Vanity - A Path Back to Liturgical Sanity (Catholic Caucus)

Whether they realize it or not, the Mass with which most Catholics are familiar, the one said in almost all Catholic Churches in the Western Hemisphere, is called the Novus Ordo, or more colloquially, the "new Mass." Many older Catholics may remember the Tridentine Mass, sometimes referred to as "the old Latin Mass," or the "Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)." More and more, however, young people are discovering the beauty of the Mass as it was known for hundreds of years before the wreckovation that occurred after Vatican II. While the Novus Ordo is a valid Mass, insomuch as the Holy Eucharist is validy confected by the words of consecration, and whatever the relative merits of saying Mass in the vernacular, it is becoming ever so clear that it lacks the depth and beauty of the Tridentine Mass. As compared to the Tridentine Mass, the Novus Ordo is impoverished in language, in history, in music, in depth, and most significantly, in its connection to the sacrifice offered by the Jews in the temple. And this impoverishment is having devastating consequences for the average Catholic's understanding of the Mass, the Holy Eucharist, and the teachings of the Church.

As the tragic consequences of this break of the new Mass from its roots became ever clearer, Pope Benedict XVI issued a Motu Proprio, known as Summorum Pontificum, making it clear that every Catholic priest may continue to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. In the Motu Proprio, Benedict directed that the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) be known as the extraordinary form, and that the new Mass be known as the ordinary form. This action on the part of the Holy Father has resulted in a resurgence of the TLM, among both old and young priests. Nevertheless, after 50 years of living on liturgical Twinkies, many people do not seem interested in, or able to digest the rich spiritual food of the TLM.

Well, I believe there is a path back to Liturgical sanity. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued another Motu Proprio in which he laid the foundation for this path. It is known as Anglicanorum coetibus, and provides for the creation of diocese-like structures known as "personal ordinariates" for Anglicans who want to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, while retaining their own distinctive and rich liturgical patrimony. This liturgical patrimony has been codified in a third form of the Catholic Mass, known as Divine Worship: The Missal, or more commonly, the "Anglican Use." But don't be fooled by the word "Anglican." The Divine Worship Missal is Catholic in every way. Any Catholic may attend Mass said according to the Divine Worship Missal, and receive Holy Communion while doing so.

In Baltimore, there are three parishes of The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. The one I attend is Mount Calvary Catholic Church, which uses the Divine Worship Missal. This parish is less than a mile away from St. Alphonsus Church, the one parish in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in which the Tridentine Mass is regularly said. Many people from St. Alphonsus and other TLM communities frequently come to Mount Calvary, and vice-versa. The power and dignity of the Divine Worship said at Mount Calvary and other "Anglican Use" parishes is reminiscent of the TLM. You can almost think of it as the TLM said in Shakespearean English, with a few distinctive elements that hearken back to the ancient Sarum rite, and the "Anglo-Catholic" heritage on which the Divine Worship is based.

Mount Calvary Church has a long and fascinating history, dating back to 1842. Robert E. Lee was once a parishioner, before the Civil War. Mount Calvary was a hotbed of "Anglo-Catholicism" throughout its history, often putting it at odds with the Episcopal bishop. One of its earliest rectors, Father Alfred Curtis, eventually resigned in order to be received into the Roman Catholic Church at the hands of Blessed John Henry Newman himself, and would go on to be ordained a Catholic priest, and then bishop, serving as the second Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware. Mount Calvary, however, remained a "High Episcopal" church until 2012, when the parish voted to convert to Catholicism and entered the Catholic Church en masse. It was then accepted into the Ordinariate.

The pastor of Mount Calvary is himself a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism and lived as a layman for 5 years before he was given permission to be ordained as a Catholic priest. His name is Rev. Albert Scharbach. Fr. Scharbach speaks of "lifting up Christ in the beauty of holiness." He sees a significant part of his mission as a priest of the Ordinariate as being reintroducing Catholics to their own heritage that was taken away from them by widespread poor liturgy over the last 50 years. Although my wife and I are cradle Catholics, we have been attending Mass at Mount Calvary for several years now, and have come to see that the Divine Worship Missal can certainly be a way of accomplishing exactly that.

Since attending Mount Calvary, we have learned about the connection of the Mass to the ancient Jewish temple sacrifice, the richness of the pre-Vatican II liturgical calendar, the role beautiful music can play in lifting our hearts and minds to God, and the power of ritual, symbols, and incense to evoke a true "fear of the Lord."

One of the most edifying things we have learned from our new Catholic brethren is the importance of fellowship. After every Sunday Mass we gather for brunch and fellowship. It is a time for developing friendships, discussing both secular and religious ideas, and otherwise just getting to know each other and sharing our lives, with all their joys and sorrows, with each other. Pretty much EVERYONE comes. I have found it to be tremendously helpful, and I look forward to it each week. I think all Catholic parishes should foster this type of community life.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Divine Worship liturgy, you should jump at the opportunity. Even if you decide it's not your cup-o-tea, your understanding of the Catholic Church and of the Mass will be richer for it.

