother, psychiatrist, and lay Dominican—offers arguments of fittingness on behalf of veiling, responds to common objections against it, offers practical advice for choosing, wearing, and even designing mantillas, and shows how the veil contributes to a Eucharistic way of life that treats femininity as a gift, a treasure, and a mystery.

To illustrate and verify her points, Elissa presents a substantial collection of testimonials from women of all ages about their experience adopting and wearing the veil—and from men, too, including clergy, about why they value the practice and its return.

Appropriately for a work about the language of signs and beauty, Mantilla is graced with exquisite artworks in color.

In his foreword, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi describes the book as a "beautiful surprise." Whether you are a long-time veiler, a skeptic of veiling, or simply curious to learn more, this is the book for you!

Paperback, 5" x 8", 152 pp. $16.95

(Hardcover and ebook also available.)

From Os Justi Press or any Amazon outlet.

Book review: Enchanted by Eternity: Recapturing the Wonder of the Catholic Worldview

Enchanted by Eternity: Recapturing the Wonder of the Catholic Worldview by Fr. William Slattery is a stunningly insightful read.

The author, whose name you might recognize from his earlier and also very fine book Heroism and Genius: How Catholic Priests Helped Build—and Can Help Rebuild—Western Civilization, is an unusual combination: a fiery Irishman, a cold-blooded PhD in epistemology who specialized in alethic logic, a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a historian – and a priest who is passionately in love with the Traditional Latin Mass. Listen to these words in the Acknowledgments section of his book:

“Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed” — New Book by Peter Kwasniewski

hardcover on the left, paperback on the right

I'm delighted to announce to Rorate readers that my new book from Angelico Press, Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed, has just been released!

Announcing "The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hymnal" - 900 pages of Gregorian Chant and Classic Hymns

Os Justi Press is proud to announce the publication of The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hymnal.

Produced by Music Manuscript Service of Denver with the help of a team of expert consultants, the OLMCH provides, at long last, the ultimate Catholic hymnal for a fully traditional Catholic sacred music program, in parishes, schools, or religious houses. Designed primarily with TLM communities in mind, here are some highlights:

Announcing “Something for Nothing? An Explanation and Defence of the Scholastic Position on Usury”

Usury is a topic with a long and complex history. While it is typically understood today as the practice of charging excessive interest, this is a far cry from the meaning given to it by ancient and medieval authors, who considered the charging of any interest on a mutuum (a loan of such things as are estimated by weight, number, or measure) to be usury.

Finding a thorough, coherent, and believable explanation for so monumental a difference in outlook has been nearly impossible—until David Hunt’s new work, Something for Nothing? An Explanation and Defence of the Scholastic Position on Usury (number 14 in the Os Justi Studies in Catholic Tradition series). Hunt explains and defends the traditional view that usury is a charge for something that does not exist and is therefore a form of theft. Indeed, usury begets a form of chattel slavery, since charging interest on a mutuum is an attempt to profit by treating the borrower as the lender’s property.

The Liturgical Rosary - once again available from Arouca Press

The 2nd edition of The Liturgical Rosary: Meditations for Each Hour, Day & Season of the Liturgical Year is now available. We know many of our readers enjoyed the first edition of this modern classic that joins the beauty of the traditional liturgy and the Holy Rosary. Many have told us it has made daily recitation of the Rosary easier for those who have a hard time keeping the practice individually or in a family setting.

The new edition has some new features such as soft imitation-leather cover, "bible-like" paper, and gilded pages. It is only available at: https://aroucapress.com/the-liturgical-rosary