Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.—2 Thess 2:14.
As most of you know, I have been a priest for sixteen years. Ten years ago, I switched from the 1969 calendar and the Novus Ordo Missae (NOM) to the 1962 calendar and the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) as well as the other six sacraments of the ancient Roman Rite. Then, about seven years ago, I heard a traditional religious brother talking about the pre-1955 calendar. I rolled my eyes thinking, “Nothing is good enough for these traditionalists!” Why in the world would one rad-trad with a 1954 Missal care about another rad-trad using a 1962 Missal if both had access to the old sacraments?
Tabling all debates on conditional ordinations, I was shocked to learn that a handful of non-sedevacantist priests are using the pre-55 calendar, so I decided I would look into it. I already wrote about switching to a pre-55 Missal and Roman Breviary. In fact, now I can write that most of my liturgical books (including a Parish Ritual with blessings, baptisms, and extreme unction) were published in the 1930s. Now I want to write about the lifestyle change in going from a 1962 calendar to a pre-55 calendar.
Of course, at this point, some Catholics reading my article would retort: “Hey, if you rad-trads are just having an arrogant contest to see who can get the oldest sacramental books, why not find books from the First Millennium of Catholicism?” Well, the answer is that I believe Pope St. Pius X made important and good changes to the Roman Breviary. Priests in the 19th century often prayed Psalm 118 every day because of how many feasts were on the calendar. This meant priests two hundred years ago rarely prayed all 150 Psalms in Latin a week. Yet we traditional priests usually do pray all 150 Psalms a week in the pre-55 Roman Breviary and the 1960 Roman Breviary. Yes, priests in the 19th century prayed much more of the Breviary every day than priests today, but it was on repeat. Pius X mixed it up, thankfully, in both 1911 and 1913.
On the other hand, the infamous Archbishop Bugnini started making changes to the Mass, the Breviary, the calendar and the sacraments even before Vatican II. Between 1955 and 1962, Bugnini first reformed the ancient Holy Week and then his destruction continued on from there. Nothing remained sacred. Unspeakable changes were made to the Mass, the other six sacraments, Octaves on calendar and all forms of discipline, including fasting. Notice again that these changes already crept into the calendar and Roman Breviary between 1955 and 1962. These are the years leading up to Vatican II.
This is why I want liturgical books roughly made between 1920 and 1950.
One traditional Catholic apologist whose children I know argues for the 1962 calendar over the 1969 because there’s heresy in the propers of the 1969 Missal. Fair enough. So far, so good. But that same apologist argues for the 1962 calendar over the pre-55 calendar because “there have always been small changes to the Missal and Breviary throughout history and we don’t know for sure if Bugnini was that bad.”
Well, he’s correct about the first part of that last sentence, but terribly wrong about the last part. Bugnini was proven to be a freemason and he invited Protestants to work on the new Missal. So, I don’t want anything to do with him. Not only do I want his work excluded from my Missal. I also want his filthy mitts off my Breviary and calendar.
At this point, some of you probably want to stop reading as you’re saying to yourself, “I can only make it to a ’62 TLM twice a month, and Fr. David wants me to switch to the pre-55 Mass? I don’t even know where to find such a place.” But if you look at the title of my article, this is about the pre-55 lifestyle, not the pre-55 Mass. As I wrote above, I already wrote two articles on the pre-55 Missal and Breviary. As I already wrote above, there are a handful of non-sedevacantist priests switching to the pre-55 calendar. So please don’t think that you have to figure out the papacy to make a switch to the pre-55 lifestyle.
What is so amazing about the pre-55 lifestyle is that it is a unified system. Yes, yes, I know we are called as Catholics to love Jesus more than a system. But this was a system that led to love of Christ and the saints because it was a liturgical cycle that produced saints. While there are many Catholics today [rightly] interested in sacramental theology, there are few Catholics today interested in ascetical theology. Ascetical theology is the study of virtue and penance so as to detach from the goods of this world and subsequently become attached to the goods of heaven.
The pre-55 calendar had ascetical theology baked into the cycle for the whole year. This was not just for priests who offered Mass every day. This was for lay Catholics who only went to Mass once a week. For example, the pre-55 calendar had many more periods of fasting that were just as rigorous as the current practices of the Eastern Orthodox. Advent was much more ascetical than most Catholics today can imagine. Lent was exponentially much harder than the current practice. But there were also many other periods of fasting that linked the laity to the priesthood.
For example, the Roman Catechism of Trent explains: “Hence we readily understand why it is that Ordinations take place only on special days, on which, moreover, in accordance with a very ancient practice of the Catholic Church, a solemn fast is appointed in order that by holy and fervent prayer the faithful may obtain from God ministers who will be well qualified to exercise properly and to the advantage of the Church the power of so great a ministry.”
