DEVELOPMENT OF THE MASS

THE INITIAL UNFOLDING

The first Mass, of course, was at the Last Supper when Jesus changed bread and wine into his body and blood, and commissioned the Apostles to “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Syrian catechetical manual called the Didache, or the Teachings of the Twelve Apostles, which dates from the end of the first century, contains some prayers which were probably recited at Eucharistic celebrations. The First Apology, written in Rome by Justin Martyr about 150 AD, provides us with the first description of a Mass. It is a rather simple service in which those in the assembly say prayers together, and then offer each other the kiss of peace. Sometimes there were readings from the prophets and the Acts of the Apostles, and a homily delivered by the presider. Following this bread and wine were brought in and presented to the presider who recited a long prayer of thanksgiving, after which all present consumed the consecrated species. Justin did extensive traveling to various Christian communities, and his account should be representative of the Mass of the second century. In the third century Hippolytus of Rome provides us with the text of a Eucharistic celebration which notes that it is an expression of sacrifice. There were other versions of Eucharistic celebrations in use at that time, and fixed texts did not start appearing until the fourth century. In the West there developed two families of Mass-Liturgies, a Roman-African family and a Gallic family, the latter family having the subdivisions Celtic, Ambrosian or Milanese, and Mozarabic or Old Spanish. The Milanese Mass incorporated much of the Roman Canon. In Rome from the third to the sixth century many variations crept into the Mass, but the Canon from its beginning (Te igitur) to the concluding doxology remained fairly stable from the end of the fourth century. Three versions of the Roman Sacramentary came into use, namely the Leonine, the Gelasian and the Gregorian Sacramentaries, and in some dioceses individualized liturgies were celebrated.

FROM TRENT TO VATICAN II

A millennium later, in 1570, seven years after the closing of the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V issued a Bull which introduced a new missal that was to be standard in every church, and was proclaimed as not subject to change. An exception was that churches which could show that they had a variant liturgy in continuous use for at least 200 years were permitted to continue their ancient celebrations. At the present time, four and a half centuries later, the ancient Milanese liturgy is still in use in the Archdiocese of Milan, ancient rites continue in the dioceses of Braga and Lyons, and the Mozarabic liturgy is now celebrated at only one site, a chapel of the cathedral of Toledo in Spain. Several later popes did in fact modify this ‘unchangeable’ Mass, namely Clement VIII (1604), Urban VIII (1634), Leo XIII, and Pius X (1920). This Tridentine Mass remained the norm in the Church until Holy Thursday, 1969, four years after the close of the Second Vatican Council, when Pope Paul VI issued the Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum prescribing a new form of the Mass. This new form, called the Novus Ordo Mass, was mandated in the Latin Rite starting the first Sunday of Advent of that year.

THE NOVUS ORDO MASS

The first part of the Mass, formerly referred to as the Mass of the Catechumens, and now called the Liturgy of the Word, underwent some dramatic changes. The entrance intonation AI will go to the altar of God, to God who giveth joy to my youth@, followed by the recitation of Psalm 42, has been discontinued, and the penitential rite shortened. There are now two Sunday readings plus the Gospel. A shortened form of the Confiteor, the same Gloria, and the same Creed, are said as before. After the Creed some prayers are omitted, and the Lavabo prayer is much shorter. A Preface and the Sanctus are said as in the past. Thus significant changes, many of them abridgements, have been made in the Mass up to the beginning of what was formerly called the Mass of the Faithful, or the Canon. For an ordinary Mass there is now a choice of four canons or Eucharistic Prayers, and these will be described in the next section. There are additional Eucharistic Prayers that can be said during Masses for children, and during Masses for reconciliation. If Eucharistic Prayer I, or the Roman Canon, is selected then the remainder of the Mass is almost the same as it was before the Second Vatican Council, except that two concluding prayers and the Last Gospel are no longer said. Link to Validity of the Novus Ordo Mass for a proof of this.

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EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS

Eucharistic Prayer I, called the Roman Canon, was used in the Latin Mass prior to Vatican II, and the text of it is given at the link Validity .  Early versions of this Canon were developed during the fourth to the sixth centuries, but it did not reach a definitive state until after the papacy of St. Gregory the Great, who led the Church from 590 to 604. The format became further standardized when Missals containing the entire text of the Mass began appearing in the eleventh century, and they were in general use by about the year 1200. After the Council of Trent (1545-1563) Pope Pius V issued the Missale Romanum in 1570 and made the new standard form binding throughout the Western Rite of the Church. This Tridentine Mass format remained virtually unchanged until the reforms that followed Vatican II. The text was fixed, and the only alteration permitted was the addition of saints= names to the Communicantes and the Nobis quoque peccatoribus prayers.

Eucharistic Prayer II was composed from manuscripts of the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, written about the year 225, which describe the oldest known liturgical form of the Mass. These manuscripts have come down to us as translations in several languages. Thus Prayer II is the oldest of the four. Eucharistic Prayer III is a revised version of what had been originally proposed as an alternative to the Roman Canon, and Eucharistic Prayer IV is based on a format of the type found in Eastern liturgies such as that of St. Basil (330-379). Since the editors of the post-Vatican II Sacramentary made such an effort to compose and restore the Eucharistic Prayers to formats that are ancient in the Church, it is surprising that the Society of Pius X, which puts such an emphasis on tradition, has nothing but criticism for all aspects of the Novus Ordo liturgy. They should have especial praise for Eucharistic Prayer II of Hippolytus which is the most ancient, dating back to the year 225.

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE VATICAN II

In 1964, while Vatican II was still in session, the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar and the Last Gospel were dropped from the Mass, and by 1966, a year after the end of the Council, the Mass began being celebrated in the vernacular in many places. In 1969 Pope Paul VI promulgated his New Mass, and the first Novus Ordo missal appeared in print in 1970. The new Mass met with a mixed reception. Many people were enthusiastic about it and many others wanted to revert back to the traditional Latin or Tridentine Mass in use before the Council. This made it difficult to implement the establishment of the Novus Ordo Mass, so the Tridentine Mass was no longer allowed to be celebrated without the priest or his bishop obtaining an indult or special permission from the Vatican to do so. In reaction to this some traditionalists began referring to the Tridentine Mass as the Indult Mass. By 1985, fifteen years after the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Mass, and 21 years after the onset of the changes, the new Mass was firmly entrenched. The traditionalist minded faithful, who by now were a distinct minority, but not a negligible one, still clamored for their Traditionalist Latin Mass, but indults were few and far between, and it was rare for the Indult Mass to be celebrated. The liberal elements of the Church, who were in control, strongly opposed the granting of indults. Some traditional minded Catholics began to feel marginalized, with their needs and aspirations somehow subject to suspicion. We are grateful that more recently permission has become much easier to obtain, and Traditional Latin Masses are now being celebrated on a regular basis in many cities and countries.

Recent accounts of the historical development of the Mass are found in “The Mass of the Roman Rite” by J. A. Jungmann S. J. and The Church at Prayer, Vol. I Principles of the Liturgy by I. H. Dalmais, P. M. Gy, P. Jounel and A. G. Martimort.

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