Jake Ross: Your Excellency, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate it. I have a couple of questions. The first is that here at St Stanislaus and around the world, the traditional Latin Mass seems to be experiencing a revival. To what do you attribute this revival, and why do you think it is so appealing to young people?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: The revival of the traditional Mass is, for me, a demonstration of the fact that truth and beauty are themselves attracting. They are self-revealing. The traditional liturgy is filled and imbued with the faith, with the richness of faith and the clarity of faith, the Catholic faith. At the same time, it expresses deep respect and reverence, an attitude of reverence, sacredness, and sublimity during the liturgy.
The worship in the traditional liturgy has objective qualities of truth, sacredness, and beauty. These are an expression of the entire Catholic generations that preceded us, beginning with the apostles. The spirit of prayer and faith of the apostles is present, expressing itself in the traditional liturgy in a very clear manner, and more expressively than in the new reformed liturgy of the Mass. This is because the traditional liturgy has accumulated all the generations, starting with the apostles, the Holy Fathers of the Church, and so many saints over two thousand years.
It is an expression of prayer and worship guided by the Holy Spirit and by the saints. It has been proven through two millennia to be a very valid and efficient form of prayer, one that countless generations of saints experienced. They lived this liturgy, and this liturgy gave them strength and nourished their Christian life and their apostolate.
For these objective reasons, for these values and qualities of the traditional liturgy, it is, in my opinion, evident that this attracts especially young people. Young people are seeking the truth. They see in the world today, and in various forms of modern culture such as television and the internet, a lack of truth and a lack of beauty. They are longing and yearning in their hearts and souls to experience this truth and beauty that comes from God. This gives people real freedom and peace in their hearts and souls, and a desire to love God and to worship God in this beautiful manner.
Jake Ross: Thank you. You have spoken of a great crisis in the Church today. Do you think that part of that crisis is a result of many people in the Church drifting further away from the traditional liturgy?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, of course. The crisis of faith and morals in the Church is connected with the crisis of the liturgy. This is a known axiom from the first centuries of the Church and one which the Church has always observed. It is expressed in Latin as lex credendi, lex orandi. This means that the law of faith and truth has to be reflected, lived, and realized in the law of prayer, in the liturgy. These are inseparable and connected.
The manner in which you believe is the manner in which you have to worship, not only interiorly but also exteriorly, with your body, with gestures, and with all the elements of visible and public worship of God. The true faith, the integrity of the Catholic faith, and the clarity of faith demand an expression in worship that is connected to this faith and that reveals this faith.
The law of life, meaning morals, is also connected to faith and to liturgy. These three aspects cannot be divided. When the Catholic faith began to become less clear in the past fifty years, in some aspects of Church life, or became ambiguous, we witnessed the spreading of errors in the life of the Church and even heresies. This was reflected in the manner in which the liturgy was celebrated. At the same time, the liturgy was reformed, and in some aspects, the Liturgy of the Holy Mass was made less clear in relation to the truth.
This is especially true regarding the truth of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the truth that the Holy Mass is essentially, first and foremost, the sacramental celebration of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. These aspects of our Catholic faith appeared less expressed in the new reformed liturgy and lacked clarity and integrity in certain points. The reformed liturgy contains deficient elements in expressing clearly the sacrificial character of the Mass and the Real Presence through transubstantiation.
This manner of celebrating Mass in the new reformed liturgy, over time, also influences belief itself. When behavior and gestures during Holy Mass express less sacredness, less of the supernatural, and the sublimity of God, this will, over time, influence what one believes. This is evident.
Another reason why young people fall in love with the traditional liturgy is that they desire to know the entire truth. They are not content with half-truths, which the world presents to them everywhere. They encounter half-truth or even anti-truth and are deceived by the modern world. In their hearts, they know and desire the full truth. In some way, they are saying, please tell us the whole truth. Please do not hide anything. They are saying to the Church, please tell us the whole truth of the faith, and do not hide anything in the liturgy.
Young people are, by nature, inclined toward heroism. They want heroic things, and they want the full truth.
