The Mass of the Ages Myth and What Young Catholics Want in the Liturgy w/ George Weigel 

people who attend latin mass dont go for “awe and wonder”. they go because that is where the Lord Jesus Christ is given proper respect. that is where people belief that Christs sacrifice is offered. i dont care if there is bad music. or no music. i dont care if the latin is not spoken well. i care if our Lord is treated like our King, our God.

I'm from the Amazon. After I discovered the Mass of All Ages, I decided never to attend a Novus Ordo again (especially after I read who was Archbishop Bugnini). This video does not convince anyone.

I'm under 50 years old. I want the TLM

We reject Modernism and all its works. TLM is the once and future Mass.

Grew up Catholic. Went to Catholic school. Was an atheist by my early teens. Dabbled in Buddhism, Hinduism and various forms of mysticism. Growing up in the 80s, I didn't even know the Traditional Mass existed. But God moved me and after 20 years of atheism and spiritual meandering I returned to the Catholic Church because and ONLY because of the Traditional Mass. You can argue all you want against that and against the Latin Rite, but those are the facts and I'm not the only one in this situation. I hope you one day make the honest intellectual effort to understand why people are going to the Traditional Mass....it's not a matter of mere choice, it's way beyond mere preference. It's clear you have no desire to understand them, but rather have a desire to talk them out of it. Why is that? With whom are you scoring those brownie points?

It absolutely is the Mass of the Ages. The changes you spoke of are relatively minor compared to the Latin Mass which in SUBSTANCE goes back to St. Gregory. Yes it has been enriched, but conceptually nothing has changed. “Adding St. Joseph” is not a radical change or major “evolution.” You’d do well to listen to Fr. James Mawdsley’s detailed comparison of the TLM and Novus Ordo. The N O has been gutted of many important prayers and even incorporates theological concepts from the Talmud.

Raising your kids in a Novus Ordo parish is a death knell for your children's faith. The parents and the kids will spend their years having no friends from their parish and being treated like strangers from priests who dissappear after the final blessing. After 18 years of vapid sermons, catechetical amnesia, and Eucharistic sacrilege, your kids and your marriage will be well primed to go A.W.O.L. from Holy Mother Church.

He has the same tone and expression of self assurance as the baby boomer priest that said to me one day, as I was in a profund questioning, that stigmata of saints don't matter and don't really exist. After that I completely apostasiated as I believed him : I concluded that everything religious was mascarade. Ironicly I came back when I had finaly changed my mind about surnatural reality. Please God forgive us for such poor faith.

I remember the Latin Mass, too. Young people today as well as many of the rest of us, are looking for reverence, we want consistency, we are looking for prayer. We are not looking for a circus, and that is what Novus ordo has become. Since the Novus IOrdo, one does not know, know when you go into a church, whether there will be sdancing, ballerinas, a gay pride, parade, or other sacrilege. Say what you Will about the Latin mass, but the emphasis was on the Eucharist. That cannot be said consistently today. Those of us who want to return to sacredest and leave sacrilege out of Mass or not young people, we are people of all ages, and from all walks of life. You’re not the only person who remembers. Leave us alone.

Eastern Catholic so I dont have much skin in the game, but even I can see that the "new mass" is not simply a translation and simplification of the Old Mass but rather an entirely new rite of the Church that was created by (not so holy) men. What's my evidence? When I go to Latin Mass on occasion, I can see the newcomers who have attended the NO their whole lives and so they expect the Old Mass to essentially be the same thing except spoken in Latin. However, once the Asperges starts, you can see that they become a little stressed and are confused with what's going on, and then when the priest and servers go to the altar and start mass with Psalm 42, the people are freaking out and aren't sure if they're in a Catholic Church or not lol. Clearly these two masses are not cut from the same cloth. Also I've heard many NO goers try to assert that the NO is more similar to the Divine Liturgy than to the Latin Mass. I say, nonsense. I feel much more at home in a Latin Mass than in the NO. Yes, the Liturgy is historically said in the vernacular. But it's a higher form of translation than the NO, with much more reverent language and everything is chanted. The priest faces east. Only the priest or deacon may give the Holy Mystery. And many, many prayers are said inaudibly at the altar, just as in the Latin Mass. The Divine Liturgy and Latin Mass are siblings. The NO is that weird cousin who you only see at family reunions once a year.

