MESSIA

MESSIAH – The Last Supper. Painting by Tintoretto (second half of the 16th century). Lucca, Cathedral.

The following passage vibrates beneath the pen of Stefano di Beaué (de Balgiaco), in the *Tractatus de Sacramento altaris* (PL 172, 1280: “Christus quotidie sine vulnere sacrificatur”), of Gratian (Decretum, dist. II, de cons., cap. 51 [PL 187, 1755]): “Non mentiri eum, qui dicit Christum impassibilem et immortale quotidie in Sacramento immolari”), and of Peter Lombard (IV Sent. d. 12, c. 5; 2nd ed., II, Quaracchi 1916, pp. 812-14), until, in the rapid synthesis of St. Thomas, it is harmonized, almost into a coherent system, with the symbolism of the Fathers (“memory”: ἀνάμνησις). Indeed, the Aquinate in brief and concise phrases recapitulated and fused all the elements of Revelation: “Eucharistia est Sacramentum perfectum dominicae Passionis, tamquam continens ipsum Christum passum” (Sum. Theol., 3ª, q. 73, a. 5, ad 2), and so that the expression could not be understood in a merely figurative sense, he added: “Continet ipsum Christum passum, non solum in significatione et figura sed etiam in rei veritate” (ibid., q. 75, a. 1). Christ, truly present, is in the state of a victim (passus), since in every Mass He is immolated: “Proprium est huic Sacramento, quod in eius celebratione Christus immolatur” (ibid., q. 83, a. 1). This immolation recalls and represents the death on the Cross: “Per hoc Sacramentum repraesentatur Passio Christi” (ibid., q. 79, a. 2), inasmuch as in the Consecration there occurs the sacramental separation of Body from Blood: “Repraesentatio dominicae Passionis agitur in ipsa Consecratione” (ibid., q. 80, a. 12, ad 3).

Three centuries later, in a period of stormy controversies, the Council of Trent took up these motifs and fixed them in sess. XXII, in one of the most beautiful pages of Eucharistic literature: “In caena novissima, qua nocte tradebatur, ut dilectae sponsae suae Ecclesiae visibile relinqueret sacrificium, quo cruentum illud semel in Cruce peragendum repraesentaretur eiusque memoria in finem usque saeculi permaneret” (ibid., cap. 1; Denz-U, 938); c) that the immolation of the Mass is sacramental since “sub signis et symbolis”: “Seipsum sub signis visibilibus immolandum... sub earumdem rerum (panis et vini) symbolis offerent” (ibid., cap. 1; Denz-U, 938).

The path was marked, but not followed by all. Alongside the traditional current of immolation “sub signis et symbolis,” theories and systems developed which, seizing upon only one part of the complex sacrificial doctrine, either exaggerated its scope or diminished its content.

1. Systems of physical immolation

The Protestants, especially Zwingli, laid down the principle that a true sacrifice implies a physical immolation that touches the victim directly. The principle was false, but, through a misunderstanding explicable in the heat of polemic, some Catholics accepted it and each sought to discover in the Mass an element that would satisfy this requirement.

St. Robert Bellarmine (De Missa, 1, 27) held that in the priest’s Communion there occurs a physical destruction, since the Eucharistic Body of Jesus, with the change of the species, loses its sacramental being. Suárez (De Eucharistia, disp. 73, sect. 1; disp. 75, sect. 5) maintained that at the moment of Consecration the substance of the bread is destroyed and the substance of Christ’s Body is reproduced; in this destruction reproduced “et in melius immutativa” he believed he had discovered the essential element of the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

J. B. Franzelin (De Eucharistia, 5th ed. by G. Filograssi, Rome 1932, pp. 451-55), developing the thought of F. Lugo (De Eucharistia, disp. 19, sect. 5), held that in the Mass the Body of the Lord, besides being subject to an external destruction inasmuch as it is reduced to a state of decline, suffers internally an exinanitio (ἐκένωσις) superior to that of the Cross, since, stripped of its corporeal extension (quantitas magnitudinalis), it is deprived of the exercise of the senses.

Each of these theories rests upon the false presupposition (v. EUCHARISTIA) that in transubstantiation or in Communion the Body of Christ is touched, or something belonging to Him is destroyed. Moreover, they prove radically unsuited to providing that relationship of likeness between the Mass and the Cross required by Revelation; they are incapable of evoking the idea of that sursum actio or anaphora inherent in the very concept of sacrifice.

2. Theories of oblation

At the end of the 19th century, in the full flowering of the history of religions and under the influence of the cultural-historical school of Wilhelm Schmidt, some theologians, who linked themselves to the sacrificial tradition of Bérulle and Olier (French school), held that the essence of sacrifice in general consisted in the offering. They also believed that the simple act of oblation was the guiding thread of the history of sacrifices, from the offerings of the first fruits of the Pygmies to the gift-sacrifices of many classical religions, from the oblations of the Old Testament (like the sheaf of barley on Pentecost) to the “oblate” of Christian liturgy: an idea crystallized in the Greek πρόθεσις and the Latin offero. G. Graneris (La religione nella storia delle religioni, Turin 1935, p. 244) compared the history of sacrifice to a single trunk of oblation, upon which over the centuries frequent grafts of immolation were practiced.

This current of ideas, transferred to the theological plane, gave rise to two strong syntheses on the essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. M. de la Taille (v.) holds (Mysteriium fidei. De augustissimo Eucharistiae Sacrificio atque Sacramento, 3rd ed., Paris 1931) that every sacrifice, after the fall of Adam, is constituted by three elements: the external and liturgical oblation (essential and primordial element), the immolation (accessory element, in the hypothesis of sin), and the consumption, i.e., the sensible acceptance by God (complementary element); immolation can precede, accompany, or follow the oblation, so that the sacrifice can be the oblation of something already immolated in the past, or immolated in the present, or to be immolated in the future.

The redemptive sacrifice of Christ, which expiated the sin of Adam, had its external and liturgical oblation in the Last Supper, its bloody immolation on Calvary; the Supper and the Cross therefore form a single reality, united as matter and form to constitute the one Sacrifice of Redemption: “The Supper and the Passion render themselves and compose themselves in union. The union is present to us, and we, and we, and we, and we, and we, and we, is present to you, and you, and we, and we, and you, and we.”

The theory of de la Taille was criticized by many, but it was adopted in full by O. Casel (Das christliche Kultmysterium, 2nd ed., Regensburg 1935, pp. 258-73), after a violent indictment of the destruction-theory of sacrifice. In his view the sacrifice of Redemption was accomplished on the Cross, but subordinately to the Last Supper, whose banquet constituted the principal and essential part of Christ’s saving work. The Mass, which repeats the Last Supper, is therefore essentially nothing more than a table where the faithful, through the Body and Blood of Jesus, are intimately united with the Father, becoming His friends, heirs, and guests. The use of both kinds in the Eucharist has the sole purpose of providing perfect nourishment, consisting of food and drink; it has no symbolic function with regard to the separation of Blood from Body that took place on the Cross.

