Buried Books

It is often a complaint here in Melbourne that it is impossible to find old breviaries, libers and missals, even amidst the dusty and hidden recesses of the church. Recently I was in conversation with a neighbour about the Latin Mass and he mentioned that a few years back he was at the garbage tip in a country town, where amidst all the rubbish there were several rotting libers and offices bearing the stamp of a prominent religious order. Unfortunately they were beyond recovery and restoration, so he had to leave them.

I though to myself perhaps if the sisters had been told the Latin rite was not dead and buried, they might not have done the same to their books but kept them for another generation. Then again, perhaps they did not care and wanted it that way.