Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Sunday, 31 December 2023

Fifty Years Of “The New Mass”. An Ongoing Series On The Liturgical Movement Of Vatican II.




This Article, which first appeared in 2019, is taken from, and can be read in full at, FIFTY YEARS OF “THE NEW MASS”

Half a Century ago, Pope Paul VI imposed a Liturgical Reform on the whole Church in the name of The Council that had just ended. Thus was born “The Mass of Vatican II”. It was immediately rejected by two Cardinals and, since then, the opposition against it has not weakened. This sad Anniversary is an opportunity to trace its story.

On FSSPX.News, the story of this development is traced from beginning to end, in an ongoing Series of Articles, collected here:


The Making Of The Roman Missal.
3 December 2019.

Before considering The Liturgical Reform of Pope Paul VI and “The New Mass”, it is necessary to recount the history of The Roman Missal, since this Reform claims to be a continuation of “The Past”. The historical perspective will help with understanding the inanity of this claim.

The development of The Roman Missal was spread over several Centuries. Even if the essential elements, required for the accomplishment of The Holy Sacrifice of The Mass, have always been present, they have been progressively enshrined in Rites which make it possible to understand them and to grasp their deep meaning.

Read Part 1


The Development Of The Roman Missal.
13 December 2019.

The First Part of this historical overview of the development of The Roman Missal goes back to the 11th-Century. A new decisive stage was the work of The Council of Trent and Pope Saint Pius V, which we present in this Second Part.

Read Part 2


The Tridentine Missal Put To The Test By Gallicanism.
19 December 2019.

The First and Second Parts of this historical overview recounted the development of The Roman Missal, then the work of The Council of Trent and Pope Saint Pius V, up to the 16th-Century. Let us now consider the evolution of The Liturgy in the period that followed.

Read Part 3


Dom Guéranger And The Liturgical Movement - I.
28 December 2019.

The first three Articles in this Series took us to the 19th-Century. At that time, The Tridentine Missal, which had been established almost everywhere, was challenged, in particular by Gallicanism and Jansenism. This difficulty was encountered especially in France, but also in Italy with the famous Synod of Pistoia, held by The Jansenists in 1786.


Dom Guéranger And The Liturgical Movement - II.
6 January 2020.

The first four Articles brought us to the 19th-Century, to Dom Guéranger and to his magnificent work of restoration of The Roman Liturgy, prelude and beginning of The Liturgical Movement. There is, however, in the work of the Founder of Solesmes, a remarkable passage which fits happily into the study of “The New Mass”.


Fr. Emmanuel, Parish Priest Of Mesnil-Saint-Loup.
11 January 2020.

This Article considers one of the most beautiful Religious and Pastoral achievements of the second half of the 19th-Century in France, accomplished by Fr. Emmanuel, who lifted up his Parish through The Liturgy. A Monk from The Maredsous Benedictine Abbey once stated that three Benedictines summarised The Liturgical Effort of the 19th-Century: Dom Guéranger, Doctor of The Liturgy; Fr. Muard, Apostle; and Fr. Emmanuel, Pastor.


Pope Saint Pius X And The Liturgical Movement - I.
21 January 2020.


One historian of The Liturgical Movement wrote: “With Pope Saint Pius X, The Liturgical Movement entered into an entirely new period. Indeed, until then, it had been the prerogative of individual forces in The Church. Voices were raised here and there, manifesting their common agreement on a kind of reaction against pervasive Secularism, and advocating the return to sources as the true means of re-Christianisation . . . But these appeals, which started to work against the fabric of daily practices, could hit without warning the indifference of a whole, and by far the most numerous, section of the Clergy, who took poorly to any change in habits of piety and methods to the Apostolate.

“From the day when, on becoming Pope, Saint Pius X made himself the official propagator of The Liturgical Restoration, things changed. His multiple interventions on Religious Music, on The Psalter, and on frequent Communion, were so many energetic strokes which resolutely directed The Church towards a Liturgical Life steeped in Traditional Piety, Sacramental Grace, and Inspired Beauty”.