I would rather take the dreadful Latin low Mass than a reverent Novus Ordo. We have a reverent N.O at our church. Ad Orientem, Gregorian Chant, Altar Boys, Kneeling for Communion. But, the words are entirely different. A priest stumbling over the Latin to "I will go into the Altar of God" is more glorious and humbling than a clear chanted, "Let us pray brethren". The people who composed the great Masses(which, you can't begin to understand that music unless you attend a Mass using it or have the movements of the priest memorized so that you know, it can only be understood within the context of that Mass) did so by being moved by the beauty of the words. That's why people used to pray the Mass at home. I never did until I began attending one. Now I have it memorized. Some of the key Latin parts I have memorized. When I hear the great Masses, I know what part of the Mass we are at. I grew up playing piano, listening to Mozart. Had I gone to the Latin Mass when I was young, I can honestly say it would have changed the direction of my life entirely towards God. Because I loved the great Mass compositions, but never really loved going to Mass. But, oh my gosh. I'm not even that crazy about the unicorn, reverent N.O.s. The words and body positions and transitions have no flow, no poetry. And it's very Lutheran. My husband is a Lutheran. It's very, very Lutheran.

This is a really weak attempt. I was expecting him to refute everything in Mass of the Ages but he just sniveled about how the NO can inspire awe and wonder if it's done well. What does "done well" even mean? He also moaned about traditional Masses being done poorly when he was a boy. That's definitely possible but I pose that it's easier to do an NO poorly than it is a to do a tradtional Mass poorly.

"Let me tell you how all these people who have concerns with the vaccine are wrong etc. etc." is exactly how this guy sounds to me. It's all I can hear.

I grew up in the 90s and 2000s. The NO turned me away from catholicism and the extraordinary form brought me back. The NO is celebrated so terribly ot should be a crime.

I enjoyed his audiobook Letters to a Young Catholic. I'm 57 yrs old. I grew up only knowing the N.O and a lot of nonsense attached to it. Yes it can be done well, but usually isn't. I NEED the Latin Mass as do other young people. But not just that. I also need traditional, true, honest Catholicism and Holy priests. It saves my soul. I will NOT be persuaded to believe otherwise. I was an altar boy. I was in a seminary. I have a theology degree. I saw priests leave the church in droves. I'm now a dad. I respect George. I could have a beer and chat with him. But I'm a traddie from here on! Our Pope is in error. The TLM isn't going away!

I’m Protestant, but I have a close relative who converted & Ive attended the Novis Ordo many times, but I’ve never attended the Latin Mass, which isn’t celebrated anywhere in my town, but I’d love to go to one. I think the fact that the FBI has been sending agents undercover only to Catholic Churches that celebrate the Latin Mass & only to Latin Mass services to collect the names of all attendees as domestic terrorists says everything about how holy it must be. Those same people in the FBI attend school board meetings & get lists of any parents who don’t want books in the schools libraries that have line drawings of every perverted sexual act with explanations for how to do those acts some of which include urine & feces in the sexual act, & they label the parents who oppose that as domestic terrorists. They then got Pope Francis & the leaders in the Catholic Church to stop having the Latin Mass in many American churches. Those facts prove how much Satan & his evil servants hate & fear the Latin Mass; just those reasons prove it should be offered once a week in every town that has at least 2 Catholic Churches & have the LTM once a month in more rural areas, having the churches take turns hosting it so people have the opportunity to attend at least once or twice a year & more if they are able to drive to a surrounding county to one of the other parishes when it’s offered there.

in his writings i noticed that uses superfluous words that only he can understand....

Weak. Weigel should be more willing to engange thoughtful traditionalists. It’s obvious he hasn’t really wrestled with their arguments.

Can I also have what he is smoking?

