The Grant Avenue Revival: The Resurgence of the Traditional Roman Catholic Latin Mass
Wabash College Newman Center
On Wednesday nights at the Newman Center on Grant Avenue, a revival is occurring. In a sense, this revival does involve miracles and speaking in tongues. However, this has nothing to do with Pentecostalism. Instead, a revival of the traditional Latin Mass of the Roman Catholic Church is occurring. Something which many people thought was dead has revived, and the speaking of a dead language of Rome has caught a zealous fire amongst Catholic youth here at Wabash and across the nation.
Starting in mid-October and ending towards the end of the semester, Dr. David Kubiak of the Classic Department has been teaching a seminar on the traditional Latin Mass (also known as the “extraordinary rite”) on alternating Wednesday evenings. Based on mutual passions, Dr. Kubiak and his willing students embark on a journey to study the ancient rite of the Roman Catholic Church. At the beginning of the seminar, interested young men were given copies of a reprinted 1912 book written by former Anglican turned Catholic priest Fr. Adrian Fortescue entitled The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy. Before a seminar session, students are suggested to read passages from the book, which details Fr. Fortescue’s views of the development of the Mass from the days of the Apostles until his own day.
The study focuses on the traditional Latin Mass (or Tridentine Mass) as commonly celebrated before the Second Vatican Council, which occurred 1965 and 1969. The Latin Mass itself has an ancient history going back to the early days of the Church. Dispelling a popular belief, Dr. Kubiak pointed out in a seminar session that Christian worship was never performed in the vernacular language of the worshippers until the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century. The Mass developed over time and greatly followed the concept of “lex orandi, lex credendi” (“the rule of prayer is the rule of faith”). The doctrines of the Church were reflected in its Mass, and as doctrine developed, the Mass developed. In the 1960s, the winds of change swept through the Church with the Second Vatican Council. People demanded for a Mass that was said in the vernacular, and the so the Church answered the call. In a revamping of the Mass (called the “Novus Ordo”), the Church changed some of the content of the Mass and allowed for it to be said in the vernacular.
Though it was not meant to happen, the Novus Ordo in many ways replaced the Tridentine Mass. The Latin Mass was essentially discarded by a new wave of priests and bishops. In the “spirit of Vatican II,” the old Mass was disregarded (against the wishes of many bishops and cardinals). Naturally, while some Catholics celebrated, others were disgruntled. Traditionalists (such as Dr. Kubiak) who had grown up with the pre-Vatican II Mass and appreciated it were left with a product of the 1960s. This frustration vented itself in several ways. Some left the Roman Catholic Church for Eastern Catholic rites (which, while submitting to the Pope, were not truly affected by Vatican II). Others left to form schismatic groups which preserved the pre-Vatican II Mass while sacrificing union with Rome. The vast majority of traditionalists, however, remained within the Roman Catholic Church. They recognized the Novus Ordo, while ascetically lacking, to be valid and would more or less submit to the Holy Mother Church. Many did not expect to see the pre-Vatican II Mass performed widely again.
However, that changed with the rise in the Church of the Bavarian theologian Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. As a theologian who had written positively concerning the Tridentine Mass and, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had permitted its celebration more freely and than it had been in the immediate aftermath of the introduction of the Novus Ordo. In 1988, the document Ecclesia Dei was published by the Vatican saying that Bishops must respect aspirations of the faithful for the old Mass. Ratzinger was a staunch defender of the Latin Mass. Naturally, as he entered the Papacy, this continued. On July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued a document titled Summorum Pontificum which said that any properly trained priest can celebrate the traditional Latin Mass without the permission of the local diocesan Bishop. This provided great freedom for traditionalists, who longed for this day, and has spurred a renewal of interest in the traditional Latin Mass (labeled by Summorum Pontificum as the “extraordinary rite”).
