Benedict's Revolution

When the baby went out with the bathwater after Vatican II, Catholics were so glad to be rid of some of the dead wood that they hardly noticed. But after 40 years, the loss of that which is precious and irreplaceable has been, finally, not only noticed, but has been marked as worthy of retrieval. The gorgeous ancient form of the Latin Mass, a true Western gem of culture, art, religion and faith, has been restored and is gradually coming to a church near you.

Even if you are Protestant, or for that matter an Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or what have you, you owe it to yourself to visit a high Latin Mass and a Byzantine Rite Mass at least once.

That the Church thought it wise to replace these with the current Novis Ordo hootenanny music and rubrics leaves one incredulous and somewhat sad.

From Benedict's Revolution By Thomas E. Woods Jr.

QUOTE Countless figures of prominence recognized what the Church was losing in the old rite. When nearly four decades ago it seemed as if the traditional Latin Mass would never be heard from again, a group of British intellectuals, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, issued a protest to the pope urging him not to carry out such a terrible offense against Europe's cultural patrimony. Signatories included Agatha Christie, Graham Greene, and Malcolm Muggeridge. It read, in part:

If some senseless decree were to order the total or partial destruction of basilicas or cathedrals, then obviously it would be the educated -- whatever their personal beliefs -- who would rise up in horror to oppose such a possibility. Now the fact is that basilicas and cathedrals were built so as to celebrate a rite which, until a few months ago, constituted a living tradition. We are referring to the Roman Catholic Mass. Yet, according to the latest information in Rome, there is a plan to obliterate that Mass by the end of the current year . . . . The rite in question, in its magnificent Latin text, has also inspired a host of priceless achievements in the arts -- not only mystical works, but works by poets, philosophers, musicians, architects, painters and sculptors in all countries and epochs. Thus, it belongs to universal culture as well as to churchmen and formal Christians.

The petition concluded with a plea to the pope: "The signatories of this appeal, which is entirely ecumenical and non-political, have been drawn from every branch of modern culture in Europe and elsewhere. They wish to call to the attention of the Holy See, the appalling responsibility it would incur in the history of the human spirit were it to refuse to allow the traditional Mass to survive, even though this survival took place side by side with other liturgical forms." UNQUOTE