I write this, coincidentally, on the morning after having assisted at a Solemn High Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.
Even now, hours later, my soul still longs to return—to last night, to that sacred time and place where heaven bent low toward earth. There was something so rare, so saturated with reverence and beauty, that the heart instinctively understands it has tasted a small foretaste of eternity. Such is the gift granted by the Mass of the Ages.
Whether one possesses an intellectual grasp of every rubric, gesture, or whispered prayer of this venerable liturgy is, in a sense, secondary. The Traditional Latin Mass operates on a level deeper than explanation. On a purely experiential level—on the level of worship rather than analysis—it is impossible to leave this treasure of the Faith without the unmistakable awareness that one has participated in something truly other. Something awesome, transcendent, and fearsome in the proper theological sense. One knows that he has stood, however unworthily, before the throne of a Terrible and Majestic God, and that such an encounter demands nothing less than total reverence, humility, and awe.
I could continue at great length extolling the beauty, theological depth, and supernatural orientation of the Traditional Latin Mass. Volumes have already been written on the subject, and rightly so. But that is not, strictly speaking, the purpose of this little series. Rather, my intention is to examine the stark contrast between this sacred inheritance and what came to “replace” it: the impoverished, valid but illicit, neo-Protestant construction known as the Novus Ordo Missae.
This replacement occurred despite the solemn decree of Pope Saint Pius V in Quo Primum Tempore (14 July 1570), which promulgated the standardized Roman Missal of the Tridentine Liturgy and mandated its exclusive use throughout the Latin Church. This papal bull explicitly forbade any additions, subtractions, or alterations to the Mass, invoking the wrath of Almighty God upon those who would dare to tamper with it. But such warnings carry little weight among modernists—perhaps because belief in a God who is truly demanding and just, has long since been replaced by a more accommodating and domesticated deity of their own making.
While I presume that a significant portion of Radical Fidelity’s readership already understands why the Traditional Latin Mass is most pleasing to God—and recognizes the serious defects of the Novus Ordo—there remains a substantial number of faithful Catholics who sincerely ask, often in the comment section: “What is so wrong with the Novus Ordo Mass?”
It is for these brothers and sisters, and for others within your own families and circles of influence who “just don’t get it yet,” that this series is written. My aim is to provide clear, accessible explanations of the elementary theological, liturgical, and spiritual problems inherent in this pseudo-Catholic rite.
Please do share these articles with those who are searching, questioning, or unsettled. Truth, once encountered, has a way of refusing to remain silent.
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