The Catholic Mass: Steps to Restore the Centrality of God in the Liturgy

by Athanasius Schneider, Aurelio Porfiri

We are going through a period of liturgical exile, explains Bishop Athanasius Schneider in this enlightening book, and the vast proliferation of modern abuses are crying out for liturgical reform. The primary source of most modern abuses, he declares, is man’s narcissistic tendency to idolize himself instead of paying homage to God. In what is sure to be seen as one of the most impressive and authoritative books ever written on the Catholic Mass, Bishop Schneider reestablishes what Catholics have known for centuries but have largely forgotten that the Mass is the highest form of Christian prayer, which enables us to express with exterior worship our interior belief. He describes how saints such as Padre Pio and John Vianney helped the faithful enter into a profound spiritual experience during Mass, and he explains why the Mass should serve as a means to lift our hearts to God so we can surrender to His will. You’ll come to understand why the rubrics are vital to preserving the authenticity of the liturgy, and you’ll learn why architecture, music, sacred art, and even incense are vital symbols that direct our attention to Heaven. You’ll also
Bishop Schneider and coauthor Aurelio Porfiri encourage the revival of public prayers, such as the Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharistic adoration. He explains how genuflecting, kneeling, and prostrating oneself are all outward signs of reverence that demonstrate this inward action. Our duty, he declares, is to render “perpetual thanksgiving” to God at Mass. Indeed, as he solemnly asserts, “The Mass is the greatest and most important work of the Church.”

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Theology, Spirituality, Prayer

320 pages, Hardcover

Published January 24, 2022

About the author

Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. (Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Paul Robinson]

This is an excellent and timely book. The topics are wide-ranging and each chapter is well-organized. The chapters start out with a presentation of the Mass under one of its various aspects, e.g. "prayer", "adoration", "ritual", and so on. Then, after discussing beautifully the richness of the Mass, the chapter moves to criticize the liturgical "reform" and show how it falls short.

In that regard, the following topics are treated:
pp. 17-24: the advantages of Latin being the liturgical language and so the disadvantages of the vernacular
pp. 42-47: why celebrating Mass ad orientem has been the practice of the Church from the very beginning
pp. 64-67: the New Mass as unstable and changeable
pp. 84-93: the New Mass weakens the Mass as being a sacrifice
pp. 124-125: the New Mass as lacking beauty
pp. 143: the New Mass as lacking sacred signs
pp. 171-173: the problem with the expression "Liturgy of the Word" as a replacement for "Mass of the Catechumens"
pp. 181-182: bad music in the Novus Ordo
pp. 220-235: critique of concelebration
pp. 237-257 (all of chapter 11): critique of the idea that the minor orders are ministries to be performed by the baptized and possessing the common priesthood of the faithful, not exclusively by those connected with the sacramental priesthood
pp. 264-286: critique of Communion in the hand

Besides these critiques, the parts speaking about true devotion to the Mass are a treasure. Particularly valuable are the rich quotations that Bishop Schneider draws from a wide variety of sources--half of this book or more consists of quotations.

My only criticism is that Bishop Schneider often draws good citations from Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, but then does not mention that they are partly responsible for the terrible state of the liturgy that is criticized so incisively. He even speaks of Pope John Paul II as being "of blessed memory", when, unfortunately, the latter was responsible for a serious diminution of respect for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and for a long-standing prohibition of the authentic Mass.

[Clare Spelick]

This is the book to read if you want to simultaneously be both absolutely furious at the "state of things" and hopeful for a better future. Bishop Schneider's translated work is well written, organized, and accessible. If you are familiar with the terms used in a traditional Mass, you should have no problem understanding the verbage and formation of the layout described in this work. That said, having been to both a Novus Ordo and Tridentine Mass, I think it would have behooved the authors to include, at least briefly, a flow-chart (or anything similar) of how a traditional Mass goes through the Mass. I mainly say this because there are laity who have never had the opportunity to see the Latin Mass and might be confused to what problems Bishop Schneider is referring to.

Altogether, this was an excellently written work, though perhaps overly optimistic in outlook. It is well-researched and I felt more knowledgeable for having read it.

[Olga]

Instagram made me buy a book and, for once, I would like to formally thank the algorithm.


I came across The Catholic Mass completely by accident in an Instagram post, and I am so incredibly glad I did. This is one of those books where I kept having the slightly strange experience of finding thoughts and discomforts I have carried around for years suddenly being articulated, explained and, most importantly, grounded in theology.


