A Reform of the Reform of the Reform of the Reform, etc.

The Novus Ordo crowd finds itself, with respect to the Mass, engaged in the very real and deliciously paradoxical practice of stifling change to the liturgy--the exact thing the liberals charged the pre-Vatican II Church of. Of course, the charge makes no sense. How can you claim that the pre-Vatican II Church was so rigid and inflexible, yet account for the "success" of Vatican II? The NO crowd is rather confused, instead of merely confusing. It risks being outmoded, never mind popularly disdained, 50 years after the Council. I do not have the faintest idea how a 65 year-old bishop would justify any opposition to a reform of the "reform." On what grounds? That it's too soon? The new Mass is perfect? Give it time? For what? Yet this is the vulgar parody the Church has lowered itself to in the early days of the 21st century. Nearly 40 years after the introduction of what is most certainly an invalid Mass, and its unparallelled devastation amongst the faithful, it is proving difficult to get 2/3 of American bishops to approve minor changes to the language of the Mass. There is no point delving too deeply here other than to point out the folly of negotiating with bishops for whom the very idea of tradition is, dare I say it?, anathema.

The truth about our great liturgy is that it comes to us through the ages, repackaged and refurbished here and there, though supremely intact for a ritual two millennia old. Along the way, certain accretions made their way into the Mass as a matter of fact, and along the way reformers kept the good and rooted out the bad. The point here is that the Mass changed. Not abruptly, and certainly not in a way that even remotely compares with the rewrite of the 1960s, but change did occur. I share with those who lament the changes made by Pius XII their disappointment in such an otherwise saintly pope. No doubt he was trying to accommodate the "modern" world's demands on our time, and perhaps he thought that by offering relatively minor changes to the liturgy, he could keep the barbarians at the gate. We all know what happened, as barbarians are never satisfied with a little. So, I thought I would put my suggestions out there. Mine are fairly "extreme" (I prefer to say all-encompassing), so I will be interested in hearing your thoughts.

I would relegate the Low Mass to priests' Masses or to any other Mass, including Sunday, where there are insufficient numbers of faithful to properly complement a High Mass. Thus, all my suggestions must be seen from the perspective of the High Mass. Also, I assume that all changes prior to Vatican II were done with the best and purest of intentions.

The homily is an important part of the time spent in church on Sunday. Unfortunately, it breaks up the cadence of the Mass. Henceforth, the homily will be preached prior to the Mass. The celebrant can prepare the faithful for the various readings and overall theme of the Mass, so that their prayers may be more focused.

I love the beginning of the Gospel of St. John. Unfortunately, its present position in the liturgy does not do it justice. I decree that the beginning of the Gospel of St. John begins the Mass. The celebrant or deacon will sing the Gospel just inside the sanctuary, well short of the foot of the steps at the altar. Such reverence and fear will point out to all who hear it the beauty of this passage. This Gospel passage will further focus each mind on the very reason for the Mass and the very act of God's saving those who love him.

From there we will have the asperges, though done slowly, with reverence.

The Mass will then begin as normal with the beautiful prayer of the Judica Me from the Psalms. However, the priest no longer will appear to say a Low Mass inside of a High Mass. He no longer will crank through the Gloria and Credo and sit: He will sing with an audible voice along with the faithful.

Also, following Fortesque's lead, the prayers immediately following the Consecration, before The Commemoration of the Dead, shall be placed before the Consecration, at the beginning of the Canon of the Mass. The rest of the Mass remains the same, and thus does the celebrant, when he intones "Go, you are dismissed," actually mean it.