Mr Millette reviews Dr Kwasniewski's recent book, Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed.
From One Peter Five
By Dan Millette
Close the workshop!
I imagine very few millennials grew up as traditional Catholics. For most of us, it was a tangled process, or rather conversion, that led from the kitsch and thin Catholicism of our youth—“And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack. Ouch!”—to that rich, distant land of Tradition.
It took until my late teens before I attended my first traditional Latin Mass. I was sold right from the Asperges. “Eureka!…or whatever that word is in Latin,” I marveled, “I’ve found IT!”
That was then, this is now. Over two decades later I am still processing what happened to Tradition in the Church and, of equal importance, why. Realizations are messy and disorienting. What happened to the music? Blessings? Liturgical calendars? The Divine Office? The propers of the Mass? The rites of all seven sacraments. Morality. Theology. And why, Lord, why? I’ve learned that the differences between Tradition and “the Novus Ordo paradigm” are legion.
I recall vividly the precise moment I understood that the Novus Ordo Mass was broken, could never be fixed, did not want to be fixed. It was a decade ago. Some siblings, friends, and I decided to lead the music at Mass for the local Novus Ordo parish. Just once a month. Rather than Marty Haugen and Dan Schutte, we dabbled in the likes of Aquinas, Dubois, and Bruckner. Organ replaced the guitar and piano. Need I add that there was a 50-year difference in the average age between our choir and the regular group?
One day after singing at Mass, while I was still kneeling in prayer, I was accosted by a man.
“You are not allowed to have Latin at Mass!” he spoke, his lip quivering in anger.
Still on my knees, I replied what I knew was true, “The rubrics say Latin is supposed to be sung.”
“The bishop said no! You are disobeying the bishop!”
This incident led me on a wild goose chase. I needed answers. More than anything, I needed to know that the Church had my back. I wrote to the pastor. I wrote to the bishop. I wrote to the Papal Nuncio. After many months of being ignored, I was finally instructed to take time off work, drive an hour and a half, and meet the bishop.
We met. The bishop seemed surprised by my ordeal. “Why, I love music in Latin! I love it when we sing Kyrie Eleison!”
That summarized it all. “Eureka!” I marveled once again, “he doesn’t even know Latin from Greek!” In the end, nothing was done. Nobody cared. We quit singing. I’m sure the dying parish rejoiced. And I knew. I just knew. The Novus Ordo Mass doesn’t have Latin because it doesn’t make sense to have Latin in it. And one other thing I knew: it was all broken beyond repair.
From start to finish.
* * *
Many years have passed. Many years of studying, listening, and thinking about the issue. Many years of discernment, conversion, and continual surprise. And then, out of thin air, the book I needed all along appeared earlier this year. Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s new book, Close the Workshop: Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed. I will forgo the cliché about Dr. K. writing a book every week—true as it may be—and stick to the topic at hand.
The title says it all. Close the Workshop. Shut it down. It’s time to stop the useless tinkering, tapping of hammers, kicking despondently at tires, and drinking beer while staring blankly at a fatally broken project. Why? Because, as the subtitle proclaims, the Old Mass isn’t Broken, and the New Mass Can’t Be Fixed.
The book begins with the latter. And it is this first section that might be the hardest for people to stomach. Why can’t the Novus Ordo Mass be fixed? Dr. Kwasniewski offers a devastating critique, delving into theology, history, authority, personal experience, and common sense. He begins with a look at Vatican II’s darling liturgical document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, calling it the ultimate Trojan horse. Kwasniewski explains that Sacrosanctum Concilium “is marred by two errors: the rationalist assumption that things must always be easily understood by us, and the neo-Pelagian implication that we—or rather, the pope and his favored commission—are the primary architects of our worship, the ones who can build a better liturgy by our own efforts” (p. 5). “The bishop said no! You are disobeying the bishop!” summarizes these thoughts precisely.
From here, Kwasniewski analyzes a conspicuous list of ideas near and dear to modern liturgical reform. For instance, he tackles the reform’s “fruits” as well as its love for indeterminacy and “optionitis.” Other topics assessed are the contradictions inherent in the “reform of the reform,” the rarity of the Novus Ordo “unicorn” Mass, how this “unicorn” Mass is not the solution to our woes (not even close!), the “desacrificialization” of the Mass, and finally, how all this liturgical muck creates a crisis of conscience for priests who, though trying to be good shepherds, are deeply troubled by what the modern liturgy demands from them—especially once they have learned from firsthand experience how vastly superior the traditional liturgy is, honed to perfection by centuries of practice.
The chapters are lethal in their clarity and truth. The best arguments in favor of the Novus Ordo Mass are presented fairly and accurately and then, one by one, dismantled with unyielding prowess. Dr. Kwasniewski offers not only his knowledge and experiences but also a series of well-researched quotes from others, resulting in a dynamic impact. Be it Martin Mosebach stating, “liturgy’s death knell is sounded once it requires a holy and good priest to perform it” (p. 113), the Council of Trent proclaiming, “If anyone says … that the Mass ought to be celebrated in the vernacular tongue only … let him be anathema” (p. 81), or Gregory DiPippo warning, “A dying revolution is not a dead revolution; it can still strike out and cause pain, and will likely do so. But in the very act of doing so, it confesses that it has failed and is dying. Do not be afraid” (p. 106), every argument is presented with depth and profound effect.
