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Medieval Sourcebook:
Mass of The Roman Rite
Latin/English - [using HTML tables]

Celebration of the Eucharist in the middle ages seems to have varied rather greatly from city to city, region to region, and from religious order to religious order. Within these variations a number of distinct liturgical families can be discerned, both distinct rites, such as the various Easter liturgies, or the Ambrosian rite of Milan, and variations on the Roman pattern as in the English Sarum Missal . It seems that among these the liturgy of the Church in Rome was both particularly ancient and, owing the to position of the papacy, increasingly prestigious..

It was only with the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, however, that a standard rite of mass was imposed on the entire Latin Church at the order of the Council of Trent. [No such imposition was made on the "eastern" churches affiliated with Rome, and religious orders such as the monastic orders and the Dominicans were allowed to retain distinct variations.] This liturgy, popularly known as the "Tridentine Rite" was in effect a standardization of the liturgy used in Rome, and was not particularly novel. In the centuries after the Council of Trent, a number of modifications were made [for instance the "restoration" of the Easter vigil by Pius XII.] Here is presented the basic text "Tridentine Mass" in its 1962 version.

After the Second Vatican Council, an extensive and radical revision of the Latin rite was undertaken. The distinction between High and Low mass was removed, as were many repetitions, ritual gestures, and the requirement that the priest say as "his" prayers also said by the people and choir. This Novus Ordo [still in Latin!] is the current standard mass for the Roman Catholic Church [excepting the affiliated eastern churches]. Celebration of mass in the vernacular was also allowed as an option by Pope Paul VI, and, in effect, this has become usual practice throughout the Catholic world. Reactions to this development have varied intensely!

[Note: this HTML document uses "tables" and will not be readable by older browsers or LYNX. A plainer version, readable by all browsers is available at /halsall/basis/latinmass.html.]

The texts here were originally posted to the Free Catholic email list [catholic@american.edu] by Brian Boyle and Andrew Byler. Paul Halsall parallelized the texts, and added some omitted texts and most of the liturgical directions.

There a various versions of the ascii version text floating around the net. Since some typographical errors may have crept in, any that are notified to Paul Halsall will be corrected in this version at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook.

This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.

Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use.

(c)Paul Halsall August 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu

The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of  Fordham University, New York. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University.  Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.

© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 15 November 2024 [CV]