The following excerpt from “True Obedience in the Church: A Guide to Discernment in Challenging Times” by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (Sophia Institute Press, 2021) is shared here with the permission of the author.

Let us be absolutely clear about this: to attack the traditional Latin Mass (or any of the traditional liturgical rites) is to attack the Providence of God the Father; to reject the work of Christ, the King and Lord of history; to blaspheme the fruitfulness of the Holy Ghost in the Church’s life of prayer. It is contrary to the practice of every age of the Church, of every saint, council, and pope prior to the twentieth century. It contradicts several key virtues of the Christian life, most notably religion, gratitude, and humility. It implies the rejection of the dogmatic confession of faith contained in the traditional Latin lex orandi in its organic unfolding over at least 1,600 years, which is contrary to the theological virtue of faith; it implies the rejection of the communion of the saints in a common lineage and patrimony of ecclesiastical worship, which is contrary to the theological virtue of charity.

In all these ways and more, the postconciliar liturgical reform, it’s subsequent ruthless implementation, and Pope Francis’s renewed efforts to extinguish the preceding tradition are unreasonable, unjust, and unholy, and therefore cannot be accepted as legitimate or embraced as the will of God. As St. Thomas Aquinas famously says: unjust laws “are acts of violence rather than laws…Wherefore they do not bind in conscience.”

A repudiation of our Catholic liturgical patrimony is tantamount to disobedience to God; and we will be obedient to God through our “disobedience” to the revolutionaries…

If we are convinced that something essential, something decisive in the Faith is under attack from the pope or any other hierarch, we are not only permitted to refuse to do what is being asked or commanded, not only permitted to refuse to give up what is being unjustly taken away or forbidden; we are obliged to refuse, out of the love we bear to Our Lord Himself, our love for His Mystical Body, and our proper love for our own souls.

In support of this important and timely book, Dr. Kwasniewski has established a dedicated website with reviews, videos and other resources. Additionally, priests and seminarians can request a free copy of the book there.

Photo credit: Allison Girone