With the Novus Ordo the Validity All Depends on the Priest's Intention

Fr. Joseph Gill has an important article at Crisis Magazine about the Novus Ordo, The Novus Ordo and the Interior Life. Don't miss it! 

An Important Question: Is the New Mass a New Religion?

Fr. Albert Kallio is a Dominican, ordained in 1994 by Bishop Bernard Fellay. In this video he addresses a number of questions about the Mass before and after the changes by Annibale Bugnini. He explains in an easily understood way the impact of all the changes to the Mass put in place in the name of Vatican II. Many of those changes flew in the face of the wishes of the Council Fathers. Sadly, few of the Fathers objected when the destruction of the Mass went into effect. Here's how Fr. Kallio summarizes the disastrous impact:

The Language of Faith and the Mass

I occasionally have conversations with people about the Traditional Latin Mass and almost invariably they express the point that no one understands the Latin so they aren't really getting anything out of it. If that were true, it might be a good argument for the vernacular. Although I wonder why, in that case, the committee that developed the Novus Ordo didn't just translate the Mass into English. But that's a thought for another day. 

Whenever someone tells me that people didn't understand the Mass that was the norm for centuries, I ask myself whether that was really true. Do we only understand the spoken word? And, in fact, does the spoken word sometimes fail to impart a message? My contention is that the answer to those questions is NO and then YES. 

Be Careful Who You Trust! Not Everyone in a Roman Collar Is Reliable!

I recently read several articles on substack defending the Novus Ordo by Msgr. Arthur Holquin, a retired priest of the Diocese of Orange in California. I don't subscribe to his account and won't. Once I realize someone isn't trustworthy, I shake the dust off my feet and move on. I left one comment and that's it. Someone else can argue with him. He writes a dissertation responding to anyone who disagrees with him and mentions over and over how educated he is. 

Is Your Novus Ordo Mass the One Described by Bishop Schneider? I'm Betting Not!

I don't go to daily Mass these days. One of the things that impacted my decision was a description of a wedding a priest friend attended at a very conservative Lutheran parish. The groom, a widower and a Catholic was marrying a Lutheran woman whose branch of Lutheranism is the most conservative, even more than the Missouri Synod Lutherans. She wanted to be married in her church by her minister. They got permission from the bishop so all was in order.

The Mass that Made So Many Saints! We need it today more than ever!

Mother of the innocent babies in the womb, pray for us.

As a preamble to this post, let me say that the election of Donald Trump is not a cause for 

dancing in the streets. At the same time he won big in Montana with a 60-40% victory, a constitutional amendment (initiative 128) to allow abortion passed by the same margin. While the right is unlimited before viability, it appears to be restricted after. It isn’t! The amendment used the same wording as Roe v. Wade and its companion decision Doe v. Bolton which essentially allowed abortion up to birth. There is little to celebrate today. I voted for Donald Trump because I believe a Harris administration would be so much worse, but I see his election as a temporary reprieve giving us time to repent and convert. A country that kills it's own children has no future. Our imperative now is to pray for God's grace of conversion and to beg His mercy through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.

Does the Novus Ordo Foster an Environment of Heresy?

Hmm....I was watching Crisis Magazine editor, Eric Sammons, discussing the question Did Online Trads Cause the TLM Crackdown? It's an interesting video. Sammons made the point that if individual's questionable actions cause the suppression of the TLM, then why do not individual's questionable actions cause suppression of the Novus Ordo? Is Fr. James Martin untouchable but Taylor Marshall is a legitimate target?

"A Liturgy from Hell"? Traditionis Custodes Cannot Suppress the Traditional Latin Mass

As regular readers know, I'm a big fan of Chronicles Magazine. The February issue included an article by George Kendall an octagenerian who grew up with the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), but "for much of his life...has been a conservative Novus Ordo (NO) Catholic." Kendall's article, A Liturgy from Hell, illustrates his return to tradition and the realization that the liturgical chaos after Vatican II decimated Holy Mother Church. He laments the fact that "...our hierarchy was foolish enough, all those years ago, to twist a great parable, selling the pearl of great price in order to buy a truckload of trash chosen by committee."

Whoa! Let me pause here to emphasize that the NO, although seriously deficient and more Protestant than Catholic, is a valid Mass. I hesitate to call it a "truckload of trash."

