Helpful Resources to Grow in Traditional Catholicism
Growing up in the 1980s, my childhood did not include authentic Catholic devotions or traditions. I attended a Novus Ordo parish which did not have a tabernacle inside the church, nor were there kneelers or statues. I did not even learn the Prayer to St. Michael until my oldest daughter (now 21) was in Kindergarten. But from a very early age, I had a keen awareness of how blessed I was to be Catholic. The indelible mark on my soul from Baptism kept me tethered to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
And in God’s mercy, when one of His own children has faith, He can truly move mountains in their life. Within the Catholic faith, there is always more to learn, understand, and experience. God is constantly taking us deeper, higher, or onto a new path which we have never stepped before. This makes our Catholic faith timeless. As St. Augustine describes God as “beauty of ancient days, yet ever new,” in a prayer published in Chapter X of his book, The Confessions, one cannot help but transfer this sentiment to our Catholic faith.1
As I reflect upon my life, I was always looking for Tradition, even if I did not realize it. That is why my grandmother’s devotion to Our Lady and the Holy Rosary made such an impression on me, even though no one else in my life prayed the way she did. And it is also why every time I discovered a new-to-me Catholic devotion or custom, I marveled at the profound way it reverences and honors God while strengthening my own faith and increasing my desire to follow Him more closely.
While I cannot pinpoint the exact moment I was compelled to attend the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), it seemed like the natural next step when I did so for the first time on the first Saturday of August 2020.
Was there a learning curve? Absolutely.
But immediately, I recognized that something special, sacred, and sublime was happening at the altar, and I simply was so grateful to be there.
As I began to attend the TLM more regularly, I quickly discovered a new depth and richness to the Catholic faith that I never knew existed. The silence captivated my attention. The reverence moved me to enter into the mystery more deeply. The profound words of the prayers; the amount of Scripture that is incorporated. All of it made me wonder, “Where has this been all my life?”
And while it was new, it also felt familiar. It instantly affirmed within me the Catholic heritage into which I was baptized. In Romans 8:17, St. Paul says, “And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.” As sons and heirs, the Traditional Latin Mass is part of our inheritance, ours to behold, a place of belonging in God’s family, where we can worship Him as best as we can.
And with the assistance of friends to talk to, books to read, and videos to watch, it did not take long to enter into the solemn rhythm of the sacred liturgy.
Below is a list of books, videos, and other content that helped me better appreciate the Traditional Latin Mass and Traditional Catholicism, in general. Since there is a plethora of good resources available, this list is by no means exhaustive. It simply includes what has been meaningful to me, as a new Traditional Catholic.
Traditional Latin Mass
As mentioned above, I certainly experienced a learning curve when I began attending the Traditional Latin Mass. However, over time, I felt less overwhelmed and grew in familiarity and appreciation of the TLM. Below are three things that helped me, as I became acclimated, and are still helpful today.
The first thing that helped me grow in understanding and appreciation was simply going to and assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I had to surrender any anxiety about losing my place in the missal or fear of standing out. I had to accept the learning curve and be patient with myself.
When all else failed, I remembered that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the unbloody representation of Calvary. And so, at Mass, I practiced placing myself at the foot of the Cross with Our Blessed Lady. And she, along with St. John and St. Mary Magdalene, would show me how to love, adore, and be present to Our Lord at Mass. If that is all I did during Holy Mass, that was enough.
It was a great blessing to meet friends who could answer my questions and offer encouragement. Two come to mind:
Familiarizing myself with The 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal2 was very beneficial to understanding the TLM. Not only did following along help me enter into the sacred rhythm of the liturgy, but reading the commentary in the margins helped me understand the meaning behind each moment of the Mass. For example, during the Offertory, reading the explanation in the margins helped me to offer my own joys and sufferings in union with Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.
As my children became more acclimated with the TLM, some of them benefited from following along in a missal, too. The one that has been especially helpful is Pray Benedictus, which is a monthly subscription from Sophia Institute Press that does not require the back and forth like the traditional missal does. In addition, it offers reflections on each day’s Gospel reading as well as catechesis about various aspects of Catholic life.
Prayer
While I have had a daily prayer habit, including lectio divina, for as long as I can remember, the Traditional Latin Mass has strengthened my prayer, especially since so much Scripture is part of each Mass. Below are three concepts that have been a wellspring of truth, beauty, and goodness to my prayer life.
