Pope Paul's New Mass

Liturgical Revolution #3

by Michael Treharne Davies

Liturgical Revolution, Vol. 3: Pope Pauls New Mass.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Theology, History, Nonfiction

673 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1980

About the author

Michael Treharne Davies (1936-2004) was a convert from Anglicanism to the Catholic Church in the 1950s, and was a Catholic writer who authored various works following the Second Vatican Council, in addition to unifying Una Voce America, a conservative group. He went on to compose such works as The Liturgical Revolution, The Order of Melchisedech, Partisans of Error, For Altar and Throne,, and The Wisdom of Adrian Fortescue. Upon Davies' death in 2004, Pope Benedict XVI called him a man of deep faith who was ready to embrace suffering

Reviews

[Emily Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Davies wrote this book in the early 80s, so this book is an exceptional record of history of the imposition of the Novus Ordo and the decade that followed. This period of time came well before I was born, and this book is an extremely important eyewitness contemporary history of this time, especially since Michael Davies is an extremely reliable source, and something of an investigative journalist, since he was able to sometimes write to people involved and include their responses.

Much in this book is extremely valuable. First off, it documents the crazy abuses that were allowed and encouraged in the 70s and early 80s, which of course was the part of the time when the hierarchy was most active in persecuting any priest who said the Latin Mass. This context cannot be forgotten, lest anyone in future generations think those efforts were anything but diabolical. Davies records, for instance, how the bishop in whose diocese the clown and circus Masses were openly occurring, was simultaneously tolerating those and censuring a priest who was saying the 1962 missal.

Likewise, this book has direct quotes from the 1969 papally-promulgated GIRM, which many would rather go down the memory hole. Davies has it, and cites the explicitly heretical sections directly, showing how it was cleaned up in 1970 in side-by-side comparisons. Many do not know that the Novus Ordo was promulgated with a GIRM that contained heresy. It gave a completely Protestant definition of the Mass, and twice said that the Mass re-presented the Last Supper. Paul VI hastily fixed the GIRM, but left the Novus Ordo, written by the same authors, untouched. Because of its hasty re-publication, this can easily be forgotten, but the cited record is here.

Davies records official recognition even from the Vatican that liturgical abuse was so bad that they knew many priests were making up their own Canons. Of course, if the canon is changed too much, the Mass ceases to be Catholic and often ceases to be valid, which meant that people everywhere were worshipping invalid sacraments and/or were not fulfilling their Sunday obligations. Rome's official response is recorded, and is simply a request that bishops recommend priests stop doing this. It is mind-boggling.

Since Davies is an Anglican convert, he understands classical Protestant doctrine much better than most. In the U.S., we have many more non-denominational evangelicals, so the ecumenism that is in vogue among Catholic intelligentsia can be unrecognized by us. Davies, being more familiar with the Protestant creeds in Europe, which would also be those most familiar to the liberal prelates involved in the drafting of the new Mass, is able to explain how certain omissions and additions have ecumenical purpose. He also lays the TLM, Novus Ordo, and Cramner's first missal side by side to show the similarities of the changes. (Davies never says that the Novus Ordo is completely Protestant; he points out how it it was designed to be acceptable to Catholics and Protestants.). He then cites several influential Protestant leaders and organizations who expressed their pleasure with the Catholic Church promulgating a Mass they were finally able to use too. He also documents how changes in the Novus Ordo were also made by some Anglicans to their books, to the chagrin of some of their faithful, providing evidence of Protestant cooperation in these changes.

Davies shows the dishonest and sometimes schismatic machinations perpetrated by bishops and priests to disobediently adopt the practices of Communion in the hand and Communion by common cup, which are also very important to know now, since these practices have become ubiquitous.

Finally, in its appendices, after some papal allocutions, it includes an important critique of the first ICEL translation, including a prayer that was turned into an Arian statement. It also includes, with documentation from bishops' public letters and official diocesan publications, the serious crisis that happened in the U.S. of which I was not aware. Through the 70s and 80s it was common practice for people to make their own altar breads. Recipes always varied, and often included ingredients that would render Mass gravely illicit or completely invalid. Paul VI did very little to stop this, and dioceses would publish invalid recipes, or make no effort to stop churches from using them. Like the made-up Canons, this practice meant Catholics were worshipping nothing more than a piece of cake, were not fulfilling their Sunday obligations, and it meant priests were sinning gravely by taking stipends for Masses they were not saying. As of the writing of this book, none of that was ever redressed. John Paul II did try to curb the practice by restating clearly what the bread needed to be, but the issues of missed Masses and stolen stipends has, as far as I know, never been addressed. Since this is rarely seen anymore, thank God, the documentation that this occurred, with citations from official diocesan sources, is extremely important.

