The Church Can't Go Back to 1950 

I'm 72 and I clearly remember how things were in the "old" church, and I can assure you, things were better....more reverent....more prayerful...and more holy.

For whatever else you might say about this video, I just love reading all the comments from the 80+ crowd. It's such an honor that you're sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

Families were stronger. My parents gathered us five kids to say the rosary every night. I think the breakdown in the family is closely related to the breakdown of the church.

born in 51. served mass for years. remember it well. yes, the church hierarchy and priesthood had problems, especially in being imperious, but it also fostered a reverent attitude towards the Mass and Eucharist. I loved walking through the snow in the dark to serve at early Mass.

I am 67. 7 years old in 1962. But I remember the beautiful choir. I remember beautiful May crownings that my sisters and I took part in. I remember mom buying us pretty hats at Easter and all the women dressed beautifully and the church being full. I remember being surrounded by a strong Catholic community. I remember sitting next to my mom at mass with my First Holy Communion Missal - still with the Latin responses - and following along. I remember the priest being very kind but serious when I went to confession. Fast forward to now: I am happy to have found a TLM mass and my son and his family joining us. Their daughter just made her first Holy Communion just the way I did. It made me cry with joy!

"Jesus came to save you from yourself, not to congratulate you for what you already are". Amazing quote

“One week they had the Latin Mass. The next week they had guitars. The third week they became non-practicing Catholics.” That’s how my mom described how fast the changes in the Mass happened and how quickly my grandparents left the Church. The Mass had become ugly, and they didn’t want that in their lives.

Thank you Brian. I am 82 and I remember when the Church was alive, when we did not have heretical Hierarchy. The Masses were packed. Sodalities (men’s and women’s) were well attended and Children’s Masses were every Sunday. Monday night Novena for Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was a regular custom. Holy Days punctuated the whole year. The people knew, loved and sang all the hymns. Thank God The Latin Mass is growing again and has many young men emerging as priests from the seminaries.

I’m almost79and remembering a flourishing Catholic vitality at this time. I attended Catholic elementary school and we had Mass every day. However we also had three priests, where today you’re very lucky to have two. They seemed to not have as many administrative duties either. We had a ladies sodality for teens, a Holy Name Society for men and scouts also. We always had parish events like dinners, dances for the teens and bake sales! The fire and brimstone was mostly from Parish missions in Lent and Advent. Anyone remember these? We used Missals that had Latin one one side English on the other. We attended Mass not because of fear of hell but because of the First Commandment. Then it changed. Altars were stripped, Communion rails vanished( nothing in Vatican 11 said they should) as well as statues replaced with modernistic plaster Stations of the Cross. I blame the bishops who took it upon themselves to order these changes, and Catholics resented this. My great grandmother donated land for the Church. Now I understand it’s a Baptist church! I miss novenas, Holy Hours that lasted 3 days with professionals and Benediction and no nonsense homilies together with weekly Confessions. Maybe I’m old school, but we did have sermons about sin and dressing modestly in Church. The culture crowd would have a fit if this was done today and maybe priests suspended.

Not only are our memories of the church in the past affected by our age at the time, they lack historical perspective. What I sensed after talking with "the grownups" was a deep thankfulness for having survived WWII, and a recognition that we all need God's help and guidance. Many had gone through places that were as bad as it gets, and wanted to help make this world a better place. Probably more importantly could have been that people in the 1940's and before also didn't have exposure to TV, and if they wanted to do things with the whole family, taking the whole family to a bar in town just wasn't healthy or affordable. Attending church picnics, sing-alongs, summer camp and potluck dinners was less expensive and healthier fun. Gathering there, you could have a known social network of people who knew people, and most probably would have your interests in mind along with their own interests. "Back then" there were athiests, and people who were anti-church, but their opinions didn't make their way into our homes and families the way that has been going on for some time. I'm not talking about the direct attacks but rather what has made its way into the general culture, prioritising the self-interest and emotion, casting church attendance as "boring", "irrelevant", and somewhat like the prisons that school attendance have been charactured as. Attending church was a chance to learn how to read music, how to read long texts, (pick up a bit of Latin, which did improve grades at school), and how to ask adults questions that they had trouble answering. Learning how to sit quietly and try to figure out what was going on has also been a really good skill to have as an adult. Your point about pandering to personal preferences is also good. Part of the Offertory is our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (and our time) and to do that, we sacrifice our personal preferences for an hour or so once a week. It's a good exercise. And if there comes a time in our lives (in the army, in natural disaster, etc.) when we can't excercise our personal preferences, having offered that time of sacrifice in the worship service can help us weather that difficulty with more grace.

