The Growth of the Traditional Rite

The Traditional Latin Rite has seen tremendous growth since the promulgation the letter ‘Quattuor Abhinc Annos’, which in 1984 authorized the celebration of the Rite of St Pius V, allowing the use of the Missal of 1962. There are restrictions on the celebration of the Mass according to the missal of '62, and currently to say this Mass the priest needs the permission of the Bishop of his Diocese. This is quite an odd fact, as Vatican II did not call for the deconstruction and destruction of the Latin Rite that occurred following the Council. Sacrosanctum Concilium, the chief liturgical text of the Council only stated the following:

“In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue. This is to apply in the first place, to the readings and to the Common Prayer. But also as local conditions may warrant, to those parts which pertain to the people. Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them."

Far from abolishing Latin, the Council had a much more limited view on the use of the vernacular. The people are actually called upon to say or sing the Ordinary of the Mass (those parts of the Mass not changing from day to day) in Latin. Like so many other post-Vatican II innovations not called for by the Council itself, the Liturgy was radically adapted and transmuted and treated like a grand labratory for unlimited experimentation. Personally I think that this liturgical "renewal" caused the most harm to the Faith following the Council. Aside from many of the prayers being watered down in translation from the original Latin, many Priests simply added their own banality to the mix. The Liturgy being abused and turned into the Liturgy of Joe Bob Priest instead of the Liturgy of the Church, which all of the baptised have the right to have celebrated in their local parish.

The bright spots currently:
1) The contiued growth of the Traditional Rite. Many young families with many children
and many vocations to the priesthood. About 5-6 new weekly Traditional Rite Masses per
year in the U.S., primarily being offered by the Priestly Franternity of St. Peter and the
Institute of Christ the King. This number should increase as the number of seminarians is
growing every year.

2) A new translation of the Novus Ordo Missal (vernacular) which is much more faithful
to the original Latin. Should be implemented in the next two years.

3) Younger priests are much more orthodox and less apt to mess with the Liturgy.