You've got it right. Peter Kwasniewski's recent book title sucinctly captures the heart of the matter:
"Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed." After three decades of only attending the New Mass, I finally and fully left it about a decade ago. It is truly very simple: what is most pleasing to God must drive our mode of worship, not what makes us feel good, is more convenient, or more comfortable. Knowing what is most pleasing to God is obligatory for every adult Catholic. Are some called to stay in the Novus Ordo for one reason or another? Perhaps - and that is why we ought never to judge those who remain there.
No, but ecumenism is. How bout Buddhism and Hinduism offering "the ability to quickly reach an enlightened state" with zero mention that all these Eastern folk need Jesus too? Is there anything ambiguous in Trent? What heresy does VII fight or error does it correct? Answer: NONE! The "only Council that ever mattered" will be condemned by a future Pope. Mark my words.
Deserting the church in its passion would be, for example, quitting mass altogether or becoming Orthodox or embracing atheism. Switching from Novus Ordo to traditional Latin rite is IMO the definition of standing by the church in her hour of need. As long as the mass is legit—a real priest in a real church, etc.—it isn’t a betrayal at all but an act of support. Who thinks otherwise??
People who make the argument in the headline are like confused people standing at the foot of the bad thief's Cross, insisting that he is Our Lord, and condemning those trying to disable them of their confusion for having abandoned him!
These are words that leave my heart burning with the memory and nature of worship of God in our Church before Vat II. Until then, from my earliest recollections, I had one disposition that drove me in my early passion for God that seemed to develop as soon as I became cognitive of the possibility of a love for others. It was that whenever I prayed as I was being taught or later attended Mass with my mother, it was immediately clear to me that I was engaged in the practice of, and participation in my destiny of Sainthood. Of course I could not reason in such a way until somewhat later but nonetheless, the conviction was most unmistakably there. It was as if in my subsequent and frequent exercise of contemplation before the Holy Eucharist, my gaze would meet and become fixed upon that of the eyes of God and His upon mine where nothing else seemed to matter. I remember what felt like an immersion in God, almost my embodiment, in such a state that I could not want other than to engage in rapt attendance and worship our God. I am aware this was a lot at the time for a little kid but that’s just the way it always was for me then. I became enthralled by the deep conviction that if there were no other activities or depositions operative in all of Heaven except my attendant and absolute vulnerability to God, and His to me, that Our mutual perception of the state of Heaven for Both of us was complete with nothing lacking in that moment or for all of eternity.
It was in those days that I was first inspired, or possibly encountered somewhere, the words “God alone, for His sake alone”. This sentiment seemed to be repeated incessantly in my consciousness although I really had no solid idea of what it actually meant for me until much later and I hardly think I know fully today. There was an absoluteness about it that seemed to be found only in scripture and at times where prayer became ecstatic. It was this desire for the sustained and unqualified pursuit of the selflessness of Christ that seemed to be embodied within every prayerful desire for a truly unqualified surrender to Him, just as it is today. This is, of course, still only a desire but one that compels every attendant pleading of my heart to Him. With every exercise of my Catholic Faith, it was the passion for sanctity, holiness, and communion with God that arose in me. I could surely have spent the rest of my life in this manner but my childhood was fraught with the somewhat brutal acts of adult mentors and clergy who seemed to resent my very existence since I was somewhat handicapped and as often as not, treated me as such. In my late childhood, I became increasingly permeated with a seething, self righteous anger directed at God, who I believed was represented in the acts of His clergy, and the adults in my life. At around 10 years old and literally overnight, I recall what seemed like a spontaneous angry rejection of God’s relentless pursuit of me, of the Church, and all moral authority that had been placed over me. With the advent of the Council, even if I had wanted to return to the Church, which I attempted to on a more than one occasion in my teens, I had the distinct impression that there was precious little to return to, that is, once the TLM was gone. I could not have put it quite that way in those days, even when I became an adult but in retrospect that is truly the way it was. Every expression of the Church seemed to be focused upon its own concerns and the perceived contemporary needs of the Faithful with very little attention expended upon the needs of God as still is the case today. There remains precious little expectation of the absolute need for the Communion with Him that enables our entry into Heaven. The Liturgy seemed after Vat II to be in a state that was at critical moments, inappropriate of the Lordship of our Savior, contrived, and phony. It had about it a distinct air about it that seemed inauthentic, self- centered, and maybe even selfish with respect to the need of God for at least some measure of intimacy with us. I admit that it often galled me that there were frequent references to the need for pursuit of our own