Kudos to you young man! Your take on this subject is amazingly logical and a breath of fresh air. I am 72 years old born in 1949. I went to Mass with my mother and grandmother and I had no clue what they felt or thought but I saw what they exhibited by their holy example. It convinced me that what we where doing must be very important and quite sacred.

I was young , about 10 years old,but I remember how things used to be. None of my numerous siblings and cousins (and I mean numerous) are still in the Church. I recently returned but none of my siblings or cousins have ever returned. There were some problems ( some of the nuns in school were really mean!) But let me tell you, they sure put the fear of God in you, which is a good thing. We learned to be quiet and respectful in Mass. And we learned not to touch the Eucharist with our hands. And if any of us girls showed up to school Mass without our Mantilla, the nun would bobbypin a Kleenex to our heads. So when I came back to the Church several years ago I was appalled at all the changes and how irreverent most people were while in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Thank God I found out about the TLM still being available and there was one within driving distance.

"People went to Church out of fear... & Nobody knew what was going on..." What a Crock! I'm 81, born & raised in a Parish, in St Louis... Catholic Schools & Daily Mass, GS thru Jr College. Catholic life was centered in the Parish, for all ages! In GS we had awesome Nuns, full Habit, great Women who made sure we Understood the Mass. Anyone who didn't know Latin/English translations by 8th grade, probably were never going to know it! (It's now called, 'Immersion') Catechism Classes were Daily along with age appropriate Activities... ie:Choir & Practice for Girls, & Older Boys, "mentored" the Young Altar Servers. 7th-8th Grade-We 'Protested' a C Rated movie, "The Outlaw"@ a neighborhood Theater. (It was gone the next day.) In the Jr Legion of Mary we Volunteered & visited local Nursing Home's & played Cards, read to, or just Visited... 1st-5th G, we had Mission Projects... Collecting School Supplies, & Care packages for School Children in Europe... (Parochial & HS's routinely had the highest Vocabulary & SAT Scores in the Country.) We had Scout programs, & the Softball & Basketball Teams played inter-mural Games with other Parishes When Boys got into fights on the Playground, Fr O took Charge & brought out Boxing Gloves. (He was a Chaplin, & Front line Vet) Bottom Line, not everybody was a Fool or a Hippie... Or Silent! It wasn't paradise, but Kids could play Outside, & go for Walks! ps: "Nuns were Mean"-All Children think adults Correcting them are Mean! Look what happens in Cities when 2yr olds in Adult Bodies, have Tantrums!

Yeah, I’ll take 1950s Catholicism any day over what passes for the faith today

I'm in my 40's. Converted 20 years ago to Catholicism. Started attending a TLM 10 years ago, and although I didn't understand the latin, or all the goings on, I felt like I was at home. My heart was instantly there. There is a strong young adult community there. Some with piercings, some with tattoos. Their faith is literally on fire! Their stories range from being raised in that community to leaving a cult and being embraced by the TLM community. The grit, the truth, the variation (diversity) of people is a beautiful work of art indeed.

I hold the position that the Church was in a tough state in the fifties and that the reforms that happened around Vatican II were not all that helpful. It’s like a doctor who correctly diagnoses you with a broken arm and then proceeds to treat you by stabbing you in the eye. So now, while I don’t blame the council itself, we find ourselves needing to correct the first problem and now also the bleeding eye. It will get done, eventually, but things will be plenty messy in the meantime.

Also, participating in the life of the Church merely out of fear of hell isn’t a wrong reason. It’s just not the best reason.

All I know is that when I go to mass at a “modern” church I feel empty and I don’t feel as if I went to mass. When I go to a more conservative/traditional mass and especially the Latin Mass I feel the presence of Jesus, I feel full.

I'm in my 60s, and I remember the chaos in the Church in the 1960s and 1970s. Thirty years ago, I substitute-taught for a friend in Catechism, and was horrified to find that virtually no one in the class believed in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. What on earth are they teaching these kids?!

Now that is absolute rhubarb ! I grew up with Latin Mass and church was full...there was order . There was sacredness ....one can almost say we now have circus ....

I recently turned 66. I have vivid memories of my years as an altar server (1965-1973). Our parish was fully engaged in the life of the Church. Our Masses were teeming with large and lively families. The TLM was beautiful, reverential, and quite frankly, awe-inspiring. I certainly didn’t understand the Latin I was reciting-even as an altar boy on the altar-nor the myriad rubrics of the Mass, but I always sensed on a level beyond the cognitive that God was present in the sanctuary. I’m blessed to now be a member of a traditional Catholic parish which embraces the orthodoxy and reverence of my childhood church.

Bless you and all the brave Catholics in Canada

I took my 87 year-old mom to a Latin Mass and she said it was just like the 1950s.