For me, this is personal.


I grew up Catholic in Poland, and when I moved to the UK I genuinely found the difference in Catholic liturgical culture shocking. Things I had understood simply as normal Catholic practice suddenly weren't normal at all.


Receiving Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue was normal to me. Reverence, silence and very clear distinctions between the sanctuary and congregation were normal to me. Then I arrived in Britain and encountered forms of Catholic worship that, to my Polish Catholic sensibilities, felt almost Protestant. 


Female altar servers and women reading at Mass were particularly jarring to me because they were so removed from the liturgical culture in which I had grown up.


For quite a long time, I struggled enormously with it.


Eventually I was fortunate enough to find a church where the liturgy is celebrated in a much more traditional and reverent way, and it made an enormous difference to my ability to feel at home in the Mass again.


What I appreciated so much about Bishop Schneider's book is that he goes considerably deeper than simply saying, "The old way was more beautiful."


This isn't primarily an argument about aesthetics.


It is an argument about what the Mass is.

That distinction matters enormously.


Schneider continually returns to the idea that the liturgy exists first and foremost for God.


The Mass is not principally a community gathering, a celebration of ourselves or an opportunity for everybody to have something to do. It is worship. It is adoration. It is sacrifice. It is participation in the sacrifice of Christ.


Once you begin there, all the apparently little external things suddenly stop being little.


Why kneel?

Why genuflect?

Why incense?

Why silence?

Why sacred music?

Why ad orientem?

Why should there be rules governing what happens at the altar at all?


Schneider's answer is essentially that human beings are embodied creatures. What we do with our bodies expresses what we believe with our souls. Kneeling says something. Facing God together says something. Silence says something. Beauty says something. The physical language of worship teaches us what is happening even before anyone explains it.


And this is where the book became particularly powerful for me.


Schneider doesn't simply tell us that traditional practices are better because they are older. He goes backwards through Scripture, the Fathers, the saints and the historical development of Christian worship and asks what these practices were actually trying to communicate. 


The publisher's description highlights exactly this breadth: Scripture, the saints and Doctors of the Church are used alongside discussions of ad orientem worship, ritual, sacred art, music, incense, genuflection, kneeling and Eucharistic thanksgiving. 


There is deep theology underneath all of it.

That was probably my favourite aspect of the book.


Because I have heard the arguments about traditional liturgy presented as though they amount to little more than personal taste.


"You prefer Latin."

"You like incense."

"You prefer people kneeling."

"You like old churches."


No.


Schneider's argument is that these things embody a particular theological understanding of God, man, sacrifice and worship. You can disagree with his conclusions, of course, but you cannot seriously read this book and dismiss his position as nostalgia.


One of the ideas that stayed with me most strongly is his insistence on restoring the centrality of God.


Such a simple phrase.


And yet it changes the entire way we think about liturgy.


If God is genuinely the centre, the question stops being, What makes the congregation feel involved?


Instead it becomes, What is fitting worship of God?


That is a profoundly different starting point.

I found his discussion of bodily reverence particularly moving. Schneider connects genuflection, kneeling and even prostration with the interior act of making ourselves small before God. His theology of adoration begins with the acknowledgement that God is God and we are creatures. 


Perhaps that is why the discussion of receiving Holy Communion resonated so deeply with me.


I have always felt most comfortable receiving kneeling and on the tongue. For years that was simply instinctive to me because it was how I had been formed. This book gave me the theological language for something I had previously experienced largely at the level of intuition.


The body participates in belief.


If I believe that the Host before me is genuinely Christ, then what I do with my body in His presence isn't irrelevant.


That doesn't mean that every Catholic who receives differently lacks reverence. Of course it doesn't. But it does mean that posture isn't meaningless.


Lex orandi, lex credendi.

How we pray forms what we believe.


I also appreciated that this isn't simply three hundred pages of complaining about modern liturgy. Schneider talks beautifully about what the Mass actually is, how we should prepare ourselves for it, how we listen to Scripture, how we unite ourselves to Christ's sacrifice, and even how we should spend the time following Holy Communion. He also argues for recovering practices such as Eucharistic adoration and the public celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours.


There is something deeply positive underneath the criticism.


He isn't ultimately asking, "How do we make the Mass old again?"


He is asking, "How do we make God central again?" That is a much more interesting question.


