The Roman Catholic Mass (1570) Part III
Although the Roman Mass, standardized by directives of the Council of Trent (1570), is technically a post-Reformation document, it is not an innovation but rather the summation of the medieval development of western Catholic worship. Consequently the mass below is presented as part of the pre-Reformation liturgies as an example of ancient Catholic worship.
Text: Bowing low over the altar, he says: Humbly we ask it of thee, God almighty: bid these things be carried by the hands of thy holy angel up to thy altar on high, into the presence of thy divine majesty. And may those of us who by taking part in the sacrifice of this altar shall have received the sacred Body and Blood of thy Son, be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing: through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Remember also, Lord, thy servants (N.) and (N.), who have gone before us with the sign of faith and sleep the sleep of peace. Here the celebrant makes silent mention of those dead for whom he wishes to pray. To them, Lord, and to all who rest in Christ, grant, we entreat thee, a place of cool repose, of light and peace: through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. Striking his breast, and raising his voice as he says the first three words, he continues: Commentary: When the priest prays for "thy sinful servants," he strikes his breast, while recalling a list of saints in whose company he seeks to be admitted, provided that his sins be forgiven. Text: To us also, thy sinful servants, who put our trust in thy countless acts of mercy, deign to grant some share and fellowship with thy holy apostles and martyrs: with John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecily, Anastasia, and all thy saints. Into their company we pray thee to admit us, not weighing our deserts, but freely granting us forgiveness: through Christ our Lord. It is ever through him that all these good gifts, created so by thee, Lord, are by thee sanctified, endowed with life, blessed, and bestowed upon us. The celebrant makes the sign of the cross thrice over the chalice with the Sacred Host and twice between the chalice and himself, then raises the Host and chalice slightly, saying meanwhile: Through him, and with him, and in him, thou, God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, hast all honor and glory, Commentary: Yet again, more signs of the cross accompany the prayer over "all these good gifts" which are "+ sanctified, + endowed with life, + blessed" by God. Immediately the priest makes the sign of the cross thrice with the Host over the chalice, as he prays "through + him and with + him and in + him.… " Still holding the chalice in the same way with the left, he makes the sign of the cross twice over the altar cloth between himself and the chalice, as he continues, "Thou, God, almighty + Father, in the unity of the Holy + Spirit," then elevating the Host and chalice together a little above the altar, he finishes "hast all honor and glory." Text: Replacing the Host and chalice upon the altar, he then chants or says aloud: Celebrant: World without end. Commentary: As one might gather, the choreography of the liturgical prayer was terribly complicated, demanding the careful attention of the priest. In the short span of the eucharistic prayer, one can sense the redundancy of the liturgical gestures with the multiple signs of the cross, genuflections, and bows. Yet all these gestures were stringently governed by the rubrics in the Missal, giving hardly any room for personal expression and devotion. Furthermore, since the priest had his back to the people, almost all the liturgical gestures were totally obscured from the view of the worshiping assembly. Text: Server: Amen. Celebrant: Let us pray. Urged by our Saviour's bidding, and schooled by his divine ordinance, we make bold to say: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: Server: But deliver us from evil. Celebrant: (silently) Amen. COMMUNION Commentary: The Our Father begins the preparation for communion. During the Middle Ages, the reception of communion was often limited to the priest. Given the strong penitential piety of the age, most people felt unworthy to receive the body and blood of the Lord. This sense of spiritual awe, linked to personal unworthiness, lead to the practice of "ocular communion." Stories circulate in which people would rush from church to church to see the elevation of the eucharistic elements and immediately depart as though they had seen the Devil. Because the priest had his back to the people, blocking the public view, people would cry out to him to lift the host higher so that they could see. There are other stories suggesting that in certain churches in England, people would drill holes into the churches so that they could peek in at the elevation. These facts contributed to the widespread practice of composing special musical pieces for the elevation. One consequence of this eucharistic piety was manifested in adoration of the Host in special vessels called monstrances. To combat many of these liturgical abuses and to encourage more frequent communion of the faithful, the Fourth Lateran Council (1215 c.e.) imposed that all people receive the Eucharist at least