The Once and Future Roman Rite is an historical study and a call to action. The author writes that, “We are privileged to be living at a moment when it is possible for the laity and the lower clergy to be taking the steps needed to recover our glorious inheritance.”

It is noticeable that many of the book’s Anglophone contributors are almost bewildered by the sudden papal attack on the traditional liturgy. This is a shortcoming of the Anglo-centric perspective, which underestimates the depth of the antipathy towards the Apostolic Roman Rite amongst many non-Anglophone bishops.

The human heart will ever desire a family life, a life of meaning within a community, and a life in consonance with nature, ultimately ordered to the Divine.