According to A. Stolz (De Sacramenti, Freiburg in Br. 1942, pp. 162-91), in present-day man there converge the two antithetical states of elevation and sin. For the former, man tends toward union with God; for the latter, he is repelled from Him. God, as architect, devised a wondrous plan of salvation: the Incarnation and the Passion of His Only-Begotten Son. Indeed, Jesus Christ: a) through the Incarnation assumed the dual condition of man: on the one hand, union with God (as the Word always united to the Father, as man always conjoined to the Word through the Hypostatic Union), and on the other, separation, because the assumed humanity was caro peccati, taken from the massa damnata and doomed to death (Gen. 2:17); b) through the Passion He overcame the latter (for by dying, He destroyed the flesh of sin) and triumphed in the former (inasmuch as, by rising, His flesh became πνεῦμα, as St. Paul says [1 Cor 15:45], that is, so spiritualized as to be capable of perfect union with God, which followed in the Ascension, when “apparuit vultui Dei” [Heb 9:24]).

Man, to escape his fate, must follow the itinerary traced by Christ: dying to sin and rising to grace, that is, to union with God. This process of real imitation of the twofold phase of Redemption begins with Baptism (death to sin and resurrection to grace, according to Rom 6:3-11) and is completed in the Eucharist, through which the faithful die perfectly, at least sacramentally, and are united to God through Christ. The Mass is a sacrifice, since in it Jesus Christ, always united to God, is present, and the faithful thus take possession of and make their own that act of union and so are joined to God; for it is in union with God that the formal reason of sacrifice is found, according to the classic doctrine of St. Augustine: “Sacrificium est omne opus, quod agitur ut sancta societate inhaereamus Deo” (De civitate Dei, 10, 6: PL 41, 283).

The Mass is therefore a sacrifice because in sacramental Communion the Mystical Body appropriates the death of Jesus Christ (separation from sin, the negative element) in order to be united with Christ and through Him with God (resurrection to grace and consequent union with God, the positive element). This seems to be the genuine thought of Stolz, which can be gleaned from his rich, though not always clear, exposition.

These theories converge in identifying the essence of the Mass in sacramental Communion. Against such a conception, serious difficulties arise. Historically, many who were truly skeptical were deprived of Communion, e.g., the Holocaust of the Jews and the immolation of the Cross. Moreover, since Communion is an act directed to the benefit of the faithful, it cannot constitute the essence of the sacrifice, which in its fundamental concept evokes the idea of something presented to God: whereas Communion descends to man, the sacrifice ascends to God. In the present hypothesis, the Mass is no longer the sacrifice of Jesus united to His Church, as the Council of Trent teaches (Denz-U, 940), but becomes the exclusive sacrifice of the Mystical Body, in some way severed from its Head. Renzo then falls into an evident error when he asserts that the Mass is not in itself a perfect sacrifice, but only the prolonged shadow of the Cross. Furthermore, if this theory were true, one would have to conclude that when the faithful do not approach the Eucharistic table, they have not participated in the sacrifice. Lastly, Renzo and Stolz seem to confuse the intrinsic nature of the sacrificial act with its more or less secondary end, namely, union with God through an act of love (cf. the condemnation of Pius V against Baius; Denz-U, 1045).

4. Sacramental immolation

With the revival of Scholasticism, there was a return to the traditional conceptions of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The liturgical renaissance and the renewed study of the Fathers led many theologians to rediscover the thread of that perennial theology which links the earliest speculations with the canons of the Council of Trent. The first decisive step was taken by Cardinal L. Billot (De Sacramentis, I, 7th ed., Rome 1932, pp. 582-654), who, at the end of the last century, pointed out the necessity of seeking in the Mass the immolation of Jesus not in a physical reality—which would compromise the absolute identity of the Eucharistic Body with the glorified Body—but in the order of signs, that is, in that same economy of symbolic and sacramental realities in which the sacrifice is accomplished. Starting from the idea of transubstantiation, the keystone of the entire Eucharistic mystery, Billot drew an important corollary: since under the species of bread, by the words of consecration (vi verborum), only the Body is present, and under the species of wine, only the Blood, in the Eucharist there occurs, under the signs, a separation of the Body from the Blood, a mystical immolation present (status immolationis; habitus externus violentae mortis), which spontaneously evokes the death on the Cross, representing its bloody immolation vividly.

While the explanation of this eminent theologian gathered wide assent, in Germany the liturgical school of O. Casel (q.v.) advanced, to which the doctrine of mystical immolation seemed too cold and external. To the merely representative sign, they wished to give a real and profound content. A vast and complex synthesis was laboriously constructed, dominated by ideas of striking originality. According to O. Casel (Das Gedächtnis des Herrn in der altchristlichen Liturgie, Freiburg in Br. 1918; Das christlichen Kultmysterium, Regensburg 1932), the essence of Christianity consists in the union of the Church with Christ, so that all men may share in the salvific work of the Redeemer. This union is not realized in a merely moral way, but through a physical contact between the work of the Redeemer and the activity of the redeemed. This contact, which time and space seem to prevent, is wonderfully effected in the liturgy, which in every one of its acts (in the Sacrifice and in the Sacraments, in the Sacramentals and in the Divine Office) implies not only the presence of Christ but also of each of His salvific actions, whether internal (acts of love, of obedience) or external (Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, Parousia).

The presence of Christ with the complex of His salvific actions occurs in such a way as to remain this side of God’s Omnipotence, yet surpasses the limited presence of bodies (circumscriptive), of souls (informative), and of Angels (definitive), following rather the laws of sacramental presence, which is supernatural, pneumatic, mystical (mysteriengegenwart).

In this conception, the Mass is held to be a sacrifice not because an interior offering is made therein (Lepin), nor an exterior one (De la Taille), not because a physical immolation is effected therein (Bellarmine, Suárez, Franzelin), nor because a mystical immolation is realized therein (Billot), but because it renders present (re-presents) the very immolation of Calvary. The Mass is the same (numerically identical) sacrifice of the Cross, which, through transubstantiation, acquires a new ubi and a new quando. The Mass almost forces its way through the crowd of centuries, seizes the drama that took place two thousand years ago, and through a wondrous sacramental transposition, resumes it in this particular fragment of time and space (new location and “when-location” of the Cross).

