Da jeg i 2007 lærte om (og lærte å feire) den tradisjonelle katolske messen, var det en del ting som overrasket meg – siden jeg aldri hadde hørt om den katolske, liturgiske tradisjon før 1965. Peter Kwasniewski skriver nå om en så pass liten ting som hva man kaller de ulike delene av messen. Hoveddelene hadde blitt kalt Katekumenenes messe og de troendes messe, men dette ble forandret til Ordets liturgi og nattverdens liturgi. OM denne forandringen skriver han:
It is well known that the Novus Ordo Missae divides the Mass into four parts: the Introductory Rites; the Liturgy of the Word; the Liturgy of the Eucharist; and the Concluding Rite. It is perhaps less known among Catholics today that this is a modern schematic and that the much more ancient distinction—still found in the traditional Latin Mass—is between the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful. As we bask in the effulgence of the Incarnate Word, it would be well to reflect on why this ancient way of speaking is superior to the modern way.
The central and definitive “word” is Jesus Christ, the Logos or Verbum of the Father, made flesh for us men and for our salvation. It follows that the liturgy of the Word par excellence is the Holy Eucharist itself. To go further, the liturgy of the Word, in the fullest sense, must be the Eucharistic sacrifice, because in this sacrifice the Word which is “spoken” by the Father is offered back to Him, thanks to His human nature, in a perfect self-offering—and this oblation of Christ on the cross is the sole reason we ourselves can receive, can be made “hearers of,” the word of God in nature and in divine revelation. If, instead, one appropriates “word” to the Bible, then this portion of public worship, in terms of the phenomenology of the Mass, risks becoming an equal to the Eucharist, if not its superior. …