We continue our review of "The Heresy of Formlessness," Martin Mosebach's fascinating argument for restoring the pre-conciliar Latin liturgy. Mosebach is a novelist and poet, not a liturgist or theologian. I find his perceptions regarding the traditional Latin rite highly insightful. Consider, for instance, Mosebach's observations regarding the priest before the altar performing the old rite:
"What was important was the impression that he was doing something. His standing and stretching out his arms and making the sign of the cross was an action, a doing. The priest up there was at his work. What he did with his hands was every bit as decisive as his words. And his actions were directed toward things: white linen cloths, a golden chalice, a little golden plate, wax candles, little jugs for water and wine, the moonlike white Host, and a great leather-bound book. . . . We shall leave aside, for the moment, the question of precisely what the priest was sacrificing on the altar. The main thing for me, at that time, was that he was sacrificing. "
Among the Novus Ordo's more spectacular shortcomings is that it permits and even encourages a de-emphasis of the sacrificial aspect of Mass. This de-emphasis can easily shade into total occlusion. By contrast, in the pre-conciliar liturgy, the fact of sacrifice, as Mosebach points out, is inescapable.
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