Hey everyone. I was just wondering if anyone knows of any good books/articles/websites etc. (That are faithful to Church teaching but state the truth) that deal with a history of the Second Vatican Council, what the council actually said and what happened in the years following?
Though not specifically on Vatican II, there is a book on the liturgical changes by the late Michael Davies called
Pope Paul’s New Mass - it is published by the Angelus Press, which, although it is SSPX, Michael Davies himself always remained loyal to the Church. In this book he traces the development of the Holy Mass from its early days, through the Reformation and through Vatican II and its aftermath. Some of the most interesting reading is to be found where he draws parallels with what the 16th century “Reformers” did to the Mass and what happened post-Vatican II, such as the removal of certain prayers which referred to a sacrifice or altar, such as the
Judica me or
Aufer a nobis.
He also writes of the changes which were supposedly ordered by Vatican II - (we know them well) the removal of altar rails, construction of new altars, removing old altars, moving the tabernacle, giving the “presider” pride of place… Much of these supposed orders were, as Davies points out, due to weak and liberal translations from the Latin into English.
The book is about 700 pages long, so it is a big read - I have only gotten through a fraction of it thus far, but I know it is worth reading in its entirety. However, as I say, the book is not specifically on Vatican II, although of course it is naturally a huge part of the book - Davies also draws on papal encyclicals and the GIRM for example.
He has written a small book also - which you could read in about an hour - specifically about the sanctuary and Vatican II. It is called
The Catholic Sanctuary & the Second Vatican Council - the information contained therein is undoubtedly also in
Pope Paul’s New Mass, but for its small size it is packed full of useful and interesting information.
Pope Paul’s New Mass is actually part of a trilogy - it is Volume 3. The second volume would probably be of interest to you, though I can’t comment on it as I don’t have a copy. It’s called
Pope John’s Council - the website from which I often buy books (
HERE) gives the following summary:
…this is a magisterial account of the Second Vatican Council by this highly respected writer, who was praised at the time of his death by the then Cardinal Ratzinger. Fully revised and expanded by Davies shortly before his death in 2004. Gives the background to the Council, its proceedings, how liberals hijacked events, why Council Fathers voted for things they hadn’t intended, the influence of Protestants, the status of the Council documents, “time bombs” in the documents, the role of the secular media, the fruits of Vatican II, etc. More than thirty years after its original publication it remains the authoritative English-language critique of the Second Vatican Council.
- So that book might be more like what you’re after; I think it’s significant that Davies revised it before his death in 2004…Pity he didn’t live to see any of the reign of Pope Benedict - I wonder what he would have said, especially with Summorum Pontificum, not to mention the forthcoming translations for the Ordinary Form.
The first book in the trilogy, by the way, is called
Cranmer’s Godly Order.
. Right now I am in the process of reading the actual documents from Vatican II and scouring amazon for the books that have been mentioned.