On the Mass--New and Old

~Gerald has translated from German an interview with Austrian priest, Fr. Siegfried Lochner about the Old and New Mass. Kreuz.net which conducted the interview posted this picture of a, erm, picnic mass. Were ants included?

What is the old rite like?

In the traditional rite the fullness of the Catholic Faith shines. Even though the faithful in the past could not "understand" everything that was prayed or sung, they nonetheless knew about the content of the sacred act, which was familiar to all practicing Catholics, a lot more than the average believer today.

What do you mean?

Everyone knew that Holy Mass was the non-bloody renewal of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross that was performed by the priest during transfiguration, in persona Christi.

But nowadays Mass is open to all (Communion in particular)...

To Catholics of old, it was clear what Holy Communion was about, what indispoable prerequisites its reception demanded. I remember the long lines for Confession of my childhood. No one would have dared to treat the Blessed Sacrament as nonchalantly as is often the case today.

But the liturgies in Latin....

The Catechism explained to us children why the Church insisted on the language of Rome: because this language best preserves the immutable faith in the worldwide Church, for all people of all places of all times and because it reminds us of the Church Fathers. Today one would speak of "globalization."

How would you compare the old with the new ?

There was a solemn splendor of holiness about the latin High Mass which many non-Catholics could resist. Until the unfortunate reform - one should call it "deformation" - many converts found their way to the Church via the liturgy. The Roman Mass was a perfect work of art.

And the new rite of the Mass?

The new rite of the Mass by Msgr. Bugnini is a construct, a fabrication. People sense the difference between grown, holy liturgy and the "flat product of an instant", as our Holy Father once called Bugnini's construct that Paul VI. mandated for us. People no longer feel at home in church and they aren't drawn by what happens there. Therefore, they no longer attend.

A harsh verdict on the Mass of the Second Vatican Council....

I am not talking about the Mass of the Second Vatican Council. The Mass of Vatican II is what is today referred to as the "pre-conciliar" Mass. All Masses in the time of the Council were celebrated according to the Missal that Pope John XXIII. had re-released.

But the Council wanted liturgical changes ?

Certainly. The statement that the Mass of John XXIII was the Mass of the Council is still correct when one factors in the changes of "Sacrosanctum Concilium". Those changes are very modest, compared to the break with history of 1969. They corresponded to the real intentions of the Council and usually did not go against the spirit of the Roman liturgy. Some valuable things that had been "buried" over the centuries were actually resurrected.