The Light Is Tradition: A Review of Peter Kwasniewski’s New Book

Advent

As I was preparing to write this review of Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s latest book, Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright: The Genius and Timeliness of the Traditional Latin Mass (Angelico Press, 2020), I felt it might help to meditate on the scriptures first. I was feeling a bit out of my league, given Dr. Kwasniewski’s in-depth ecclesial knowledge, intellectual fortitude, and indefatigable contributions to the advancement of Tradition in the shadow of post-modernity. In other words, I didn’t know where to start; the book deserved more than I, as a layman and non-academic, could seemingly give it on my own.

An invitation to something deeper

When I opened my bible, my eyes fell on John 1 right after the Prologue. Of course, John’s gospel itself is dramatically different from the synoptic gospels (Matthew-Mark-Luke). It is steeped in sacramental symbolism and uses a theological (rather than chronological) focus to illustrate the grandeur of Christ. This seemed appropriate for a meditation on the subject matter at hand: the rich history and symbolism of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, specifically the traditional Latin Mass.

Aside from being led to John’s gospel, specifically, the reading of the text itself struck me as a fitting prelude to speaking about the resurgence of interest in the Latin Mass among Catholics who discover it and who desire to drink from a “deeper well”:

The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples. And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, saith to them: What seek you? Who said to him, Rabbi, where dwellest thou? He saith to them: Come and see. They came, and saw where he abode, and they stayed with him that day. (John 1:35-39)

This passage, and the fact that only John’s gospel recounts it, suits not only the subject matter at hand (Tradition), but also the purpose of making that Tradition known and accessible to all who desire to seek it out. To that degree, Dr. Kwasniewski does a great service to simple laymen and disciples of Jesus Christ like myself, who may not have the ability to articulate why it is they are attracted to the Latin Mass but know that there is “something greater” there than what we had been accustomed to for most of our lives in the Novus Ordo (called the Ordinary Form of the Mass).

Reasons for tradition

I found Reclaiming Our Catholic Birthright to be encouragingly evangelistic in nature, although I doubt it was written with that explicit end in mind. In fact, Dr. Kwasnieski opens the book – which is thoroughly and systematically footnoted without being too complex – with a chapter titled, “Taste and See: Ten Reasons to Attend the Mass of Ages.”

Rather than desiring the Mass of the Ages to be ghettoized or held by a select few in a kind of gnostic enclave, Dr. Kwasnieski insists that the so-called “Extraordinary Form” of the Mass should not in fact be considered extraordinary, but ordinary – namely, as it had been considered from the fourth to the twentieth centuries.

He quotes Antonio Cardinal Cañizares, former Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, who wrote in 2013 that “the motu proprio modified the recent situation by making clear that the celebration of the Extraordinary Form should be normal.” One picks up on this theme throughout the book; namely, that we were, in many ways, robbed of a rich inheritance when the liturgical reforms of the 1960’s were enacted.

Order and mission

The orderly structure of the book reflects the author’s appreciation of liturgical beauty and a sense of cohesion, but the orderliness is also fitting for the Latin Mass itself which presupposes such symbolic richness and order as reflective of its character.

Thus, Part I, “Orientation,” explains why the fundamental elements of Roman liturgical tradition developed as they did, and why they remain beneficial for us today. Part II, “Objection and Replies,” tackles all the arguments one will hear against the Traditional Latin Mass and in favor of its intended replacement. Part III, “Present and Future,” looks at how the liturgical heritage relates to family life, civic life, and ecclesial life.

Dr. Kwasniewski does use a number of words that may be unfamiliar for those who are fairly new to or unfamiliar with Tradition, but he also provides an ample glossary and a detailed index for looking up topics. In certain places he also uses the less formal format of interviews and letters from inquiring minds to add accessibility and readability to the text while maintaining the book’s intellectual fortitude. These are like lubricating oil for a complex engine with many parts. The diversity of formats kept me from becoming discouraged or feeling like an outsider who didn’t understand what was going on.

The book communicates the strong sense that the author is an evangelist for authentic Catholicism richly lived. He wants his reader to give God not the minimum we can muster in worship but the best we can offer. I believe that is because the Traditional Latin Mass itself evangelizes and draws people in, as Christ attracted John’s disciples to “come and see”. The author, in this sense, recognizes his role as that of a steward, passing on what has been given to him by grace. He would subscribe to the gospel saying: Servi inutiles sumus: quod debimus facere, fecimus. “We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do” (Luke 17:10).

But he is also an advocate for those who seek out this heritage which seems to have been largely hidden from us for decades. As someone who didn’t even know the Latin Mass existed until two years ago and subsisted on a steady diet of Ordinary Form Masses for two decades after my conversion, I have a deep appreciation for the author not looking down his nose on the liturgically unaware like myself.

A family matter

Kwasniewski also devotes a good portion of the book to the effect of the Latin Mass on children. As someone with three young children, I appreciated both his practical advice as well as the “beneath the surface” explanations of what truly reverent worship teaches children: lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief is the law of living). He explains clearly how the Mass itself is catechetical, without being pedantic. I now understand that.  My family has been attending the Latin Mass exclusively for the past year and a half, and I have witnessed a radical transformation – for the better – in my children’s behavior at Mass. These chapters reaffirmed that my experience was not unique.

What may be a bit jarring for readers, though I understand it, is that the author has lost faith in the “reform of the reform” after two decades of trying to bring reverence even to very favorably-disposed Novus Ordo communities. Ultimately, he has found it to be a quixotic endeavor.

This abandonment of hope for reform can sometimes feel like a “line in the sand” that separates traditionalists from those who may see the Novus Ordo as salvageable. The author’s hope is not in the reform of the reform or in trying to fix the Ordinary Form with sprinklings of traditional elements such as facing ad orientem, adding Latin, Gregorian chant, etc. He makes clear that there was a rupture with Tradition in the very content of the Novus Ordo Mass, and that, on many levels.

A light in the darkness

No, the author’s hope is in Tradition as a light in the darkness. Traditionalists will be the ones passing on the Catholic Faith, having large families, contributing to religious vocations and rebuilding both the Church and society from the ash heap of modernity. Inevitably, those of us who have attended the Novus Ordo most of our lives will come up against the same liturgical schizophrenia and cognitive dissonance when we discover Tradition and try to play “both sides” of the liturgical fence. We will find peace when we surrender to what is better, in itself and for us.

Reclaiming Our Catholic Birthright is a kind of call-to-arms, a comprehensive battle plan and a blueprint for a future civilization out of the ashes, all in one. Those who have stumbled upon Tradition, heard about Tradition or have found they cannot live without Tradition will find in Dr. Kwasniewski’s latest book a rich resource for passing on what they have been given and an accessible exposition of the patrimony they hold dear.

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