In thanksgiving for seven years of Latin Masses in the diocese

Ultimately, if we worship according to the mind of the Church, wherever she may lead us, we can’t go wrong there.”

Father Daniel Merz, chairman of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission

Father Dylan Schrader is very grateful for the seven years he has been able to offer the Mass in the traditional Latin form.

Now, it’s time for a pause.

The current dispensation allowing Fr. Schrader to offer the Mass in Latin using the 1962 Roman Missal will expire on June 29.

Masses will cease to be offered in the older form in the diocese at that time, while alternatives continue to be sought.

Fr. Schrader, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Westphalia and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Folk, announced the hiatus in a May 29 letter to parishioners.

“There is a possibility that it will start up again at a different location with a different priest,” Fr. Schrader wrote. “But we will probably not know until the fall.”

The pause reflects the diocese’s obedience to the pope’s authority.

“There’s certainly no shortage of desire here for us to serve the people who appreciate the old Latin Mass,” said Father Daniel Merz, chairman of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission. “But at this point, we’re following the most recent direction from the Holy See.

“And unless and until we hear Pope Leo offering something different, this is what we must continue to do,” he said.

Pope Benedict XVI, who led the Church from 2005-13, in a 2007 document titled “Summorum Pontificum” gave bishops and priests broad latitude in offering the traditional Latin Mass, variations of which were common throughout the western Church for centuries up until the early 1970s.

The most recent revisions to the Roman Missal before the Second Vatican Council were made in 1962.

The 1970 change to offering Mass in local languages was the result of an urgent call by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) for greater participation among laypeople in the celebration of the Mass and in the entire life of the Church.

Pope Francis, Pope Benedict’s successor, in a 2021 document titled “Traditionis custodes,” restricted the use of the 1962 Missal, with the intention of restoring greater unity to the Church.

“One of the most impactful restrictions is the prohibition on using parish churches for the celebration of the older form (of the Mass),” Fr. Schrader wrote in his letter.

He pointed out that the Vatican had twice provided temporary dispensations allowing Fr. Schrader to continue offering one Mass in the older form each week in Westphalia.

With the final dispensation now expiring, Fr. Schrader emphasized to his parishioners who prefer the Mass in the older form that Mass celebrated using the new Roman Missal in the local language is fully valid and legitimate.

“It is valid because the Eucharist is consecrated and the Eucharistic sacrifice re-presented,” he wrote. “It is legitimate because it is a rite promulgated by the Apostolic See. The new Roman Missal does not contain anything that contradicts Catholic teaching.”

Fr. Schrader believes the disappointment people feel at the loss of the traditional Latin Mass reflects the ongoing need for healing in the Church.

He noted that the whole diocese is making sacrifices, due to there not being as many available priests as there used to be.

“We’re all stretched so thin,” he stated. “Even if you want to provide an additional Mass at a certain time, it may not be possible.”

Fr. Schrader was quick to thank all the people whose participation and sacrifices have helped make it possible to have the Latin Mass — first at St. Brendan Parish in Mexico and now in Westphalia.

These include the altar servers, lectors and singers and people who provide hospitality.

“There are so many good things that have been built up over the years,” said Fr. Schrader. “People from our local Latin Mass community have been very good about welcoming visitors as well as reaching out in service to their neighbors and those in need.”

Fr. Merz, who is also pastor of St. Thomas More Newman Center Parish and Sacred Heart Parish, both in Columbia, noted that after promulgating “Traditionis custodes,” Pope Francis followed up with a document titled “Desiderio desideravi.”

In that document, “Pope Francis encouraged every bishop and priest and individual Catholic to celebrate the New Order of the Mass with great love and fidelity and devotion,” said Fr. Merz.

“So, regardless of whichever direction that goes, Latin Mass or Mass in the vernacular, we want to be as faithful to Christ and his Church as possible and worship God as beautifully as we can,” he stated.

“We can do that in whatever language and in whatever form, according to the Church, that we have,” he stated.

He noted that in order to be faithful to Christ, “we have to be faithful to the Church.”

“Ultimately, if we worship according to the mind of the Church, wherever she may lead us, we can’t go wrong there,” he said.

Fr. Merz noted that the diocese has long been supportive of the Latin Mass being offered in the diocese — from Fr. Schrader’s appointment as the official diocesan delegate for the Latin Mass, to a suitable location being found for it to be celebrated, to the seeking and approval of the two dispensations that allowed the Latin Mass to continue to be offered in Westphalia.

“The diocese has always given encouragement and even monetary support to help ensure that people who are drawn to the Traditional Latin Mass had access to it,” said Fr. Merz. 

Meanwhile, as expiration of the latest dispensation draws near, Fr. Schrader made a heartfelt plea for unity and communion throughout the diocese.

“The Church established by our Lord is not an idea or an invisible, spiritual Church,” he emphasized. “It’s the Catholic Church, made up of sinful human beings but never abandoned by God’s spirit.

“Holiness is the only answer,” the priest stated. “The only real reforms come from the Spirit working through his saints. May God raise up many of them.”