Vatican II is Ancient History for Today's Young Catholics.

How much do most Catholics know about all the Vatican councils of history? We hear about the Council of Trent and its significance in refuting many of the errors of the Protestant revolution. It revitalized the Church and cleared up ambiguities resulting from the spread of heresy. The importance and impact of Trent have echoed and re-echoed down through the centuries. But have most Catholics even heard of most of the other twenty councils? Maybe they remember the Council of Jerusalem since it's mentioned in Acts of the Apostles. Perhaps they faintly recall the Council of Nicaea. "Oh yes, Nicaea gave us the creed we say at Mass." How about the four councils of Constantinople and the two councils of Lyon or the councils of Chalcedon and Ephesus.  Could they describe a single thing rising out of them? I sure can't without looking them up.

According to Dr. Peter Kwasniewski that will be the likely fate of Vatican II:

As a historical event, Vatican II is receding farther and farther into the past — and into irrelevance. I recall one author writing some years ago in First Things that for his students in the college classroom, “Vatican II” evoked neither more nor less than “Chalcedon” or “Ephesus.” All had to be chiseled equally into the blank slates, not to say blank stares. In terms of its theological or spiritual contributions, whether in de fide definitions and anathemas or in the unleashing of edifying energies, Vatican II is looking more and more like the most fussed over and the most negligible council in the history of the Church.

How true, but who's doing the fussing? A small group of aging hippies who loved all the innovations and "creative" nonsense dreamed up by the parish "liturgy committees" which they created. They inflicted ever more banal displays on the flock for every liturgical season. I shudder (or laugh) to remember the ones at my own parish in Alexandria. Every season saw some new innovation: Advent candle pillars instead of a wreath, a huge torn garment hung on a T cross (for the jolly green giant?) during Lent, a crepe paper rainbow for Easter. The most revealing was the "cracked pot" that could have been their calling card. Their "creations" always reminded me of a Kindergarten classroom. And then there were the butterfly vestments for First Communion worn by a priest who later left the priesthood.

Those attending the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) are often accused of "nostalgia" which is somewhat ridiculous since those Masses are heavily attended by young people and young families born well after Vatican II. They never experienced a pre-Vatican II Mass; they simply recognize in the TLM a liturgy focused on God instead of "the assembly," a sacrifice that fittingly rises like incense to heaven. They recognize the priest's ministerial role in persona Christi rather than the assembly's "presider." To them Vatican II is simply irrelevant. As the years go by, it will be less and less a topic of conversation as it drifts into the mist and the elderly crafters of the liturgy committee go home without their puppets and liturgical dancers. 

As Dr. Kwasniewski says of the young families attending the TLM:

They are too busy discerning vocations, managing a pewful of children, singing in chant scholas, or cooking for potlucks after Rorate Masses to have time for lollygagging in the lanes of an inaccessible memory. It’s the ones hugging their Breaking Bread hymnals or their “JP II We Love You” teddy bears who are the misty-eyed sentimentalists.

How True! The young moms share stories about their children's activities. They arrange roller rink outings and other field trips for the children. They discuss dates for the next moms' night out. The dads teach the altar boy class and volunteer time for repairs and renovations. No one talks about Vatican II at the picnics and potlucks. It appears to be the last thing on anyone's mind. It is, indeed, becoming the focus of those "misty-eyed sentimentalists" who will be emptying the holy water fonts during Lent and filling them with sand until they exit stage left.

Dr. Kwasniewski compares Trent to Vatican II writing:

When we consider the sheer magnitude of positive, constructive, tradition-guarding reform inaugurated and guided for centuries by the Council of Trent, we are justified in concluding that Vatican II, in stark contrast, was a monumental failure. Church councils of the past always sought to bring clarity to debated questions, refine the expression of doctrine, bear witness to the fullness of the Faith, and fearlessly condemn errors. In doing these things, they were truly pastoral. The Councils did not indulge in ambiguity, sow obscurity, backtrack, sidestep, refrain from condemnation due to a sentimental caricature of mercy, or enthrone a nebulous pastorality as the primary concern. This is why Vatican II is the great exception and the great dead end. The Council Is Now Far Spent.

And the people said, "Amen! Alleluia!" 

To read Dr. Kwasniewski article go here.