A quick note about this first section. As mentioned, some might believe it is harsh. Or rather, they might believe the title of this first section is harsh. Will they actually read this book? I’m not sure. Probably not. To engage with Dr. Kwasniewski on the liturgy is risky business. The reason is that, whether through his personal experience or professional study, Kwasniewski lives and breathes liturgical theology. He will know the arguments in favor of the Novus Ordo Mass better than almost all adherents of this Mass. It is easier to say, “Oh, I don’t like Peter Kwasniewski.” “He’s out to lunch.” “He’s mean.”
To which I reply: such words are hilariously false. I have known Dr. Kwasniewski for years. A more genuine, kind, and sincere man I have not met. He practices what he preaches and speaks with charity and tact. For instance, I have heard him, in person, at a Novus Ordo parish hall lauding the parish’s willingness to seek truth and beauty, yet still encouraging a greater, more profound path to God via Tradition. No one was upset. What for? Dr. Kwasniewski is not mean, disagreeable, or out to lunch. Nor is this book.
The second section of the book, Why the Old Mass Isn’t Broken, was especially poignant. It was, in addition to a profound study of the glories of the TLM, a spiritual pep-talk. If you know anything about my situation, you know it is one of intense liturgical suffering. My wife, kids, and I live three hours from the nearest TLM. Meanwhile, our local parish is a liturgical wasteland (see opening story). It can be easy to lose hope. Why bother caring about a traditional rite that — save a few times a year — is inaccessible?
I will get to this shortly, but first a summary of why the Old Mass isn’t broken.
To begin, I was surprised by the tone of this section. That is, while Dr. Kwasniewski fiercely critiques the Novus Ordo Mass in the first part, he does the same with the TLM: he levels potential criticisms and questions at the TLM that, I am sure, most anti-TLM Catholics could not even begin to think of. The difference is that Dr. Kwasniewski can also provide insightful, satisfying answers to these objections. Some topics covered are: Does the TLM need “reform”? Should the readings be in the vernacular, and should the lectionary be expanded? Can the Novus Ordo “enrich” the TLM? Are there too many saints in the old calendar? Doesn’t the TLM have “tinkeritis” syndrome as well, because it seems to allow some options? What is the real story behind the 1962 Missal—is it the last edition of the Tridentine rite or an evolutionary step toward the new rite? Should lay postures be regulated and revised? Can the low Mass be improved? If so, how? And so forth.
This second part is a feast for anyone hungering for knowledge of the TLM. It will change the way you think about it, and, for me, how you participate and pray at the TLM. For instance, given that I must make a lengthy drive (with kids!) to attend the TLM, I frequently have difficulty sitting through this much longer Mass. “Why are they being so slow? Come on already!” I have impatiently mused, my legs restless from sitting too long. While there is no excuse for a TLM to move at a snail’s pace, Dr. Kwasniewski certainly opened my eyes as to why certain parts of a TLM might take longer, why this is a good thing spiritually, and what our disposition should be for this Mass. The result is that each TLM I’ve attended since reading Close the Workshop has been much richer and more spiritually renewing. Chapter Ten alone, for me, was worth the price of this book: “Time for the Soul to Absorb the Mysteries.”
I have more I could say about Close the Workshop. And I have many people in mind whom I would love to encourage to read it, for Close the Workshop is a book that deserves to be read far and wide. It is a book for those who hate, or at least think they hate, the traditional Latin Mass. It is a book for those who attend the Novus Ordo but are perhaps curious about the TLM. It is a book for those who attend the TLM but wish to draw more deeply from its abundant riches. It is a book for those who have been wounded by the Novus Ordo world, cannot attend a traditional Latin Mass, and are confused about what on Earth God is doing with their lives. That is, it is a book I needed. It is a book of honest truth.
I return to the question: Why bother caring about a TLM that, save a few times a year, is inaccessible? Because, as Dr. Kwasniewski shows, the TLM, whether through its prayers—perhaps prayed as a lonely family on a Sunday morning—its life, rituals, teachings, history, saints, and spiritual depth, is still—will always be—the path forward.
I end with a lengthy quote from Close the Workshop, one that better summarizes my point:
In the cycles of history, including the history of salvation unfolded for us in Scripture, we see times of exile, and in those times, the varied responses people make to their exilic condition. It seems that we are living in a peculiar time marked by institutional self-exile, as if churchmen had become Pharaohs and Pontius Pilates. That is no excuse for failing to do what we can and must as sons of Abraham, children of Israel, and disciples of Christ; rather, it is the perfect opportunity to pray for and seek a return to Catholic tradition, having at its heart a liturgy that is worthy of—and truly communicative of—the most important work the Church does: offering to the Lord the holy oblation in peace, ourselves united, in faith and love, with the spotless Lamb. (328)
Close the workshop.
And then, forward.
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