My best friend’s grandpa was a devout young man as a child, but when the New Mass came out, he said the Church lost the “true Gospel.” He came to abandon the Faith, and this has been how he has remained for many decades, even upon conversations with this friend of mine, a well-educated, intelligent, and devout theology major. The scandal of these “reforms” is very, very real

I was born in '61, so, to your point, Brian, a little too young to recognize the changing church at the time. But what stands out as a remarkable difference between then and now is the number of devout men who attended daily Mass and played very active and visible roles in the Church. They were there with heads bowed, families in tow. It made a huge impact on me to see these farmers and football coaches and business executives love God that much.. I'd love to hear you opine on how we can get men back -- and have them stand firmly in place. Because when we women take over, as we do, men of today back off.

I am crying right now because you just said out loud what's been on my heart for a looooong time! Thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

From what my parents told me , they knew their faith and what God expected of them. I remember as a kid how reverent it was back then, you came to Gods house, no chatter, chewing gum, bringing water bottles. I wish we could go back it was Sacred.

I'm Orthodox but when I was a kid I went to a big Catholic Cathedral with some.neighbours. I remember how majestic the church was in it's liturgy and music. There was a sense of Holy Mystery that seems to have been dumbed down in the church of today with watered down Peter, Paul and Mary songs and buildings that look like drug stores.

When my family went to Mass before Vatican II, we had to arrive at least 15 minutes early or we had to stand for the Mass because it was so crowded. The pre-Vatican II Church had many good things. Keep what was true, good, and beautiful and move forward. But to attack the faith of Catholics of the past is an embarrassment.

People who are divorced from history look at all church music selections as “personal preference”. In their eyes, chant is equal to praise and worship. Simply saying chant is not personal preference does not convince people. A better argument would be that Gregorian chant has been a part of Catholic liturgy for 1500 years. It is embedded in the ritual, sanctified over the centuries by our ancestors utilizing it in their corporate worship. And when we continue the tradition, when we maintain that ritual and it’s environment of art and music, we are reconnecting ourselves to all those centuries and Catholics. As Fr. Brian Harrison OS said, “Ritual is the closest we mortals come to eternity.”

I knew so many Catholics who left the church after Vatican II. I never understood why, but today I do know why and can see the modernization that has occurred and has led people to think "It is all good". Jesus spoke about Hell the consequences of evil more than any other topic. But sadly, such is forgotten today and primarily since Vatican II. I now know it is not all good which has been forgotten by so many people today both inside and outside the Roman Catholic Church. Read G. K. Chesterton and find great enlightenment. "All Scripture is given for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Instruction in Righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works".

The last NO mass I went to was so loud constant singing, Loud responses, horrible sign of peace, people sanitizing their hands after communion. I had such a hard time praying with all the noise.

I am 84. I was blessed to have been catechized starting at 8 yrs old. In those days Catholic Action was fully alive in most of the world. After receiving First Communion, we were registered to continue Catholic formation according to your age, the were groups for men and for women according to age and state of life. My mother was in Catholic Action with married women. I was with the 8-12 girls group, my brothers were with the boys groups. I learned that I was the “Church” at an early age. Anyone who wanted could be part of Catholic Action. This was in Mexico. All were invited but few came, as it is nowadays. I love the CHURCH, the Body of Christ.

Appreciate your work Mr. Holdsworth!

I also grew up in the Church of the late 1940s and up through the Vatican Council and still am a Catholic today I remember in the 1950s that the priest celebrating the Liturgy (Tridentine in Latin) would stop after the Communion to tell the ushers to go to the parking lots to tell people that Mass would not continue until they returned. I remember assistants at my parish leaving to get married in the 1950s (all hush hush of course). I remembered convents being full but the drain had already begun in the late 1950s (my teacher--a Benedictine sister --left in my parish school in the 1950s). Other teaching sisters I knew as I was going through Catholic High School also left after obtaining college degrees on their community´s dime but because there was no Internet and the papers never mentioned it you tended to know only if your town had the ex-religious involved. School gyms (public and private) had plays every year and the audience was packed. I think much of those big crowds had to do with lack of entertainment. I could see secularism already making a big headway. I knew a lot of people who really had a superficial belief in Jesus and the Gospel and those who were my age were standing at the back of the Church--even in the doorways--always asking when they had to be at Mass so as not to commit a mortal sin (the answer was from the Offertory to the Communion).. When I see people of my generation leaving after Communion today I imagine that they got their Faith from that time. Why go to Communion and then walk shamelessly out a side door with the Eucharist still in your mouth and think that you are at Mass filled with Faith? I remember those packed churches--packed with people I have just mentioned. I am still seeing the mass exodus at the Eucharist! The times were different. Stores were all closed on Sundays. You had 3 channels on TV if you could get good reception and a thick, local Sunday paper when you got home from Mass. If you put the Church of the 1950s into the Church of today I think you would see how much the milieu meant and the social pressures and just meeting friends at the back door impacted on church attendance. I often think how very few people I knew then really understood or bought into the Gospel--even with Catholic schools. Wars were glorified, prelates were big on titles and ornate vestments and daily wear. Clergy cars were scandalous (I was taught that the clergy should always live a bit below the means of an average parishioner). I mean the Tridentine Liturgy in the 1940s and 1950s is no panacea for secularism. Within two decades there was a collapse of numbers in the church and the scourge of secularism took out all the people who had filled the pews forb the wrong reasons. I am just saying that it was a VERY different time.

