Monday, April 9, 2012

The Liturgical Movement: Dedication to Innovation

Anyone interested in the liturgy of the Catholic Church, particularly in the changes that have occurred in the Mass and other liturgies in the last fifty to sixty years, should consider carefully the history of the Liturgical Movement that sought to bring about a "renewal" of the Liturgy. Only by understanding the history of the Liturgical Movement can the nefarious nature of the movement be properly understood and therefore rejected as a false movement that sought to deliberately Protestantize the Mass and the Faith.




What many do not understand is that the Liturgical Movement began decades before the Second Vatican Council. By understanding the patience exhibited by the reformers, we can understand quite clearly how interested they were in co-opting the Council for their own sordid purposes. Moreover, we can understand that it is not the "spirit" of Vatican II that is completely to blame - it is often the documents themselves, which were written in a deliberately vague way to allow the "spirit" to later flourish.




At any rate, it is fascinating to note that the Liturgical Movement (in essence a Modernist movement) began to exert themselves during the reign of Venerable Pius XII, who had written in his great encyclical Mediator Dei about the legitimate areas of renewal needed in the Roman Rite. During a time when the late Holy Father was undergoing a serious illness, however, the Liturgical Movement struck, after decades of patient groundwork.




The reformers began with the Rites of Holy Week. By studying the revisions to the Holy Week Rites accomplished in 1955, we can see the beginnings of their false theology. I present the following link, which has an in-depth analysis of the changes to the Holy Week Rites in 1955. (Note - you do not need any knowledge of the pre-1955 Rites or the Rites according to the 1962 Missale Romanum to understand what is presented in this link as it will explain how the Rites were changed).






NB: Unlike some (mostly sedevacantists, who happen to believe Pope Pius XII was the last pope), I am not arguing that we need to seek out chapels that celebrate Holy Week in the pre-1955 Rites. I am simply posting this as a primer for those seeking to understand the beginnings of the Liturgical Movement's actions because the Holy Week changes demonstrate many of their principles that would later become the very foundations of the Novus Ordo Missae that most Catholics experience every Sunday.

2 comments:

Gene said...

This is both interesting and disconcerting.

Marc said...

It is definitely disconcerting. But, also eye-opening. It's interesting how the 1955 changes directly signal many of the things that were coming in 1969. One wonders how they would have opened the door to change the Mass had Vatican II not happened...