Traditional Latin Mass brought me back to Catholic Faith in the time of crisis of Faith

This video is highly misleading. "The Roman Rite was constantly evolving"-- Historians note that the Mass of the Ages has remained almost entirely unchanged since the pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great in the late sixth century. As Dr. Weigel admits, the Council of Trent did not invent a new liturgy, but merely codified what came before. It is true that over the centuries, there have been small developments, but only for the purpose of giving God more glory by adding to the beauty and reverence of the liturgy. The Novus Ordo, on the other hand, was entirely unprecedented, radically breaking with Tradition. It was a shocking innovation, a completely new liturgy that removed a significant percentage of the prayers from the Old Mass (I believe it is more than half the prayers, but I could be wrong). Nothing remotely like this has ever happened before in Church history. "The changes in the Roman Rite began with Pope Pius XII"-- This is true, but Pius XII was the Pope who immediately preceded John XIII. His pontificate lasted from 1939-1958; in other words, we can see that his decision to alter the Mass was a precursor to Vatican II and stemmed from that same spirit. No historical event happens in a vacuum, after all, and Vatican II only makes sense given what happened in the decades prior. Many traditional Catholics lament these changes, even if we tolerate them. Besides, the changes are very minor compared to what was to come later with the Novus Ordo. "There were different forms of the celebration of the Mass in Western Christianity all over"-- I have attended one of these "different forms," which is the Norbertine liturgy. The average parishioner would not even notice a difference between this and the usual form of the Latin Mass. The same is true for the other varieties of the Roman Mass; their differences are very small. The various forms of the Mass celebrated prior to the Council of Trent were almost certainly the same way. This video, "Historical Recreation of a 15th Century Catholic Latin Mass," demonstrates this. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UTSJ7LqZLYQ.html "They are looking for the awe and wonder" -- Because God is infinite and the Latin Mass properly reverences His great majesty, it is natural that we should feel a sense of awe. However, it is wrong to take an effect of the liturgy and try to turn it into the purpose of the liturgy. To put it plainly, the Mass is not about man, but God. We desire the Latin Mass not for the sake of our own awe and wonder, but for the sake of glorifying God. The Latin Mass glorifies Him because it is altogether divine, not a human invention of the 1960s (as the Novus Ordo is). The Latin Mass is deeply reverent, transcending our comprehension. it inspires belief in the doctrines of the Faith, especially the Real Presence. It is also ancient, in keeping with Tradition. This is why so many people are drawn to it. It is not wrong to feel an attraction to the awe-inspiring nature of the Mass, but again, this is not the only reason people love the Mass of the Ages. "I clearly remember what parish liturgy was like pre-Vatican II. It was not Mozart 'Missa Brevis', beautiful Latin, and a lot of smells and bells" -- I strongly dislike the term "smells and bells," as it is so disrespectful. Putting that aside, however, Dr. Weigel is missing the point. It is true that the Mass should be said as reverently as possible, but much of the reverence is inherent in the prayers themselves. I have attended many Latin Masses, and many are badly said, but they are still infinitely greater than the Novus Ordo. Furthermore, unlike in the Novus Ordo, the Latin Mass does not contain many different possible prayers. There is no "Eucharistic Prayer 1 and 2," there is only one way of saying the Mass. Therefore, it is not based as much on who the celebrant is. As an aside, I also should mention that Mozart music is not necessary for a reverent liturgy. In fact, Gregorian chant, though much simpler, is far greater.

Unfortunately, if I asked local parishes for more awe and wonder, ad orientem, Gregorian Chant, altar rails, communion on the tongue, incense, candles, and more Latin, which is what I assume attracts people, I think I would be told no and offered the Latin Mass locations in my archdiocese. I only asked in my previous parish before coming to my current parish so this is an assumption on my part, but I’m fairly confident. Thanks you for this discussion.

A weak effort on George Weigel's part. In the Missale Romanum the proper for All Souls' Day includes the *Dies Irae* which is more than 700 years old. This poem has been sung during funeral masses for more than 700 years. Some sources claim that this text more than 1400 years old. This is but one example. This man is capable of coherent thought. Why is he so intent on arguing for an absurdity. The old rite is old. It is ancient. And the creation of the new mass was an act of vandalism.

