Offered in a Spirit of Dialogue

Pope Francis said famously: “To dialogue entails a cordial reception, not a prior condemnation.” The following brief utterances of mine are offered in that spirit. Pope Saint Pius X called the sacred liturgy “the primary and indispensable source of the true Christian spirit.” If the reformers had told the fathers of Vatican II they desired the annihilation of the Divine Office, leaving less than 5% of priests able to recognize the ancient breviary hymns—e.g. LUCIS CREATOR, A SOLIS ORTUS, AUDI BENIGNE, VEXILLA REGIS, and so forth—how many would have supported such an initiative? How many would have supported the annihilation of the MASS OF THE DEAD, leading to a situation in which less than 1% of Catholic funerals contain the time-honored “Réquiem ætérnam” (Introit & Gradual), “Dies Iræ” (Sequence), and so on? It’s been revealed by one of the chief reformers that many items—“such as the scuttling of the liturgy of the dead”—were opposed unanimously (!) by the Consilium.