In the Communion, the faithful, by eating the divine Victim, distances himself from sin and draws near to God. In this act of union with

MESSA

The Caselian conception, though supported by numerous philological and liturgical arguments, immediately gave rise to sharp criticism and serious reservations, since it seemed to contradict metaphysically the new notion of the Mass as a sacrifice perpetuated from Calvary. The hypothesis in fact implies a singular "contemporaneity" with all times of the bloody immolation of the Cross, from which the absolute identity of the Eucharistic Christ with the heavenly Christ would be irreparably compromised—an insuppressible exigence of Catholic faith.

To remedy these difficulties, A. Vonier (*A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist*, London 1925) deemed it necessary to return to the Thomistic interpretation of Billot, refining it with a new element. For Vonier, sacramental immolation is not merely a representation of the Cross but its continuation and prolongation. By separating in the Sacrament the Body from the Blood, the Church realizes and prolongs the essence of the sacrifice of Calvary. In the Eucharist, the earthly phase of Jesus’ life—the state of death—does not exclude the heavenly phase—the state of glory—but what surrounds, even really, the Body separated from the Blood transcends the sphere of the sacramental sign.

This brilliant explanation had the defect of neglecting the interior element that constitutes the soul of every sacrifice. Other theories therefore emerged, seeking to harmonize the external with the interior by filling this lacuna (cf. Ch. V. Héris, *Le mystère du Christ*, Paris 1927, pp. 332–368; E. Masure, *Le sacrifice du chef*, 1932, pp. 253–350; A. Michel, *Messe*, in DThC, X, cols. 1276–1277). Convinced proponents of the interior offering of Jesus, actualiter elicited in every Mass as the life-giving principle of all worship and sacramentaliter signified by the external immolation, include R. Garrigou-Lagrange (*L’Année du Seigneur et la Croix de Jésus*, II, Italian trans. by I. Paci, Turin 1936, p. 321) and M. Cordovani (*Il Santificatore*, Rome 1939, pp. 219–220).

By drawing upon the best of these speculations, one may hold that in the Mass there occurs a mystical immolation, namely an external *mactatio* constituted by the sacramental separation of the Blood from the Body of Christ. This *mactatio*, realized “in genere signi sacri seu Sacramenti,” simultaneously signifies the immolation of the Cross (so the Mass is a relative sacrifice) and the actual interior oblation of Christ and the Church, which constitutes the soul of Eucharistic worship (thus the Mass is a true, present sacrifice, renewing and applying the sacrifice of Calvary). This doctrine is in harmony with the three dogmatic principles of the Council of Trent (Denz.-U., 938, 940), which definitively established the data of the Reformation. Scripture indeed affirms that in the Eucharist the Body of Jesus is “given,” *δόθεν* (Lk 22:19), and His Blood is “poured out,” *ἐκχυννόμενον* (Mt 26:28). Since this immolation cannot physically touch the Body and Blood of Jesus, it reaches them in their sacramental state by separating one from the other, insofar as they are under the Eucharistic signs. This concept forms, as it were, the guiding thread of the entire patristic-theological tradition, from the incisive statements of St. Gregory Nazianzen (*Ep. 171*: PG 37, 279), St. Augustine (*Ep. 98, 9*: PL 33, 363), and St. Gregory the Great (*Dial.*, 4, 58: PL 77, 425), to the first attempts at scholastic synthesis, from the clear formulas of St. Thomas to the gradual systematic elaboration of modern theologians.

This centuries-old doctrine received its seal in the encyclical *Mediator Dei* (20 Nov. 1947): “On the altar it is not possible to shed blood, yet the divine wisdom has found a wondrous way to manifest the sacrifice of our Redeemer through external signs that are symbols of death (*per signa externa, quae sunt indices mortis*). For through the transubstantiation of the bread into the Body and of the wine into the Blood of Christ, just as His Body is truly present, so is His Blood; the Eucharistic species, under which He is present, symbolize the bloody separation of Body and Blood. Thus the memorial of His real death on Calvary is repeated in every sacrifice of the altar, because through distinct signs (*per distinctos indices*) it signifies and demonstrates that Jesus Christ is in a state of…”

Through the firstfruits of creation, transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Church receives from God Himself the gifts to offer Him, which, through a divine exchange, become seeds of life sown in the furrows of time to germinate in eternity (cf. St. Irenaeus, *Adv. haeres*, 4, 18, 5: PG 7, 1027–1029).

As the fulfillment of the figures of the Old Testament and the consecration of creation, the Mass is above all the completion of Redemption: “The effect which the Passion of Christ accomplished in the world, this Sacrament accomplishes in man” (St. Thomas, *Summa Theologiae*, III, q. 79, a. 1). On the Cross, Christ redeemed the world; by renewing His death sacramentally in the Eucharist, He applies to every soul the merits acquired by His Blood. The Cross and the Mass are integral parts of the same salvific plan, two panels of the same picture. On Golgotha, all are redeemed *de iure* (in actu primo); at the altar, in the conscious and willing adhesion of individual believers, Redemption becomes their own: *de facto* (in actu secundo). Christ, who on the Cross represented as the Head of the Church to be constituted the entire human race and offered Himself as an infinitely pleasing victim for it, on the altar, as the Head of the Church already constituted, renews the same oblation together with all the members of His Mystical Body, who, as “the redeemed city, offer themselves through Him in the universal sacrifice” (St. Augustine, *De Civitate Dei*, 10, 6 and 20: PL 41, 283 and 921), so that individual believers become in Christ and through Christ one catholic host (cf. L. Thomasin, *De Incarnatione*, 1, 10, chaps. 20–21). Mediator between God and men on Golgotha, Jesus extends His work on the altar, present with all the prerogatives of glory beneath symbolic veils. At the moment of Eucharistic consecration, all converges toward Christ in glory; all gravitates around Him on earth. In both states, He is the true destiny of the incarnate Word, the High and Eternal Priest of the New Covenant (cf. *Summa Theologiae*, III, q. 83, a. 4).

### III. The Mass in the Economy of Salvation

Catholic faith holds, in harmony with the conviction of all peoples, that sacrifice is the supreme act of worship. Yet it adds that, once this ceased to be merely symbolic after Christ replaced figures with reality, the sacrificial rite acquires a new and unique value, now full of the reality it expresses. Just as all forms of Mosaic worship were concentrated in sacrifice, so in the Mass all elements of religion are gathered, reaching their highest manifestation. The ancient oblation still subsists; bread and wine, the firstfruits of food and symbols of life, are still offered. Yet in Christian worship, more spiritualized, nothing remains of these material realities save a mystical veil under which the Word of God communicates to men as “the bread of life” (Jn 6:51) and “the drink of immortality” (St. Ignatius, *Eph.*, 20, 2).