physical and spiritual welfare, while the needs and welfare of God seemed to go almost entirely wanting in nearly every expression of our worship of Him. By this time I knew was aware that our spiritual welfare was entirely in the hands of God and only our determination to respond directly to Him could facilitate this. Individual attendance to the Person, the Needs, and desires of our God and Father alone, as was and is the now incessant and unqualified disposition of Jesus, should now be adopted as our own and if we are to become participants in Jesus’ Sonship with respect to our Father. From the time of the Council, even until today, the primary concern of our Catholicism has been about us and our welfare instead of the welfare of our God as it was for me in my childhood. It was not until several decades ago that I first made the connection between Vat II and my early rejection of our faith. I thought my anger at my state in life had become the cause of my rejection of our faith when I recall my life in the Church becoming in my view increasingly dead. I remember being a volunteer participant in a burning of sacred books at our church; an event that I recall made me feel spiritually and physically ill although I did not know why at the time. Although I had occasionally attended the TLM in the distant past, the celebrant turned out to be a sexual predator. Disillusioned by that experience, I found myself in confusion and rejection again. it was not until a couple of years back that I was drawn to reengagement with traditional sacred theology and the Mass of our Fathers by the offerings of the likes of Taylor Marshall, Kennedy Hall and others that I realized I had finally found, not just a home, but home. The TLM is not just the best way provided the True Faithful for worship God, I would propose without judgment of others who may disagree that it is the only way for Catholics. It is the form of our worship of God that is postured inherently and appropriately prostrate before the Throne of our Father who is not merely God first or God in the center, but God Alone. In the eyes of God, the faith of even one genuine Communicant may carry the entire Church. The engagement in true worship of even a few, rather than being an abandonment of others, can surely do so as well.
I deeply appreciate your articulation of this matter. It provides me a better means of communicating with those NO parishioners who don’t understand why our family switched to the Traditional Latin Mass. For us it was something we stumbled into during COVID but we are so grateful we did. We just didn’t know what we didn’t know. Now we have no desire to go back.
It is difficult for me to attend a NO mass especially at parishes that lack beauty and are less reverent. I feel as if I am unable to give God his due, like I am cheating. My NO friends keep telling me it is the same Jesus they are receiving. I don’t deny that but I do question how fully they understand who that Jesus is and what he truly deserves.
Your article is a great way to explain why I feel the way I feel about the TLM because it’s not just about feelings and preferences, it’s about eternal truths. Your article explains this in a way that is not holier thou or condemning but understands and rightly explains the importance of discerning the quest for right relationship to God and the need to continually move “Deeper in and further on” as C.S. Lewis describes it in his Chronicles of Narnia.
On the subject of your friends telling you "it is the same Jesus". A Traditional Priest told me that yes, the host is validly consecrated and therefore "the same Jesus" but that God finds the NO Mass offensive as it doesn't fulfill the reverence owed to Him. Just saying.
I can believe that. However, having at one time been a NO practitioner I have to say I just didn’t know what I didn’t know and there are many NO parishioners who certainly mean well and are striving to please God the best they know how. I’m grateful that God patiently led me to the Traditional mass and I pray I can positively influence others to experience the TLM.
We have such a humble and patient God. That throughout our lives we offend him so greatly with our ignorance is a testament to Our Lord’s and Lady’s deep love for us and their hearts of Mercy. May we learn to never abuse or take lightly the mercy we are shown. May our hearts be made meek and humble like Our Lord’s most Sacred Heart. May we make reparations for our sins of negligence and those of others. And may we be merciful to our brothers and sisters who are still lost in the confusion they inherited.
Just skimmed… later I’ll dive in; looks like you have put on paper what has been burning in my heart and soul for the last 5 years, with no complete and factual explanation to share with my family as to at least explain my choice; they don’t understand how I could “leave” the Faith that I raised them in; I’m blessed that they do very much respect what I (and my husband and 19 year old son) have chosen; but each Sunday and Holy day brings extra opportunities to share in Christ’s pain, because we ALL ache that we’re not together…
You've got it right. Peter Kwasniewski's recent book title sucinctly captures the heart of the matter:
"Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed." After three decades of only attending the New Mass, I finally and fully left it about a decade ago. It is truly very simple: what is most pleasing to God must drive our mode of worship, not what makes us feel good, is more convenient, or more comfortable. Knowing what is most pleasing to God is obligatory for every adult Catholic. Are some called to stay in the Novus Ordo for one reason or another? Perhaps - and that is why we ought never to judge those who remain there.