This renewal is certainly occurring at Wabash and through the nation. This interest has been present for many years on campus. Dr. Kubiak, a longtime devotee to the extraordinary rite, has inspired students to study the ancient Roman liturgy. The current seminar occurring at the Newman Center is a repeat of a course that Dr. Kubiak taught in 1997. The class was offered by the Classics Department, but was unable to count as a religion course despite the inherently religious nature of the course. The reason for this, according to Dr. Kubiak, was that the Religion Department feared that Dr. Kubiak would use the course as a means of proselytizing for the Roman Catholic Church. For the record, the majority of the students who registered for the course were Protestants, and none of them converted as a direct result of this course. Every year, Dr. Kubiak will take Wabash students to Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Indianapolis (an apostolate dealing completely in the traditional Latin Mass), and every year students (Catholics and otherwise) are taken aback by the majesty and reverence present in the traditional Latin Mass. Dr. Kubiak says that Protestant have attended a celebration of the traditional Latin Mass and have eventually entered into the Catholic Church. While the Latin Mass is obviously not the sole factor in the conversions, it certainly plays a major part in the experience.
In supposedly increasingly secularized world, why are some youth turning towards the old, seemingly discarded traditions of the Catholic Church? Dr. Kubiak and other traditionalists speculate that it is because some youth feel cheated of their heritage. They have more likely than not grown up without a reverent Mass and are turned off by the seemingly trivial, “seeker friendly,” guitar Masses. They feel that God should be treated with more reverence and awe. The awe-inspiring mood inherent in the traditional Latin Mass therefore serves as a magnet for these young Catholics. Sick of what Dr. Kubiak calls the “poverty and debasement of liturgy” present in many Catholic churches, they gravitate towards the more traditional Latin Mass or a more serious, reverent celebration of the Novus Ordo. While traditionalists will forcefully confess that the post-Vatican II Mass is absolutely legitimate and valid, it may not be the absolutely best route. Dr. Kubiak compares it to “getting to heaven in a Honda instead of a Cadillac.” Perhaps the sentiments of some traditionalist Catholic youth is found in this quotation from personal correspondence with Matthew Schumacher, a junior at Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart – a theologically liberal Catholic high school in Madison, Wisconsin. In personal correspondence, he wrote: “Ever since I attended a Latin Mass, I have fallen in love with the reverence, beauty, and mystery of the Eucharist … Most people thought that just the elderly would attend the Tridentine Mass, but actually most of the families that attend are large and young … The Mass of the ages inspires me much more than the ‘guitar Mass’ … I am tired of the lack of reverence and love of the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Tabernacle.”
Most Wabash students who have either been participating in the seminar or discovered the Latin Mass sing its praises. David Haggard ’10, the president of the Wabash College Catholic Newman Center, said, “The revival of the Latin Mass is a beautiful gift the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon Christ’s Church. It has been rewarding learning the organic history of the Mass … the Mass is not of this world it’s not made to entertain but to glorify the Almighty Creator … The study of the Latin Mass has deepened and enriched my faith in Christ.” Royce Gregerson ’09, who is presently studying abroad in Argentina but had previously discovered the traditional Latin Mass through Dr. Kubiak, said, “It is a recovery of the very essence of the Church – what we always have been and what we always will be. It is about continuity with our past, but also with our future. I truly believe that our rediscovery of our liturgical heritage is the keystone to finally bringing about the new springtime of the Church envisioned by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.”
The majority of Wabash men are Protestants. Why should non-Catholics (such as the current writer – a Lutheran) care about the traditional Latin Mass? Dr. Kubiak and others argue that European culture in its formative years was greatly connected with the ancient Roman liturgy. Some of the magnificent music of Europe was written for the traditional Mass. Also, the Popes, kings, theologians, philosophers, artists, and peasants together celebrated this Mass. Therefore, to understand the Western culture that Wabash College and our nation are built upon, knowledge of the traditional Latin Mass would be useful. For Protestants, to study the traditional Latin Mass is to study the Mass that Martin Luther said and on which John Calvin was reared. To study the traditional Mass is to study the ultimate heritage of Protestantism. Perhaps, also, this return to the roots could inspire greater interest in the early confessional and theological writings of the Reformers which have been seemingly abandoned by the wayside by modern Evangelicalism and liberal Protestantism.
In Ecclesiastes, the Teacher wrote that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1). This divinely inspired statement is certainly true about the traditional Latin Mass. Seemingly discarded in a typical Sixties fashion as an ancient relic, it is experiencing a revival – especially amongst youth. Its season is now.
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