once a year during the Easter season. Text: Taking the paten in his right hand, he continues silently: Deliver us, we pray thee, Lord, from every evil, past, present, and to come, and at the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God, of thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul, of Andrew, and of all the saints (he crosses himself with the paten and kisses it ), be pleased to grant peace in our time, so that with the help of thy compassion we may be ever free from sin and safe from all disquiet. He then breaks the Sacred Host over the chalice, saying: Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who is God, living and reigning with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit: He concludes the prayer aloud: Celebrant: World without end. Server: Amen. He makes the sign of the Cross thrice with a particle of the Sacred Host over the chalice, chanting or saying aloud: Celebrant: The peace of the Lord be always with you. Server: And with you. Then he drops the particle into the chalice and continues silently: May this sacramental mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be for us who receive it a source of eternal life. Amen. He strikes his breast three times as he says aloud: Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give us peace. After this he says silently: Lord Jesus Christ, who didst say to thy apostles: I leave peace with you; it is my own peace that I give you: look not upon my sins but upon thy Church's faith, and graciously give her peace and unity in accordance with thy will: thou who art God, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen. At Solemn Mass the kiss of peace is given here. The celebrant gives the kiss to the deacon and says: Peace be with you. The deacon responds: And with you. Next the deacon gives the kiss, with the same salutation and response, to the subdeacon, who passes it on to the clergy in choir, who in turn give it to one another. The celebrant now says: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who, by the Father's will and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, didst by thy death bring life to the world, deliver me by this most holy Body and Blood of thine from all my sins and from every evil. Make me always cling to thy commandments, and never allow me to be parted from thee: who with the selfsame God the Father and the Holy Spirit art God, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen. Let not the partaking of thy Body, Lord Jesus Christ, which I, unworthy as I am, make bold to receive, turn against me into judgment and damnation, but through thy loving-kindness, let it safeguard me, body and soul, and bring me healing: thou who are God, living and reigning with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen. I will take the Bread of Heaven, and will call upon the name of the Lord. He takes the two pieces of the Sacred Host in his left hand. Then, saying the opening words audibly each time, and striking his breast with his right hand as he does so, he says thrice: Lord, I am not worthy that thou should enter beneath my roof, but say only the word, and my soul will be healed. Commentary: The double communion in the Tridentine liturgy remained as a vestige of earlier eucharistic practice, where the priest would first receive, but the second communion for the faithful was not always in force. The council of Trent reiterated the legislation of Lateran IV regarding the frequent reception of the Eucharist but not always to great avail. The strong sacrificial and penitential piety left a trace on the eucharistic piety whereby the congregation envisaged itself as offering itself in acts of homage. This could be accomplished in adoration as well as reception of the Host. They would make entreaties that the eucharistic bread would deliver them from all evil and bring about the pardon of their sins. Text: The bell is rung as he says these words, and those of the congregation who are to communicate go to the altar rails. The celebrant crosses himself with the Sacred Host, saying: The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul for everlasting life. Amen. He then receives the Host. After a short pause the celebrant collects any fragments of the Host that may be on the corporal, and puts them into the chalice, saying: What return shall I make to the Lord for all that he has given me? I will take the chalice of salvation and invoke the names of the Lord. Praised be the Lord! When I invoke his name I shall be secure from my enemies. Crossing himself with the chalice, he says: The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul for everlasting life. Amen. He drinks the contents of the chalice. If any wish to communicate, the Confession is now repeated by the deacon or server: I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary, ever-virgin, to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to you, father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed: He strikes his breast three times, saying: Through my fault, through my own fault, through my own most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech the blessed Mary, ever-virgin, blessed Michael the archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, all the