Oh boy - where to start. Just because the Traditional Mass was codified in the Council of Trent , does not mean it didn’t exist many centuries before that council. Essentially dates back to the 6th Century - probably sooner. Any changes between then ( it was called Gregorian Rite, after Pope Gregory ) and 1962 were minor. Adding St Joseph to the Canon is pretty minor. Especially, when compared to the changes that were used to fabricate the New Mass. And why were there 7 Masses on a Sunday ? Because they were needed ! The Church wishes it had that “problem” today. ! This wasn’t one of Weigel’s better interviews.

It seems that the common sentiment of all catholics who grew up with the novus ordo mass and later discovered the tridentine mass was the feeling of having been robed. Its not a question of aesthetics, its the fact that Mass is the absolutely central and vital to the faith and there people dont worry about whether or not some kind of liturgical abuse is being committed. People say "it doesnt matter, its the same sacrifice" > exactly! Its incredibly important to have reverence, recollection, piety, etc. People are certain to find this at the TLM.

As Fr Adrian Fortescue pointed out in his work The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy, the mass of Pius V was essentially unchanged from what was received in the church’s infancy. Yes, there were slight tweaks over 1,500 years, but to say that these somehow mean it wasn’t the “mass of the ages” is as absurd as saying to change the light fixtures in a home means it’s a different house. Also, I’m not sure how the Baltimore Cathedral losing over ½ their mass attendance (dropping from 7 Sunday masses to 3) is something to boast about as a positive of the novus ordo. I get he's trying to be an apologist for the novus ordo. But he's really grasping at straws, and failing miserably.

Over at New Liturgical Movement, Gregory Dipippo has a very good rebuttal of this video. It is worth a look.

Spent most of my life with the NO and many of the weak and foolish things that resulted. COVID mass restrictions led me to a TLM parish and at age 65, I finally felt at home. Three and a half years on tell me Mr Wiegel is not just off base, he is not playing the same game.

I'm 43. I attend my first TLM in 1997 and feel in absolute love, I also felt robbed. I agree you can find NO masses that are celebrated well but they are few and far between in certain locals. I think the point about that mass of the ages is that the TLM has remained little unchanged from Gregory the Great until 1955. Sure som small things were tweaked from time to time, but anthropological change has been little. This attitude that we know why the mass changed and you don't know what it was like is a very poor way to express this. Be thankful the TLM is being prayed like it always should.

Found TLM and never went near the Novus Ordo again. The changes made in the Latin mass were minor. The NO is a Protestant travesty

I grew up in the 1980s in an all-Catholic community and went to Catholic school, kinder to 12th grade. Soon after graduation, I left the faith. I recently returned but was unsure of what to do since I was heart broken by what I saw in the masses I attended (they were all Novus Ordo, but I didn't even know that terminology back then). So, I was about to take a step back until someone told me about the Traditional Latin Mass. I didn't walk, I ran back to the Church and I am dying a Catholic. From cynical atheist to Traditional Catholic. How else can that happen but by the miraculous acts of God and the Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi exemplified in the Tridentine Mass?

I'm not (and never will be) one of those heretical people that claims the NO is invalid; but nor will I ever be one of your sort that seems to claim that the NO is the final iteration and, therefore, the pinnacle of true worship.

"The Roman Rite was constantly evolving..." WRONG. It actually shows GREAT stability over the centuries. Nothing like the nearly complete redo of 1969. GW is way over his skies here.

You are so wrong about us, Mr Weigel, we don't go to the TLM for awe and wonder. You are missing out a lot, go do more homework, I am sorry for you that you are not understand the TLM

Ah... Ya gotta love the comments. It shows just how out of touch the folks on camera are with most of the folks who are watching. It ain't just about awe and wonder

Mr. Weigel makes his living from Novus Ordo world and the Bishops. He will not say anything against his benefactors. The NO is man made and not reverant. Attend the Latin Mass.

Weigel's arguments are as weak as he relevance. Just sad...

I was going to say you attended a different Mass than we do to day if you think it’s rushed and has awful music. It’s unfortunate you experienced that because we don’t today in my experience. It’s always been beautiful. Also the council of Trent just made concrete what we’ve been doing for centuries.

as a younger person, I don’t go to TLM for "awe and wonder" but because it shows more reference towards the Eucharist. The consensus that I formed from friends is the same. The person you talk to for this information is out of touch unfortunately. A survey asking why younger people go to TLM would be a interesting way to alleviate this discrepancy in opinion.

