The Heresy of Formlessness: The Roman Liturgy and its Enemy

—“One of the most important books on the liturgy to be published in the last half-century”—JOSEPH SHAW

First published in 2003, The Heresy of Formlessness is already a modern classic, unique for its melding of poetic shimmer and keen observation. Martin Mosebach offers up a compelling defense of the traditional Roman Rite and a searing critique of the postconciliar liturgical reform through which ancient rites were profaned by tone-deaf modernizers—and thus a once-flourishing religion gutted by banal innovations. For Mosebach, the only coherent solution to this crisis is a wholehearted return to the old Latin liturgy in its tightly-woven symbolic texture of prayer and chant, gesture and ceremonial—the rich heritage of its “mystic benedictions” (Trent). Long out of print, this revised and expanded edition will be the more welcome for its six new chapters and foreword by eminent moral philosopher Robert Spaemann.

“Martin Mosebach has identified the central issue of the debate about liturgical reform, which is really a debate about the nature and mission of the Church. The Heresy of Formlessness is one of the most important books on the liturgy to be published in the last half-century, and among those certainly the most accessible. I recommend it to everyone.”—JOSEPH SHAW, Chairman, Latin Mass Society of England & Wales

“From the day of its initial publication, Martin Mosebach’s The Heresy of Formlessness has remained the preeminent apologia for the cause of the Traditional Mass. Written with the skill of a great novelist, Heresy makes the case for Tradition based on colorfully- and precisely-described facts and experiences.”—STUART CHESSMAN, President, Society of St. Hugh of Cluny

“The Heresy of Formlessness is the greatest book ever written on liturgical form. Here one of the foremost literary artists of our time shows how the supernatural depths of the liturgy are present in its external artistic form.”—PATER EDMUND WALDSTEIN, O.Cist., Vice-Rector, Leopoldinum, Heiligenkreuz

“In describing how he did not discover the beauty and wealth of the faith until he experienced the solemn vetus ordo liturgy, Martin Mosebach speaks from the heart of the generation that came of age after 1960. He shows how important are profound music, majestic rites, and inspired architecture and painting for true service to God.”—MONIKA RHEINSCHMITT, Chairman, Pro Missa Tridentina

“Martin Mosebach offers us a text replete with remarkable examples and concrete experiences—helping us discover through our own senses and reasoning the beauty of the liturgical forms, leading us to a better understanding of the Divine Mystery of the Incarnation and sacrifice of Christ.”—FELIPE ALANÍS SUÁREZ, President, Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce

“One of the deepest and most insightful books ever written on the Roman liturgy, The Heresy of Formlessness has lost nothing of its relevance since its first publication; on the contrary, Mosebach’s diagnosis proves ever more therapeutic as the disease progresses.”—PETER KWASNIEWSKI, author of Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness

“A landmark assessment of the liturgical debacle of our time from the unusual perspective of a novelist of the first rank. Martin Mosebach’s insights will surprise traditionalists, even as they infuriate the dogged defenders of the collapse of the liturgy.”—CHRISTOPHER FERRARA, author of Liberty, the God That Failed

“Martin Mosebach, in his extraordinarily readable and inimitable manner, shows us how form and beauty—here, as in every aspect of life—are not aesthetic ‘extras’ in establishing man’s correct relationship to his Creator, but an essential element in identifying and maintaining that relationship.”—JOHN RAO, author of Black Legends and the Light of the World

MARTIN MOSEBACH, born in Frankfurt am Main, studied law, and has published eleven novels, many short stories, essays, poems, scripts for dramas, opera libretti, theater pieces, and radio plays. He is actively engaged in dialogue on contemporary issues through contributions to daily papers & magazines. Apart from many other awards, he was honored in 2007 with Germany’s foremost literary award, the “Georg-Büchner-Preis,” in 2013 with the “Literature-Award of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation,” and in 2015 with the “Goethe-Award of the City of Frankfurt am Main.” He is currently engaged in a film project with Rebecca Horn, and his book Subversive Catholicism is forthcoming from Angelico Press.