Immolations remain, but with the passing of the kingdom of shadows, the victim is Christ Himself. The Flesh and Blood of the God-Man are presented under different signs, become *indices mortis*, a reminder of His Passion, and at the same time are given under the species of bread and wine, emblems of life, because life springs from His death. The elements of the offering—symbols of creation as well as of bloodless death, emblems of redemption—are gathered and identified in the sacrifice of the Mass, for redemption is a restored creation (cf. St. Irenaeus, *Adv. haeres*, 5, 2: PG 7, 1126–1127).

Raphael’s genius rendered in tangible forms, in the *Disputation of the Sacrament*, the inner logic of this divine plan. The first scene depicts the most distinguished Doctors and thinkers of Christianity in the attitude most conducive to their theology and the various nuances of their holiness. The Host placed upon the altar, within a golden disc of light, forms the center of the ideal assembly. The second scene, positioned above the first, shows Paradise. At the center of a glory of Angels appears the Eternal Father, blessing the world. He is half-concealed by a luminous circle, which frames the three figures of Jesus, displaying His wounds, of Mary, adoring Him, and of the Baptist, pointing to Him as the Angel of God. On either side, two suggestive ranks of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The first scene reveals the Church Militant gathered around the Eucharist, Sacrifice, and Sacrament; the second shows the Church Triumphant assembled around Christ, who, displaying the symmetry of the Passion, perpetually offers His merits and satisfactions to God on behalf of men: “Semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis” (Hebr. 7:25). The two parts are united by the symbolic bond of the dove. The work of Creation, presided over by the Father, the work of Redemption accomplished by the Son, find their perfection in Sanctification, appropriated to the Holy Spirit. The mystical dove is surrounded by four graceful Angels, who hold open the Gospels. This indicates that Christian faith, in the sacrifice of the Eucharist, bears open to the Glory, is founded upon the word of God contained in the Scriptures. In this theological and pictorial synthesis, the centrality of Christ shines forth; the same Word, which in the bosom of the Father created the world, incarnate in the womb of Mary saved mankind, in the heart of the Church sanctifies souls in the unbloody sacrifice consumed by the fire of the Spirit, to draw all to the light of Glory.

Special works: a) On Scripture: I. E. Belser, *Der Opfercharakter der Eucharistie*, in *Theologische Quartalschrift*, 95 (1913), p. 1 sq.; I. Lebreton, *Eucharistie*, in *Dictionnaire de la Bible*, I, cols. 563-567; C. Ruch, *La Messe dans l'Écriture*, in *Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique*, X, cols. 795-863; W. Goossens, *Les origines de l'Eucharistie Sacrement et sacrifice*, Gembloux 1931; I. Coppens, *Eucharistie*, in *Dictionnaire de la Bible*, II, cols. 1178; B. Mariani, *De sacrificio a Malachia praedicto*, in *Antoniarum*, 9 (1934), pp. 193-242, 361-82, 451-74; A. Vaccari, *Melchisedech, rex Salem, proferens panem et vinum*, in *Verbum Domini*, 18 (1938), pp. 208-14, 235-43; F. Amiot, *L'enseignement de St Paul*, II, Paris 1938, pp. 45-47; F. M. Braun, *Les origines de la Messe*, 1914 (pamphlet); I. Bonsirven, *L'Evangile de Paul*, 1914, pp. 269-75.

b) On the Fathers: A. Vacant, *Histoire de la conception du sacrifice de la Messe dans l'Église latine*, Louvain 1894; L. Ruch, *La Messe d'après les Pères*, in *Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique*, X, cols. 864-964; M. Blein, *Le sacrifice de l'Eucharistie d'après St Augustin*, Louvain 1936; G. Philips, *Le sacrifice eucharistique dans la tradition africaine*, in *Revue ecclésiastique de Liège*, 22 (1930-31), pp. 137-54; A. Meunier, *Sacrificium eucharisticum apud Patres latinos*, ibid., 29 (1937), pp. 358-66; W. Lampen, *Doctrina s. Io. Chrysost., de Christo se offerente in Missa*, in *Antoniarum*, 18 (1943), pp. 1-16.

c) On the Scholastics: general overview in M. Lepin (op. cit. in the text); W. Goetzman, *Das eucharistische Opfer nach der Lehre der älteren Scholastik*, Freiburg in Br. 1901; A. Gaudel, *Le sacrifice de la Messe dans l'Église latine jusqu'à la veille de la réforme*, in *Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique*, X, cols. 964-1085; H. Klug, *Dans Scoti doctrina de sacrificio, praesertim de sacrificio Missae*, in *Estudis franciscans*, 39 (1927), pp. 408-25; 40 (1928), pp. 381-436; R. Garrigou-Lagrange, *De sacrificio Missae vc. s. Albertum Magnum*, in *Angelicum*, 9 (1932), pp. 213-24; Henricus a S. Theresia, *Notio sacrificii in communi in synthesis s. Thomae*, Rome 1934; G. Robins, *L'essenza del sacrificio della M.: la vera completa dottrina di S. Tommaso*, in *Palestra del clero*, 25 (1937), pp. 25-33; A. Hoffmann, *De sacrificio Missae iuxta S. Thomam*, in *Angelicum*, 19 (1938), pp. 262-85.

d) On Protestants and the Council of Trent: I. Rivière, *La Messe durant la période de la réforme et du Concile de Trente* in *Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique*, X, cols. 1085-1142; M. Alonso, *El sacrificio eucarístico de la Ultima Cena del Señor según el Concilio Tridentino*, Madrid 1929; E. Messenger, *The reformation, the Mass and priesthood*, London 1935; S. Frankl, *Doctrina Hosii de sacrificio Missae cum decreto tridentino comparata*, in *Collectanea theologica*, 1935, pp. 281-339; S. Resende, *O sacrificio da Missa em D. Frei Gaspar do Casal*, Porto 1941; I. Armajos Suárez, *La inmolación sacrificio eucarístico según el Concilio Tridentino y el decreto conciliar*, Quito 1942; E. Jamoulle, *Le sacrifice eucharistique au Concile de Trente*, in *Nouvelle revue théologique*, 67 (1943), pp. 513-31; id., *L'unité sacrificielle de la Croix et l'autel au Concile de Trente*, in *Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses*, 22 (1946), pp. 34-69.

Messs - The mystical sigma. Detail of the choir stalls (17th c.) of the church of Valère (Switzerland).

