A future in Tradition: Remembering Michael Davies

This little work by Aurelio Porfiri is full of love, respect, and insight. It contains a precious interview that the author conducted with Davies back in 2001, which, for circumstantial reasons, never saw the light of day. Pieces like this complete our picture of the man, the times in which he lived, and the cause for which he struggled. The book also features reminiscences from friends who knew Davies well. Naturally, it is not to be assumed that the author and I would concur on every single point expressed in these pages. I am nevertheless pleased to recommend a work that redounds to the benefit of the Church and of her sacred liturgy.May the witness of Michael Davies inspire us in this time of war, and may his work bear ever-increasing fruit in those who receive it with thankful appreciation and attentive care. Dr. Peter A. Kwasniewski (From the Foreword)This book is not meant to provoke a liturgical war; that is not my intention. I just think that Michael Davies was an important part in the development of what we call (improperly) the traditionalist world, a world that I am certainly not eager to idealize or even to see as benign. I am aware of the shortcomings (and there are many) that are present among many traditionalists, but I can also see the legitimate reasons behind most of their protests. The situation of the Church is very harrowing and can no longer be hidden or denied. Those that adhere to the traditionalist wing are people that cannot stand anymore the despairing state of the liturgy, the uncertainty in doctrine, the loss of identity in the Church herself. This is why traditionalists have to be taken very seriously, because they show us in a more evident way the symptoms of a disease that is certainly present. Some would say that they are not the cure. About this I don’t know and to my knowledge the traditionalist world is quite varied. There are fanatics but there are also very well-informed Catholics, who are not fanatics at all but cannot stand anymore the pitiful situation of their Church. Michael Davies was certainly among this latter group. He was a polemicist, but these polemics were not an end in themselves but a means to show that the disease is serious and cannot be taken lightly. And many years later we can really see how true this is.Aurelio Porfiri (from the Introduction)Table of ContentsForewordIntroductionA Welsh TeacherVatican IIA Prolific WriterOther Fighters for the Good CauseIn Defense of the PriesthoodModernismIn the Words of His FriendsInterview with Michael DaviesBibliography