Mr Weigel - this is very disappointing coming from you. You are missing the point. Yes the "Mass of the Ages" is a handy catch-phrase. It does not mean that everything is cast in concrete. **HOWEVER** whatever changes were slow and evolving, but always with reverence. The Novus Ordo was a brutal chop by axe - this is because Bugnini was either a closet Protestant, definite modernist who didn't even like the Rosary, and quite possibly a Freemason). The dilution of all the prayers, came very close to denying the Real Presence and to turn it into a remembrance - this was because there were 6 Protestants and only 1 Catholic priest, with a goal to make the Mass "acceptable" to Protestants who, of course by definition, deny the Real Presence.

Let's say the NO & TLM are equally reverent/Biblical/historic etc, if it's what young people want & will keep them going to Mass then that's what the Church should promote. At a time of apostasy & an aging demographic why are we appealing to the older generation who are aging quickly? Who is the future of every parish? THE YOUNG PEOPLE

There is no legitimate means to argue that the missal of 1969 is an organic development of the 1962 or earlier copies of the Roman Missal. Adding multiple “Eucharistic Prayers” when most of the history of the church had known only one canon. The additional “penitential rites” have no root in the Roman liturgy. These are not organic changes to the Mass.

Boomer mass will die with the boomers.

We take the point that "Awe and wonder can be part of a Novus Ordo Mass", and that's great, but that's just not what we experience the vast majority of the time. If you're blessed to live near an Oratorian reverent Novus Ordo or something similar, that's wonderful, and God bless those priests and parishes, but most of us don't have that option nearby. And anyway, everyone knows that when the Novus Ordo is done reverently, it is only reverent in so much as it looks, smells and sounds a bit like the TLM: the TLM is the measure of the NO. In any case, as you say, the Mass of '62 is celebrated better now than it was in the past - doesn't that sound like all the more reason to go to the TLM now more than ever? It also concedes the point that Mass can be done "better"; therefore, do we not have the duty to seek out the Mass which is done "better" or preferably "best"? How likely is that to be the local parish N.O? There's also so much more to this question, not least of all the fact that you can go along to the TLM with 7 children including 2 crying little ones and not look out of place.

Mass of the ages save my life. From protestant mass to catholic mass I can understand the sacrifice of Jesus ( what Jesus did for me and their friends) and the meaning of the last supper. Saludos desde Colombia. Viva Cristo Rey, viva la santísima virgen María. ❤

When people say “Mass of the Ages”, they don’t mean a copy of the Mass in the early Church 🙄Frankly, obsessing over the earliest type of Mass possible is what led to the reform (by an academic committee nonetheless), so it is an ironic accusation against traditionalists. We want the apostolic line of the TLM, a line that, yes, goes through the ages of the Church and it is not captured by any given generation.

Young Catholics def want the TLM back. Sorry boomer George.... -young Catholic

24 year old here. I want tradition, reverence, and seriousness, and the TLM brings that. Many NO are irreverent and have abhorrent music that was a carry over from the 60s and 70s.

Yes we can experience awe and wonder in a properly celebrated reformed liturgy. But the question is are you celebrating it properly? If there are people seeking solace from the abuses in the reformed liturgy in the old celebration, do not blame them. Blame those priests that banalize the mass of which you failed to discipline

George, I agree the Extraordinary form of the Mass celebrated today is better than the variant I remember sixty years ago, but I was ten and didn’t understand much of anything when I was ten. But, most of adolescence and adult life I was steeped in the Novus Ordo and Vatican II Mass and my experience is that the best Novus Ordo Mass is not even close to a bad Usus Antiquior Mass. Sorry, has an educated man you should know the two liturgies are not the same in word and theology.

Sure things change. However I would describe the TLM as "evolving" slowly over time but not in substance. The post V2 liturgy was an abrupt and wrenching break. I was a Protestant 2 years ago. First year I attempted RCIA through the NOM Parish church and declined. This year I came into the Church through the TLM. Sure you can find a reverent NOM - if you're lucky. Even then it's a different rite, like the Ordinariate or an Eastern rite.

