Last week, in commenting upon Francis’ ongoing “catechesis” on the Mass, we took notice of the fact that he apparently sees it as nothing more than a glorified retreat and an opportunity to recharge one’s social justice batteries for the week ahead.
Then again, we observed in fairness, that’s pretty much all that the Novus Ordo Missae has to say for itself.
Contrast this with the Traditional Roman Rite, which plainly identifies itself as the Sacrifice of Christ with every gesture, every sound, and every nuance; sacred sings too numerous to number.
This past Gaudete Sunday, for example, the Secret alone tells us more about what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass truly is in some sixty words than Francis the Loquacious could in one hundred General Audiences:
May the sacrifice of our devotion, we beseech Thee, O Lord, be always offered unto Thee: that it may both fulfill the end for which Thou didst institute this sacred mystery, and wonderfully work in us Thy salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
And then there was the Post Communion prayer:
We implore, O Lord, Thy mercy: that these divine helps may expiate our sins, and prepare us for the approaching feast. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
By the time this prayer was offered, the Collect had already spoken of our unfortunate state and our need very clearly:
Incline Thine ear, we beseech Thee, O’ Lord, to our petitions: and, by the grace of Thy visitation, enlighten the darkness of our minds. Who lives and reigns, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
Altogether, these texts offer authentic Catholic catechesis on the Mass worthy of considerable contemplation.
What, on the other hand, did the Novus Ordo have to say for itself on Sunday?
Well, there is no Secret, which only makes sense given that this rite places a very high premium on making the actions of the “presider” as audible and as visible as possible.
The Post Communion Prayer reads:
We implore your mercy, Lord, that this divine sustenance may cleanse us of our faults and prepare us for the coming feasts.
As for the Collect before it, it reads:
O God, who see how your people faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity, enable us, we pray, to attain the joys of so great a salvation and to celebrate them always with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.
So, let’s do a brief comparison:
The Traditional Latin Mass propers for Gaudete Sunday make it known that the sacred rite is offered in order to affect our salvation, as expiation for our sins, and as a means of placing our needs before the Lord; among which is to seek the grace necessary to enlighten our darkened minds.
The Novus Ordo, by contrast, implores the Lord merely to cleanse us of our faults, and that after having already audaciously informed Him as to how faithfully we are behaving.
Sure, I suppose that one can, with great and deliberate effort, force oneself to focus on the more Catholic parts of the Novus Ordo missal, or to view (more appropriately, interpret) the more questionable texts in a Catholic way.
On the other hand, as Francis has plainly demonstrated, a heretic can quite happily do the exact opposite. He may even sell his twisted views to the naive as Catholic “catechesis.”
When people ask me why I say that the Novus Ordo Missae is always illicit, my response is often something along the lines of “Well, where would you like to begin? There are a multitude facets which make it illicit under any circumstances.”
This comparison of Gaudete is a good example of how the lex orandi in the Novus Ordo missal itself delegitimizes it, I think.
After 50 years of novus ordo, Our Lord has had mercy on me, and I have discovered the Latin Mass. Yes, they are worlds apart. It is a completely different experience. I have much to learn about being Catholic. Completely different. Completely different, this Mass of the Saints.
The biggest concern for me is the desecration of the Holy Eucharist which takes place at every N.O. “mass”. The wording in the “liturgy” is the least of its problems.
There is plenty of solid reasons that cast much doubt as to whether the NO sect even has any valid sacraments. I know its like the nuclear option here, but when one does an honest study as to the 1968 Episcopal Rite of Ordination, it is quite possible that the NO sect now lacks valid priests, bishops, eucharist, comfirmation, and most damning, absolution. This is more than a jurisdictional issue where the Church can supply what is lacking. Sacraments must be done properly if they are to confer grace. So it is highly probable that there is absolutely no sacrilege going on in any NO church. Only idolatry.
Cortez, I am filled with joy that you have discovered the TLM. However, Holy Mass is not designed to offer the soul any experience at all. It is a sacrifice. Whether we daydream through it or weep at the realization as to what is actually occuring on the altar. We assist out of sense of duty not to obtain anything in return for we deserve nothing.
