FEATURE
Press return Robert Asch on the St Austin Press, Britain’s premier traditional Catholic publishing house
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hen I joined the Saint Austin Press in 1999, as a recent convert from Judaism, I had only just discovered the extraordinary riches of the Mass of Tradition. I had spent the years of my approach to Catholicism in Prague (which I don’t believe offered a single TLM in those days). Neither there, nor in the catechesis I received in Christmas and summer holidays in London, did the TLM feature at all. I was not even aware of the liturgical changes which had followed the Second Vatican Council. I recall being puzzled by whole sections of Mgr. Ronald Knox’s Mass in Slow Motion which didn’t correspond to anything I could find in my CTS booklet of the Mass in Latin and English. In those days of the Ecclesia Dei dispensation the Traditional Mass flew largely under the radar for most of us. A kind of ultramontanism obtained, focused essentially on opposing a TabletModernism, particularly on issues of sexual ethics. But London, as I came to discover, was a haven for the TLM, thanks above all to the efforts of the Latin Mass Society and the Oratory. Then, one day, my brother (another convert who is now the TLM Chaplain for the Archdiocese of Toronto), suggested I accompany him to a Traditional Latin Mass at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane. After the Mass, we went for drinks and discussion to the Marquis of Granby around the corner, where I met Ferdi McDermott, the founder of the Saint Austin Press. That evening altered my devotional life forever. Ferdi founded the Press in 1996 on his own visionary initiative, perceiving that what was both most urgent and neglected in British Catholic publishing were books exploring and elucidating the intricate glories of the Traditional Liturgy as it began to return to altars about the county, superior works of apologetics, and a restoration of key titles by the great authors of the English Catholic revival, neglected or suppressed since the late 60s. Many of these volumes have since been acquired by Baronius and Ignatius
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Exceptional volumes affordable to the common reader
Press, with not a few of the original editions now sought after as collectors’ items. The success of the Press led to the foundation of the Saint Austin Review (which continues to this day under the direction of Joseph Pearce), and Chavagnes International College in 2002. Sadly, the demands of running a school soon led to the cessation of the Press’s activities. Now, in this time of unprecedented crisis in the Church – a period which has also witnessed an extraordinary revival of the Traditional Liturgy - several members of the original team have come together to restore the Saint Austin Press to its original glory and purposes, with a commitment to publishing the most important books, by authors of unimpeachable orthodoxy, on doctrine, liturgy, history, and the spiritual life. But there is more: the Catholic Church is central to the life of Western civilisation – a civilisation in which books have played a pivotal role. We believe that the restoration of high standards of book printing and binding are a necessary part of the
rallying behind what T.S. Eliot called the permanent things – in the Church, and in the life of the Western world. To succeed in that mission, we have spared no pains to make these exceptional volumes affordable to the common reader. These are texts every serious Catholic desirous of keeping and strengthening his or her faith should own; they are books every reader will cherish. It is our conviction that the only path out of the present catastrophe of the Church is orthodox doctrine and traditional liturgy, and it is surely providential that our new titles began to appear just as Traditionis Custodes was published. In these dark times it is heartwarming to be the bearer of good news, and surely the return of a pioneering traditionalist Catholic publishing house in the land that brought the Church the first TLM indult is something we can all rejoice in. Visit the Saint Austin Press at: www.austinspress.com/ EDITOR’S NOTE: Saint Austin Press books are available from the LMS online shop.
SPRING 2022