I'm not Catholic. But I'm a millennial and I remember when I was a kid, the older folks and middle-aged folks that I grew up around, they all grew up in the traditional Catholicism. They remembered the old ways. It was around me everywhere. So even I didn't grow up in it, I was around it so much. It's amazing to watch how the culture has shifted, and the cultural "glue" that once held things together--for Catholics, Protestants and Jews alike--has crumbled. In some ways, it's sad. But maybe it's making room for God to do a new thing. Old vessels can't hold new wine. I worked in healthcare. I watched the Greatest Generation come and go before me.

Yeah why would we want to go back to the Mass of the Ages, solid doctrine, and Popes who held to the doctrine of the Apostles when we can have Pachamama, queer prelates, and church hierarchy who participates in rituals w pagans.

Dear Brian, I am a 50 year old woman blessedly born into a faithful Catholic family. My parents are now 83 and recently passed 85. I grew up going to daily Mass and frequent reception of Confession. I recognize that I am a part of a very tiny minority of persons in this hedonistic world. I also grew up in post Vatican II, and am a member of the immediate fallout generation. In first grade, Sister Moya wore a full habit. In second grade, Sister Colleta came in and wore 5 inch heals and a very modified habit. In fourth grade, Sister Margaret came in and announced her new name was Miss Fleming. One of my best friend’s parents were a former Maryknoll priest and nun respectively. I remember watching the white smoke on tv when Pope John Paul II was elected Pope. I remember how poor the catechetics were and how through his papacy, the Church started to reclaim her strength. I was a relatively new mom when the priestly scandals hit the church, and my two brothers-in-law where abused by priests when they were in early middle school. I still go to daily Mass and have and still homeschool my 5 children. My grown child is a very faithful Catholic. The others are younger and are doing well. A little perspective for your wise generation who seems very sincere. The Latin Mass is very beautiful, no doubt, and it is very important that we worship our Almighty God in the most reverent and faithful way possible. Though I attend Latin Mass from time to time, I have lived enough time and have heard enough stories from my devout parents to know a truth about the human race. People can corrupt anything. My dad’s priest growing up said a 15 minute low Mass. As an alter server, he daily witnessed the priest starting Mass in the sacristy, hurry into the sanctuary, say the Mass, and finish it as my dad tried his best to keep up in speed Latin. I doubt there was anything reverent about that. My mom one year as a child passed out on Good Friday after having to kneel for 3 hours straight. They were a tougher breed back then, but even for my German American mother, three hours was a little excessive, and certainly not conducive to prayer. The fact is, nothing is so sacred that humans can’t screw it up. Take for example the so called traditional Catholic movement. ( and could someone please tell me why people have to differentiate their level of Catholicism. Either you are Catholic or you are not. If you need a label beyond that: progressive, liberal, traditional, conservative, rad-trad, I doubt the trueness of your belief in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith.) I have witnessed the elitism of some members of that affiliation. I know people that would rather abandon Catholicism than give up their idolatry of the Latin Mass. I encourage everyone who is passionate about the Latin Mass to ask themselves one question: If the Latin Mass was completely banned and the Novus Ordo was the only Mass available, would you abandon the Church to attend a schismatic Latin Mass? I will tell you right now, that if the Novus Ordo was banned and the Latin Mass were the only option for me, I’d without hesitation be there every day on my knees to be able to receive the King of Kings in the Holy Eucharist. Because when it comes down to it, while we should always work toward the perfect, that is why I am a Catholic. John 6.

I am 68 yes old and I remember pre Vatican times very well. I loved The Catholic Church and went to church because I felt the presence of God there. What I remember most is how Holy the priests were, how separated from the world they lived. They kept their distance and were greatly loved & respected.

Awesome points and insights! Thanks I am a convert and sad I missed the time before Vatican II.

Wow Brian! I am 82. 1950'sGrammar and high school. Nuns and brothers. i was gone from the Church for fifty years. I love being back. I love the traditionlal and the New Mass. My grandaughter went to 13 years of Catholic schools in the 2000's. We had teaching that couldn't have been more different. She was a 4.0 student. She has absolutely no knowledge of any saints or miracles that are so much a part of our tradition. i think we have lost a lot.