Rarely, the same thesis is upheld by I. Coppens, *Le mystère eucharistique et les mystères païens*, in *Cours et conférences des semaines liturgiques*, VII, Louvain 1920, pp. 111-34; I. Dillersberger, *Eine neue Messopfertheorie*, in *Theologie und Glaube*, 22 (1930), pp. 571-88; A. Stohr, *Zu P. Odo Casels Mysteriellenlehre*, in *Pastor Bonus*, 1931, pp. 351-61; id., *Der hl. Thomas, ein Kronzeuge für P. Odo Casels Mysteriellenlehre*, ibid., 1931, pp. 422-36; 1932, pp. 41-49; P. De Vooght, *A propos d'une conception symboliste de la Messe*, in *Dieu Thomas*, 9 (1932), pp. 310-17 (brief and clear); I. M. Hanssens, *Etude liturgie cultes mysteriés?*, in *Periodica de la moral, canonica, liturgica*, 1934, pp. 112-32, 137-60 (rich and lucid); B. Poschmann, *Mysteriengesetzamt im Lichte des hl. Thomas*, in *Theologische Quartalschrift*, 116 (1935), pp. 53-116 (very important); K. Prümm, *Mysterion von Paulus bis Origenes*, in *Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie*, 61 (1937), pp. 390-425 (observations by a specialist); G. Söhngen, *Symbol und Wirklichkeit im Kulturstürmen* (*Grenzfragen zwischen Theologie und Philosophie*, 4), Bonn 1937; id., *Der Wesensaufbau des Mysteriums* (ibid., 6), ibid. 1938 (more complete work written against Casel); A. Hoffmann, *Der Begriff des Mysteriums bei Thomas von Aquin*, in *Dieu Thomas* (Fribourg), 17 (1939), pp. 30-60 (lucid critique); G. Söhngen, *Le rôle agissant des mystères du Christ dans la liturgie*, in *Les questions liturgiques et paroissiales*, 24 (1939), pp. 79-107 (critique of Casel); D. Winzen, *Note complémentaire*, ibid., pp. 108-13 (reply to Söhngen). The entire controversy provoked by Casel is well described in Th. Filthaut, *Die Kontroverse über die Mysterienlehre*, Warendorf in W. 1947; and in summary by M. Becqué, *Le mystère de la Messe*, in *Nouvelle Revue Théologique*, 82 (1950), pp. 27-30. Billot was followed by L. Labauche, *Leçons de théologie dogmatique*, IV, Paris 1921, pp. 209-305; I. Grimal, *Le sacerdoce et le sacrifice de N. S. J.-C.*, ibid. 1926, pp. 231-42; G. Van Noort, *De Sacramentis*, I, Hilversum 1927, pp. 374-79; L. Lercher, *Institutiones theologiae dogmaticae*, IV, Innsbruck 1930, pp. 481-482; I. Van der Meersch, *Annotationes de sacrificio Missae*, Bruges 1940, and by many others. Vonier was prepared for by M. S. Gilbert, *Les harmonies de la transubstantiation*, in *Revue de sciences philosophiques et théologiques*, 8 (1914-18), pp. 258-69; Vonier’s work was translated by P. Roguet, *La clef de la doctrine eucharistique*, Lyon 1943. Of the same school: L. De Faulconier, *Le prêtre représentant du Christ et de l’Église dans le sacrifice eucharistique*, in *Cours et conférences des semaines liturgiques*, VII, Louvain 1929, pp. 103-107; B. Augier, *Le sacrifice ecclésiastique*, in *Revue thomiste*, 37 (1932), pp. 739-57; 39 (1934), pp. 201-22; F. Dickamp, *Theologiae dogmaticae manuale*, IV, Paris-Rome 1934, pp. 233-35; A. M. Hoffmann, *De sacrificio Missae sec. S. Thomam*, in *Angelicum*, 15 (1938), pp. 262-85.

For the doctrine that values the best data of the sacramental conception of the Mass, cf. R. Garrigou-Lagrange, *Le Sauveur et son amour pour nous*, Paris 1933; id., *An Christus non solum virtualiter sed actualiter offerat Missas quae quotidie celebrantur*, in *Angelicum*, 19 (1942), pp. 105-18; M. Cordovani, *Animadversiones in sacrificium Missae*, in *Angelicum*, 8 (1931), pp. 543-58; id., *Il Santificatore*, Rome 1939, pp. 219-20. The thought of the two Dominicans is harmonized by F. A. Piersanti, *L’essenza del sacrificio della M.*, Rome 1940, pp. 153-71; G. Roschini, *La S. M.*, M. Philippon, *Le Sacrements dans la vie chrétienne*, Paris 1945, pp. 145-98; Th. De Man, *La spiritualité de la Messe*, ibid. 1946; E. Mersch, *La théologie du corps mystique*, II, ibid.-Brussels 1946, pp. 320-325; R. Graber, *Le Christ dans ses Sacrements*, Paris 1947, pp. 31-38; F. Taymans d’EYPERON, *La Ste Trinité et les Sacrements*, Brussels 1949, pp. 141-52; M. I. Scheeben, *I misteri del cristianesimo*, trans. it., Brescia 1949, pp. 355-364; C.V. Héri, *Il mistero di Dio*, trans. it., ibid. 1950, pp. 190-200; A. Penzo, *De habitudine Cordis Iesu ad mysterium eucharisticum*, Rome 1950 (unpublished thesis of the Athenaeum of Propaganda Fide). Antonio Piolanti

II. THE MASS IN MORAL THEOLOGY AND CANON LAW

SUMMARY:

I. Fruits of the Sacrifice of the Mass

II. Subject

III. Value of the Mass

IV. Application of the Mass

V. Obligation to Celebrate the Mass

VI. Reduction, Condemnation, and Transfer of Masses

VII. Dispositions Required for the Celebration of the Mass

VIII. Time and Place for the Celebration

IX. Founded Masses

X. Distribution of Masses

XI. Manual Masses.

I. FRUITS OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS — The fruits of the Eucharistic Sacrifice are linked to its ends. Jesus Christ indeed instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice: a) as a protesting sign of the infinite excellence of God and of His supreme and absolute dominion over the life and death of man (end of adoration); b) to give thanks to God for the benefits received from Him (eucharistic end); c) to placate God with sinners (propitiatory and satisfactory end); d) to implore from God the necessary aids (impetratory end). From these ends derive the fruits of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, namely: merit; impetration; propitiation; satisfaction.

5. Merit

When, through the Eucharistic Sacrifice, due worship is rendered to God and thanks are given for benefits received, a good work is performed, indeed the preeminent good work; hence, as such, it is meritorious before God. This fruit is produced *ex opere operantis*, though infallibly connected with the offering of the Sacrifice.

6. Impetration

Through the Eucharistic Sacrifice (which is a perfect prayer) one can obtain all that is obtained through prayer; namely, conversion to God, the strength necessary to overcome temptations and practice virtue, God’s help in necessities, comfort in adversities, and even temporal goods useful for the health of the soul. The efficacy of impetration depends on the agents, who are Jesus Christ, the Church, the offering priest, and those who in some way participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Now, the impetration of Jesus Christ is by its nature infallible, as it does not depend on the probity of the offering priest; the impetration of the Church is by itself efficacious, independent of the minister’s dispositions; that of the priest and of all other offerers is efficacious *ex opere operantis*, i.e., commensurate with the dispositions of the subject.

