This book is an absurdity, according to its author, because it proposes more liturgical reform when people are fed up with it; and it is not for an individual to shape the liturgy, above all one ‘in an isolated country far from the mainstream’ (p. xxi). László Dobszay is a Hungarian scholar of music and liturgy, and a church musician. In 2003 he republished a series of articles in book‐form, The Bugnini‐Liturgy and the Reform of the Reform, which he felt was misunderstood. And indeed, any articles on the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Roman Rites are the subject of strong and conflicting views. If I summarise Dobszay's new book as a critique of the Novus Ordo Missae, a proposal of organic reform of the Old Rite with some borrowings from the New, and then (part 2) a ‘fleshing out’ which ranges from liturgical language to readings, calendar, and music, then already it may appear at best a piece of liturgical utopianism. But in fact it has many general applications. Dobszay is an authority on pre‐Tridentine ‘uses’ (variants) of the Roman Rite and their rich musical heritage and imaginative ceremonial, which can provide resources for meeting the widely‐recognised need for restoring an authentic sense of mystery to the liturgy.
Particularly useful is Dobszay's observation of the subtlety of liturgy. He argues that if someone were mad enough to transfer proclamation of the Gospel after consecration, no real theological argument could be made against it (p. 39). (I suppose one could invoke Emmaus but also look at Christ's actions and miracles in St. John's Gospel, which are followed by teachings.) This is why Dobszay invokes a lex celebrandi. Indeed, ‘[t]he liturgy places people in a special situation of existence’ (p. 40). Effectively, this suggested that in the liturgy we enter into an altered state of consciousness. This could explain how people can feel very much ‘in’ what is going on without necessarily saying or singing anything (as per the Oriental rites); and also the attraction of certain New Age ‘rituals’. Certainly it suggests that a rationalising of the liturgy is not sufficient for a successful reform. To borrow a term from French literary criticism, one might say that the liturgy is a resistant text. It is not for nothing that the Eastern Fathers often called the liturgy ‘the mysteries’.
Rationalism is Dobszay's constant objection to the New Rite, which, he argues, belongs to the humanist reform breviaries such as that of Quignonez of 1534, but unfortunately he does not offer evidence (this is a frequent weakness). So he feels the Old Rite should be reformed along the lines of what the Council originally intended (only as necessary, in steps) rather than trying to create a hybrid. The two could co‐exist in the same parish (as already envisaged by Pope Benedict) with mutual influence. But for Dobszay, the influence is clearly more in one direction: the Old Rite will intensify the latreutic character of the New and improve the quality of music and texts, inter alia; but the only influence of the New is to make participation (rather than saying the Rosary during Mass) an imperative for Old Rite celebrations. He dismisses liturgies that seek to ‘form a community’ (p. 51). True, for some people Mass is the only peace and quiet they get. But in an age of deracination and social fragmentation, the capacity of the church to form real community must not be underestimated. Thus a Mass which is beautiful but where people go their separate ways afterwards, with little thought for each other or social action, fails in an important way to build the Body of Christ. Furthermore, if Dobszay wants an ‘organic’ reform of the Old Rite, it will need at least the consent of the congregations, whose reasons for seeking the Old Rite are in practice very varied: each person has their own story to contribute, and Dobszay's book, ‘a message in a bottle’ (p. xxii), is his story. Perhaps this is why there is no index.
And it is a sometimes a surprising story: Dobszay demonstrates convincingly that the eastward‐facing position and Latin are not essential to the Old Rite (noting the practice of the ancient basilicas), which also allows westward‐facing where the architecture of a church demands it. But he is dismissive of arguments for ‘versus populum’. His ascription to ‘psychological distress’ (p. 93) of protests on the part of priests against Ad Orientem is, frankly, contemptuous. Also, for all the spiritual value of continuous psalms (e.g. 148–150) in the pre‐St. Pius X breviary, expecting priests to engage prayerfully with very long Latin readings is impractical and fails to take seriously the reasons behind the loss of a liturgical spirituality in the West.
This is typical of the book's unevenness. Dobszay is sensitive to the importance of bodily gesture in liturgy (very timely), and suggests that the people could sing the Gloria and make the bodily gestures. And as the priest faces sideways at this point, it is an example of ‘circle’ orientation in the liturgy. But he prefers that the priest alone sing the Pater Noster as solemnly representing the assembly. The Pope has suggested adopting prefaces from the New Rite (the Old Rite has very few), but Dobszay cautions against too many, as ‘the faithful are confronted with multiple thoughts in frequent succession’ (p. 210). But he is all for reviving the long medieval sequences! While he praises the sensitive re‐wording of the prayer for the Jews, he also says that ‘no objection’ can be raised against the readings of St. Augustine for Old Rite Tenebrae (p. 241), although these cannot be heard as other than anti‐Semitic nowadays.
However, there are some very useful suggestions: for example, having a full form of the Office as standard, of which local churches pray and sing as much as they can. This idea, borrowed from the East, takes away the ‘lowest common denominator’ problem, which has undoubtedly produced functionalist and dull liturgies for centuries. Dobszay also suggests that churches make use of local customs and music (a remedy for over‐centralisation of liturgy) and that each church produces a customary for its liturgy, to enable stability in the changeover of parish priests. This is surely very practical, and in fact has proved fruitful among English Dominican communities. Finally, he suggests the revival of the ludus paschalis of the French cathedrals (a danced ball game at Easter) and the Baptismal Vespers of the Curial Rite, in which the new Christians were led in procession back to the font and to the chapel where they had been confirmed. At the end, those who had faithfully attended Holy Week were presented with fine wines. Dobszay notes that this rite was actually revived by the Hungarian hierarchy in 1969, and one hopes that the wines were not cut out in the name of reform!
Dobszay is well aware that his book cannot be other than subjective. But he uncovers rich resources, as well as highlighting neglected fundamentals of liturgy, all of which can contribute to the needed liturgical renewal.