Notice that lay people were expected to fast before ordination days so as to obtain better priests. But the days of fasting and feasting did not end with ordinations. Rather, the old calendar had about a dozen Octaves. If you were alive in the 1930s, you would celebrate devotionally (again, even if you only went to Mass once a week) the Octaves of Easter, Pentecost, Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Christmas (including mini-Octaves of St. Stephen, St. John the Apostle and Holy Innocents within the Christmas Octave) the Ascension Octave, the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph, the Assumption of Mary, All Saints, St. John the Baptist and St. Lawrence.
That means all those saints were celebrated for an entire week! Do you see how this changed the devotional life even of Medieval Catholics who could rarely make it to Mass? That is why I say confidently that you can make the devotional switch at home to the pre-55 calendar without having to make any sacramental changes to the parish you attend. I would go so far as to say you could even live off the fasting and feasting pre-55 calendar while going to the Novus Ordo on Sundays! It’s not the best option, but this is how we beat the people taking away the TLM in ways that are beyond your control.
Granted, even the new 1983 Code of Canon Law insists we have 52 meatless Fridays through the year unless it falls on a Solemnity or unless you do a substitutionary penance. But the rules of every Friday of the year being a day of abstinence was never doubted by pre-Vatican II Catholics. Even the bad Catholics (imagine some 1930s mafia members eating meaty lasagna on a Friday) would have known they were breaking the rules.
While they had many more Feast Days in the old calendar, you also had many more Fasting Days. For example, before most of the Octaves listed above, the priest would offer a Vigil of that Saint’s Mass on the day before the Octave started while wearing purple vestments. As most of you know, purple is the sign of penance.
Yet, many Catholics who could not attend daily Mass in the past would still fast on such Vigil days and Ember Days. Fr. Z has a good article on the difference in Ember Days on the ’54 vs ’62 calendar here. He also recently linked a new production of the pre-55 Parish Ritual (basically, the other six sacraments besides the Mass for priests to keep in their travel kit for emergency or planned sacraments.)
Notice again what I am saying here: Even if you have no idea where to find a pre-55 Mass or old-school priest, you can still fast and feast like all your Catholic great grandparents did. You can even request sacraments for your dying family members as more and more regular diocesan priests are secretly purchasing pre-55 Parish Rituals, as seen in the above paragraph. Yes, I know this for a fact that even Novus Ordo priests are purchasing such books like hotcakes.
You can still live a devotional life around the Octaves and Ember Days as the early Franciscans did. Again, this isn’t a contest to show who is more rad-trad or who can find an older calendar to flex against your neighbor. The fact is that once you are on the pre-55 calendar as far as lifestyle, you are really connected to how saints in every single past century lived. You can fast and feast like the saints because very few things changed from the 9th century to the 19th century.
So, why do it on the pre-55 instead of the 62 calendar? Because Bugnini was a very bad man who foisted a lot of changes on a billion Catholics. And these changes did not come from God, regardless of papal validity debates. It really is that childish and simple.
In fact, these days, many secular medical podcasters are telling us how good it is for the body to enter into intermittent periods of fasting. Of course, I am not saying that is the main reason for fasting. The main reason to fast is it is good for our souls, not our bodies. But it turns out it is good for both our souls and our bodies to fast more! So, why not fast more according to the old calendar? As many saints have said, “You can’t feast well unless you fast well.” It’s baked into the pre-55 calendar for you without having to use much brainpower. No “decision fatigue” as the kids say.
There are many good resources to help you switch to the pre-55 calendar, whether you attend the TLM or not. As far as the digital Missal and Breviary, my favorite site is Divinum Officium.
As far as lifestyle changes, liturgy and explanation of the pre-55 Mass and calendar, my favorite site is Restore the 54. They also have an excellent app system where you can sync your iPhone with both the pre-55 Feast Days and the Fast Days. If you want the Roman Breviary on your iPhone use the app BrevMeum. I think it’s a $20 one time payment for the Roman Breviary that you can set at the 1954 or 1960 rubrics, not to mention many other options. Make sure to open these last three links on your iPhone, not laptop.
The key is this: They might be able to take away your Traditional Latin Mass, but they cannot take away your Traditional Latin lifestyle of fasting, feasting and devotion. Join yourself to your forefathers and saints of yore by making that change, regardless of how traditional your parish priest may or may not be. Perhaps begin this adventure by making this month of November an entire month of praying for the faithful departed and going to a cemetery several times over the next four weeks.