7. Propitiation

Propitiation, that is, the remission of sins, operates mediately: a) by way of impetration, inasmuch as through the Eucharistic Sacrifice sinners obtain the aid of actual grace that excites them to the acts necessary to obtain the forgiveness of sins; b) probably also by way of placation, inasmuch as God, placated by the Eucharistic Sacrifice, is bound to deny the sinner the aids he needs to do penance. For sins provoke God’s just indignation, which therefore withholds special aids.

8. Satisfaction

Satisfaction, that is, the remission of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven, is produced by the Eucharistic Sacrifice immediately and *ex opere operato*, according to the measure established by God and unknown to men, having regard also to the dispositions of him for whom the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered. This doctrine is taught by the Council of Trent (sess. XII, *De Sacrificio Missae*, chaps. 2-3; sess. XXV, *Decretum de Purgatorio*). Propitiation and satisfaction are effectively unalterable by the Eucharistic Sacrifice when there are no obstacles (*obex*) on the part of him for whom it is offered (Council of Trent, sess. XXII, *De Sacrificio Missae*, can. 1).

The subject of the fruits of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is all those who participate in it, namely, the offerers. The offerers are: Jesus Christ, the principal offerer, in whose name and by whose power the visible priest acts; the Church, which offers through its minister, consecrated and delegated by it, as is evident from the entire rite and the prayers of the Mass; the celebrating priest in the name of Jesus Christ and of the Church; and all who participate in the priestly action (that is, those who have Mass celebrated for them by providing or constituting the alms for the priest; those who provide the material things necessary for the celebration; those who serve at the altar; and those who attend Mass).

The person for whom the Eucharistic Sacrifice is celebrated is not an offerer; for although such a person may belong to one of the aforementioned categories (and thus be an offerer himself), he is not necessarily so. Indeed, Mass may be celebrated for the dead and even for the unbaptized.

With regard to the participants, the fruit is general, special, or most special. Having said this:

1) Merit cannot be perceived by Jesus Christ because He is not a wayfarer, a condition necessary for meriting. He, however, applies to us the merits of the most excellent works He accomplished as a wayfarer. Nor does the Church merit, because although it has consecrated and delegated priests to the sacrificial action, it does nothing while the priests celebrate Mass. All other offerers (the celebrating priest, those who have Mass celebrated, the servers, and the listeners) merit *de condigno* if they are in a state of grace; otherwise, only *de congruo*.

2) As for impetration, without doubt Jesus Christ, as the principal offerer, intercedes for men, as is known from Sacred Scripture: “But he, because he continueth for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood, whereby he is able to save for ever them who by him come to God; always living to make intercession for us” (Heb 7:24–25). Likewise, the Church intercedes through the ministry of the priest delegated by II.
Finally, the priest and all who offer this Sacrifice with him impetrate not only for themselves but also for those for whom the Sacrifice is offered.

3) The propitiatory fruit can be perceived by all the faithful living in the communion of the Church, because all can and for all it is possible to impetrate the necessary helps to repent of sins and obtain forgiveness.

4) The satisfactory fruit is perceived principally by the dead, because the suffrages of Mass can shorten the temporal punishment due for sins. But it can also be perceived by the living. It is indeed true that the more common opinion denies this, on the grounds that this fruit, being finite, would soon be exhausted if all the faithful were to participate in it (cf. F. Suárez, *De Eucharistia*, in *Opera omnia*, XX, Paris 1860, disp. 88, sect. II, n. 3). But the opposing opinion is not without solid foundation, for the satisfactory fruit, although finite, is nonetheless so abundant that all the faithful can participate in it (cf. A. Ballerini – D. Palmieri, *Opus theologicum morale*, IV, Prato 1900, tract. X, *De Sacramentis*, sect. IV, *De Eucharistia*, n. 239, pp. 193–94).

It has been said that the propitiatory and satisfactory fruits are perceived by all the faithful. But it is beyond doubt that they are perceived in a particular way by the celebrating priest and by all who in any way cooperate in the sacrificial action. The fruit perceived by these persons is called by some general; by others, special, because in a certain way it approaches the most special fruit, perceived by the celebrating priest, since these faithful are closest to him in the sacrificial action.

Those for whom the priest applies the Mass perceive the special or ministerial fruit (considered by some as distinct from the special), namely, the impetratory, propitiatory, and, for those in a state of grace, the satisfactory fruit.

III. VALUE OF THE MASS

The Eucharistic Sacrifice, considered in itself, is without doubt of infinite value, for the Victim offered is of infinite dignity. It follows that through the Eucharistic Sacrifice a worship is rendered to God which is greater than any other. If, however, the Eucharistic Sacrifice is considered insofar as through it Jesus Christ applies to men the merits of His passion and death (undoubtedly of infinite value), it is not so easy to assert that its value is infinite.

With regard to this, the following considerations must be kept in mind: 1) impetration may be called infinite insofar as the goods that are asked for and the number of those for whom they are asked can be increased without limit, without thereby diminishing its efficacy; 2) satisfaction is in fact finite intensively, because however great the fault for which satisfaction is made, only a temporal punishment—being finite—is remitted; 3) extensively, because however great the number of those who share in the fruit of satisfaction, it is always a finite number.

Given this, one may ask whether the Eucharistic Sacrifice, applied to many under the same conditions, benefits each one as if it were applied to him alone. It is commonly admitted that the fruit of impetration and propitiation received by each does not diminish with the help of the participants. On the other hand, it is the common opinion that the satisfactory fruit (that is, the special or ministerial fruit received by each) diminishes in proportion to the number of participants. And the practice of the Church is to apply the special fruit of the Mass to one person or to a few. If the contrary opinion were true, it would always be better to offer Mass for all the dead, or indeed for all the living and the dead. Moreover, it is the common sentiment of the faithful and of priests that one Mass cannot satisfy multiple obligations of justice. Nor is it helpful to assert that the merits of Christ’s passion, applied to us through the Sacrifice of the Mass, are of infinite value; for the manner of applying them depends on the will of Christ, who instituted the Sacrifice of the Mass. That Christ willed to establish a finite manner of application is deduced from the sentiment and practice of the Church. The opposing opinion is judged by St. Alphonsus (Theologia moralis, I. VI, n. 312, ed. L. Glaudé, III, Rome 1909, pp. 290–94) to be more probable. He, however (like all other supporters of this opinion), does not admit that one Mass can satisfy multiple obligations of justice.

