The new mass is valid but illicit. That's what +ABL taught, and it makes sense to me. It's a schismatic mass. That doesn't mean that the masses aren't valid. The Eastern Orthodox masses are valid too. But illicit.
I don't condemn people for attending the New Mass, even though that's what Resistance-type trads often do. However, the new mass has severe flaws. It was not actually promulgated according to the accepted rules of the Church (the conciliar church is another matter). The new mass is a sad made-up thing, meant to appease protestants and lukewarm Catholics by watering down the liturgy and making it all in the vernacular, so that everything that is said at the altar is understood by the faithful, and also so that they can "participate."
Masses in the Catholic Church are not supposed to be invented by a committee, as the new mass was. That's not how our religion has ever worked. It is, however, how the conciliar church works. The conciliar church has its new institutions: new code of canon law, new liturgy, new formula for canonizing supposed saints. You get the drift.
We do not have to adhere to the New Church as far as it has left the timeless traditions and teachings of the Popes before the Council. There is not much of an opportunity to obey good rules that the conciliar Popes have instituted, and I can't really think of what those might be. We are obliged to maintain our Catholic faith and we can reject novelties such as the new mass. That doesn't mean that we have to reject those who attend the new mass, or that we reject the pope. Just because we distance ourselves from a mentality ill father, this doesn't mean that he isn't still our father.
You say the mass is valid but illicit because that's what +ABL taught and it makes sense to you. Ok. I was taught the same thing. But where does liceity come from? Answer: The hierarchy/Pope/Church. So, upon reexamination two things stand out: Saying the mass is illicit means
1. We place trust in +ABL and not the Pope (at least 2 Popes, up to 6 or 7).
2. That the Popes made the mistake pretending liceity, vs. +ABL's assessment.
3. That, at least in practice, the Church has also made a mistake.
The Pope was given the greater authority and +ABL not. Our consciences then say, "its about the Faith" so we believe +ABL. Yea, but we don't have to deny that +ABL saved the Latin Mass if we say his position on liceity was off, because we cannot be absolutely sure his position on liceity is correct. The good Archbishop is not infallible. However, saying +ABL's position on liceity is true, we automatically deny the Popes. Not good. I think we can wonder about liceity, even validity, but we can't
know. Taking this position does not deny that moderns made their way in and jacked things up--they did. But we also don't have to discard Popes, or their God-given authority in order to know how to eliminate sin, do penance and pray, trust Christ's Mercy etc, things that will gain us heaven. This position continues to recognize that the most recent Popes were infected with modernism. But, that's on them and those that run with it. Ultimately, there is a safeguard that teaches the Pope/Church are infallible. Why does that suddenly no longer apply? Because we know better? The Church also teaches, what is bound on earth is bound in heaven. In order for these protections to remain true, it appears to me at least, that the Church was stretched to Her limits, not beyond. Evil prelates simply capitalized on it better than Catholics resisted because Catholics ran away, despaired, divided, separated but did not come together in prayer. <----That's the problem.
From this position, the NO very well could have been permitted by God for reasons we don't understand. Was it a good thing? I'm tempted to say no, but have to ask: Is it bringing people into the Church? I'd say yes, which is definitely a good thing because God can reach those inside the Church by their reception of the Holy Eucharist, and ultimately correct them, yes, even root out the modernism they imbibe! As dangerous as modernism is, it is not more powerful than Jesus Christ. Isn't God doing the same for traditionals? We can be sure God does not do the same for those outside the Church.
This position doesn't have to automatically accept even one iota of modernism, it merely submits, specifically, to what it does not have the authority to deny. This position brings hope too, because while our Church is in mortal battle, it is edifying to realize that many more souls who reside within the confines of our Church, the hope for salvation, if they permit Jesus to guide them in spite of the lies and heresies that surround them, and if we pray for them, loving them as our own body.