The Novus Ordo is a much greater threat than all of Vatican II
If Catholics had recognised the heresies of Vatican II at the time no-one would’ve adopted Paul VI’s liturgical and sacramental rites.
If you’re looking for a certainly valid TLM in the Vatican II sect you’ll struggle to find one.
What heresies in VII? Is ambiguity a heresy or the smoke of Satan?
No, but ecumenism is. How bout Buddhism and Hinduism offering "the ability to quickly reach an enlightened state" with zero mention that all these Eastern folk need Jesus too? Is there anything ambiguous in Trent? What heresy does VII fight or error does it correct? Answer: NONE! The "only Council that ever mattered" will be condemned by a future Pope. Mark my words.
Agreed. There can only be one truth, not many.
Deserting the church in its passion would be, for example, quitting mass altogether or becoming Orthodox or embracing atheism. Switching from Novus Ordo to traditional Latin rite is IMO the definition of standing by the church in her hour of need. As long as the mass is legit—a real priest in a real church, etc.—it isn’t a betrayal at all but an act of support. Who thinks otherwise??
People who make the argument in the headline are like confused people standing at the foot of the bad thief's Cross, insisting that he is Our Lord, and condemning those trying to disable them of their confusion for having abandoned him!
What!?
These are words that leave my heart burning with the memory and nature of worship of God in our Church before Vat II. Until then, from my earliest recollections, I had one disposition that drove me in my early passion for God that seemed to develop as soon as I became cognitive of the possibility of a love for others. It was that whenever I prayed as I was being taught or later attended Mass with my mother, it was immediately clear to me that I was engaged in the practice of, and participation in my destiny of Sainthood. Of course I could not reason in such a way until somewhat later but nonetheless, the conviction was most unmistakably there. It was as if in my subsequent and frequent exercise of contemplation before the Holy Eucharist, my gaze would meet and become fixed upon that of the eyes of God and His upon mine where nothing else seemed to matter. I remember what felt like an immersion in God, almost my embodiment, in such a state that I could not want other than to engage in rapt attendance and worship our God. I am aware this was a lot at the time for a little kid but that’s just the way it always was for me then. I became enthralled by the deep conviction that if there were no other activities or depositions operative in all of Heaven except my attendant and absolute vulnerability to God, and His to me, that Our mutual perception of the state of Heaven for Both of us was complete with nothing lacking in that moment or for all of eternity.
It was in those days that I was first inspired, or possibly encountered somewhere, the words “God alone, for His sake alone”. This sentiment seemed to be repeated incessantly in my consciousness although I really had no solid idea of what it actually meant for me until much later and I hardly think I know fully today. There was an absoluteness about it that seemed to be found only in scripture and at times where prayer became ecstatic. It was this desire for the sustained and unqualified pursuit of the selflessness of Christ that seemed to be embodied within every prayerful desire for a truly unqualified surrender to Him, just as it is today. This is, of course, still only a desire but one that compels every attendant pleading of my heart to Him. With every exercise of my Catholic Faith, it was the passion for sanctity, holiness, and communion with God that arose in me. I could surely have spent the rest of my life in this manner but my childhood was fraught with the somewhat brutal acts of adult mentors and clergy who seemed to resent my very existence since I was somewhat handicapped and as often as not, treated me as such. In my late childhood, I became increasingly permeated with a seething, self righteous anger directed at God, who I believed was represented in the acts of His clergy, and the adults in my life. At around 10 years old and literally overnight, I recall what seemed like a spontaneous angry rejection of God’s relentless pursuit of me, of the Church, and all moral authority that had been placed over me. With the advent of the Council, even if I had wanted to return to the Church, which I attempted to on a more than one occasion in my teens, I had the distinct impression that there was precious little to return to, that is, once the TLM was gone. I could not have put it quite that way in those days, even when I became an adult but in retrospect that is truly the way it was. Every expression of the Church seemed to be focused upon its own concerns and the perceived contemporary needs of the Faithful with very little attention expended upon the needs of God as still is the case today. There remains precious little expectation of the absolute need for the Communion with Him that enables our entry into Heaven. The Liturgy seemed after Vat II to be in a state that was at critical moments, inappropriate of the Lordship of our Savior, contrived, and phony. It had about it a distinct air about it that seemed inauthentic, self- centered, and maybe even selfish with respect to the need of God for at least some measure of intimacy with us. I admit that it often galled