The Holy Pope’s Liturgical Work is thus distinguished by its areas of intervention: Religious Music; Decrees on Holy Communion; Reform of The Breviary and The Liturgical Calendar.

Read Part 7


Pope Saint Pius X And The Liturgical Movement - II.
21 January 2020.


The first Article dealt with the intervention of Pope Saint Pius X in the field of Liturgical Music, which enabled him to lay the cornerstone of The Liturgical Movement: To restore The Liturgy to its full glory, and, by this means, to revive The Liturgy's true Catholic spirit. Another intervention by Pope Saint Pius X concerns The Liturgy considered at its heart; the practice of The Sacraments.

Read Part 8


Pope Saint Pius X And The Liturgical Movement - III.
31 January 2020.

The first Article dealt with the intervention of Pope Saint Pius X in the field of Liturgical Music, which enabled him to lay the cornerstone of The Liturgical Movement: To restore The Liturgy to its full glory, and, by this means, to revive The Liturgy's true Catholic spirit. Another intervention by Pope Saint Pius X concerns The Liturgy considered at its heart; the practice of The Sacraments.

Read Part 9


Dom Gaspar Lefebvre And His Missal.
15 February 2020.

Born of Benedictine fathers, The Liturgical Movement for a long time will see its history linked to that of The Order of Saint Benedict. The Movement, which sprung specifically from The French Congregation and Dom Guéranger, would grow and quickly spread beyond the borders of France. Indeed, the expulsion of The Religious (The Laws of 1880 and 1903) for a time would shift The Liturgical Movement’s centre of gravity towards Belgium. Dom Lefebvre is a prominent representative.


Dom Lambert Beauduin And The Liturgical Movement.
2 March 2020.


Octave Beauduin was born in Rosoux, Belgium, on 4 August 1873. At the great Liège Seminary, he was strongly influenced by Fr. Antoine Pottier, who was very attached to The Workers’ Apostolate and the Encyclical “Rerum Novarum”.

He was ordained a Priest in 1897 and appointed Supervisor and Teacher at Saint-Trond. Starting in 1899, however, he joined the Diocesan Congregation of The Society of Labour Chaplains, Founded five years earlier. He carried out various responsibilities in this young and modest Congregation, principally that of running a House in Seraing, where, with other Priests, he undertook an Apostolate with the labourers.


The National Centre For Pastoral Liturgy.
19 March 2020.


On 20 May 1943, the Fathers Pie Duployé and Aimon-Marie Roguet (themselves, Dominicans) Founded The Centre de Pastorale Liturgique (CPL) [Centre for Pastoral Liturgy] on the premises of the Éditions du Cerf publishing house (belonging to The Dominicans). Dom Lambert Beauduin participated in the Foundation Meeting.


Maria Laach Abbey.
20 March 2020.

Maria Laach Abbey is a German Benedictine Monastery located in Glees, in The Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Founded in the 11th-Century, the Abbey has remained active, except for a time during the 19th-Century when it became a Jesuit Scholasticate.

Returning to its Benedictine vocation in 1892, it is now part of The Beuron Congregation of The Order of Saint Benedict. It brings together most of the male and female Benedictine Houses in the German language.


Fr. Romano Guardini.
22 March 2020.

Fr. Romano Guardini is rightly regarded as one of the Fathers of “The New Liturgy”. Through his writings, his Liturgical experience, and his influence, he marked The Liturgical Movement and participated in its Modernist Deviation.

Read Part 14


Fr. Pius Parsch.
26 March 2020.


With Fr. Romano Guardini, Fr. Pius Parsch is another key player from across The Rhine in The Liturgical Movement. Like Fr. Guardini, he was both a Theorist and a Liturgical “Experimenter,” seeking to embody his ideas in New Ceremonies.

Read Part 15


Liturgical Revolution And Reaction Of The Hierarchy.
20 May 2020.


During The Second World War, the German Clergy found themselves confined to Churches and Sacristies by the Anti-Christian Government. However, they did not remain inactive. Among the innovators, a veritable Liturgical Revolution was being prepared and developed. The ideas of Dom Odo Casel, Fr. Romano Guardini, and Fr. Pius Parsch, were thus gaining ground.

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