Why the Traditional Latin Mass?
In 1969, Pope Paul VI issued
a New Order of the Mass, the Novus Ordo Missae. Up to that time, what is
commonly referred to as the
"Tridentine" or "Latin" Mass, was used by the Church.
On the face of things, it may seem to be a simple matter for the Pope to change
the Mass.
Paul VI and
the liturgical changes of the past? There is a radical difference, and one that
has had disastrous consequences for the universal Church.
The New Mass Contradicts
Tradition
The
"Tridentine" or Roman Rite Mass, while it has developed organically over the
2,000 year history of the Church, is essentially the Mass that was given to
The True Holy
Mass
the Apostles
and the Church by Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Although various rites
emerged, they all maintained the same spirit imparted to the liturgy by Our
Lord and were only adapted to various cultures without any deviation in
doctrine. The Roman Rite, up to Vatican II, underwent only minor changes, such
that the famous English liturgist Fr. Adrian Fortescue was able to state that
"no one has ventured to touch it except in unimportant details."
Pope St. Pius V, to protect the Roman
Rite from innovations and eliminate any variations, codified the Traditional
Latin Mass in the Apostolic Constitution
Quo Primum in 1570. The Mass that he was confirming was not some new
creation like the Novus Ordo Missae, but a Mass that matched in every respect
the Faith of the Apostles. Nor was it the Mass of some particular area of the
Church like the Eastern rites, but the universal rite of the Church, the rite
of the Roman See. His bull says in part:
"We specifically command each and every patriarch, administrator,
and all other persons or whatever ecclesiastical dignity they may be, be they
even cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, or possessed of any other rank or
pre-eminence, and We order them in virtue of holy obedience to chant or to read
the Mass according to the rite and manner and norm herewith laid down by Us
and, hereafter, to discontinue and completely discard all other rubrics and
rites of other missals, however ancient, which they have customarily followed;
and they must not in celebrating Mass presume to introduce any ceremonies or
recite any prayers other than those contained in this Missal.
"Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our
Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting
or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be
followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any
penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are
superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or
religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass
otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain . . . that
this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid
and retain its full force . . . [The complete Apostolic Constitution "Quo
Primum" of Pope St. Pius V (July 14, 1570) is available in print from Angelus Press or online].
What, then,
was done at Vatican II? Were some changes made merely in "unimportant
details"? Was the proper honor and respect given to the Rite essentially
bestowed by Christ on His Church and confirmed by incomparable proofs in the
form of thousands of saints and countless miracles? On September 25, 1969,
Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, Prefect-Emeritus of the Sacred Congregation for the
Faith, sent Pope Paul VI a theological Study of the New Order of the Mass
("Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass."). The Study
contained a cover letter signed by Cardinals Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci which
says, in part:
Most Holy Father,
Having carefully examined, and presented for the scrutiny of others,
the Novus Ordo Missae prepared by the experts of the Consilium ad exequendam
Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia, and after lengthy prayer and reflection, we
feel it to be our bounden duty in the sight of God and towards Your Holiness,
to put before you the following considerations:
1. The accompanying critical study of the Novus Ordo Missae, the work
of a group of theologians, liturgists and pastors of souls, shows quite clearly
in spite of its brevity that if we consider the innovations implied or taken
for granted which may of course be evaluated in different ways, the Novus Ordo represents, both as a whole
and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass
as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent. The
"canons" of the rite definitively fixed at that time provided an
insurmountable barrier to any heresy directed against the integrity of the
Mystery . . . ("The Ottaviani Intervention – Short Critical Study of the
New Order of Mass" is available from TAN Books or online).
St. Vincent of Lerins in the 5th century
gave as a standard for the orthodoxy of doctrine that which has been believed
everywhere (ubique), always (semper), and by all (omnia). But, as Cardinal
Ratzinger points out, the Council Fathers of Vatican II rejected this hallowed
definition: "Vatican II's refusal of the proposal to adopt the text of
Lerins, familiar to, and, as it were, sanctified by two Church Councils, shows
once more how Trent and Vatican I were left behind, how their texts were
continually reinterpreted... Vatican II had a new idea of how historical
identity and continuity were to be brought about." This new idea was
nothing other than to create a pseudo-tradition from the "common
consciousness" of the Council Fathers. This is pure Modernism and totally
contrary to the Deposit of Faith.
The Destruction of Catholic Worship is the
Destruction of the Catholic Faith:
The Church has always set forth the firm
and clear principle that: "The way we worship is the way we believe."
The doctrinal truths of the Faith are embodied in the worship we offer to God.
In other words, it is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that teaches us our
theology and not the reverse. The True Mass comprises the Apostolic Tradition
of faith and morals in its very essence. Every doctrine essential to the Faith
is taught therein. Pope Leo XIII points out in Apostolicae Curae that the
Church's enemies have always understood this principle as "They knew only
too well the intimate bond that unites faith with worship, the law of belief
with the law of prayer, and so, under the pretext of restoring the order of the
liturgy to its primitive form, they corrupted it in many respects to adapt it
to the errors of the Innovators." It is no wonder, then, that Luther
coined the slogan: "Take away the Mass, destroy the Church."
St.
Alphonsus Liguori (Bishop, Doctor of the Church and Patron of Theologians)
explains that "The devil has always attempted, by means of the heretics,
to deprive the world of the Mass, making them precursors of the Anti-Christ,
who, before anything else, will try to abolish and will actually abolish the
Holy Sacrament of the altar, as a punishment for the sins of men, according to
the prediction of Daniel: ‘And strength was given him against the continual
sacrifice' (Dan. 12)."
.