During Advent 2020, when my family and I became more regular attendees of the Traditional Latin Mass, I stumbled upon a series of devotional books that follows the liturgical year. Written by Fr. Patrick Troadec, SSPX and published by Angelus Press, this series is segmented by liturgical season and includes six books:
Each book offers daily liturgical meditations that correspond to the Sunday Mass readings. They are enhanced with prayers and thoughts from saints and other esteemed Catholic authors, such as Dom Prosper Guéranger. At the end of each meditation, Fr. Troadec offers a resolution that encourages application of a spiritual practice or virtue into daily life.
This devotional series renewed and elevated my prayer life through the profound experience of praying with the daily Mass readings. In addition, the correlated liturgical writings and saint quotes provided depth, richness, and beauty to my prayer that I had not experienced before.
The Fr. Troadec books led me to Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD, a Discalced Carmelite priest and master of the spiritual life. Divine Intimacy has become a spiritual classic that offers two meditations each day, according to the liturgical calendar. The purpose is to invite readers to enter into the presence of God and begin a habit of heart-to-heart conversation with Him, which inevitably transforms our lives. Woven throughout the book are teachings from the saints, including St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
As I stepped deeper into Traditional Catholicism, I started to notice feast days that I never knew existed. For example, I knew the Feast of St. Michael (Sept. 29) became the Feast of the Archangels after Vatican II. What I did not realize is that each of the three named archangels has his own unique feast day. When I discovered that the Feast of St. Gabriel precedes the Solemnity of the Annunciation, when God sent Gabriel to ask Mary to be the Mother of Jesus, it made such perfect sense to me.
Recognizing the intention behind the feast days and other traditional practices, such as Septuagesima and Ember Days, provided a type of stability and structure to my life. These days, meant to shape our lives, gave greater meaning and purpose to how I lived out my Catholic faith, while also providing substance for meditation and deeper conversion.
Lastly, forgotten devotions such as Devotion to the Holy Face inspired new ways to pray and grow in my love of Jesus, His Blessed Mother, and the saints.
Traditional Catholicism
Traditional Catholicism also invited me to think about God, the Church, and the world through a very unique lens. I realized that modernism has shaped society (and even aspects of the Church) for quite some time. But God is asking for something different, and it takes patience, understanding, and courage to say yes to that invitation. Below are some ways I have become more traditional in the way I think and act, while still being a work in progress.
As a woman who did not even wear a veil to her wedding, I have come a long way! But I did not begin wearing a veil as soon as I began attending the Traditional Latin Mass. At some point, however, God quietly placed in my heart the desire to veil at Mass. This desire grew over time, until it blossomed into a noticeable conviction.
As I began to settle into the beauty and rhythm of the traditional liturgy, I began to understand more and more that the Mass itself is not about me or what I get out of it. Mass is about the worship of God. As the Mass became a more prayerful, contemplative experience for me, I wanted to increase my reverence for God. Wearing a veil was part of this.
So, while it was a personal decision to veil, I also realized that “practices in the Catholic Church do not grow without a reason or theology behind them.”3 And so, I also learned that at the heart of veiling is the notion that holy things are veiled, and women are counted among those holy things.
During the time I spent moving from the Novus Ordo to the TLM, I enjoyed several books that aligned with Traditional Catholicism. Here are two that were instrumental in helping me to become more traditionally minded.
I am so grateful that my family and I found the Traditional Latin Mass in 2020. While I have asked myself, more than once, “Where has this been all my life?” I am grateful that my children never will. They will know their Catholic heritage, the inheritance they received at Baptism, given to them by God and passed down through the power of the Holy Spirit by the apostles, martyrs, and saints. They will be able to imagine how their favorite saints observed Mass and that it is the same Mass that they observe, because “Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today; and the same for ever.”4 I am also grateful for the many conversations, books, talks, and other resources that helped to welcome me into Tradition.
Endnotes
1 Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, (Project Gutenberg eBook: translator Edward Bouverie Pusey, 2001), chapter X.
2 Available from Angelus Press.
3 Elizabeth Black and Emily Sparks, The Chapel Veil: The Symbol of the Spouse of Christ, (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 2022), 13-14.
4 Hebrews 13:8.
TITLE IMAGE: The Interior of an Italian Church, Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger (1779–1853).
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