You May Not Like It, But the Novus Ordo is Valid...

Get over it!

The Dangers of Attacking the Novus Ordo

I love the traditional Latin Mass. I go on an annual Ignatian Retreat where the FSSP retreat master celebrates the Latin Mass every day. When I can, I attend the Tridentine Mass at St. John the Baptist in Front Royal. But I will not jump on the bandwagon attacking the Novus Ordo no matter how many folks claiming to be real Catholics call me deluded. I'll stick with the Church even in this time of mass confusion.


If the ordinary form of the Mass is NOT valid, Jesus truly left us orphans, since the extraordinary rite is not readily available in many places -- not to mention the fact that most priests don't know how to say it.

I've certainly been to some English Masses where the priest played fast and loose with the liturgy. I've even been to a few when traveling where I even questioned the validity of the Mass. But that was when the celebrant made the decision to omit or add to the approved rubrics of Holy Mother Church.

Yes, there are some very real problems with the ordinary rite. All one needs to do to recognize that is to read the Ottaviani Intervention about the history of the new form and the deliberate watering down of the theology explicit in the Tridentine Mass by Vatican II rebels. It was a tragedy.

However, there is nothing to be gained by attacking the Novus Ordo.  As Fr. Charles Nwora Okeke points out in the linked article above we need to "focus on living our faith." That seems good advice to me. He also points out that many of the defects are due to the priest, not the form:

It is wrong to define a liturgical Rite on the basis of defects encountered among individual priests and members of a congregation. A Rite represents a church tradition about how the sacraments are to be celebrated. There are about 20 liturgical Rites present in the Church today. Of these, the ordinary form of the Latin Rite, despicably referred to as the Novus Ordo by some people, has been the target of unremitting negative attacks. The way the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered in the ‘Novus Ordo” is stipulated in the Roman Missal. What is to be said by the priest is printed in black and what he is to do is printed in red. If the rubric were followed, as stipulated, the ‘Novus Ordo’ mass would be reverential as it is meant to be.

Father also points out that if you don't like the Latin rite in the ordinary form, you can choose from the numerous other rites approved by the Church in addition to the extraordinary form.

One morning this week we had a Communion service led by the permanent deacon because our pastor was away. It made me realize how blessed we are to have daily Mass -- in any form. So many places have only occasional Masses. When we were traveling in Canada last Fall, we could find almost no daily Masses. We, on the other hand, are blessed with the opportunity to attend a reverent Mass every single day.

Do I wish we had the Tridentine more available? Yes. Am I going to moan and groan and complain about what we don't have rather than thank God for what we do have? NO! If you are blessed to have a faithful priest who says a reverent daily Mass in the ordinary form thank God by receiving Him in the Eucharist as often as possible. That is the best way any of us can show our love for the God who called us into being and remains with us in all the tabernacles of the world.

Blessed be God forever!