This is an invaluable resource, especially now, as we begin yet another round of persecution of faithful Catholics, another unjust "suppression" of the Roman Rite, and more propaganda about the wonderful fruits brought by the Novus Ordo. After reading this, a Catholic would be well-equipped to provide many examples of dissent, heresy, sacrilege, and destruction that, whether people like it or not, are in fact what accompanied the imposition of the New Mass, as well as some of the shameful and faithless actions of those in charge of writing and promulgating it.

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brutal trilogy. It is not fun reading, despite being well written. Mr. Davies makes the case that the liturgical changes after the Second Vatican Council basically watered down the liturgy to such an extent that a Protestant could use it without qualms or changing their theology in the slightest degree.

And Mr. Davies makes a devastating case for that. Just about every prayer that mentions sacrifice is gutted. Prayers dating back to the Roman Empire are snipped out.

Nobody was asking for this beforehand. A great many left the Church after. And by their fruits you shall know them: there was no Second Pentecost.

[John Ray Catingub · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last in Davies' Liturgical Revolution trilogy, "Pope Paul's New Mass" is a thorough look at the motives in and implementation of the Novus Ordo Missae that followed the Second Vatican Council and changed Catholic worship forever. Part history, part theological critique, the book spares nothing in its documentation of liturgical abuses, private correspondence about the new Mass (both positive and negative), and assessments of liturgical documents and revolutionary movers. It is a massive book and, while it stretches only as far as the early 1980s, it could have been longer. It is a shame that Davies did not live to see Pope Benedict XVI's Summorum Pontificum enacted; a fourth book could have delved deeper into the abuses fostered by the Novus Ordo Missae but, also, looked with hope into the future of the Tridentine Mass.

[Dan DalMonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes an utter catastrophe that began with Pope John's Council. There were ambiguous phrases in the documents of Vatican II that could assuage the conscience of a conservative while at the same time affirming the ambitions of Modernists and Liberal clergy. The latter took advantage of this opening to revolutionize the Church. Pope Francis has exploded the myth of continuity between the Conciliar Church and the Church of the Council of Trent. If the Novus Ordo Missae and the Roman Rite of 1962 are continuous, why did Francis have to ban the latter in Traditiones Custodes? Indeed, the Novus Ordo is a scandalously deficient expression of the Sacrifice of the Mass, in which the Calvary is re-presented and Catholics receive the graces from the Sacrifice. All of the changes of the Novus Ordo Missae are meant to derogate that Sacrifice. This derogation is in line with Protestant theology, which identifies the sacrifice with the prayer and thanksgiving of the congregation. The priest is no longer special. Just as in Protestantism the pastor is just a presider, the priest in the Novus Ordo shares his duties with several lay assistants, who read and even distribute the Hostia with their unconsecrated hands. Catholics have to realize that they are witnessing a complete revolution from a Mass that nourished the church for centuries. Davies documents in meticulous detail the departures from Tradition. He explains who Anibal Bugnini was, and how Protestants demanded that all congregants gain accesss to communion under two kinds (Catholics believe that the Sacrifice of the Mass occurs regardless of who attends, and that this Sacrifice is not a meal). Davies also discusses the current practice of receiving communion on the hand. Bishops complain about a lapse in faith in the Real Presence, but they need to consider how the Novus Ordo is detracting from this idea.

[Zach de Walsingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. For any who read this today, this documents the issues of liturgical chaos in the 1970's in England and in the United States and shows the doctrinal implications of either bad translations, or of liturgical actions that are valid yet water down traditional teaching. I think eighty percent of the issues brought up were resolved, at least on paper, by three actions which finished after Michael Davies passed away:

1) The 2001 document "Liturgiam Authenticam" which required a re-translating of the Novus Ordo, and more accurate translations from ICEL, which finished in 2011. The Latin form of this presumes Ad Orientem.

2) The 2015 approval of Divine Worship: The Missal (the Ordinariate use of the Roman liturgy). This liturgy normally uses "Ad Orientem" and Communion rails, it also only has Eucharistic Prayers 1 and 2. It also requires Eucharistic Prayer 1 (the Roman Canon) on all Sundays and Feast days, and it brought back the Judica Me (Psalm 42) prayers at the foot of the altar, and it brought back the Last Gospel of John 1. It also removes the objectionable "Berakhah" prayers that were brought in.

3) The 2007 confirmation from "Summorum Pontificam", of priests to be able to use the Breviarum Romanum and 1962 Missale Romanum at any time, privately or publicly (publicy currently being governed by Traditiones Custodes).

[Andrew Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

To understand the conflicts over the liturgy in the Church, read this book...