In the traditional rite, when the feast day of pope St. Pius V is celebrated on May 5th you will hear the priest pray, in Latin, the collect for the day. The collect is a prayer appointed to each day’s Mass and follows either the Gloria or the Kyrie. The prayer for this feast day in particular underwent much revision during the liturgical reform of the 1960s leading to an essentially new collect. The new collect is now said in the vernacular whenever this feast day arrives. This change offers a glimpse into the liturgical reform as a whole. Therefore, I wish to compare the collect of the old rite to that of the new rite and see what these differences might communicate to us about our faith.
One might rightly wonder why the collect changed at all. Well, Matthew Hazell, a Catholic liturgical scholar and contributor to the blog, New Liturgical Movement, writes in his article “All the Elements of the Roman Rite”? Mythbusting, Part II” that “a mere 13% (165) of the 1,273 prayers of the usus antiquior [1962 Missal/traditional Latin Mass] found their way unchanged into the reformed Missal of Paul VI [1970 Missal/new Mass].” That is to say, it is not unusual for an oration (prayer) to have either been omitted, centonised, or edited in preparation for the New Missal following Vatican II.
To begin, it's important to note the specific contents of each collect. The traditional collect reads, according to this English translation of the 1962 Missale Romanum:
God, Who didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Pius Thy chief bishop for the crushing of the enemies of Thy Church and the restoration of divine worship, make us to be defended by his watchful care and so to adhere to Thy service that, all the contrivances of our enemies being overcome, we may rejoice in everlasting peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…
The line “Crushing of the enemies of Thy Church” likely refers to his time as an inquisitor of the faith where he helped to combat and suppress heresy and defend doctrinal orthodoxy from dissent during the religiously tumultuous 16th century Europe. It likely also refers to how, during his papacy, St. Pius V formed the Holy League to combat Ottoman expansion into Europe. The Ottomans were eventually pushed back at the Battle of Lepanto, prior to which Pius V had encouraged all of the Church’s faithful to pray the Rosary for victory. Although the collect might initially come off as bellicose, towards the end, the prayer makes clear that it is a petition for “everlasting peace.” The reference to “the restoration of divine worship” refers to St. Pius V’s restoration and renewal of Rome’s liturgical books following the Council of Trent. The prayer recognizes the importance and success of the Tridentine liturgical reforms.
Some might object that prayers that celebrate “crushing of the enemies of Thy Church” run contrary to the gospel, especially Matthew 5: 44 where Christ tells us to “Love your enemies.” But in the Catholic Tradition, love does not exclude punishment or defense; love (dilectio, imperative: diligite) is not synonymous with support or indifference. When we are thankful for St. Pius V’s “crushing of the enemies of Thy Church” it is with the understanding that this was not malicious or evil. “Love your enemies” compels us neither to force our loved ones to suffer at the hand of the enemy nor to abandon the city of God. It compels us neither to surrender Constantinople to the armies of Ottomans nor Europe to fascistic despots in the 1940s. Remember also the means by which Pope St. Pius V crushed his enemies. He crushed them through steadfast adherence to Catholic orthodoxy, through praying the rosary, and through his saintly Petrine ministry, all of which aimed toward peace. Therefore, I view the collect as both morally and liturgically sound.
The New Missal replaces the old prayer with a new shorter one. The 1970 Missale Romanum collect for the feast day of Pope St. Pius V reads as follows:
O God, who in your providence raised up Pope Saint Pius the Fifth in your Church that the faith might be safeguarded and more fitting worship be offered to you, grant, through his intercession, that we may participate in your mysteries with lively faith and fruitful charity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…
The new collect expunges the words “crushing enemies of the Church” and replaces it with “that the faith might be safeguarded.” In short, it sanitizes the original language. One difference in the new collect that I find preferable to the old is the explicit mention of providence when it reads “who in your providence raised up Pope Saint Pius the Fifth.” This enriches the prayer because it explicitly attributes the papacy of St. Pius V to God’s providence, and in doing so reminds us of God’s providence and presence in the world. I think it is especially important for modern people to be reminded of divine providence so its inclusion in the collect constitutes an improvement. The reference to St. Pius V’s liturgical reform is described as “more fitting worship” as opposed to “the restoration of divine worship.” I find the change in language to be unnecessary but not necessarily bad in and of itself. It certainly does not emphasize the importance of Pius V’s liturgical reforms as much as the old collect does.
I recognize that while both these prayers differ in their language, they maintain the same basic petitions to God: to defend the faith and to cultivate worship. The new prayer makes some laudable improvements (e.g. mentioning God’s providence) and the shift in tone might make its reception easier for a modern man or woman. However, there is still the fundamental question of whether our liturgy should be changed to conform to the sensibilities of man or whether man should conform his sensibilities to that of the Catholic faith as expressed in the Church’s liturgy. As for Catholics today, I think it's important that we embrace the fullness of the Church’s prayer and teaching, not just the ones that appease our modern sensibilities, and the Traditional liturgy, in its prayer, aids in this. I welcome disagreement and discussion; however, I think it's imprudent to conform the Church and her prayers to each era’s sensibilities rather than letting the Church’s Tradition and Liturgy stand in all ages.
Official Latin versions of the prayers:
(1962 Missale Romanum): Deus, qui ad conterendos Ecclesiæ tuæ hostes, et ad divinum cultum reparandum, beatum Pium Pontificem maximum eligere dignatus es: fac nos ipsius defendi præsidiis, et ita tuis inhærere obsequiis: ut omnium hostium superatis insidiis, perpetua pace lætemur. Per Dominum.
(1970 Missale Romanum): Deus, qui in ecclesia tua beatum Pium papam ad fidem tuendam ac te dignius colendum providus excitasti, da nobis, ipso intercedente, vivida fide ac fructuosa caritate mysterium tuorum esse participes. Per Dominum.