Moreover, whoever favors this opinion, as well as anyone else, acts rightly if, to the absolute intention of applying the fruit according to the will of the one who gave the alms, he adds another conditional intention (that is, if the first intention has no effect or if the sacrifice is of such efficacy that, without prejudice to the right of the one who requested the application, it may also benefit others).

IV. APPLICATION OF THE MASS

The application of the Mass is the offering of the special or ministerial fruit for a determined person or cause. It is made through the intention of the celebrant, who exercises this power by virtue of his ordination (Pontificale Romanum, *De ordinatione presbyteri*; cf. Denz.-U., 1530).

The power of applying [the Mass] is so inherent to the priestly character and so dependent on the applying priest that no one, not even the Church, can effectively annul the intention, if made, or supply it if not made. The Church can only command or forbid it in certain cases. For the application, habitual intention is sufficient. For the application of the Mass to be valid, the intention must be made at least before the consecration of the chalice and for a person or persons at least implicitly determined. If one had two or more intentions for the same Mass, ordinarily the last one prevails, except when the first is such that, if known, no other would have been made. The subjects of the application are all the wayfarers and the dead.

9. The wayfarers

In general, it can be affirmed that the Mass can licitly be applied for any wayfarer, provided it is done with an honest intention and without scandal. In particular: a) The Mass can be applied even for the unbaptized, not only for their conversion, but also for any honest end they may have. And the alms offered can be accepted. The Mass can be applied for them even publicly, provided there is no danger that the priest’s manner of acting be attributed to greed for gain, or that the faithful be led to believe that God can be duly honored even outside the Church. Care must also be taken that the unbaptized, in requesting the celebration of the Mass, are not moved by superstition (cf. S. Congreg. of Propaganda Fide, 11 March 1848; 13 July 1865). b) For apostates, heretics, schismatics, and non-avoided excommunicates, the Mass can be applied for any honest end they may have, provided there is no danger that the faithful be led to believe that eternal salvation can be attained in non-Catholic sects, or that no account be taken of the censures.

Ordinarily, it is licit to apply [the Mass] only privately, that is, as many think, without pomp and solemnity, avoiding all publicity; hence with an intention formulated by the priest insofar as he is the minister of Jesus Christ (cf. F. M. C. Cappello, *De Sacramentis*, I, 5th ed., Turin 1947, n. 592). However, in the case of an acatholic reigning prince, it is licit to celebrate the Mass solemnly. For avoided excommunicates, it is licit to apply the Mass only for their conversion (can. 2262 § 2, n. 2). c) For public sinners, though not avoided excommunicates, it is licit to apply the Mass for any honest end they may have, and this even publicly and solemnly, provided scandal is avoided.

10. The dead

Concerning them, the following must be noted: a) The Mass cannot be applied for the dead who are not believed to be in Purgatory. Such are those who died before the use of reason and those who, by solemn decree of the Church, have been placed in the canon of saints or blessed. b) The Eucharistic Sacrifice benefits the souls in Purgatory (Council of Trent, sess. XXV, Decree on Purgatory; sess. XXII, De Sacrificio Missae, can. 3; *Sum. Theol. Suppl.*, q. 71, a. 9). c) It is a nearly common doctrine that the souls of the just who have not yet attained the beatific vision are infallibly assisted by the Eucharistic Sacrifice, whose fruit is applied *ex opere operato*. It is not, however, equally certain that the fruit of the Mass is always applied to the soul for which it is offered. It can indeed happen that God, for a just reason unknown to men, prevents the satisfactions offered for a particular soul from benefiting it (cf. A. Lehmkuhl, *Theol. moralis*, II, 12th ed., Freiburg in Br. 1914, n. 288). d) Therefore, the fruit of the Mass can benefit the souls in Purgatory, not only as satisfactions, but also as impetratory or propitiatory. The impetratory, insofar as by the Eucharistic Sacrifice God imputes the application of the satisfactions to the soul for which it is offered. The propitiatory, insofar as by the Eucharistic Sacrifice God’s just wrath is placated, so that it ceases to hinder the soul from receiving the satisfactions offered for

it (F. Suárez, *De Eucharistia*, in *Opera omnia*, XX, Paris 1860, disp. 79, sect. X, n. 4). With this premise, it is licit to apply, at least privately, the Mass for any deceased who passed to the other life after the use of reason and who is neither canonized nor beatified.

Suffrages are not excluded for: a) Those who died without Baptism or separated from the communion of the Church or who lived even publicly in a state of mortal sin and gave no sign of repentance. For it cannot be known what passed between them and God before their death. b) Those whose heroic virtue or martyrdom has been authentically declared; because, besides the fact that the infallibility of such a decree does not consist, from it one cannot conclude that these servants of God already enjoy the beatific vision (S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide, 6 Aug. 1860).

The public application of the Mass is forbidden for those whom the CIC excludes from ecclesiastical burial (cann. 1241, 2262 § 1). Such are: those who died without Baptism, except in the case of an involuntary catechumen who died before receiving the Sacrament; notorious apostates from the faith or those notoriously enrolled in an acatholic or impious sect (such as freemasonry); those excommunicated or interdicted by sentence; those who deliberately took their own life; those who died in a duel or from wounds received in it; and other public and manifest sinners. All these are deprived of the public application of the Mass unless, before death, they gave signs of repentance.

V. OBLIGATION TO CELEBRATE MASS – The obligation to celebrate Mass can arise: from the priesthood itself, from a precept, from the office held, from an ecclesiastical benefice, from a promise, or from a pact.

11. Obligation to celebrate by reason of the priesthood

By ecclesiastical law, the priesthood, as such, is bound to celebrate Mass several times a year (can. 805), and this under pain of mortal sin. That he is also bound by divine law is taught by many, based on the words of St. Paul: “Every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in the things that pertain to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Hebr. 5:1), and of Jesus Christ: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk. 22:19; cf. Council of Trent, sess. XXII, *De Sacrificio Missae*, cap. 1; *Sum. Theol.*, 3a, q. 82, a. 10; F. Suárez, *De Eucharistia*, in *Opera omnia*, XX, Paris 1860, disp. 80, sect. I, n. 3). But many others deny this, among whom are St. Bonaventure, *In IV Sent.*, d. 12, pars 2a, a. 2, f. 1; and J. Lugo, *De Sacramento Eucharistiae* (in J. B. Migne, *Cursus theol. compl.*, XXIII, Paris 1862, disp. 20, n. 2). The words of St. Paul, according to them, express not a precept, but only the power to offer. Those of Jesus are undoubtedly a precept, but given to the college [of priests], not to individuals.

