Reason 5

5. Because the difference between the two is not simply one of mere detail or just modification of ceremony, but “all that is of perennial value finds only a minor place (in the New Mass), if it subsists at all.”*(Bolding in the original, same citation as #3).


This objection is, overall, very straightforward, but yet again I find myself up against a lack of information. The writer claims that the New Mass leaves very little of perennial value but leaves us in a complete lurch as to what elements of the traditional Mass are of perennial value, because clearly the whole Mass cannot be (at least in this definition), as certain elements of it are lifted wholesale into the New Mass.

If this reason means to suggest that almost nothing of unending value was maintained in the New Mass, then many things long considered valuable in the Mass were not so. The Kyrie, the Our Father, the Sacred Scriptures, and the Consecration itself all are found in the New Mass and, of themselves, maintain their internal grace and efficaciousness. The graces of the Our Father are still present and it has, if not a greater presence, than at least an equal one in the reformed liturgy.

As mentioned before (#4) some things find less of a presence than perhaps they should in the celebration of the New Mass, but are afforded pride of place in the intent of the Second Vatican Council. But it is absurd to suggest that “all” of lasting value is given at best a minor place in the New Mass if for no other reason than the greatest value of the traditional Mass (the consecration) is still found wholly sustained in the New Mass.

However, without specific examples of what is lacking in the New Mass it is difficult to discuss this issue. The prayers I consider to be among the most important (listed in the second paragraph) are found in the New Mass, as are the prayers for the Pope and the Bishop, the living and the dead, the preface, the per Ipsum, and numerous others. Properly celebrated, the New Mass bears a striking resemblance to the traditional Mass , with a few major exceptions (and these being, generally, additions rather than subtractions). It seems to me that the elements of greatest value are maintained, while other parts, still valuable but perhaps less so, have been changed or removed. Whether this change is an improvement is not the issue here, but rather that the changes are, in the whole, of lesser importance than the things which were maintained.