I suspect this book will irritate some Catholics enormously. Bishop Schneider certainly doesn't hedge his opinions, and anyone who is completely satisfied with the direction of modern Catholic liturgy is unlikely to agree with everything here.


I didn't find that a problem.


Books about religion should occasionally make us examine what we have simply accepted as normal.


For me, however, the overwhelming feeling was one of recognition.


After years of wondering why certain liturgical practices affected me so strongly, why some celebrations of Mass made me feel profoundly at home while others left me feeling as though something essential had disappeared, I finally encountered somebody explaining that experience through Scripture, theology and the history of Catholic worship.


It was incredibly validating.


And perhaps coming from Poland made me particularly receptive to it. I had experienced another Catholic liturgical culture before encountering British Catholicism, so I knew instinctively that what I was seeing wasn't simply "how Catholicism is". There were choices behind these practices, histories behind them and, as Schneider demonstrates, theological assumptions behind them too.


I wish I had read this years ago.


Five stars.


Beautiful, challenging, deeply theological and extraordinarily well researched. Whether you ultimately agree with Bishop Schneider's prescriptions or not, I think Catholics would benefit from wrestling with the question underneath the entire book:

When we enter a church for Mass, who is all of this actually for?


Because if the answer is God, then perhaps the way we worship Him deserves considerably more thought than we sometimes give it.

[Michael]

Comprehensive coverage. Restoration of the Centrality of the Eucharist is accomplished by the reintroduction of the Traditional Latin Mass far and wide.

[Jake Justen]

There's a lot of good history in this book about the Mass, from its early days in the first century to present day. The section about reverence due to the Eucharist and how distribution has evolved over 2000 years was really interesting. The authors go really hard with the radtrad view of the Mass and Vatican 2, which is largely why I dropped the rating; I tend to be trad, but not rad.

[Louis R]

Some practical tips, but mostly worth the read for the ubiquitous footnotes and citations, which make it worth reading, or at least skimming, to read those.

[Ľudovít Ján Čalfa]

Na nové knižné dielo biskupa Athanasia Schneidera som sa tešil. Už nejaký čas vnímam tohto pastiera kazašskej cirkvi, ako jednu z kľúčových postáv skutočnej liturgickej obnovy a silného obrancu tradičnej katolíckej ortodoxie.

Aj, ako nástupca apoštolov a aj, ako spisovateľ, koná svoju prácu s veľkou pokorou. V obdivuhodnej poslušnosti voči Svätému Písmu a Tradícii; práve tak, ako sa na skutočného svätca patrí. Či už počúvame príhovory alebo čítame slová na papieri, jazyk vyjadrovania Jeho Excelencie žiari rozvahou a priamosťou. Občas vyznie tvrdo, no všetky myšlienky stoja na citlivej láske k Pravde. Teda k Bohu a k človeku.

Je mi ľúto, že plánovaná košická prezentácia Katolíckej Omše v roku Pána 2023 sa naponok vôbec nezrealizovala. O dôvod viac však po tejto dôležitej knihe siahnuť.

Hlavnou tézou knižného diela napísaného v spolupráci s talianskym skladateľom Aureliom Porfirim, je návrat Boha do centra liturgie.

Niekto by sa mohol poznamenať - “Ale veď ten názov implikuje, že Boh už nie je stredobodom bohoslužby…”

Dobrá poznámka, ktorá stojí za preskúmanie. Avšak na to, aby pozorný veriaci začal vnímať, že sa pri bežnom vykonávaní bohoslužby podľa Nového Omšového Poriadku deje akási opačná antropologická evolúcia (alebo evolučná chyba) kde začína byť stredom liturgie človek a nie Boh, netreba žiadne teologické doktoráty.

Stačí sa prísť pozrieť na spôsob vysluhovania Najsvätejšej Obety, Svätej Omše, v priemerných kostoloch latinskej cirkvi (ak sa pri Novus Ordo ešte vôbec dá hovoriť o akejsi latinskej, rímskokatolíckej identite). Do popredia sa čoraz viac tlačí osobnosť kňaza a charakter prítomného liturgického zhromaždenia. Orientácia spravodlivej bohoslužby, katolíckej omše, však bola v priebehu celý dejín Cirkvi jasne zameraná na Pána Boha. Symbolicky, aj cez spoločnú modlitbu celého veriaceho ľudu smerom na Východ. Omša je adorácia a práve tento úkon obrátenia rovnakým smerom -versus Deum alebo ad orientem, túto nemennú pravdu nádherne zdôrazňuje.

