Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages PDF
Preview Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages
Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages PETER KWASNIEWSKI Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages Foreword by Martin Mosebach First published in the USA by Angelico Press 2017 © Peter Kwasniewski 2017 Foreword © Martin Mosebach 2017 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission For information, address: Angelico Press 4709 Briar Knoll Dr. Kettering, OH 45429 angelicopress.com [email protected] 978 1 62138 284 3 pb ISBN 978 1 62138 285 0 cloth ISBN 978 1 62138 286 7 ebook ISBN Cover photograph of the Rood in the Holy Cross Priory Church, Leicester, by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. Cover design: Michael Schrauzer CONTENTS Acknowledgments Foreword 1 Why the New Evangelization Needs the Old Mass 2 Reverence Is Not Enough: On the Importance of Tradition 3 The Spirit of the Liturgy in the Words and Actions of Our Lady 4 The New Liturgical Movement: Urgent Care for a Sick Church 5 Different Visions, Contrary Paths 6 Formed in the Spirit and Power of the Liturgy 7 Laying Our Foundation on Solid Rock 8 How the Usus Antiquior Elicits Superior Participation 9 A Perpetual Feast of All Saints 10 The Peace of Low Mass and the Glory of High Mass 11 Homage to Our Lady, Queen of the Liturgy 12 “Always Forward, Never Back” Bibliography About the Author TABLE OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photographs are listed according to the chapter before which they appear. 1 Main door, Cathedral of S. Rufino, Assisi, by Julian Kwasniewski 2 Bell tower, * Norcia, by Julian Kwasniewski 3 Wood carving of Calvary, in the Cloisters, New York, by Peter Kwasniewski 4 Wood carving of a saint, the Cloisters, New York, by Julian Kwasniewski 5 St. Benedict of Nursia, in St. Germain des Prés, Paris, by Julian Kwasniewski 6 Stained glass, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Marytown, Illinois, by Julian Kwasniewski 7 Sculpture on the wall of the courtyard of the Cathedral of S. Rufino, Assisi, by Julian Kwasniewski 8 Church of St. Winifride, Holywell, North Wales, for a Latin Mass Society Pilgrimage, courtesy of Dr. Joseph Shaw 9 Co-Cathedral of Norcia, * by Julian Kwasniewski 10 Church of St. Gallus, Gestratz, by Fr. Alban Cras, FSSP, © Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter 11 Chapel, Silverstream Priory, County Meath, Ireland, © Pawel Kula, used with permission 12 Lion, Palazzo Comunale, Norcia, by Julian Kwasniewski * The places in these photographs were destroyed by the earthquakes in Norcia in the second half of 2016. IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF Michael Davies (1936 – 2004) László Dobszay (1935 – 2011) Msgr. Klaus Gamber (1919 – 1987) and others of their generation, who fought the good fight in a time of great darkness, and without whom no such book as this could ever have been written. May the Lord crown their labors in the heavenly fatherland. “The memory of you will go with me all my life, to comfort and encourage me. You were a flame burning in darkness, and the fire which consumed you was the love of Mass.” Michael Kent, The Mass of Brother Michel Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16 The first characteristic of the anti-liturgical heresy is hatred of tradition as found in the formulas used in divine worship. One cannot fail to note this special characteristic in all heretics, from Vigilantius to Calvin, and the reason for it is easy to explain. Every sectarian who wishes to introduce a new doctrine finds himself, unfailingly, face to face with the Liturgy, which is Tradition at its strongest and best, and he cannot rest until he has silenced this voice, until he has torn up these pages which recall the faith of past centuries. Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B. Repudiated by the Modernists, the beauty of the Catholic liturgy, with its plainsong and its polyphony, with its noble prayers inherited from Christian Rome, with its harmonious reverence and its sure appeal to the human heart, is a cultural as well as a spiritual treasure. The traditional faith preserves not only the fabric of ancient churches but their meaning, the worship for which they were built and beautified. The works of the European past, in poetry, in painting, in music, reach out to the Catholic tradition for their interpretation; the same tradition guides the mind by a universal philosophy, one taken from the clarity of Greece and refined by the highest minds in the European intellectual tradition. If we would rise above the barbarism of modern society, we must turn to these things to rediscover what it has thrown aside. H.J.A. Sire Acknowledgments T of this book is woven out of previously published essays and HE CONTENT articles, rewritten and reorganized around the question: Why is the traditional understanding and practice of liturgical worship right in itself, and therefore crucial to recover in our day, when it has been largely abandoned? Chapter 1 derives from a lecture delivered at the Franciscan University of Steubenville on September 7, 2015; chapter 2 from a lecture at the Premonstratensian Abbey of Strahov in Prague for the launch of the Czech edition of Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis on October 14, 2016; and chapter 3 from my plenary address at the Annual General Meeting of the Vancouver Traditional Mass Society on November 12, 2016. Part of Chapter 7 was published at the blog OnePeterFive. Chapter 9 was published in Latin Mass: The Journal of Catholic Culture and Tradition. Most of the other chapters contain material that first appeared at Rorate Caeli, New Liturgical Movement, or Views from the Choir Loft. Passages of Sacred Scripture quoted in this book are generally drawn from the Douay-Rheims translation. Citations of the Psalms follow the traditional Vulgate numbering. I express my gratitude to all the conference organizers who gave me the opportunity to develop my thoughts in writing and to the various editors who, over the years, have improved my work with their criticisms and counsel. In particular, this manuscript benefited from the astute eye of Michael Martin. I thank the friends, young and old, who have read my essays, corrected my errors, and forced me to go deeper and further. Deserving of special thanks for the handsome black and white photographs that adorn the chapters are Fr. Alban Cras, F.S.S.P., Dom Mark Kirby, O.S.B., Pawel Kula, Dr. Joseph Shaw, and my son Julian. Martin Mosebach’s incisive writings on the liturgy have influenced me greatly. It is therefore a special joy for me to be able to include, as the Foreword
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