Tom, I think the most damning is the lack of bishops because without valid bishops there are no priests. If there are no priests, then there are no consecrations nor absolutions.
Dear Tom A and 2Vermont,
Thank you for your observations and comments. It is a diabolical scheme to gradually replace true Roman Catholic bishops and priests with those of a different Rite, a different religion, which breaks the line of Apostolic Succession. Someone in SSPX wrote that if that were true, it would be too horrible to imagine; therefore it must not be true. We should never underestimate our enemy–the enemy of Our Lord and of Our Blessed Mother.
Just because the thought of it being true is too horrible is a ridiculous argument to say it cannot be true. The evidence is in the form of the words of episcopal consecration. Everyone should read them and compare them to the words of the Traditional Rite. The 1968 Rite is ambigious and confusing as to what it intends to confer.
Indeed.
It’s a different religion.
Thank you Tom. I will try to remember that. I have to remember that it is not about me, even though my heart melts just thinking about it. I do know that there is much for me to learn. Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Dear Tom A,
If you read the novus ordo 1968 rite not as a Roman Catholic, but as a freemason (Bugnini perhaps), “Spiritus principalis” takes on a whole different meaning. “The pride of the Prince” (from Cassell’s Dictionary) refers to whom?
That is not to say that an extreme sense of joy cannot overcome us at Mass. It has happened to me many times and still does. But these consolations are pure gifts and we should never expect them or use them to sustain our determination to do His Will. He allows all manner of graces to us in many different forms. We know we must follow Him no matter the situation even in our darkest moments when we feel abandoned. Such a time is now. We the sheep feel abandoned by the shepherds and we are. We must not lose faith, we must persevere till our natural end. Never compromising the true faith.
So diabolical Coastal. I, personally, never approach any NO priest for the sacraments anymore. Last time I went to an indult Mass, all I could do was wonder if he was a priest or not. That was about a year ago. Haven’t been back since.
Yes the New Religion has no real bishops, even in a practical sense as none dare oppose Bergolio….NONE. Not even the one from Kazakstan all empty bluster. Even with a valid, though certainly not a Roman Rite of consecration, they all willingly imbibe modernism and promote heresy which invalidates their authority in and of itself.
Tom, your point about idolatry makes sense from the standpoint of Divine Justice. “God will not be mocked” so why would Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament go along with literally being trampled underfoot by the Bishops and their messed up adherents in the New Religion who also made confession by appointment only while also openly attacking the Catholic Faith from 1965 onwards. I’m 100% certain that the Lutheranized mass was invalid from 1967 to 2011. The new translation and original format from 1967 is still heavily protestant and thereby still doubtful in my humble view. I see this as God’s mercy in blotting out so many sacriligious communions and masses. Had they been valid masses the sin woukd have been that much greater.
The two forms do speak for themselves. The Roman Rite speaks of sacrifice for the expiation of sins, while the NO only says come eat, dinner is served. And oh by the way don’t forget to clap for the children’s choir on the way out.
Yes, Tom, well said. The True Faith is Glorious!
And yet in “these times” I have been given more graces than at any other time in my life. I am closer to the True Faith than ever before. In “these times” Our Lord has not abandoned me, but has reached out and pulled me closer to Him. “These times” are the most powerful in my days, the most Magnificent ever. These times are all of Our times, and Our Lord saw that we would be living in them as He hung in the cross. Our Lord and His Church are as strong and as powerful as ever, and His Mother, Our Lady is always with us. She is the answer and our refuge. She’s got us. So what’s there to fear? Right? They have it all under their watch.
Dear Louie, I hope you don’t mind me pointing out a typo, but you wrote:
“the sacred rite is offered in order to affect our salvation”.
It should be “effect”, i.e, to bring it about; to cause it to happen. It shouldn’t read “to affect” it, i.e, make something about it change in some way, because we have not yet attained it.
Feel free to delete this post if you think the article needs the typo fixed in that place.
I agree Tom. God crucified on a Cross was too horrible to imagine….but it was true.