Bro has a Ukraine flag... Opinion invalidated

Your argument, Mr. Weigel, refutes itself. You say that people are attracted to the traditional Latin mass, because they are looking for awe and reverence. You then insist that awe and reverence are also to be found in the Novus Ordo mass. But if that is so, why would Catholics be shifting to the TLM? Your argument just makes no sense. My lived experience (which has been repeated over and over and over again by so many other Catholics) is that I grew up with a Novus Ordo mass that was banal and completely lacking in any sense of the transcendent. I never understood what the point of it was, and the automatic and routine way in which everybody went up to receive the Blessed Sacrament never gave me any sense that anything sacred was going on. And so I stopped practicing the faith once I left the parental home. It was not till I discovered the traditional Latin mass that I began to experience the deep truths of our faith through the liturgy.

I'd like to know what the agenda will probably celebrate it NO mass is. That's where I live. I currently attend St Andrew's, an NO church. The priest does his best to stay true to tradition, but I feel a strong pull to the TLM. Your video did nothing to assuage that pull!

There’s no such thing as a reverent Novus Ordo. They let laity handout communion, the priest and the people worship each other, and communion is cheapened to the point that it’s placed in the hand.

One thing that should be reversed is the orientation of the priest. The new mass has just become too man-centered.

bizarre

Yes, constantly evolving, but since Vatican 2 it seems to be deteriorating... Making changes over time is sensible. Ripping it all up in a few years makes no sense.

Weigel sees his stock plummeting, so he needs to do something.

The Novus Ordo is not Catholic, it's shot through with the spirit of protestantism. I'd rather attend a low mass in a hotel basement than the most reverent novus ordo offered in a Cathedral.

Additionally, the gray sweater vest and the gray blazer tell me all I need to know about this man's aesthetic judgment and education. ;)

Mr. Weigel doesn't get it...

Soooo disappointing George. You know very well that the Missal of 1962 is the Mass of Pius V, and he simply codified what had been done for over 1000 years before him. There are minor changes and subtle differences over the last millennium and a half, but the so-called Mass of Hannibal the freemason disfigured the rite beyond recognition as the same religion. For shame!

There is a reason why St Joseph wasn’t in the Canon!

A loser is a loser. Freemasons, poodles of the greatest of losers, are losers. Nice try, poor outcome.

0:13 Do you think erasing a whole Lectionary and Offertory and remaking them from zero is development? For me its rewrittal 0:27 That is a horrible argument. The missals from 1962 and the medieval ages share a similarity between them that they do not share at all with the New Roman Rite. They share the same single unchanged Canon (with the exception of St Joseph's name), the same Offertory, the same Lectionary. The changes are little compared to the rewrittal that happened in the later sixties 0:39 It wasn't a restoration in any sense, unless you are some antiquarian that believe the prudential judgment of the Church over centuries was an objective error to be "restored" to its pure primitive form. It was merely a reformation, not a restoration 1:05 This isn't an argument for rewritting a whole Rite. The only restoration was the moment of the day when it happened, not the shortening of the Holy Week liturgies, these were reforms 1:30 It didn't create it but merely codify what already existed. The Tridentine Rite wasn't created by Trent like the New Roman Rite was created by a comitte. One merely codified what already existed, other created a whole new thing. 1:45 1:50 No, they were not mere exceptions, any and all Rites older than 200 years were allowed to stay, this isn't a mere exception. There was a clear intent of preserving ancient traditions and Rites by doing this, what wasn't done when the Traditional Roman Rite was prohibited and restricted 2:40 A thing that Pius IX refused to do for a reason, to keep the Roman Canon unchanged. Nevetheless one thing is to insert a single name into the Roman Canon, another is to remove its beautiful symbolic gestures and insert many other Anaphoras alien to the Roman tradition. I am not saying that what happened is invalid or illicit but that it is an unwise reform deserving of being undone 3:45 Yes we can, but many things in it were unwisely removed. Not illicitly but unwisely. The Last Gospel, the Old Offertory (that pray tell blog brags about being replaced by a new preparation of the gifts that put an end to its bad theology), the old Lectionary that has its good things (although I will never criticize the adding of an OT reading)

This guy is not Catholic

Weigel is a nihilist.

