The Harm of the Novus Ordo Missae

by Thomas A. Droleskey

Several recent articles of mine have focused on the inherent harm of the Novus Ordo Missae. The soon-to-be-published G.I.R.M. Warfare, which analyzes every single paragraph of the 1997 edition of the General Instruction to the Roman Missal, discusses this inherent harm in exhaustive depth. The purpose of this particular commentary is to exhort all Catholics, but especially those who understand the importance of restoring the Traditional Latin Mass as normative in the life of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, to flee from the harm of the Novus Ordo once and for all. Indeed, The Remnant has posted a  very important letter from the great champion of Tradition, Michael Davies, to Father Patrick Perez, the pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Garden Grove, California, about the necessity of avoiding the Novus Ordo entirely. (The letter can be viewed by clicking on the link above.)

Here is simply a summary of basic points that I want all Catholics who are devoted to the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass to consider:

1) The Novus Ordo is harmful in whatever language it is offered, including Latin. Some of the reasons for this were spelled out in "When Will Our Turn Come," published in the June 30, 2004, issue of The Remnant. (A collection of such articles is being appended at the end of G.I.R.M. Warfare.)

2) People who understand that the Novus Ordo is harmful must act on the knowledge God has given them.

3) The Traditional Latin Mass is, as Michael Davies has pointed out, the baptismal birthright of every Latin Rite Catholic.

4) Quo Primum stats in law what the actual fact of the matter is: that the Traditional Latin Mass is beyond the ability of any bishop, including the pope, to forbid, either for a priest to offer or for a member of the laity to assist at. No Latin Rite priest can be forced to offer Mass in any other form, including the Novus Ordo.

5) There is thus no need for a diocesan “indult” for the offering of the Traditional Latin Mass.

6) The conditions attached to the “indult” Masses are unjust and invalid on their face.

7) An acceptance of the necessity of attending only “indult” Masses to the exclusion of those not "sanctioned" by local bishops involves:

a) an acceptance of the Traditional Mass offered only at the whim of a particular bishop or chancery office;

b) an acceptance of the immoral conditions placed on children for the reception of the sacraments by the local bishop;

c) an acceptance of the mentality that the authentic patrimony of the Catholic Faith can be protected without the complete and unfettered   restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass with all of the sacraments;

d) a rejection of the absolute, perpetual and universally binding nature of Quo Primum;

e) a rejection of the plain fact that a State of Emergency exists in the Church that justifies Catholics taking extraordinary measures to sanctify and save their own souls and those of their family members.

As I have noted in many other commentaries recently, the “indult” Mass has served unintentionally to be a “bridge” by which many of us have found our way back to the fullness of Tradition. For others, however, it has been something of a trap, deceiving them into thinking that the Traditional Latin Mass is a nice thing to have but not a necessity for the transmission and the protection and the preservation of the Faith of our fathers whole and uncorrupted by the influences of Modernism and modernity. Catholics who do not see the harm of the Novus Ordo and who do not see how the Faith has being undermined by the regime of novelty of the past forty to forty-five years thus surrender themselves to the unjust and arbitrary whims of bishops and chancery factotums at a time when we need the courage of the English martyrs.

The late Father Frederick Schell helped me to see all of this so clearly when we met with him for the first time on March 11, 2002. It was almost as though scales had been lifted from my eyes. He spoke bluntly but lovingly as a pastor of souls about the true state of the Church and why he had done what he did to make the Traditional Latin Mass available to Catholics in southern California outside of the normal ecclesiastical channels. It is time to recognize the plain truth: the approach taken by Father Schell (and many others like him) is what is needed today. That his important work is being carried on so well by Father Patrick Perez at Our Lady Help of Christians in Garden Grove, California, speaks volumes about how well Our Lady will take care of her Divine Son's flock in times of crisis in the Church. Our Lady provides refuges for her children. It is amazing that some of her dearly devoted children will not avail themselves of these places of blessed peace and total fidelity to the Deposit of Faith and to the Church's authentic Tradition.

It remains my prayer that all traditional Catholics, both priests and laity alike, will come to recognize that what is happening at Our Lady Help of Christians--and other such chapels around the nation and the world--is proof that Catholics will take all necessary measures to protect themselves from the harmful influences of the Novus Ordo Missae and the conciliarist religion it embodies and propagates.

Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.