me that there were frequent references to the need for pursuit of our own physical and spiritual welfare, while the needs and welfare of God seemed to go almost entirely wanting in nearly every expression of our worship of Him. By this time I knew was aware that our spiritual welfare was entirely in the hands of God and only our determination to respond directly to Him could facilitate this. Individual attendance to the Person, the Needs, and desires of our God and Father alone, as was and is the now incessant and unqualified disposition of Jesus, should now be adopted as our own and if we are to become participants in Jesus’ Sonship with respect to our Father. From the time of the Council, even until today, the primary concern of our Catholicism has been about us and our welfare instead of the welfare of our God as it was for me in my childhood. It was not until several decades ago that I first made the connection between Vat II and my early rejection of our faith. I thought my anger at my state in life had become the cause of my rejection of our faith when I recall my life in the Church becoming in my view increasingly dead. I remember being a volunteer participant in a burning of sacred books at our church; an event that I recall made me feel spiritually and physically ill although I did not know why at the time. Although I had occasionally attended the TLM in the distant past, the celebrant turned out to be a sexual predator. Disillusioned by that experience, I found myself in confusion and rejection again. it was not until a couple of years back that I was drawn to reengagement with traditional sacred theology and the Mass of our Fathers by the offerings of the likes of Taylor Marshall, Kennedy Hall and others that I realized I had finally found, not just a home, but home. The TLM is not just the best way provided the True Faithful for worship God, I would propose without judgment of others who may disagree that it is the only way for Catholics. It is the form of our worship of God that is postured inherently and appropriately prostrate before the Throne of our Father who is not merely God first or God in the center, but God Alone. In the eyes of God, the faith of even one genuine Communicant may carry the entire Church. The engagement in true worship of even a few, rather than being an abandonment of others, can surely do so as well.
Thank you for this stunningly beautifull comment...
Thank you for the inspiration that reminded me of this immense blessing.
I deeply appreciate your articulation of this matter. It provides me a better means of communicating with those NO parishioners who don’t understand why our family switched to the Traditional Latin Mass. For us it was something we stumbled into during COVID but we are so grateful we did. We just didn’t know what we didn’t know. Now we have no desire to go back.
It is difficult for me to attend a NO mass especially at parishes that lack beauty and are less reverent. I feel as if I am unable to give God his due, like I am cheating. My NO friends keep telling me it is the same Jesus they are receiving. I don’t deny that but I do question how fully they understand who that Jesus is and what he truly deserves.
Your article is a great way to explain why I feel the way I feel about the TLM because it’s not just about feelings and preferences, it’s about eternal truths. Your article explains this in a way that is not holier thou or condemning but understands and rightly explains the importance of discerning the quest for right relationship to God and the need to continually move “Deeper in and further on” as C.S. Lewis describes it in his Chronicles of Narnia.
On the subject of your friends telling you "it is the same Jesus". A Traditional Priest told me that yes, the host is validly consecrated and therefore "the same Jesus" but that God finds the NO Mass offensive as it doesn't fulfill the reverence owed to Him. Just saying.
I can believe that. However, having at one time been a NO practitioner I have to say I just didn’t know what I didn’t know and there are many NO parishioners who certainly mean well and are striving to please God the best they know how. I’m grateful that God patiently led me to the Traditional mass and I pray I can positively influence others to experience the TLM.
We have such a humble and patient God. That throughout our lives we offend him so greatly with our ignorance is a testament to Our Lord’s and Lady’s deep love for us and their hearts of Mercy. May we learn to never abuse or take lightly the mercy we are shown. May our hearts be made meek and humble like Our Lord’s most Sacred Heart. May we make reparations for our sins of negligence and those of others. And may we be merciful to our brothers and sisters who are still lost in the confusion they inherited.
Just skimmed… later I’ll dive in; looks like you have put on paper what has been burning in my heart and soul for the last 5 years, with no complete and factual explanation to share with my family as to at least explain my choice; they don’t understand how I could “leave” the Faith that I raised them in; I’m blessed that they do very much respect what I (and my husband and 19 year old son) have chosen; but each Sunday and Holy day brings extra opportunities to share in Christ’s pain, because we ALL ache that we’re not together…
Agree
R U kidding? You are JOINING the true church by leaving the Bogus Homo.
Ok, but isn't God's will found in obedience to the bishops?