The difference is that we were a Christian nation then and the peer pressure was toward virtue and against hedonistic attitudes. Definitely this is an asset for all society. Church attendance was high in all faiths and mankind heard the Word of God weekly. This, of course, was bound to bear good fruit until the faith was undermined without and within.

I was 6 years old when Vatican ll ended. I remember the horror of the introduction of the Novus Ordo. Mass was not the same. We can not literally go back to the 1950s. But we can restore the Church back to its original forms. The reason people don't come anymore is that there is nothing to come to. All has been modernized or rather destroyed by Modernism.

I’m a pre-Vatican II Catholic and for the most part I long for the way things used to be. Graduated High School in ‘68. Sure, some things needed amendment, but it seems like the baby was thrown out with the bath water.

No fear….only to see and receive and thank God. I’m mid sixties….I remember EVERYTHING! Priests, my parents, relatives and nuns and neighbors were great role models. All 8 of my siblings (;all born in the 50’s and 60’s) still go to Holy Mass!, That’s a testament to them. When the Church changed my family stayed firm on receiving Communion on the tongue if we went to the NO. Where we grew up we had many places that still said Mass in Latin and also Mass with Latin. We were well catechized as well. We learned Gregorian chants, Latin, respect, love and encountering Our Lord at the foot of the Cross. We learned our prayers and learned to be grateful. I could go on and on….I miss so much….but found places to go where I live now. This too shall pass.

As G K Chesterton said, people say that one cannot turn the clock back. That is not true. Once can easily do so. He then went to the mantlepiece, opened the door of the mantle clock and, with his index finger, turned the hands of the clock back.

Thank you Brian for another excellent video!! I'm 76 years old and I so very much miss the Church of my childhood with the priest facing the Altar, the altar BOYS responding in Latin (imagine that!), Holy Communion on the tongue at the Altar rail, all the readings done by the priest, beautiful Gregorian chants!!! So many wonderful memories! ❤🙏

Part of the reason for the rampant unchecked corruption of the world is the wicked have no fear of hell. That is by design.

There were problems pre conciliar here: in particular in Ireland. We had priests who would read out in front of the whole congregation what was put into the weekly dues and who didn't. Humiliation for poorer members who had a near subsistence existence. Leaving aside the heinous abuses perpetrated, there were serious issues. However; our parents/grandparents were deeply rooted in the faith and had a great knowledge of liturgy and church history. Cultural identity as well as faith firmed their identity.

The fear of judgement is not a bad place to start the journey to the love of God.

I finished High School in 1961, so I grew up in the traditional church. Loved it! Fortunately now have a FSSP parish which is a blessing! A gift from God. My daughter and granddaughter love it. The old Mass was truly Catholic!

born in 1951- I was in a class of 55 students at Catholic school. Altar boys were eligible in fourth grade. In my class, every boy except one applied and successfully completed the requirements which included writing all of the Latin prayers with no more than 3 spelling mistakes. There was no pressure to apply. Two of the boys in my class became priests. There were long lines for confession every Saturday. There was a 3 hour fast before communion and not everyone received. Even though we were poor, all the children had three sets of clothes, play clothes, school clothes and church clothes. Bishops, priests and nuns were respected. Regardless of the motivation of the many people who went to church, it everyone took it seriously.

I grew up in the church before Vatican 2 and like my grandmother I was anxious to attend daily mass. I was confirmed before the Modernists used Vatican 2 to take GOD (the TRINITY) out of Mass. The mutations brought in by these same modernists drove me away from the so called new mass. I searched for GOD elsewhere and found only the deception of the new order wherever I went. We were just another protestant church! Thank GOD for those who saved and upheld the Latin Mass and the traditional catechism. They saved me from the darkness growing in me, planted by the new changes to an unchanging GOD. SERVIMUS NON REGIS SED IESUS CRISTUS!!!

I became engaged to a Catholic boy in 1967, his family wanted me to convert, but refused to go to church. The mother told me that they went to church one day & everything was different and they’d never go back. Needless to say, that didn’t encourage me to enter the church. I did speak to a priest who told me I’d never convert and he didn’t want to waste his time and mine. It must have been a very dark time in the church. This is one clear example of people leaving because of VII. On the flip side, a friend talks about being in college and being thrilled by guitar music and English Mass. She loved it, but then she left the church for 30 years, I don’t know why.

My Great Grandmother had a husband and family during the 1960s and 1970s when the council was going on and the changes were coming in. She absulutely remembers and is still living.

I was born in 1955 and remember well, how beautiful the Mass was back then. We were brought up with respect for our elders and the clergy. There was no confusion on dogma and great love for the Pope, unlike today's turmoil in society. It was a more loving and helpful world to live in.

