The Changes Today

Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Milwaukee

From the Agence France-Presse:

After 40 years of praying in exactly the same way, English-speaking Catholics around the world had a challenge waiting for them Sunday when they turned up to Mass.

The Mass liturgy, or the text of the most sacred Roman Catholic rite, has been re-launched across the English-speaking world to comply with the Vatican's wish for a more traditional and spiritual tone. ...

As I read this, I thought to myself, "After 40 years of praying in exactly the same way..." Really? Newsflash: Liturgy changes pretty dramatically from parish to parish. For several decades now, liturgical improvisation and innovation (more accurately called abuses) all determined by the caprice of the pastor, have become the norm. One of the principle and legitimate grievances of traditional Catholics is precisely the lack of uniformity in liturgy from parish to parish. You never know what you're going to get. Some parishes are more traditional, while many are more progressive, with freewheeling pastors high-fiving left and right as they process down the aisle (a friend experienced this one), laywomen offering a "reflection" after the Gospel, liturgical dancing, replete with ribbons and rock bands, name tags, and so on. It's been a rough ride, folks. Nothing has been "exactly the same way" when it comes to Liturgy in the United States for the past 40 years.

The article has some common, predictable mistakes. For example:

Changes are frequent, but small, rather than structural. There is nothing on the scale of the revolution brought by the Vatican's abandonment in the 1960s of the centuries-old Latin Mass.

Of course, the Latin Mass was never "abandoned" by the Vatican, despite the best efforts of some. No, it's still alive and well, and growing, drawing scads of young seminarians and young families with lots of kids. I've been attending Mass in the extraordinary form for several months now, so I've missed out a bit on the goings on involving the changes that took effect today. An affinity for constancy, as opposed to flux and improvisation, is one of the common bonds that unite those who attend the Latin Mass.

The new translation is a great thing, don't get me wrong. It's a necessary first step toward recovering our true liturgical heritage and ending the still-widespread liturgical silly season in the United States. Hopefully, the other fixes, such as recovering authentic sacred music, augmenting Sacramental reverence, reintegrating Latin into the liturgy in accordance with Vatican II, etc., will be coming down the pike sooner rather than later.