General Information
The central religious service of the Roman Catholic church,
Mass is the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist,
the rite instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper.
Some Lutherans and Anglicans also refer to the Eucharist as
Mass. Based on the medieval Latin liturgy of Rome, the Mass
takes its name from the Latin missa (dismissed), referring
to the practice of dismissing the catechumens before the
offertory. In the Eastern churches, the Mass is called the
Holy Liturgy or the Offering. Catholics believe that
consecration of the eucharistic elements of bread and wine
transforms their substances into those of Jesus' body and
blood; this doctrine is called transubstantiation.
Catholics are required to attend Sunday Mass as a minimum
of public worship.
The two chief parts of the Mass are the Liturgy of the Word
and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The first consists
primarily of two or three Scripture readings, a homily
following the Gospel reading, and general intercessions or
prayers of the faithful. The main actions of the second
part are the preparation of the altar and gifts,
eucharistic prayer, breaking of bread, and communion. The
Lord's Prayer is recited at the end of the eucharistic
prayer and is followed by the exchange of the sign of
peace. Introductory rites, including an entrance song,
penitential rite, and opening prayer, precede the Word
liturgy, and a concluding rite follows communion.
The structure of the Mass has remained fairly constant since
the 2d century, although some local variations existed
until modern times. In the Roman rite Mass was celebrated
in Latin from an early period until the reforms of the
Second Vatican Council, which allowed for the use of
vernacular languages, and which emphasized congregational
singing and permitted communion in the forms of both bread
and wine (previously the congregation had received only the
bread). The new Order of Mass of 1969 is one of the chief
reforms stemming from the Council.
L. L. Mitchell
Bibliography
Jungmann, Joseph, The Mass of the Roman Rite
(1951); Klauser, Theodor, A Short History of the Western
Liturgy, 2d ed. (1979); McManus, Frederick, ed., Thirty
Years of Liturgical Renewal (1987); Patino, J. M., ed.,
The New Order of Mass (1970).
Mass
General Information
High Mass is sung, with a Priest, a Deacon and a sub-Deacon
participating.
Low Mass is spoken, not sung, with only a Priest and server
participating.
Mass
General Information
Mass is the ritual of chants, readings, prayers, and other ceremonies
used in the celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic church.
The same name is used in high Anglican churches. Other Protestant
churches call this ritual Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper;
Eastern Orthodox churches call it the Divine Liturgy. The word
mass comes from the Latin missa ("sent"). It was taken from
the formula for dismissing the congregation: Ite, missa est ("Go,
the Eucharist has been sent forth"), referring to the ancient
custom of sending consecrated bread from the bishop's Mass to other
churches in Rome to symbolize that church's unity with the bishop in
the celebration of the Mass.
Forms of the Mass
The earliest form of the celebration of the Mass was the domestic
Eucharist. Archaeological evidence shows that from the 3rd to the 4th
century, Christian communities celebrated Mass in large homes. The
local bishop presided over this Eucharist. After Emperor Constantine
the Great's Edict of Toleration (313 AD), public buildings - called
basilicas - were adapted to the celebration of the bishop's
Eucharist. As the church grew and the number of individual churches
increased, presbyters attached to these churches came to lead the
celebration. Eventually, these presbyters became known as sacerdotes
("priests"; see Priest).
Before the 8th century, the only form of the Mass was the public Mass,
celebrated by a bishop or priest with a congregation. In its solemn form
(High Mass), most parts are sung. In its most elaborate form,
the papal Mass, the pope is assisted by the papal nobility,
Latin and Eastern Rite deacons, the papal court, and numerous other
functionaries. The pontifical Mass (solemn Mass of a bishop)
is less elaborate, although besides deacons, subdeacons, thurifers
(incense bearers), and acolytes, the bishop is also assisted by his
familia (family), assistants who are responsible for taking care of
his regalia (solemn vestments) and insignia (miter, crosier,
and pontifical cross). The solemn parish, or monastic, Mass is
celebrated with deacon and subdeacon. The simplest form of sung Mass
is celebrated by one priest, with the assistance of acolytes and
thurifer. In daily celebrations, a simpler form is used in which
all parts of the Mass are read by one priest. This is the Missa
Lecta ("read Mass"), or Low Mass.
Beginning in the 8th century, the private Mass evolved in the
monasteries of northern Europe. Monks were originally laity, and
they relied on local priests for their sacramental needs or ordained
some of their own members for those needs. Beginning in the 8th
century, British and Irish monks were ordained for the missionary work
of converting the tribes of northern Europe that had been subdued
by Charlemagne and his successors. By the 11th century (after the
great missionary age), the growing monasteries of northern Europe
continued to ordain their monks; so the number of priests eventually
far exceeded the sacramental needs of the monks. Thus, the practice
of private daily celebration of Mass grew until, by the 12th century,
it was common.
Parts of the Mass
By the 6th century the parts of the Mass were relatively fixed.