A Powerful Conversion Story: The Traditional Latin Mass Led Him Into the Church

Protestant seminarian finds home in Catholic Church through social media connection

I remember a friend once telling me about a man she was dating. He attended RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) and did, indeed, become a Catholic if my memory serves. They didn't end up getting married, but my friend told me how he responded to the classes. "It's not much different from my Protestant faith." 

What does that say about the instruction? Nothing good!

Part 3: From Ecclesia Dei, the Modernist Nose in the Sanctuary, to Traditionis Custodes, the Modernists Running the Show!

Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles offers a hymn in stone to Modernism. What has Modernism given us? Ugly churches, ugly liturgies, ugly music, showmen priests, laity overflowing the sanctuary, and declining faith. Don't just weep. Rebel!

For earlier posts in this series on Modernism and the Traditional Latin Mass see:

Prelude: Is there a crisis in the Church?

Part 1 -- Ecclesia Dei and the Abandonment of Principles! Part I: A Little History

Part 2 -- Ecclesia Dei Part 2: The Motu Proprio is Infected with Modernism

Let's move on to examine Pope Benedict's efforts to improve the situation and restore the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) which he said was "never abrogated," although there were certainly massive efforts by Modernist bishops and priests to completely suppress it.

Recall that the 1988 motu proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta (EDA) of John Paul II did, in fact, promote modernism in subtle and not so subtle ways as I discussed in the previous posts. Benedict, with the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum (SP), of 2007, offered hope for a serious correction and a move toward bringing the Traditional Latin Mass once again into the heart of the Church. Although the apostolic letter acknowledge the importance of the TLM and its role in saint-making, it failed to suppress modernist elements. Here's a bit from SP that praised the TLM:

There's a Message in the Medium: The Novus Ordo Encourages Snickers!

I thought idiotic antics at the Novus Ordo couln't get any sillier, but this blurb from en.news proved me wrong. And to think the clown-in-chief was a bishop. Shame, shame, shame on you, Bp. Lowe.

New Zealand: The Content of the Novus Ordo? Snickers...

The Presiding Bishop of New Zealand, Steve Lowe of Auckland, wore a pallium-like lei made of Snickers bars (sic) during a May 19 Novus Ordo Eucharist in his cathedral. Leis are traditional garlands made from flowers or shells. The occasion was a Eucharist for Liston College, a Catholic school for boys aged 12 to 18. Some of them were baptised and confirmed during the Snickers show. If nothing else, Lowe was very effective in conveying to the boys that the Novus Ordo is a bad joke.

From the “Hey, Catholics, Did You Know...?” File: About the Mass

Offertory prayers at the Traditional Latin Mass stress the offering of Jesus Christ in atonement for sin.

Let's talk a little bit about the Holy Mass. Most Catholics today have never experienced the Traditional Latin Mass, barely remember Vatican II, and have no idea what came before and what's been lost. So let's look at just two changes effected by the Novus Ordo Missae: the offertory prayers and Communion in the hand.

Sunday Meditation: Did You think the Council Fathers Created the Novus Ordo? Think Again!

Father Terrence Keehan, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Inverness, Illinois, uses a guitar to give the final blessing at a Mass livestreamed on Feb. 13. (photo: Screenshot of YouTube video / Screenshot of YouTube video via CNA)

Have you ever read the Vatican II (VII) documents on the sacraments, beginning with the Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosantum Concilium (SC published December 4, 1963)? It outlined the guidelines to be followed in revising the mass. The Novus Ordo (NO) did not spring up like the Phoenix as the council ended; it was the product of a committee with its major architect Annibale Bugnini who wanted to eliminate anything that could possibly be a stumbling block to Protestants. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria Shared Something in Common with Archbishop Lefebvre!

St. Cyril of Alexandria

I usually begin my prayer time in the morning by reading about the saints of the days in Butler's Lives. Yesterday, reflecting on St. Cyril of Alexandria I read:

St. Cyril has been called the Doctor of the Incarnation, as St. Augustine was styled the Doctor of Divine Grace: in the great intercession of the Syrian and Maronite Mass he is commemorated as "a tower of truth and interpreter of the Word of God made flesh." Throughout his life he made it a rule never to advance any doctrine which he had not learnt from the ancient fathers."

This reminded me of Archbishop Lefebvre's determination to pass on what he had received, the faith as taught by the Apostles and Fathers of the Church. Would the Fathers of the Church even recognize the faith as presented in Amoris Laetititia, Traditionis Custodes, and the synodal process? 