Čítať Katolícku Omšu je, ako počúvať, prenesene povedané, hlas proroka volajúceho na takmer vyprahnutej liturgickej púšti 21. storočia. Gesto spoločnej adorácie je len jedným z množstva veľmi podstatných prvkov, ktoré chudobnej, novej omši chýbajú. Autori knihy pomocou presvedčivých a fundovaných dôkazov ukazujú čitateľovi, akým žalostným spôsobom sme sa prakticky od pravej, kristocentrickej bohoslužby odklonili po Druhom vatikánskom koncile. Dielo prekypuje hodnotnými myšlienkami a vzácnymi, hlbokými citátmi cirkevných otcov či rôznych svätých.

Všetky vyjadrenia smerujú k jednej, večnej pravde - Návrat Boha do centra liturgie je potrebný pre spravodlivý život. Pán biskup predkladá podnetné pasáže zo Svätého Písma a vyjadrenia svätcov, či súčasnej cirkevnej hierarchie, ktoré poukazujú na dôležitosť úctivej a krásnej bohoslužby.

Najväčšia chvála, vrúcna vďaka a náležitá úcta sa vzdáva Pánu Bohu práve cez tradičnú Svätú Omšu. Po takomto výroku by sme okamžite mohli nabiť naše zbrane argumentačnými nábojmi všetkých druhov a začať strieľať.

Myšlienka Katolíckej Omše však presahuje akékoľvek „liturgické vojny“, ktoré by mala jedna, či druhá strana pokušenie viesť.

Svätá Omša, Kalvária prítomná na oltároch našich kostolov, bola po tisícročia tou najkrajšou a najdôležitejšou udalosťou, akej sa človek mohol (musel!) zúčastniť. Povolanie každého veriaceho je teda, zložiť zbrane zbytočných hádok a spoločne sa klaňať Bohu. Spoločne mu dávať, čo mu patrí.

Biskup Athanasius Schneider nás cez toto mimoriadne hodnotné dielo pozýva pochopiť, prečo je úctivá Svätá Omša tak nesmierne dôležitá a kľúčová pre naše pozemské, ale aj posmrtné životy.

Náš Boh je spravodlivý, a teda o spravodlivosť voči nemu sa máme zo všetkých síl snažiť aj my.

Boh našu chválu nepotrebuje. Je to pre naše večné dobro, ktoré nám, ako milosrdný Otec, s neopísateľnou láskou ponúka.

„Teda oficiálna verejná bohoslužba a princíp, že jej slávenie potrebuje presné vymedzenie sú Bohom zjavené pravdy.“ (str. 17.)

„Poklona sa po grécky povie proskýnesis, čo doslovne znamená padnúť na zem. Naznačuje, že Boh je veľký a že my sa robíme malými. Robiť sa malými je ovocím skutočnej adorácie. Ako nás učí Preblahoslavená Panna Mária a Matka Božia v Magnificat. Boh nás povyšuje, keď sa ponižujeme.“ (str. 33)

„Boh nás stvoril ako bytosti zložené z tela a duše; človek nemôže žiť v súlade so svojou ľudskou prirodzenosťou, ak toto zloženie ignoruje alebo zle chápe. Ak sa pokúsime zbaviť tela alebo zmyslov, smerujeme ku gnosticizmu, teda pohŕdaniu tým, čo je viditeľné, a teda aj pohŕdaniu rituálmi.“ (str. 50)

„Svätý Leonard z Port Maurice povedal, že svätá omša: je nie kópia, ale originál obety Kríža. Jej výnimočnosť je ešte posilnená tým, že kňazom pri nej nie je nikto iný ako Boh, ktorý sa stal človekom… Teraz pozorujte obdivuhodnú vznešenosť svätej omše v každom z tých troch ohľadov: Kňaz, ktorý ju obetuje, je Bohočlovek Kristus Ježiš; Obetou je život Boží; a neobetuje sa niekomu inému ako Bohu.“ (str. 70)

V Kristovi trpiacom na kríži nachádzame poklady duchovnej krásy. Ako povedal svätý Bonaventúra: „Tvoje srdce je cenný poklad; tvoje srdce je klenot. Našli sme ho, keď bolo rozorané pole Tvojho tela.“ (str. 88)