Six principal sections can be distinguished.
- The Foremass consists of the Entrance (introit),
procession, and chant, which are then followed by
the confession, which includes a litany (Kyrie Eleison)
and which ends with the Gloria. The Foremass ends with the
opening prayer, or first oration.
- The Readings constitute the second part of the Mass.
They consist of selections from the Old Testament, or from letters
of the New Testament (Epistle), which are followed by a chant for
the Gospel procession. This chant is known as the Gradual,
so called because it was chanted from the steps (gradus) of the
pulpit where the Gospel was read or sung. The final reading is drawn
from one of the four Gospels and is followed by the sermon (homily).
- During the third part of the Mass - the Offertory - offerings
of bread, wine, and other gifts are brought to the altar with
processional chants and are dedicated to the service of God with
Offertory prayers.
- The fourth section of the Mass is the Eucharistic Prayer.
This section begins with the Preface, an introductory prayer
that concludes with the Sanctus. Then follows the central
Eucharistic prayer, or Canon, which contains the
narrative of Jesus' institution of the Eucharist.
- The Communion is the fifth, and climactic, section of the
Mass. It opens with the Lord's Prayer (Paternoster, "Our
Father"), continues with the prayer for peace and the
greeting of peace, and concludes with the communion of the clergy
and the faithful, which may be accompanied by the communion hymn.
- The final section of the Mass, the Concluding Rite,
consists of a final prayer (postcommunion), the blessing
(benediction), and the dismissal (Ite, missa est).
A recessional hymn may be sung as clergy and laity leave the church.
Liturgical Books
Before the 13th century a variety of liturgical books were used in
the celebration of the Mass. The choir used the Graduale
(for the Gradual chant) and Antiphonale (for the responsive
processional chants at the Entrance, Offertory, Communion, and
Recessional). The subdeacon used the Apostolus (letters of
the New Testament), the deacons the Evangelarium (Gospel),
and the presiding celebrant the Sacramentarium, which contained
all the prayers of the Mass. As the practice of private Mass grew,
the various liturgical texts were gathered into one book for the
priest who performed all the parts of the Mass alone. This book,
called the missal, contained all the prayers, readings, and
chants of the Mass. The various missals used since the 13th century
were standardized in an official text, the Roman missal
(1570), which was issued by order of the Council of Trent. Earlier,
in 1298, papal and episcopal ceremonies had been standardized in the
Roman pontifical. The Roman missal and the Roman pontifical
have been revised several times over the centuries.
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) introduced a number of changes
into the celebration of Mass. The council returned to the ancient
practice of calling this sacrament and its celebration by the same
name: the Eucharist. The principal liturgical changes include
the introduction of vernacular languages into the Eucharist,
the return to the custom of allowing the laity to receive both bread
and wine, and the reintroduction of the practice of concelebration.
- Vernacular Liturgy - The traditional language for the
celebration of Mass in the Roman rite has been Latin, although the
Eastern Rite churches have used a number of vernacular languages
(for instance, Old Slavic, Greek, and Aramaic). Reform movements
in the Western church from the 14th to the 16th century called
repeatedly for vernacular liturgies. One effect of the separation
of churches during the Reformation was the adoption of vernacular
languages for the Mass (or Lord's Supper) in the Protestant churches.
The Council of Trent (1545-63) saw no dogmatic difficulty in using
vernacular languages in the Mass, but considered sanctioning their
use inopportune at that time. Vatican II sanctioned the use of the
vernacular in the Roman rite, and the Mass is now celebrated in
almost every language in the world.
- Communion under Both Kinds - The same reform movements
called for a return to the ancient custom of allowing the laity to
receive communion under the forms of bread and wine, a custom that
had disappeared from the Western church by the 8th century (although
it has continued to the present in Eastern Catholic and Orthodox
churches). The Council of Trent rejected these appeals, but Vatican
II established certain times and conditions under which the laity
may receive both bread and wine. The conditions have been broadened,
so that the practice has become increasingly common in the Western church.
- Concelebration - Although surrounded by priests and deacons,
the bishop alone presided over the celebration of Mass in its original
form. As the church grew, and priests were needed for the masses in
parish churches, concelebration - the celebration of Mass by more than
one priest - became common, although the practice was restricted
to the major feasts of the year. It survived in various forms and
with varying frequency into the 13th century. Priests originally
concelebrated silently with the bishop, but the custom of reciting
the words of the Canon aloud developed in the 7th century. After
the 13th century concelebration survived only in the Mass for the
ordination of priests. In this case, the newly ordained priests
recite all the prayers of the Canon aloud with the bishop.
Vatican II, however, restored the rite of concelebration for
occasions when a number of priests gather together and placed limitations
on the times and places in which the Mass can be celebrated privately.
Joseph M. Powers
Also, see:
Eucharist
Last Supper
Sacraments
subject=Massmass
mass