They are wrong. Iam 81. We knew our faith . We loved the blessed sacrament

When you talked about the scary, fire and brimstone style homilies that some found offensive I couldnt help but think that being afraid of going to hell is actually a good place to start. After all, if we are afraid of going to jail, we dont commit a crime. In today's climate, people arent afraid of going to jail so anarchy reigns supreme. So it is in the catholic church, not being afraid of going to hell has changed people's perspective too. Rigidity and consistancy go hand in hand. As soon as you give 'em an inch, they will take a mile. It's called a slippery slope. Good commentary BH.👍🙏

I’m 79 yrs old in Canada. Cradle Catholic, we okayed our parents, our school teachers and our priest and bishop. That was the culture. We didn’t read the bible; we were told the learned scholars of the church would interpret and guide us. Then, 20 yrs old in 1964, on my own, no rules and then the Women’s Movement and Freedom. Breaking free of rules and learning to think for myself. This became my internal career for over 55yrs. Never wanted to return to the church and was not looking. Then lo and behold I was drawn to some websites. Then others such as Suan Sonna, and yours have taught me what choosing to become a traditional catholic is about. I want what has been missing in my life for the past 58 years. You young catholic converts have shown me the way. The Holy Spirit works in miraculous ways. Alara

Eucharistic Adoration makes a church thrive, beyond the aesthetic of the mass celebrated at any given time and at any given church. My parish has a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for 10 hours everyday and it offers two daily masses and 7 masses on Sundays, including a TLM. All the masses are full, and parking and seating are a problem the later you get there. I attend the NO mass on Sundays in addition to daily NO mass. It is one of the warmest parishes I’ve belonged to, and the parishioners are among the most virtuous (and they practice the most important one, if you know what I mean, the one that starts with H…).

O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, BECAUSE I DREAD THE LOSS OF HEAVEN AND THE PAINS OF HELL, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen

People generalize. My missal pre-V2 was Latin on one page and English on the facing page. I never saw confused worshippers, but respectful, reverent, and quiet before and after Mass. With all that our current leadership is doing, yes, there are going to be people running from the Caholic Church. In fact, things may be become schismatic.

Brian, you nailed it. A comment on your music point: As a music teacher, I noticed my students holding a real resistance to learning to appreciate music other than just what they like. I tried to open their minds up to hearing what makes a certain music great without asking if they liked it. In the Church the same attitude can be found. It's no recipe for unity, especially between generations. Yet plenty of other circumstances call for music that isn't necessarily your favorite music, but is definitely the appropriate music, like at weddings, graduations, military funerals etc. No one complains that Taps isn't their favorite song, and why can't we hear one that's more lively? So why can't we accept worship as being in a category similar to all of these in its use of appropriate sounds, I wonder? Great book I'm reading on the subject: Sacred Treasure: Understanding Catholic Liturgical Music by Joseph Swain.

The wonderful Latin Mass didn't allow individual preferences

I'm starting to love your content more and more. God bless you bro

I was there in the days of Latin Mass and I can tell you there was a real since of mystery and the depth of the feeling of God being truly present.

I was 12 in 1965. I remember things as they were because I attended Catholic schools throughout my childhood. I remember great faith and devotion among families with whom I was familiar. I remember changes after that period. For me the changes felt as if we were “Catholic Light”, like Bud Light. It felt ambiguous and undefined. We were often encouraged to examine Church teaching based on how we felt about it. WhenJohn Paul II came on the scene I was glad to see that element of reverence and undeniable truth proclaimed unapologetically. It felt like I could breath again. Church feast days, Sunday Mass, Christmas, Easter and Holy Days were beautiful and full of deep meaning. As a child I didn’t always appreciate it, but it stayed with me. It still does. Those memories are rich and profoundly impacted my life. They shaped my life and I am so grateful I am among those who lived that time in the Church.

If anybody knows of a Gregorian chant station, please let me know! Lol I’ve tangled with that same commenter before too. I call BS on him. I’m actually old enough to have had first communion and confession prior to Vat2, and our old parish was in the news in the recent summer of violence (Mission San Gabriel in LA). My parents and us kids were friends with many vibrant large families. Only my parents though refused to go along with the NO. The other families’ kids mostly wandered away from the Faith. We did not. That says something right there.

I was born in 1960. I'm 62 I'm 61 years old and things didn't really start changing in the church until the late '60s. Before that time it was smells and bells. And even then when it started changing it started out quite slowly.

