Peter Kwasniewski

Dr. Peter A. Kwasniewski is a writer and speaker on traditional Catholicism. He is the author or editor of many books, most recently Good Music, Sacred Music, and Silence: Three Gifts of God for Liturgy and for Life (TAN Books, 2023). Visit his Substack Tradition & Sanity and his personal website.

Books by Peter Kwasniewski

recent articles

A Clarification That Obfuscates

In many ways, the clarification published by Cardinal Fernández is even worse than the original document it purports to clarify, Fiducia Supplicans.

World Profanation Day

Whoever was involved in the planning of WYD decided to imitate not the Magi who gave the Lord gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the Corinthians who heedlessly carried on with their “agape,” not discerning the Body and Blood of the Lord.

How Many Roman Rites? (Guest: Peter Kwasniewski)

A recent series of articles by three respected Catholic scholars argued for the superiority of the new rite of the Mass over the old. We’ll talk to a liturgical expert about the two rites, their relationship, their development, and how they compare.

Why Restricting the TLM Harms Every Parish Mass

Thanks to the inspiration of Joseph Ratzinger’s writings on liturgy, and especially the “rising tide” effect of Summorum Pontificum, a grass-roots movement to restore sacredness to the modern rite of Paul VI was in full swing. It was not Vatican decrees or diocesan reforms that yielded better Masses, but rather the influence of priests who … Read more

Christ in Storm

In the Midst of Crisis, Be Driven by Faith, Not by Fear

In our days, we are seeing an intensification of the spiritual battle as the situation within the Catholic Church continues to deteriorate. Battles have casualties, and some of those casualties are Catholics who have lost their faith or are tempted to leave the Church because of the outrageous corruption, infidelity, and cowardice of its leaders … Read more

Gospel Book

Summorum Pontificum at Fourteen: Its Tragic Flaws

As we come to know more and more about the doctrinal and moral corruption of the Church’s hierarchy today, which rivals Renaissance records, it seems to border on the miraculous that Summorum Pontificum—the motu proprio issued by Pope Benedict XVI liberalizing the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass—was ever issued at all. It was a … Read more

Bugnini and Paul VI

Sacrosanctum Concilium: The Ultimate Trojan Horse

I used to think that the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, was “just fine” if you took it at face value, and that the problem was people ignoring it or implementing it in a one-sided or distorted manner. I used to think that a “reform of the reform” could take … Read more

Mass

Where Catholics Meet the Church

Let me begin with a plain fact: the sacred liturgy is where most Catholics most of the time encounter the Church and her teaching.  “The Church” and “the Magisterium” might well seem like abstractions until they take on concrete form in the liturgical rites—the texts, music, ceremonies, and other elements of worship—by which the Faith … Read more

Pentecost

Far from the Spirit of the Lord: On the Pope’s New Motu Proprio

The obvious problems with the recent opening of the ministries of lector and acolyte to women by Pope Francis has already been the subject of a number of articles, including one that I wrote earlier this week. As I reflect further on the motu proprio Spiritus Domini, I see more and more disturbing implications of … Read more

The Blessings—and Dangers—of Holy Communion

I once overheard in a grocery store: “Darling, not everything you want is good for you.” There it was: in one simple phrase, the wisdom of a mother who knows that she should not buy whatever dessert or snack her child is asking for. Holy Mother Church has—or once had—the same wisdom for her spiritual … Read more

In Praise of Good Teachers

Both Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas speak of the debts of gratitude we owe to others—to God, to our parents, to our city or nation—anyone from whom we receive benefits. We pay our debts by giving to each benefactor what is due to him, according to our abilities. Often, the best we can do is … Read more

Lessons from a Whisky Priest

In February, I read a novel for a men’s book club (back then, we still had the good fortune to be able to meet for normal social interactions; March’s meeting got canceled). The novel was Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, which I had never read, and had always reproached myself for not having … Read more

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