Almost anywhere else in the world-especially in the 1990s-the Novus Ordo was celebrated in a totally different way from the way it was done at TAC. Yet there was always a disturbing problem lurking in the background. This is what I began to find at Thomas Aquinas College, initially in the Latin Novus Ordo with chant (what we might call the “Reform of the Reform” approach), where the overwhelming effect was one of reverence, of taking serious things seriously. It was as if I needed to find the external visible and audible form of the truth of the Catholic Faith that I accepted with my intellect I needed to find the incarnate Christ, not the abstract word or the fleeting feeling. I’m not sure I could put my finger on it, but the experience was rather like what happens after a sugar high or puppy love: there was something superficial, inadequate, temporary, insubstantial.

Thanks to the adult leaders, whom I would describe as “John Paul II Catholics,” I discovered in that group three important things: first, that the Catholic Faith proposes itself as true and therefore as the truth by which everything else ought to be evaluated (up till then, I’m not sure I had heard this claim!) second, that practicing the Faith did not have to be boring or perfunctory but could be emotionally invigorating and satisfying third, that those who believe in God, the immortal soul, the sacraments, and prayer are, for the most part, better and happier people who, in turn, make for better and happier friends.īut after spending a couple of years in this group, something started to wear thin about it. Midway through high school, a friend invited me to attend a charismatic youth group meeting, and I loved it. The parish church was a typical suburban church, covered with carpet and Extraordinary Ministers. I obeyed my parents in most regards, went to church with them on Sundays and Holy Days, and held a Ten Commandments morality (with some gaps owing to bad formation). In the first stage, which coincided with childhood and adolescence, I was trying to be a good son and a dutiful Catholic.

If I were to try to put into words what I was seeking and finding at each stage, here is what I’d say. In my life as a Catholic, I have gone through several distinct stages over a long period of time, so I have learned to be patient with those who “don’t get it.” I didn’t “get it” either, although it fills me with joy to see how quickly the younger generations today are reaching conclusions that I resisted for years. It is presented here with his permission. 72-74) his own discovery of the once and future Roman Rite. Within this new book, Kwasniewski’s magnum opus and a work of immense importance, we are given the below glimpse into his personal journey to tradition (pp. Peter Kwasniewski’s latest book, The Once and Future Roman Rite: Returning to the Traditional Latin Liturgy After Seventy Years of Exile, ( TAN Books, 2022).

The Mass by Guy Oury