At the present hour we are in a dark night of the Church…and, if this is true, it is a ‘happy chance!’ – because there is absolutely no reason left to be Catholic now except the only one there ever really was – that in the invisible life of the Church you will find the love of Christ.

– Dr. John Senior

The Rise of the New No... Hopkins, C. J. Best Price: $3.05 Buy New $12.99 (as of 07:06 UTC - Details) I never will forget that mid-July morning of 2021.  On the feast day of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the anniversary of my baptism, I received a text from a friend containing a link to Traditionis Custodes.  I was horrified, outraged, and wounded to the core, like so many others who had come to be nourished through the ancient Roman liturgy.  Though I had heard rumors a document like TC would be promulgated, I didn’t think it would ever happen (or at least during Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s lifetime).  In short order, the diocese decided to limit all its Latin Masses as an act of obedience to the Curia’s vision for the liturgical life of the Church.

Readers of OnePeterFive are well aware of the news, relayed here and elsewhere, that some authorities are trying to double down on Traditionis.  While a new document may indeed be on the horizon, my preparations are different than they were the first time around, and I would encourage fellow Catholics who adhere to Tradition to prepare similarly in at least one way; work to see this unkindness, whatever form it takes or doesn’t take in the coming months, as an opportunity to peacefully join Christ the High Priest on His Via Crucis.

How does one find peace when, as my favorite author, John Senior, once put it in the 1970’s, “the liturgy [is] set upon by thieves?”  A bit of historical and theological reflection goes a long way to cultivating this most precious disposition, one which is specifically exalted in the Beatitudes.

When Pope St. Pius V issued the apostolic constitution Quo Primum in 1570, it seems to a layman like me that he intended the relevant Roman Missal to be treated in a similar way to the codification of the books of Scripture; while new translations of the Bible may continue to be produced until the end of time for a variety of pastoral reasons, the books it contains are not the kind of thing one can substantially change as the Council of Trent makes clear.  Similarly, minor alterations of that Missal (such as the ones which came from Pius V’s own hand after Quo Primum) are permitted for the sake of manifesting more clearly God’s Providential actions in each age.  Wholesale revisions of that Missal’s structure, on the other hand, are forbidden.  Of course, other missals like those which belong to the East, those belonging to certain Western religious orders or dioceses, or the new Roman Missal can exist as additional “valid” missals (just as the East has long believed a few additional Scriptural texts are also inspired by the Holy Ghost), but Pius V doesn’t see his missal as something that can ever be abrogated.  If this seems like too far-fetched of a claim, consider these words from the saint pontiff: Secret Empires: How th... Schweizer, Peter Buy New $15.99 (as of 04:21 UTC - Details)

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 no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force.

Many theologians have persuasively argued that this is necessarily a disciplinary decree, not one concerning faith and morals which infallibly comes ex cathedra, and as such it may in fact be legitimately changed by subsequent popes.  Either this is the case or it is not.  Suppose it actually is the case that a pope cannot bind a future pope on any liturgical matters because these matters are necessarily disciplinary in nature.  In that case, the rumors that the Dicastery for Divine Worship is seeking “a stringent, radical, and final solution banning the Traditional Latin Mass” should not distress us and render us inconsolable.  Even if the hypothetical document were to receive Pope Francis’ stamp of approval, no matter how tragic the provisions of the hypothetical document would be, it could always be reversed according to the mind of future popes.  Put differently, a “final solution” is impossible according to our supposition no matter how much Cardinal Roche as prefect or others may desire it.

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