saints, and you, father, to pray to the Lord our God for me. The celebrant turns to the people and says aloud: May almighty God have mercy upon you, pardon your sins, and bring you to everlasting life. Server: Amen. All cross themselves as he says: May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, and remission of your sins. Server: Amen. The celebrant, taking the ciborium from the altar, holds up a consecrated Host and says: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Then he says three times: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter beneath my roof, but say only the word, and my soul will be healed. Commentary: Just before receiving communion, the words of the centurion are reiterated, protesting the unworthiness of the recipients and begging humble pardon. The communion unites the priest and people most intimately with Christ, and through him with the very life of the Trinity. He then goes to the altar rails and gives Holy Communion, saying to each communicant: The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul for everlasting life. Amen. When all have communicated, he returns to the altar and replaces the ciborium in the tabernacle. The congregation may now sit. Wine is poured into the chalice; the celebrant drinks it, and says: That which our mouths have taken, Lord, may we possess in purity of heart; and may the gift of the moment become for us an everlasting remedy. Wine and water are poured into the chalice over the fingers of the celebrant, who dries them with the purificator, saying silently: May thy Body, Lord, which I have taken, and thy Blood, which I have drunk, cleave to every fibre of my being. Grant that no stain of sin may be left in me, now that I am renewed by this pure and holy sacrament; who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen. He then drinks the wine and water, after which, at High Mass, the subdeacon dries the inside of the chalice with the purificator. He then lays it across the chalice and places on it the paten and pall. Then he veils the chalice and takes it to the credence. If there is no subdeacon, the celebrant dries and veils the chalice and leaves it in the middle of the altar. The celebrant now goes to the Epistle side and says the Communion antiphon, which will be found in the Mass proper to the day. Then he goes to the middle of the altar, and, turning to the people (who at High Mass stand, but at Low Mass kneel), says or chants: Celebrant: The Lord be with you. Server: And with you. After which he reads one or more Postcommunion prayers. Their number and order are those of the Collects. Before the first and second of these prayers he says or chants: Oremus; and at the end of the first and last the server or choir responds: Amen. Commentary: The variable prayer after communion (Postcommunion) thanks God for this inestimable gift, followed by the blessing of the Triune God. Text: Coming back to the middle of the altar, the celebrant turns to the people and says or chants: Celebrant: The Lord be with you. Server: And with you. Then, if it is a day upon which the Gloria has been said, the deacon turns to the people and chants, or at Low Mass, the celebrant says aloud: Go, this is the dismissal. Server: Thanks be to God. In the Masses of Holy Saturday and Easter week, the words alleluia, alleluia, are added, thus: Go, this is the dismissal; alleluia, alleluia. If the Gloria has not be said, the deacon or celebrant chants or says instead: Let us bless the Lord. Server: Thanks be to God. Bowing before the altar, the celebrant says silently: May the tribute of my humble ministry be pleasing to thee, Holy Trinity. Grant that the sacrifice which I, unworthy as I am, have offered in the presence of thy majesty may be acceptable to thee. Through thy mercy, may it bring forgiveness to me and to all for whom I have offered it: through Christ our Lord. Amen. He kisses the altar, and all kneel as he gives the blessing, saying: Almighty God bless you: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Server: Amen. The congregation rises when, at the Gospel side, he says: Celebrant: The Lord be with you. Server: And with you. He then makes the sign of the cross upon the altar, and all cross themselves on forehead, lips, and breast, as he says: The beginning of the holy Gospel according to John. Or, if the second Gospel is that of a commemoration: A passage from the holy Gospel according to (N.). Server: Glory to thee, Lord. He then reads the Gospel, John 1:1–14: At the beginning of time the Word already was; and God had the Word abiding with him, and the Word was God. He abode, at the beginning of time, with God. It was through him that all things came into being, and without him came nothing that has come to be. In him there was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, a darkness which was not able to master it. A man appeared, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him all men might learn to believe. He was not the Light; he was sent to bear witness to the light. There is one who enlightens every soul born into the world; he was the true Light. He, through whom the world was made, was in the world, and the world treated him as a stranger. He came to what was his own, and they who were his own gave him