„Tridentský koncil pripomenul kňazom aj veriacim, že slávenie svätej omše je ten najsvätejší úkon, aký môže byť na svete vykonaný: „Veriaci nemôžu vykonať nič svätejšie ani božskejšie ako toto úžasné tajomstvo, pri ktorom sa životodarná obeť, ktorá nás zmieruje s Otcom denne obetuje na oltári.“ (str. 110)

„V skutočnosti nutnosť nie je na Jeho, ale na našej strane - sme to my, kto Mu musí ďakovať! Nevďačnosť je veľký hriech a veľká nespravodlivosť. Za našu spásu musíme ďakovať preto, že je to spravodlivé a preto, že je to výraz synovskej lásky.“ (str. 126)

„Ten jediný pravý Boh nie je len taký, ako vyznávajú určite monoteistické náboženstvá; On je - a musí byť uctievaný ako - jediný a trojjediný Boh, ako Svätá Trojica, Boh, akého nám zjavilo vtelené Božie Slovo.“ (str. 141)

„Len katolícka Cirkev je krásna. Videl by si, čo mám na mysli, keby si išiel do nejakej katedrály v zahraničí, alebo hoci aj do jedného z katolíckych kostolov v našich veľkých mestách. Celebrant, diakon a subdiakon, akolyti so svetlami, kadidlo a spev - všetko sa spája v jednom cieli, v jednom akte uctievania. Cítite, že je to skutočná bohopocta; každý zmysel, oči, uši, čuch vedia, že prebieha bohoslužba. Laici v laviciach sa modlia svoje ružence, alebo robia to, čo im náleží; zbor spieva Kyrie; a kňazi a ich pomocníci sa hlboko skláňajú a hovoria Confiteor. Toto je bohopocta, ktorá vysoko presahuje rozum.“ (od sv. John Henry Newman zo svojho románu Straty a zisky, citácia na str. 157)

[Paul]

A powerful, deeply-informed and challenging argument for restoration of the prominence of the Roman Rite (Latin Mass) in the Church. Without rancor or denunciation, Bishop Schneider nevertheless carefully elaborates the shortcomings of the Novus Ordo Mass. The book contains extensive quotations from across the centuries, East and West, saints, scholars, popes and bishops. This is one of those books that will be left unread by critics rather than wrestled with, precisely because it's too rigorous and convincing.

[Fr. Christian]

Good, but very general/introductory.

[Cynthia Netherton]

This is an exceptionally well written book. It contains many references from saints, Pope's, the catechism, and the bible. It's just a bit out of my league though. I'll pick it up at a later date.

[Literacki Zakątek]

Warto wsłuchać się w słowa bp. Schneidera, który pragnie podzielić się z nami prawdą noszoną w sercu, dotyczącą Mszy Świętej. Ważna, wartościowa i bardzo potrzebna książka. Bądźmy wrażliwymi, świadomymi katolikami. Odkryjmy prawdę i uczcijmy Boga w Najświętszej Hostii i Mszy Świętej. Tego pragnie każde serce po lekturze niniejszej książki. Bardzo, bardzo polecam!

[William]

This book offers a helpful and perceptive analysis of the problems with the Novus Ordo Mass and the reasons for the superiority of the Traditional form. The importance of reverent and honorable worship, and the dangers of a careless and emotional attitude towards the Sacred Liturgy are all explained. My problem with the book is that probably about half of the text is actually excerpts from other sources. It is always good to be informed by the wise guidance of theologians and Church documents from previous ages, but in order to preserve the narrative and coherence of a text, as well as to justify his reasons for writing another book, an author must be able to make a point himself, not simply cut out a lengthy excerpt of something else and expect that do take care of things for him. At times, Schneider did not do this, nor did he always make a clear connection between what was said in a document that he quoted and what he was trying to say in a chapter. The result was that the book often felt like a disjointed collection of excerpts from other sources rather than anything original or unique.

I read Schneider's book interview with Diane Montagna, Christus Vincit. That was excellent, and I think that if someone only wants to read one book by Athanasius Schneider, they should choose that one. This one is still worth reading. It is theologically sound and contains numerous valuable insights, both in the original text and in text reproduced from other sources. But it is not a masterpiece. It is very good, but not excellent.

[Lorinda Dubay]

Beautiful

Every Catholic needs to read this book because they have forgotten the true meaning of the mass. This is a eye opener of what we need to remember of what the mass is all about.