The Traditional Latin Mass and the Family

Here are two talks I gave in 2004 at an Una Voce conference in Cedar Rapids, IA. The first is a short account of my conversion to the Catholic Faith, along with a brief explanation of my move to a more traditional outlook.

The second is a more detailed apologia for the primacy of the traditional Latin Mass as the center of a Catholic family's worship and devotion, as well as the essential element in the reform and renewal of the Church:

Surprised by Tradition (mp3)

The Latin Mass and the Family (mp3)


In the second talk I reference several issues and articles. For example, I think every Catholic should read the very incisive article by Father James McLucas, The Emasculation of the Priesthood, in which Fr. McLucas notes that many practices used to be the exclusive domain of the priest but have recently been permitted to others. This, he argues, harms the masculine identity of the priest and has led to disastrous results.

My quotation from Alice von Hildebrand comes from an interview with her entitled Present at the Demolition: A Philosopher Remembers and Reminds.

Msgr. Klaus Gamber's book The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Backgrounds is happily back in print from Roman Catholic Books. This book was the single most influential in my own decision to have my family, as much as possible, assist exclusively at the traditional Latin Mass. You can read some powerful excerpts from the book here.

And one of the best articles on the topic of women and girls covering their heads at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is Jacob Michael's Still Binding? The Veiling of Women and Meatless Fridays. It continues to amaze me that this practice of veiling, which harkens all the way back to the Apostles, was continuously practiced from East to West in every communion that can trace its origins to the Apostles, was explicitly ordered by the 1917 Code of Canon Law, and was never even mentioned (let alone explicitly revoked) in Vatican II, should have been so rapidly and universally set aside. I have absolutely no doubt that most Catholic woman after Vatican II ceased to wear head coverings out of ignorance and simply to go with the flow. But the fact is that it was a senseless (and illicit) disregard of a beautiful practice that is reflective of theological principles that will never change.

And here's an article about the conference in the secular Cedar Rapids Gazette: Gimme That Old-Time Religion.