"Gregorian chant is not anyone's personal preference" (Tries to hide face) :D

"The Truth is always discriminatory whenever error places it into question. " -Archbishop Carlo Vigano

Italian 17yo here. From what you are saying the situation in the USA is pretty bad, I’ll pray for you. But here in Italy church attendance is very high: on Sundays we have children mass and teens mass, along with other 4 masses for old people, all of them full. On week days the church is always half full, and the 7am mass is pretty full too! (My mother goes there everyday)

I agree with all of your main points, as usual, and think you do an outstanding job of logically thinking through a topic. I have one nit, however. Regarding our own individual credibility to discuss the past prior to our own individual adulthood, I think it's important to consider that for those who are reared by loving parents and grandparents, their "memories" go back further than their own individual lives. For example, I was born in the late 1960s and my parents were born before 1930. I don't remember anything pre-Vatican II myself, but my parents, who shared their stories and their views regularly with me (not just once or twice, but daily, year after year) regarding their lives in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s were able, I believe, to give me and their other children (to the extent we were paying attention!) a sense of life prior to our individual births. And it is not only my parents who gave this to me, but a chorus of their siblings, their friends, a whole world of adults who formed and shaped me. And so I think, just as your children will have a very real sense of Canadian life in the early 21st century from you and your wife -- even though they weren't yet born when some of the things you share with them occurred-- so too anyone. A not insignificant part of our "knowledge," on a personal level, goes back a generation before we were born, precisely because a person doesn't start from nothing, but from intimate relationships with very real people who pass on very real knowledge deliberately.

Why does the TLM churches have more people and young families

I became an evangelical and went through that stage of judging everyone's motives for going to church. Those Catholics, they're just going out of habit, out of fear, etc. I was so arrogant. I learned that it's not for me to judge. Everyone's on their own journey. Who knows what seeds are being planted and tilled in the hearts and minds of each person. As an evangelical, there was this expectation that you had to be "Saved", in the sense that you had to have this one "born again" moment, and that every time you went to church, you should have an intense spiritual experience. But sometimes, God works in the little things.

Hey Brian, great video. I just had a question, what is the name of the song that is in your intro? Thanks so much and keep up the great work. Many blessings, Joel

Aren't we supposed to judge things by their fruits. Reformists are dying in empty parishes, traditional parishes are growing with many young and numerous families.

*Meekly raises hand* Gregorian chant is my personal preference.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Here's another question regarding going back to the 1950's , when the Eucharist was treated much more reverently and carefully. When feeding the 4000 and the 5000, why did Jesus command that the fragments be gathered up? Was it just to show how abundant the feeding was, or was it an example of how we are supposed to treat the fragments of the Eucharist? Or did it mean something else?

In those days the children were not only respectful in the church and towards their teachers (nuns), but also towards their parents and strangers. Meanwhile, today, 10 year olds scream for no reason they are going to "kill" you and women (no matter how old they are) passing by the children's playground, are called 'bitches'. Recently my spouse was even spit in her face for politely asking one of the children to clean up their mess near the river in our park......... But what do you expect from kids that are capable of killing each other with a knife, which happened recently.......... again...... Welcome to the Netherlands! "NEVER AGAIN" you say??? I really wished WE COULD TURN BACK the clock!!!! Back to a time with full churches, NORMAL children, decent parents and STRICT teachers, just like the nuns in those days, as this attitude is necessary to create respect and obedience.

I needed this uplifting message, thank you Brian.

My mother was born in 1962 so my grandmother was a young parent at the time of Vatican II. One of the reasons that I was able to know of and wanting to find a Latin mass was because of the fondness that my grandmother spoke of it. And I am very glad that she did have that experience. In fact, one of the things that I enjoy about the Latin mass is that those around me have a certain air of an older time with respect and family that is severely lacking now. There are many things to long for from the past and our morality and societal standards are certainly among them, despite what many modern and modernistic people like to say. And who cares if people went to church or go to church because they fear Hell or social ramifications? Those are not bad things. These are the spiritual and social guide bars that funnel people into this place where they can hear the word and they can hopefully sit with it long enough for it to wash them.

Having lived through this era, I'm very curious to see what the content will be!

I am 74 years old and I already wrote a comment agreeing with Mr. Holdsworth. This comment is to anyone who thinks old church was all bad. Read the comments of all the other old people like me. We KNOW the modern church is wrong about how things were.

Excellent point! People don't need to be perfect to come to church. Broken people ( and earful people) need to come to (hopefully) recieve God's grace. If some of the people who attended church in the past came with less than perfect reasons, SO WHAT! They came and hopefully in time were rewarded with spiritual blessings in their lives for it.

My grandma is 92 and she would tell me how things were and she loved it. They really held onto the old way apparently in her country for as long as they could. Even when I was a kid I remember seeing nuns all the time. Check out Holy Week in La Antigua Guatemala. It's beautiful Catholicism.

