(LifeSiteNews) — Father Michael Rodríguez* has made many sacrifices for the Traditional Latin Mass and, thus, for Catholics who need to “recover from modernism,” as they will strive to do at this October’s Rome Life Forum in Kansas City, Missouri.
Of course, many lay Catholics have made sacrifices to order to find a suitably reverent Mass, let alone the Traditional Latin Mass. Ask around at any parish where there is a particularly solemn Mass, with abundant altar boys and soul-stirring music, and you will hear stories of long miles traveled, of resignations from parish committees, and of comfortable old Sunday routines discarded. Sometimes families are divided, as one spouse seeks a closer union with God in the transcendent Tridentine Mass and the other prefers the closed circle of the Novus Ordo.
However, after Fr. Rodríguez, who was ordained in 1996 for the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, discovered in 2011 that he was called to say only the Traditional Latin Mass, he lost something more serious than time, influence, comfort and companionship. He the support of his spiritual father, his bishop. Whereas Fr. Rodríguez has never been censured or punished canonically, he has not been given a pastoral assignment since November 2014.
For 10 years, Fr. Rodríguez has continued to say his daily Mass, pray his breviary, and minister to Catholics however he can.
In a 2023 interview with Louis Verrecchio, Fr. Rodríguez explained that he had grown up in a “traditional, Mexican Catholic home. Although the family went to the Novus Ordo Mass, his parents passed on Catholic traditions they had been taught: the daily Rosary and devotion to Our Lady, praying Novenas, praying the Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic Adoration, wearing the Brown Scapular, devotion to the saints, and “love for God, the Church, and Catholic doctrine.” His grandmothers and mother also had great love and respect for the priesthood, and Fr. Rodríguez’ mother was overjoyed when he told her he wanted to enter the seminary.
After his ordination as a 26-year-old priest, Fr. Rodríguez became more and more aware of a crisis of faith, and he tried to restore “reverence, a sense of the sacred, and faith” to the Mass he had known all his life. It was not until 2005 that the young priest was introduced to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) by keen laypeople, and the more he studied it, the more he fell in love with it, and the more he was convinced that he must offer it. Meanwhile, the TLM itself inspired him to study the theology that added fuel to his passion for it.
“By the sheer grace of God, I had 1“discovered” the Church’s most prized treasure (Mt 13:44) and her pearl of greatest price (Mt 13:46) — I could not turn back,” Fr. Rodríguez told Verrecchio.
His growing relationship with the TLM and its theology made the priest realize how firmly the modernist had taken hold in the Church. It also convinced him that God was calling him to dedicate his “priesthood 100% to restoring the perennial lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief) of Holy Mother Church.”
Since 2011, Fr. Rodríguez has offered only the TLM, having come to the conclusion that “to win souls for Christ, and to care for the souls entrusted to my charge, I must be supremely faithful to the constant lex orandi, lex credendi of Holy Mother Church.” The Novus Ordo, he believes, violates the authentic law of prayer and therefore also authentic belief. Fr. Rodríguez argues also that the New Rite “contains very serious defects, both liturgical and theological.” He recommends to the faithful three works that explain this: Short Critical Study of the New Order of Mass (i.e. the Ottaviani Intervention), Work of Human Hands by Fr. Anthony Cekada, and The Reform of the Roman Liturgy by Monsignor Klaus Gamber.
Fr. Rodríguez is himself a notable defender of the Ancient Rite and the Ancient Faith. His articles have been featured in numerous periodicals. He has spoken all over the world and his sermons online have been heard by thousands (both in English and Spanish). He is well-beloved for his solicitous care of souls, teaching of traditional doctrine, defense of the Holy Sacrament of Marriage, and for encouraging all Catholics to tirelessly strive toward the restoration of Catholic tradition.
Those who attend the “Recovering from Modernism” Rome Life Forum in Exile on October 17-18 in Kansas City will have the opportunity to hear and speak with Fr. Rodríguez. Other speakers will include keynote speaker Bishop Joseph Strickland, “Candace” podcast CEO George Farmer; LifeSiteNews Editor-in-Chief John-Henry Westen; professor emeritus Janet E. Smith; and Mariologist Xavier Reyes-Ayral.
Fr. Rodríguez will help Catholics recover from modernism at the Rome Life Forum
Attendees are expected to take part fully in the discussions, particularly in the question-and-answer sessions. The Rome Life Forum attracts Catholics from all over the world, and everyone has a unique perspective to share. Doing what can humanly be done to steer back on course is not the work of only a few but of as many of the faithful as are called to do it.
To buy tickets and for more information about the Rome Life Forum, please visit our Rome Life Forum page here.
The event is presented by LifeSiteNews and sponsored by UbeCube , The Fatima Center, the Coalition for Canceled Priests, and the author of Catholic Voting and Mortal Sin.
*Fr. Michael Rodríguez, a Mexican-American priest, should not be confused with Fr. Michel Rodrigue, a French-Canadian mystic.