Liturgy Wars No More. The Significance of Divine Worship

Estne conflictus sola optio?

Died-in-the-linen-or-polyester adherents of the Novus Ordo Missae and the Extraordinary Form, locked in a love-hate embrace—mostly hate (of the other) it seems—plug away at their respective polemics in ways that one wonders whether or not they love the very Church they claim to serve.

One side brushes off the rubrical precision that supports an authentic ars celebrandi, while the other rejects the use of the vernacular and an expanded lectionary. One side seems mired in liturgical abuses, the other preoccupied with conspiracy theories—at least, that’s how it appears if you take either set of opposing commentaries at face value. They remain in the uneasy comfort of their own stances, idly picking at a scab that only slows the healing process.

Said actors seem to have missed a third way of being a Latin Rite Catholic.

While many have been caught up in the pre/post-Vatican II fracas, there has appeared a missal brought together by a dedicated team assigned the task of preserving the Anglican liturgical patrimony in the Catholic Church, the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission. A unique missal emerged, one without a Latin original, yet filled with beautifully crafted hieratic English versions of the Latin texts, made possible by centuries of skilled stewards faithfully translating the sacred texts. The Ordinariate Missal may signal another major shift in liturgical language, reminiscent of the transition from Greek to Latin, the common tongue of the ancient world.

SAINT JOHN 17:20

I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

Pax Ordinariatuum

Divine Worship invites people to experience Christ in the Mass through a beautiful ritual that opens people to the action of the Holy Ghost who inspires hearts to adore the Most Holy Trinity. The rich language of worship leads us into sincere devotion to the Lord, who is present in Scripture, in the gathered people of God, in the priest, and in the Holy Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity (CCC1373).

FATHER BENEDICT KIELY at The Catholic Thing | The Glory Secretly Alive

The Church, and ancient wisdom, has long taught that, along with truth, beauty and goodness are paths to God. Bishop Erik (Varden) warned his audience, with Pope Leo prominently seated in front, that the Church, or certainly many churchmen, imagine that they must ape fashion in order to be ‘relevant’ and “attract the youth.”

But this is a great danger for any religious revival. And Bishop Varden echoed, in a sense, Chesterton’s belief – which is probably shared by many seekers: “We do not want a Church that will move with the world, we want a Church that will move the world.”

Along with the “freeing truth” substantially proclaimed, Varden’s renewal program identifies the fact that the Church has Her own language; a language, it must be said, that will be new to many who come to Her.

This language consists of the liturgy and Scripture, which, if spoken well, will make the Church “original and fresh, ready to express crucial truths in new ways, standing a chance of orienting culture.”

These new ways have nothing to do with novelty; they are the ways that are “ever ancient, ever new.” This is, in its essence, what the phrase “new evangelization” really means: It means, once again, the “best resources” – music, art, and the experience of the transcendent within the walls of the Church. Restoring all that will cost money, but perhaps less than the endless conferences and synods on synodality.

Finally, there’s the way of goodness, the “beauty of holiness,” the evidence of saintly lives, transformed by the presence of Christ. These, the bishop says, make the claim to truth “compelling.”

All this is to proclaim that the “Church reminds women and men of the glory secretly alive in them.” That is a program that will keep a seeker enthusiastically coming back.

The Ordinariate Liturgy is a pathway between and beyond competing interests, helping seekers on their path to Rome and inspiring wandering Catholics to become more intentional as they’re drawn by truth, goodness, and beauty into a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Divine Worship “gives expression to and preserves for Catholic worship the worthy Anglican liturgical patrimony, understood as that which has nourished the Catholic faith throughout the history of the Anglican tradition and prompted aspirations towards ecclesial unity.”—Complementary Norms for the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus.

Divine Worship: The Missal contains the General Instruction of the Roman Missal and includes the Divine Worship Rubrical Directory. Included in the Ordinariate experience are saints familiar to Extraordinary Form adherents; ancient prayers have been restored to Catholic worship, along with litanies, sequences, Rogation and Ember days, the Rite of Betrothal and the superb Sacrament of Matrimony, and of course the glorious Office—Mattins and Evensong—along with a vast repertoire of beautiful orthodox hymns and sacred polyphonic compositions.

The Personal Ordinariates have an organizational and cultural advantage in that members habitually draw upon the patrimonial experience captured in works such as Ritual Notes (11th Edition) and, to a lesser degree, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (Fortescue, O'Connell, and Reid). Which is to say that there is an abiding commitment to celebrating the rites with goodness and beauty. The advantage is that there is flexibility without loss of integrity. Naturally, the Patrimony is rooted within the clergy, whose formation—that includes humility and enthusiasm for integrity—safeguards the authenticity of the rites. For the Ordinary Form, Bishop Peter J. Elliott's Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite, along with his other liturgical works, are invaluable resources for planning a reverent celebration of the Novus Ordo liturgy.

This brief essay invites Catholics to approach challenges with honesty and goodwill, mindful of our shared mission—the salvation of souls. We are called to act with charity, to avoid creating division, and to embrace a path inspired by the Holy Spirit through the Church’s ministers—one that unites rather than divides, heals rather than harms, lifts up rather than oppresses.

Divine Worship: The Missal is paving the way for the next chapter in ecumenism and liturgical authenticity.

Consider also: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/03/12/on-tracey-rowlands-important-introduction-to-communio-theology/