Come on, George! Sister Mary Moira taught you better than that! Modernity is crushing our Church and the TLM movement is refreshing and necessary to restore The Church to the bastion of strength, wisdom and permanence we knew as kids at Cathedral.

I respect Weigel but this idea that some Catholics are just looking for "awe and wonder" is a strawman argument, and it's totally ridiculous! I just can't stand blatant indiscipline and irreverence of the N.O. It's almost like attending a black mass celebrated by a renegade priest, with the express intention of offending or Eucharistic Lord!

+JMJ George, I have read your books and have admired you. However, on this topic, I'm very sad to hear you disparage the Mass of the Ages. It in fact is the hope of the Church. The implementation of the NO was a radical break with Tradition and even Vatican II. Vatican II in no way authorized elimination of Latin; elimination of Gregorian chant; elimination of 87% of the orations of the Mass; the obliteration of the liturgical calendar (e.g. the penitential season of Advent is longer than the Christmas season itself); reception of Communion in the hand; elimination of altar rails; movement of the tabernacle to a side altar or broom closet; elimination of ad orientam in favor of pro populum; banal music; female extraordinary ministers when there is no compelling need, etc. The NO can in no way be said to be a continuation of the Tradition. Doing so displays ignorance at best or disingenuity or evil at worst. Yes the Easter Vigil over the years had moved to a morning celebration, but that was to ease the harsh effect on the Faithful of the Midnight Fast requirement which wasn't modified until 1957. If the fast had been modified sooner, it is unlikely the Vigil would have moved to mornings. You should attend a pre1955 Easter Vigil. It is truly in union with the Heavenly court of Christ the King. Also when you say "restore the Easter Vigil", I take that to mean the time of day of the celebration and not the Liturgy itself. Pius did great harm to the ceremony by cutting the readings of the history of salvation from 12 to 4. Even the Vatican II implementers found that paring to be too radical. The Council of Trent merely formalized the form of the Mass of the Ages in the face of the Protestant heresies. The Mass had organically grown since Apostolic times. Read Kwasniewski on the Once and Future Roman Rite. Your reference to the addition of St. Joseph's name to the Canon as undermining the Mass as the Mass of the Ages is ridiculous on its face. The addition of St. Joseph is totally consistent with the Mass of the Ages and would be considered exactly a modest organic change and a perfect example of natural organic development of the Roman Rite wholly faithful to Tradition. You state that you can have "awe and wonder" in a properly celebrated NO. The problem with your statement is that in reality 98% of the churches lack a properly celebrated NO. Moreover, even if they do, it could change on a dime when the next priest comes in given the great control the celebrant has over the wide optionality of the NO. He can choose any variation he likes. The NO eliminated 87% of the beautiful orations of the TLM. The NO is fraught with abuse and focuses on entertainment of man in a drive through Mass rather than on the adoration of Almighty God in a Holy Sacrifice. I was born during the reign of Pius XII and attended the TLM as a boy. It was beautiful. It was reverent. It was very well attended. Today after 50 years of the Bugnini mass, churches are empty, the liturgy is banal, Catholics are losing their culture and no longer believe in the Real Presence. By contrast, TLM Masses are stunningly beautiful in their devotion to God, the Blessed Mother and the saints. They bring up topics Vatican II removed from the liturgy including: Holy Sacrifice, reparation for sin; our unworthiness; penance; taking up the Cross; etc. The NO is protestantized focusing on a happy meal as opposed to a Holy Sacrifice of the Mystical Body of Christ. A typical NO Mass is full of cognitive dissonance, noise and disruption with lay people moving on and off the altar constantly. By contrast the TLM is prayerful devotion to God. Priest and people pray before Mass and after Mass. There is Rosary before every Mass. There is confession before or after every Mass. TLM churches are brimming. NO churches are dying, George. Those are facts. America's oldest diocese Baltimore is cutting the number of churches by MORE THAN HALF. The archbishop had the audacity to close the ONLY successful church in that archdiocese, the one with the TLM! On top of all that, I believe the casual NO opened the door for the gay culture of the clergy and the sexual abuse crisis. George, I hope you take a prayerful and honest closer look as to what is going on. May the Blessed Mother through her intercession guide you in this very important area. God bless you George.