Rooster Looster's "Trads of Flick Flock" Snake Oil Show

 Rooster Looster crowing about how they're getting richer but unfortunately still failures

(Dr Hook and the Medicine Show - "Cover of the Rolling Stone")

Note: In Matthew 5:38 most Bibles say "turn the other cheek" but my New Global Progressive translation says "tongue in cheek".

The following is a review of Rooster Looster's Barnyard Militant with emphasis on his show, The Geyser, where lies and falsehoods are spread across the planet on purpose in order to destroy other people. As Rooster Looster crows this he theatrically circles his wings in the air and cock-a-doodle-doos that lies and falsehoods are being set free around the globe.

At one time Rooster Looster subliminally embedded within The Geyser his animus against the SSPX, however currently he's brought his cock-fight to the forefront with Barnyard Militant's new show, The Trads of Flick Flock, wherein Rooster rants about the Vetus Ordo and the SSPX. 

More Bad News from the Vatican: Catholics Told Not to Kneel or Receive Communion on the Tongue

Pope Francis Confers Lay Ministries Upon Ten People in St. Peter’s Basilica

What has been considered a "right" of the laity was soundly squashed Sunday when Francis conferred the ministry of lector and catechist on ten lay people at St. Peter's, four men and six women. In the protocols before the event, the laity were instructed (mandated) that they could not kneel or receive Communion on the tongue.  It's unclear from reports whether the mandate applied only to the ten or to all those attending the event (5,000).

Our First Duty is to God! Liturgical Worship is among the Most Important Things We Do....

....and how we do it is not a trivial issue!

Remember the story of Cain and Abel. Both sacrificed, but one sacrifice pleased God and one did not. That event in Genesis reminds us that we can say, "Lord, Lord!" without pleasing God.

I think of that when I go to the Novus Ordo (N.O.). The priest enters the church and we recite the entrance antiphon. He processes to the sanctuary steps, makes a quick genuflection or bow, climbs the steps and goes behind the altar. He kisses the altar and then many priests, with their backs to Jesus in the tabernacle, say, "Good-morning, everybody" or some other greeting that violates the rubrics. This sets the stage, not for a sacrifice, but for a conversation sharing a meal with the congregation.

Hey, Traditionalist Scum, You Deserve to Be Cancelled!

Do traditionalists only care about the vestments and altar linens? Is it a negative to give
 God dignified and beautiful worship? Read Exodus 35-39 and Leviticus!

I used regularly to read the blog of a Catholic which I found interesting and often thought-provoking. Ultimately, however, there came a parting of the ways. I stopped visiting because he closed his eyes to every scandalous thing the pope did defending what was indefensible. More and more he and those who commented on his blog condemned Catholics for defending the faith against Francis's very un-Catholic behavior: his promotion of abortion, sodomy, etc., his reverencing Pachamama and the circle spirits, his syncretism that leads others to think all religions are the same. None of this is Catholic and to point that out is to defend the faith and protect those being led into sin by the scandal. 

Weaponizing the Novus Ordo to Beat Traditionalists into Submission

Thomas Cranmer, 
Archbishop of Canterbury

What sad times we live in when a form of the Mass, the Novus Ordo (NO), is weaponized to beat faithful, traditional Catholics into abandoning the Mass of the Ages. 

It's not, in fact, a new tactic. During the regency of Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, those in power used Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, to weaponize the Mass in order to force recusant Catholics into the Anglican services. After the brief reign of Queen Mary, the tyranny escalated. The brutal and cruel punishment of the English population for the crime of attending the Latin Mass was to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Thank God we don't face that! Punishment for refusing to attend the new mass was economic ruin! They rapidly turned the country into an apostate nation hostile to the pope and to the Church.

Read the stories of the English priests and laity martyred at Tyburn Tree to weep and lament the evil being resurrected in our own time using softer persecution. Be thankful that the most that will ultimately happen to us is likely to be accusations of schism. After all, as Francis so famously said, "I pray that there will not be schisms, but I am not afraid." In that same airplane interview, he implied that those who disagree with him have mental problems:

The My Little Pony Church of Annibale Bugnini: Cognitive Dissonance and the Novus Ordo

Three major principles stress the Catholicity of the Mass: the fact that it is a propitiatory sacrifice (making up for sin), a ministerial sacrifice with an ordained minister (not a presider) prepared carefully to properly carry out his sacred role, and a eucharistic sacrifice in which bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ through transubstantiation.