If the new Missal had been an option, something to be used to not based on parish preference, history would have turned out very differently. As it was, the use of force to overturn in a matter of months a ritual known by countless generations all over the world caused unprecedented devastation to the Catholic world, with people fleeing their parishes, priests and religious sisters leaving their vocations, and average people losing heart for the entire enterprise. It was a shocking and brutal act of ecclesiastical power, and surely one of the most un-pastoral events in Catholic history. We are still in recovery mode.
If the goal was to suppress the conciliar (and preconciliar) Mass, it didn't work. To me the failure of this generation's methods are best illustrated by this most wonderful iPad and iPhone application: iMass. It shows daily Mass (with a homily!) on your digital device. But even if you are not interested in watching the daily Mass on an Apple product, the application offers something that I personally find of great value: it provides the text of the daily Mass with all prayers including daily propers (according to the old calendar of course).
I think we can probably say that the exposure of the world to the Tridentine form has never been more universal than it is today. Let this be a lesson to anyone who would be tempted by the belief that force is a more effective tool than persuasion to bring about reform! Print this post