And if you ever have the opportunity to visit us at Mount Calvary, please let me know so that I can introduce myself and introduce you to others in the parish. You will be most welcome!

The only way to get people to give up Twinkies for a more sophisticated diet, is to start when young. Educate the palate. Bring your kids to a Latin Mass. Believe me, it is not difficult at all and with a proper missal, the text is in English on the opposite page. Even Pope Francis would understand it!

If I could learn it, believe me, anyone can.

Yes, I’ve been to the TLM Mass, and it is not hard to pick up. I strongly suggest families attend the TLM, if possible. But it’s still not offered in many places, and the Divine Worship may be an alternative. In fact, I found out about Mount Calvary from a guy who attends the TLM at St. Alphonsus, and he encouraged me to give it a try.

I find that people who love the TLM may continue to prefer the TLM over the Divine Worship, but they definitely feel comfortable with the Divine Worship and recognize its beauty, depth, and continuity with Tradition. Like I said, give it a try. You’ll probably want to continue with the TLM, but you’ll be richer and happier knowing that the Divine Worship exists, and having experienced it. Besides, it may be the “training wheels” someone you know needs to come to appreciate the TLM. For my part, I’ve given up on Twinkies and feel like I’m eating at Babette’s Feast every week!

My closest friend attends a TLM community in Harrisburg, PA, run by the FSSP. One day I attended a Day of Recollection with him there, and that’s where I met the guy who told me about Mount Calvary. I now go there for spiritual direction and have attended many Masses there. But even my friend is encouraging a close Protestant family member of his to go to Mount Calvary to learn what Catholicism is all about. It’s very orthodox Catholicism, expressed beautifully in its liturgy.

The “new” Church goal is a harsh spiritual diet, unto starvation.

We are in schism, certainly, with the old and the new.

Thank God for the movement, remnant that it may be, for restoring piety of the pre-Vatican ii Church.

The future of the West is entirely dependent on repentance of the Church and the restoration of the faith.

It is terrifying in my little neck of the woods. Thank you for expressing the hope you must be enjoying where you are, availed with the Traditional Church.

We are dying here. Lord, have mercy.

Msgr. Charles Pope is a pretty regular guy. He comments that, after Summorum Pontificum was issued, there was an initial flurry of interest, but now, there is a falling off, especially as measured by collections. (You wouldn't think that TLM is expensive, but it does cost something.)

My comment comes from a talk Fr. Fessio gave in 1994: Young people have made a Chant CD, a million seller, they can get it from Amazon, they just can't get it from their local Catholic parish. If they could, you might see a resurgence of interest in TLM, this despite that fact that music always follows last.

Thank you, I will. As a Robert E. Lee fan, I’m pleased at his association.

Before I moved, I was a regular at St. Agnes in NYC, which has a Sunday Latin Mass. Glorious. Oh, and the truly saintly parishioners who attended that Mass have remained in my memory. I haven’t seen anything like it since I went to Parisien Latin Masses.

I really enjoyed your post.

I am so sorry about your area, Rita. With all the talk of NY values over the last year, you would be amazed how much dignity and grace still exists in tiny pockets of Catholic churches.

And, indeed, we are all on starvation diets. Just like Venezuela.

A few years ago, I attended one of the LA Diocese Religious Education main Masses at the Anaheim Convention Center with the Bishops presiding. As the procession came in with the liturgical dancers along with other “new age” pomp and ceremony, I asked our DRE who was next to me, “so, where is the baby?” She question me as to what in the heck I was talking about and I replied it looked like we entered the wrong arena and were attending a pagan service that was getting ready to sacrifice a baby to their god or something. I got a fist to my arm. Something good did come out of this as she is now my wife. :)

Msgr. Pope is one of the good ones, but I do think his viewpoint is a little skewed. He is in the diocese of Washington D.C. and his comments reflect the situation there, not in the US or world as a whole. Also as many bishops are silent or supportive of obvious heresy there may be more (not a large amount- but more) escaping to the sanity of the TLM and traditional communities.

I had such high hopes when Archbishop Gomez was sent there. But now he participates in that bull. (Sigh...)

Understand. Sometimes when a Cardinal before you allows certain things to happen, they become entrenched and change back to more traditional ways is hard to impossible. My response has been to work with the teens and go from there. It is challenging “work” but incredibly rewarding. I have great hope for the future of the Church although it may not be fully realized in a full restoration of the old Liturgy but more a renewal in the salvation of souls. Holy Spirit is in charge and I trust in Jesus. God bless.

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