Whoever this dude is he completely misses the point that the NOVUS ORDO is not at all an organic evolution of the mass nor is it the same mass as that which was passed down. This guy does not get it. I feel like he has no exposure to Mass of the Ages the organization. Sorry buddy it just aint the same thing. OUT OF TOUCH

It’s really funny how when they want a reverent NO that it looks a lot more like the TLM. Why is that? Why don’t they just go all the way and just have the TLM.

This Guy and the other 2 probably would be bowing to paci mamna in front of francis like on the video and pictures I have seen. No N. O. for me.

Need to stay in your lane.

We should all be very wary about lectures from Catholics that support unjust wars ... that said there's so many errors in this talk which is only a few minutes long. He has no understanding of the Sacred Liturgy or how it evolved throughout history. Since the time of St Gregory it changed only in minor ways. The substance was never changed in the way Paul VI changed it. This man has no competency whatsoever in liturgical matters. A few facts thrown together does not equal analysis or give any appreciation of the Sacred Liturgy. The Sacred Liturgy is like nothing else on Earth. It cannot be analysed in the same way a secular ideology like Marxism is analysed. It is simply NOT true in the normal sense to say there were different celebrations of the Mass pre-Trent. A layman, even one with an inflated sense of his self and his place (you know who I'm talking about) would not be able to tell the difference between the Mass as it was offered in a Dominican convent, a Roman basilica or a parish church in Merrie Olde England in 1400. If people are genuinely interested in this topic there's thousands of sources better than this man. We should all be looking for awe and wonder in the Holy Mass, we should also know that banal Novus Ordo masses, stripped of so many prayers cannot deliver on this. It is incapable of doing so. The so-called reverent Novus Ordo is also gone. The farce of the inculturation mega-Masses of John Paul II or the slightly better Masses of Benedict XVI are a memory. We now have Pope Francis concelebrating in his cassock at the Jesu.

Honestly, this is very sad to see. When you say that the reason people go to latin mass is for the "awe and wonder", it shows how out of touch you are with the people who attend. I know people can make a case for a reverent N.O., which I believe there are some (very few). But one thing that I would like to point out is the reverence the priests are trained to have in the traditional liturgy. One example out of many, is they are trained to bow their heads at the name of Jesus every time it is said ( this should be the minimum requirement as we are expected of even greater reverence according to Philippians 2:10 just at the name of our Savior). And to genuflect every time they cross the tabernacle. That is something that diocesan and modern priests are not trained to do. I was raised in Catholic school my entire life, and never saw these gestures from any of the priests. The genuflection when approaching the tabernacle to take out our Lord was the only time genuflections were done. Just food for thought.

Hmm, you insult the Mass of the Saints, while your Channel has 6.66k subscribers. Hmmm…

As “smart” as Weigel is he has much to learn about the spirituality of the Mass of the Ages!

Save it George.Nobody is buying it.

I agree. It is celebrated much better today than 60 years ago. Hearing the Mass in our vernacular language is very liberating. My Country suffered more than 300 years of oppression from Spain and Latin was their symbol of prestige. Having the NO mass today is such a Great Blessing!

The Traditional Latin Mass provides everything that the secular world cannot. By trying to bring down the mass to a secular level you are hurting the laity, not to mention the holy priests who have to desperately try to keep the service reverent while Clarissa goes into a Disney princess-like ballad during communion. Ugh.

Fool or fork-tounged?

This fellow irritates me he seems full of himself. The truth is is the old mass in the new mass. Do not compare. Put in the text of the two beside one another. The new mass does not contain, but about 18% of what is in the old. There’s no question. You can put lipstick on a pig specifically the new mass and make it look similar to the old but, then why again would you bother doing that instead of stick with the older version? It is true that developmental ism is present in the western church, both liturgically and theologically. As opposed to the east where there is very little developmental ism.

Weak....

Ok Boomer