ON SATURDAY 21 February a Solemn Pontifical Mass, according to the traditional rite of the Roman Church, will be offered in St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne. The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Denis Hart in the presence of Archbishop George Pell.

This event, like the other Melbourne 'Pontificals' which have preceded it during the past several years, is a sign that the Traditional Mass is back. Perhaps not nearly widely enough, nor provided for nearly generously enough. But back it is - through the mercy of God and by the pure gratuity of his grace.

Many have laboured long and hard for this return. Some rose early in the morning and went to work immediately. Others entered into the work only late in the day. Still others did not work at all (not, at least, in any way that they could see). But, by a happy providence, they were led to turn up just when the Master began distributing the wages and, caught up in His expansive evening mood, also received the full benefit of the day's labour. Naturally enough, some of the old hands have begun to grumble about how hard it was at first and how little the new arrivals know about, let alone understand, the struggle that was had in the beginning. The problem is that veterans sometimes cannot see the vineyard (or the battlefield) for the sweat and dust in their eyes.

The fact is that, humanly speaking, the efforts expended by those who went to work early for the sake of Catholic tradition were as nothing compared to the forces ranged against them. They were few, the advocates of the 'modern' were many. They were foolish, while the apostles of the 'new' were wise. They were outcasts, while the 'progressives' were cultivated and rewarded. They had no means, while the elites had positions and authority. They were rustics tied to their place and without connections, while the clerical apparat jetted about its cosmopolitan networks. Such, indeed, was the situation when the veterans first took to the field. The "correlation of forces" was all wrong. Realistically, they had no hope. And yet, the traditional Mass is back.

Clearly, then, the achievement was not the work of the veterans, or of their belatedly arriving reinforcements. The victory went to God.

True, God rarely intervenes directly to change history. He normally operates through those who are ready to undertake his cause. So, if the history of the Church is any guide, then without willing workers, without especially those who rose early in the day, there could have been no restoring the traditional Mass. Thus, no veterans, no victory: but a victory not their own. As they flayed about them, God moved over the field and the day was His.

In the face of this reality there is no room for self-congratulation. Our only attitude can be gratefulness and thanks. There ought especially to be no heckling and jeering at the mass of sincere and conscientious Catholics who are perplexed, wary, and sometimes understandably suspicious of the unexpected reappearance of a way of being Catholic which they had been told was - and ought to be - forever dead and buried. Among these a proselytising approach should also have no place. A sincerely lived Tradition speaks for itself. In any case, those few Catholics who are now beginning to benefit from the return of our liturgical traditions need to recall that there are many more who still wish to reacquire their heritage but who are prevented from doing so. Victory celebrations, accompanied by the usual brawling with allies (both actual and potential), can only frustrate the hopes of these as yet unsuccoured Catholics.

There are, however, many more Catholics who no longer practice their faith than those who still do. Our thoughts should focus on these. Many of them have been away from the Church for a long time. While belief and practice pose problems for them, they are, paradoxically, generally free of prejudice against traditional religious forms.

We should bare in mind too that, beside lapsed Catholics, there are many more outside the Church. Some believe in Jesus Christ but not in His Church. Others do not even believe in God, let alone in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Among these, especially among the latter, liturgical questions are rarely an issue.

Here, then, are immense fields and ready for the harvest. As always the labourers are few; but in our own time there is an additional, more serious, problem. The need to gather in this harvest is either denied or ignored. Fortunately, in the ranks of traditional Catholics there is an immense, untapped resource of missionary energy. Traditional Catholics, therefore, need to focus their energies on the good of these long neglected souls. In proportion as our works bear fruit in these forgotten spiritual territories, so the influence of a fully rounded idea of Catholic tradition will spread among other still-practicing Catholics.

 What Oriens is proposing, therefore, is a strategy of "The Indirect Approach". Instead of seeking to 'capture' the Church by direct restorationist assault - a project which seems to preoccupy some of our more vigorous brethren - Oriens suggests that we should focus less on how many bishops are 'on side', and whether they are 'correct line', and more on doing the ordinary things that Catholics are supposed to do: on seeking our own salvation and the conversion of our neighbour to God.

If we can place ourselves fully at the disposal of these works, we should have no fears about the future of Catholic tradition. God, after all, is the master strategist and master strategists always succeed by indirection. As they used to say, "God writes straight with crooked lines".

Return to Oriens, Summer, 1998

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