Dear Cortez, I imagine your immense joy was because you actually discovered the beauty, reverence and sheer majesty of the Latin Mass; not because you were being selfish. Why would you NOT be overcome by God’s goodness to you personally in bringing you home? I am a senior who was deprived of the true Mass from the age of 21. Then recently when I attended my first Latin Mass for decades I felt like you……… filled with that same immense joy of coming “home” to the sacrifice in which Jesus invites us to participate through Him; with Him; and in Him. God bless you.
The Mass is also the GREATEST THING we can offer to God!
God has everything and is everything and sufficient in Himself!
What can us lowly creatures offer back to Him?
How can we show our love?
Sure we might do good deeds, and God is pleased.
Sure we might discipline ourselves and rejects our sins and live moral lives, and God is pleased by this as well.
But what can us lowly ants make and offer to Him as a gift? What can we construct or build or fashion that is in any way worthy of that HIGHEST BEING AND LOVE?
In the Mass, God has given man power to offer and give to Him the ONLY THING worthy of Him!
HIMSELF!
We offer to Him – HIMSELF! WHOLE AND ENTIRE! HIDDEN WITHIN THE APPEARANCE OF BREAD AND WINE!
Alongside everything the Mass IS, this is also true! It is an act of love! And it should be wrapped up with the best we can offer liturgically!
The Novus Ordo ritual instead, makes it out as a gift to us instead of to Him! We’re taking our present back! Looking inwards at ourself, and it becomes an act of narcissism when we ignore the point! Rather God just makes it and distributes it like the feeding of the multitudes. Reach out your hands and take the free meal.
Sure the Novus Ordo words may be saying something else that sounds in line with reality, but our actions speak much much louder.
It is even more tragic when we consider that the only reason we can offer this gift is because of the reasons ” in order to affect our salvation, as expiation for our sins, and as a means of placing our needs before the Lord; among which is to seek the grace necessary to enlighten our darkened minds.”
God gives to Us – His Son, the Sacrificial Lamb – to save us – in order to give back to Him, at Mass, by Him (the priest as Christ) – to save us – and to again receive from Him (the priest as Christ), in Communion – to save us. Such divine reciprocity acting within the context of our fallible human selves.
Instead of this turning around of the priest as mediator between God and ourselves and back to God again, the priest instead faces us the entire time, like idiots in a circle playing a game of hot potato, because God is somehow contained within our little social circle and we’re passing Him around like a meet and greet, which is why we enjoy all the hand shaking and hand holding. It really is pathetic how much all this loses the point.
You all seem to forget that there are 21 or 22 Rites in the catholic Church under the Papacy. Until more recently some of these Eastern Liturgical Rites are being changed.
Thanks, God’s servant. I am sorry for all that you and all the other Catholics went through. You must have felt like your heart was ripped out. God will not abandon us!
Hi Tom, as much as the new order sacraments are evil and shoul be invalid objectively speaking I believe that they are still valid because our Lord in His Mercy would not allow His sheep to consume stones instead of bread even though the crafters of these new sacraments intended them to be a clear departure from the true Catholic sacramants. This I say simply because sheep are sheep and don’t know any better. However, for those such as the ones who read these pages, who know the truth about the NO and pretend to ignore the facts, such are guilty of the evil that permeates the NO sacraments.
J Bomb, I simply cant accept your premise that a true valid sacrament is evil. Our belief that God would or wouldnt do something is just our opinion. We do know with certitude that the Rites were changed. The changes are so drastic that doubt is introduced. Thus avoidance is only prudent option for the faithful. I wish it weren’t so either. But our ways are not God’s. It is a Tradition of the Church that the Church will supply jurisdiction for faculties so that priests and bishops can confer the sacraments, but it has never been taught that God will supply validity to improper form, matter, or intention. It is wishful thinking to assume that NO sacraments are valid. There is no denying the changes made. One only has to look at the fruits of the NO sacraments to see if they are conferring grace upon the NO sect.
Hahaha! I have a Facebook identity Herman Noodik! Great minds think alike! 🙂