Jake Ross: In this time of moral confusion in the Church and in society, what would be your advice to young people who are trying to remain faithful Catholics?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: My advice to them would be to study well. They should study good catechisms that they have or can find. Especially here in the United States, there is the well-known Baltimore Catechism, but also the Catechism of the Catholic Church. They should also study good apologetic books, which are available.
In any case, I advise them to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith, because the more you know the Catholic faith, the more you love the Catholic faith. The more you know the Catholic faith, the stronger you become. In some way, you become immovable and strong in your convictions. For this reason, you will be ready even to give your life. You will not give your life for half truth. You will not give your life for ambiguity or for expressions that are unclear. You will give your life for the truth.
Christ is the truth, His person and His teaching, which the Church has transmitted to us in beauty, integrity, and clarity throughout two thousand years. This is my first advice: to study personally the Catholic faith through good catechisms.
Second, to form study groups among young people to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith. They should also choose a good Catholic priest who is a man of prayer, a man of the Church, a man of faith, and who has good knowledge, to be their counselor and to guide them spiritually and theologically.
Another very important piece of advice is that it is not sufficient only to know the faith. We must live the faith. What you have known and studied, you must live in your personal life through an assiduous life of the sacraments. This is the most essential expression of our Christian life, to live through the sacraments, Holy Confession and Holy Communion, to participate regularly in Holy Mass and in prayer.
First, deepen the knowledge of the faith and apologetics. Then live this faith through the sacraments and through prayer. Finally, make an apostolate. I would suggest that young people spread the beauty of the Catholic faith to other young people in every possible way.
Jake Ross: My last question, speaking of books, do you have a particular book recommendation for our audience?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: I already mentioned the Baltimore Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. They are available today on the internet, along with good apologetic tools. I would also recommend reading the works of Chesterton, for example, which are very up-to-date.
For apologetics, I would recommend reading the books or listening to the talks of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, an American bishop and servant of God. I would also recommend reading the biographies of saints, famous saints, the biographies of martyrs from ancient times and from modern times, and the biographies of confessors of the faith, important persons who defended and loved our faith throughout history. For example, Thomas More, whose example of life is very up-to-date for me.
All of this helps young people to nourish their convictions and to be courageous. This is what I wish for young people, to be courageous. They need more courage. Be courageous. Do not be afraid to say you are a Christian. Do not be afraid to say, I am a Catholic. I want to be a true Catholic, not a half Catholic or a Catholic at thirty percent. You must desire to be one hundred percent Catholic. This is the faith of the apostles and of all the saints.
Of course, we are not yet saints, but we must have the desire to imitate them. Do not forget that you are members of the militant Church. We are engaged in a spiritual battle against Satan, against sin, against error, and against heresies. This is a holy battle because God has given it to us. Our entire existence here on earth is a holy battle for the Lord. Be good soldiers of Christ. This is your task. Be good soldiers of Christ. Be humble at the same time and love Christ. May Christ live in your hearts.
I also advise young people to pray every day to the Holy Spirit, that He may illuminate their vocation in life, the way of life they are called to choose. This may be family life or consecration to God. Ultimately, there are two ways. One is family life, to found a family, which is the domestic Church. This is a beautiful vocation for the majority of young people, to form a Catholic family. This is one of the most beautiful contributions, especially today in our crisis.
The other vocation is to be consecrated entirely to God, to promote the truth and the faith as a priest, as a religious, or as a consecrated person in the world. These two ways belong together. They build up the Church and depend on one another.
I wish for you, the young people, to have a burning and fervent heart to love Christ, who is the truth and who is our way, and who alone gives us true life. Do not forget that in all our battles and in all our crises, Christ is always the winner. There is this beautiful Catholic song, Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat. It means Christ is always the winner, Christ is our King, and Christ rules us.
I wish all young people to be good soldiers, to believe and to act with the certainty that when we are with Christ, we are already victorious. Be good soldiers of Christ.
Jake Ross: I love that message. Thank you, Your Excellency. We really appreciate you being here today. Thank you!