no welcome. But all those who did welcome him, he empowered to become the children of God, all those who believe in his name; their birth came, not from human stock, not from nature's will or man's, but from God. Here all genuflect. And the Word was made flesh and came to dwell among us; and we had sight of his glory, glory such as belongs to the Father's only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. Server: Thanks be to God. Commentary: The last Gospel recalls the glory of the Incarnate Word who dwells within the body of the church and whom all the participants carry to the world in which they live. (Text from Liturgies of the Western Church, ed. Bard Thompson [Cleveland, Ohio: World Publishing Co., 1962], 55–89; transcribed from The Missal in Latin and English, being the text of the Missale Romanum with English rubrics and a new translation.) Conclusion Due to the unintelligibility of the Latin Mass to the majority of the faithful, they depended heavily upon prayer books, which would help evoke the proper sentiments at the appropriate moments in the Mass. Music was also a key element for stimulating the proper feelings. Of course, a more complete study would reveal that the prayers and the musical styles changed according to the changes in the spiritual and cultural modes of the various centuries. In conclusion, one can look at the enactment of the Mass on three levels. In the sanctuary of the church, the priest and servers engaged in a fixed form of liturgical prayer, the only variations in the order being the predetermined variable prayers. All gestures and words were carefully governed by the Roman Missal, which even indicated how far apart the priest's hands should be while praying. The more solemn the occasion, the more ornate were the vestments and the more incense was used to create a sense of the celestial action. In the body or the nave of the church, the faithful watched, listened, smelled, but passively participated as spectators of this heavenly affair. By use of personal missals, the literate could follow the action, much like the way a modern operagoer would use a libretto. Otherwise people used other means of popular piety, especially the rosary. In the loft, the choir would accompany the action, always being careful to their cues by way of bells, gestures, or certain key words. The principle of progressive solemnity applied to them as well since the choice of the setting of the Mass could be determined by the liturgical feast. Often the priest would continue his part, speaking silently as the missal demanded, while the choir provided a rich aural background. Each actor, or group of actors, knew what was expected of them, but there was little intersection of dramatic action or dialogue. Concerning the development of sacred music, the musical setting of a Mass became the standard repertory of any serious composer. Since the ordinary parts were fixed texts, composers took great liberties in setting them. By the late eighteenth century, some musical settings clearly went beyond liturgical use, and the musical piece was destined for the concert hall. A clear example of this is the Missa Solemnis of Beethoven. Josef Jungmann was sharply critical of the overall liturgical musical development in the post Tridentine period: "It sometimes happened that this church music, which had fallen more and more into the hands of laymen, forgot that it was meant to serve the liturgical action. As a result of this, the music often fitted very poorly into the liturgical setting. And since this latter was but little understood, and because esthetic consideration began to hold sway, the liturgy was not only submerged under this ever-growing art but actually suppressed, so that even at this time there were festival occasions which might best be described as church concerts with liturgical accompaniment" (Mass of the Roman Rite [New York: Benziger, 1959], vol. 1, 149). A more conscious attempt to promote active participation came from certain communities of Europe and in the nineteenth century, when the German Singmesse was introduced, and in the early twentieth century, when the missa dialogata or missa recitata was tried. In these experimental rites, the congregation was encouraged to learn the Latin responses. But these attempts at fuller liturgical participation for the faithful were not widespread. In spite of Trent's intention to provide a pure Roman Missal, historical accretions did creep into the Mass. In 1833, the call came from the French Benedictine Dom Prosper Gueranger to rid these liturgical books of any arbitrary additions and return the Roman Rite to its noble purity. This signaled the beginning of the Catholic Restoration, which would grow into the liturgical movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A crack in the liturgical ossification was detected in 1949 and in 1952, when Pope Pius XII called for the restoration of the Easter Vigil. A few years later in 1956, the International Congress for Pastoral Liturgy met at Assisi, and in 1959, the Conference for Liturgy and Missions met a Nijmegen. Within a short decade, new reforms were demanded by the Second Vatican Council to return the liturgy to its pristine understanding as the "public work" of the whole people of God.