33 barriers to the Ordinary Form

Following on from my last post focusing on Dr Tracey Rowland's talk on the 3 Barriers to the Latin Mass, I have cobbled together a list of 'obstacles' to the Novus Ordo Mass.

Barrier....or gateway? Barrier

But, before I begin, let me pre-empt any comments that might be in the offing concerning my view as to the validity of the Ordinary Form.

Many orthodox priests are forced to celebrate this Mass and do so reverently.

It is still not quite the round shilling in my book and I return to Fr Hugh Thwaites' description of the two forms as being water and milk.

Both are valid and provide what is required; but one provides sparingly whilst the other is rich fare indeed.

So here is my litany of the Novus Ordo...please add any 'obstacles' that I may have missed:-

1. The congregation gossip, often at the tops of their voices

2. No one  genuflects

3. Children are often taken out of Mass for...what?

4. The church and, often the sanctuary, carry banal playschool posters (often)

5. The priest begins by saying: "Good morning everybody" as if he was a Redcoat at Butlin's.

6. The priest invariably ad libs throughout the Mass

7. There are no communion rails

8. The tabernacle has gone walkabouts

9. At the kiss of peace the congregation go berserk, hugging and kissing

10. There are guitars and other musical instruments of the street in use

11. The bidding prayers are banal

12. Strange people greet you as you arrive to attend Mass

13. The Parish Co-ordinator's nephew and niece always get to take up the bread and wine at the Offertory

14. The singing content is abysmal

15. There is a mob of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion doing incorrect things with sacred vessels and, anyway, they shouldn't be there.

16. The Deacon's brother-in-Law always does the reading (followed by his Sister-in-Law for the second reading

17. The altar servers wear albs

18. There are female altar servers on the sanctuary

19. The Deacon's uncle always takes the collection plate round

20. The altar is actually a card table

21. At the Consecration the families of the Parish Co-ordinator and the Deacon hold hands around the altar

22. The Priest's host is the size of a frisbee

23. All of the hosts are made with brown flour and look dirty

24. The Deacon's sermons go on for far too long and are totally pointless anyway

25. The celebrant deviates constantly and makes up additions to various parts of the liturgy

26. The laity dress strangely, men in shorts and T shirts and women in beachwear

27. The altar servers are untrained

28. The priest wears a polyester chasuble so brightly coloured you need sunglasses to look at it

29. When announcements are made, the congregation claps (sometimes)

30. Holy Communion is distributed under both kinds (pointless)

31. Reception is standing and in the hand

32. The sacred vessels are made of pottery (from the Parish Co-ordinator's evening class)

33. Women do not cover their heads


Phew!.....any advance on 33?

Three barriers to the Latin Mass.....

....and thirty three barriers to the Ordinary Form!

Fr Abberton at Stella Maris blog has an interesting post on why people are put off by the Extraordinary Form of Mass, the Latin Mass.

Fr A links to the video clip below featuring Dr Tracey Rowland, an eminent Australian Catholic theologian.

It leaves me a little cold and, also, a little apprehensive that I am, perhaps, missing something.

I don't recognise the three points made by Dr Rowland.

I (in all my years) have never encountered point one, namely, that those who attend the Latin Mass, come out afterwards and dissect it in great detail.

And if they do (as I suppose could happen outside the London Oratory), then so what?

I have attended Latin Masses in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Oxford, Cambridge, and many other towns and cities, but never have I heard the Mass being "dissected."


The good Doctor goes on to compare the Latin Mass 'critics' with those who attend performances at the opera, sniping at the fact that the soprano did not hit the top note.
Well, I do not go to the opera very often but when I do, if someone fails to hit the right note, it is a topic of the interval conversation over a glass of lemonade.

Similarly, should a priest hit what Peter Sellers might have called a 'bum note', that, too, might be mentioned in passing.

But dissecting? No.

Her next point is that young people are put off coming to the EF Mass because people "wear funny clothes".

Oh dear, is this a mantilla rant again?

Or, is it that many women, young and old, dress modestly at the Latin Mass?

I suppose that, if you wear a skirt with a hem around your armpits and a mini halter top, you would think that Catholic women  do dress oddly if you were plonked into their midst at Mass.

But, surely Dr Rowland does not mean that?

Or, does she?

And finally, Tracey Rowland makes the point that the 'politicisation' of Vatican II and the blame that orthodox Catholics attach to it, also puts people off.

To a degree she has a point on this one; Vatican II is a constant source of angst to many but I think that most, if not all, believe that there was not a lot inherently wrong with the Council.
What went wrong was the way in which the periti  took advantage of the Council to foist the Catholic world off with a vast number of horrific changes.

But, I would bet anyone reading this, a pint of Rev James bitter, if, on standing outside my parish church on a Sunday, they would receive an answer to the following question:

"What have been the benefits of Vatican II?"

You see, most modern 30 year old Catholics have little knowledge (if any) of Vatican II and would give you a blank look if you popped that question to them.

But please, judge for yourself, here is the clip:

Fr Abberton (who celebrates the Latin Mass) is concerned at the way some priests dress and hold hard to the rubrics.

Now, I would not wish to upset Fr Abberton but, again, I think a priest in a biretta looks much better than one in a shell suit.

And rubrics are great. Much better than the free for all that goes on at the Novus Ordo.

So, sorry Father.....I beg to disagree..how about you (dear reader)?

* And should there be anyone out there who would like to know the 33 barriers to the OF Mass, I shall attempt a post on the subject sometime over the weekend.
I may not make 33, but then, who knows?