Currently 31 and loving these comments! 🥰 My grandpa fell away from the church so my family tends to point to that as justification for novis ordo. The moment you even begin to talk about Latin Mass it is completely shut down.

My dad is 83 and tells me stories of how fabulous the church was.

I'm 78 and I can assure you that the faith of the time formed me. I'm a daily Mass goer and can still quote from my Catechism. The pews were full!

I am 73, so I have seen both sides of the liturgy, pre and post vatican II. To blame the lack of participation in the mass, or the decrease of the faithful because of the change in the rite is myopic. It is not the change of the liturgy which has pulled away people from religion, rather the secular advances in scientism, loss of moral values due to the sexual freedom provided by the pill from the 60s onwards messing up the family structure, the modern belief that all truth is relative to each person point of view, dismissing a superior truth, etc., not only in the catholic church but in other religions as well. With regards to the post vatican II rite, in my opinion the communal experience of the mass changed a lot for the better with the use of the vernacular language, since very few people today speak latin; the same can be said about putting the altar as the center of attention, with the priest more integrated with the community, looking at the people.

Very thoughtful Brian, thank you and God bless!

Amen! Not a catholic myself, but I agree 100%. What you said reminded me of that ol' hymn called "just as I am". I wish more churches would sing hymns in a choir instead of these rock bands. The mega churches especially throw me off.

Here's the problem: Attendence and participation was already in decline before the Council. That trend stretches back into the late 19th century. By the 1950s, the Church already saw the writing on the wall of an increasingly secularized culture and modern worldviews that were pulling people away from the faith. That was part of the whole reason why Vatican II was called! But by the time the Council ended and the reforms were implemented in the 70s, it was too little too late. I'm not saying that what came out of Vatican II was the absolute best way of addressing the issues, but it's clear that Vatican II was not the main cause of the plummet in Church attendence that we see today.

Life in the 60's in the Philippines had not yet been ruined by the spirit of Vatican II. The private Catholic school I went to as a child and the parish were still traditional. It was lovely. I still remember it with yearning. The missionary Fathers were holy and mysterious. The Sisters were strict but you knew deep down that they were right. We wore veils to Holy Mass. We were taught to kneel at the beautiful communion rail and you patiently wait for Father to come to you and give you Communion with a sacristan holding a gold communion-plate near your chin. The importance given to all Sacraments made a great impact on a child's mind. The grown ups dressed modestly. I did not encounter any fear of fire and brimstone from anyone. I'm sure people were sinful too back then but they held up a holy standard to live by. It was a grace-filled time to grow up in.

Powerful message, Brian. Great perspective🙏

Liberated by Latin, from the Personal, Private and Particular.

Hey Brian, would you be up to connecting with Michael Lofton at Reason & Theology to discuss the liturgy issues? A lot has been said about the modernist tendencies that erode the faithful, but not as much has been said about some schismatic tendencies on the traditionalist side, which is what Lofton, a trad himself, has chosen to focus on. Not that I think you are proposing schism over the problems after Vat2, just want to balance out the “rhetoric.”

I was baptised into the Catholic faith in 1959 at the age of 18 years. Sunday was such an important day to many at that time. The reverence and devotion to the mass and the church was so special and meaningful to catholics which sadly I feel has almost disappeared. Hardly anyone in the churches I frequent, shows this reverence today. There is no quiet time preparing for the mass. People chatter as if they were in a supermarket. When queueing to receive Our Blessed Lord, very few even acknowledge the most treasured gift they are about to receive. Everything has just become a habit and I blame the church for this. Priests are so afraid of losing catholics if they remind parishioners at mass that they are in God’s church, a very special and sacred place. Until bishops and priests do something to stop the irreverence within the church, I feel more parishioners will stop attending mass.

A word to those who love the church and its history over the last half century or so. The reforms of Vatican II were not undertaken lightly. You younger people could not have been familiar with such, and its intent to focus on God's word beyond the customs that were considered to define such atthe time. But of course, secular media---which, in the English speaking world then and now--has always been hostile to the Catholic church--have not been shy in "re-defining" Vatican 11 missives to distort such for their own agenda. No surprise on that fact here--but those same hired forces will always promote their agenda through multiple means. Sometimes I think traditional Catholics fail to recognize that fact. Never, EVER take any content dirrected towards you at face value. Sometimes such content may masquerade as originating from a genuine Catholic perspective. Yet at the same time, the propaganda directed towards you may have the specific intent of promoting no-longer-relevant church customs from the past, as a way of undermining the universal relevance of God's word at any time and place anywhere. My advice, from an old guy who remembers the reforms of Vatican II : focus on Vatican documents themselves and their intent in the light of their consistency of purpose in presenting God's word in a relevant way to people at the time and succeeding generations at the time as well. God's word is always relevant to all peoples everywhere, within any culture, time and place.