According to the most common opinion, the ecclesiastical precept is satisfied by those who celebrate Mass three or four times a year on days of their own choosing. It is not sufficient to celebrate only twice a year; for if this had been the legislator’s intention, he would have used this or a similar formula: “At least twice a year,” as he has done elsewhere (can. 552). There is no evidence that the priest is required to celebrate on the greater solemnities, nor at fixed intervals (St. Alphonsus, *Theologia moralis*, VI, n. 313, ed. cit., III, Rome 1909, pp. 294 ff.). In itself, a priest who celebrates only three or four times a year does not even commit a venial sin; however, he may sin on account of some circumstance, for example, a bad intention or scandal. And the latter would almost always, if not always, be present today if a priest were to behave in this way. According to can. 805, confirmed by the Council of Trent (sess. XXIII, cap. 4, *De reformatione*), bishops and religious superiors must ensure that their subjects celebrate Mass at least on Sundays and on holy days of obligation; and they must do so not only through exhortations and warnings, but also, when necessary, by threatening penalties and censures.

2. **Obligation to celebrate by reason of precept.** — A priest may be bound to celebrate Mass also by a legitimate precept, given either directly, when the celebration of Mass itself is commanded, or indirectly, when an office is imposed that entails the obligation to celebrate.

a) The Supreme Pontiff can command the celebration of Mass both directly and indirectly.

b) The local Ordinaries:
a) can directly command their subjects to celebrate on holy days of obligation when the needs of the faithful require it, naturally establishing a suitable stipend;
b) on other days they can command it only indirectly (cf. can. 128);
c) they can probably command their subjects also to apply the Mass, and certainly can command that the *Missa pro populo* and the binated Masses be applied for pious causes, with the obligation to transmit the entire stipend to the diocesan curia (S. Congr. of the Council, 8 May 1920; 18 Nov. 1937).

c) Religious superiors must ensure that their subjects celebrate Mass not only on holy days of obligation but also on other days established by their own Constitutions, imposing this obligation, when necessary, even by virtue of obedience. Moreover, they can command their subjects, even by virtue of obedience, to celebrate according to the intention prescribed by the Constitutions or by the superiors themselves, save for exceptions sanctioned by the Constitutions or by legitimate custom (S. Congr. of Religious, 21 March 1914).

3. **Obligation to celebrate by reason of office.** — Pastors of souls are bound by divine law to celebrate for the faithful entrusted to their care (Heb. 5:1; Council of Trent, sess. XXII, cap. 1, *De reformatione*). Bishops, whose office was divinely instituted, are absolutely bound by this law; hence they can be dispensed from it by the pope only for a most grave reason. Other pastors, whose office is of ecclesiastical institution, are bound by this obligation only conditionally, that is, until the Church dispenses them. Pastors of souls are bound not only to celebrate but also to apply the Mass for the faithful entrusted to their care. Among pastors of souls, some are bound to celebrate and apply for the faithful entrusted to their care every holy day, even suppressed ones, while others are bound only on the more solemn days. The first category includes:
a) those who govern dioceses, namely residential bishops (can. 339, 240); permanently appointed apostolic administrators (can. 315, col. 313); vicars capitular and others in charge of a vacant diocese (can. 440); abbots and prelates *nullius* (can. 323);
b) those who govern parishes, even non-territorial ones (cf. can. 216 § 4; 451 § 3), namely parish priests, even regular (can. 416 § 1); actual vicars (can. 471 § 4); vicars economi (can. 473 § 1).

The second category includes:
a) apostolic vicars and apostolic prefects (can. 306);
b) quasi-parish priests who govern a quasi-parish of an apostolic vicariate or apostolic prefecture (can. 466 § 1).

The obligation of parish priests and quasi-parish priests to celebrate and apply the Mass is both personal and local. As personal, they must celebrate in person, not through others, unless legitimately impeded; and if impeded, they must have themselves replaced (can. 466, col. 339, § 4). As local, they must celebrate in the parish church (can. 466 § 4), except when particular circumstances require or suggest otherwise. Moreover, they must celebrate and apply on the days established, unless exceptions are permitted by the Ordinary. Pastors of souls are bound by a grave obligation of justice to celebrate for the people.

4. **Obligation to celebrate by reason of ecclesiastical benefice.** — Here we are dealing with an obligation of justice, whose dispensation depends on the conditions set by the founder’s will (can. 1475 § 1).

When otherwise not specified, the obligations of a benefice generally are as follows:
a) the celebration of Mass implies also its application;
b) the beneficiary may celebrate and apply through another;
c) if bound to celebrate in person, he is not obliged to have himself replaced in case of illness, provided the suspension does not last more than one or two months;
d) if bound to celebrate every day, he may, for a just reason, abstain once a week; he may also celebrate five or six times a year gratuitously for himself or for others.

The beneficiary who, without reasonable cause, omits even one Mass, sins gravely. Likewise, if he frequently celebrates in another church or at another altar to the serious detriment of those for whom he must celebrate; or if, bound to celebrate at a privileged altar, he frequently celebrates at another non-privileged one, except when he enjoys the indult of a personal altar or applies another plenary indulgence; or if he frequently celebrates arbitrarily on different days, to the serious detriment of those for whom he must celebrate.

5. **Obligation to celebrate by reason of a promise.** — Whoever makes a gratuitous promise to celebrate Mass is bound to fulfill it not by an obligation of justice but of fidelity; hence he is bound only under penalty of venial sin. To satisfy this obligation, a single Mass suffices even when the promise was made to many, provided that a separate Mass was not promised to each; thus it suffices to apply with a secondary intention a Mass already owed to others by agreement.

6. **Obligation to celebrate by reason of a pact.** — By reason of a pact, the one who has received the stipend for a Mass is bound to celebrate it (see below: XI. *MANUAL MASSES*).

VI. REDUCTION, CONDONATION, AND TRANSLATION OF MASSES. — The reduction and condonation of manual Masses is within the exclusive competence of the Holy See, to which recourse may be had in particular cases, for example, of one who, after having celebrated many Masses, discovers that one of the matter used, for example, the wine, was invalid, and whose poverty does not allow him to make up for it with another celebration of Mass. For the reduction of founded Masses, see below: IX. *FOUNDED MASSES*.

Whoever has Mass stipends available for others must distribute them promptly. However, unless otherwise established, the time when they become due for celebration begins on the day the priest receives them to celebrate (can. 837). Whoever has Mass stipends available may distribute them to priests of his trust, provided he is certain that they are worthy in every respect or are presented as such by their Ordinary (can. 838). Whoever has transmitted to others Mass stipends received from the faithful or entrusted to him in any way is bound to account for them until he has obtained a declaration of assumption of the obligation and receipt of the alms (can. 839). The alms for manual Masses must be transmitted in full, except where the donor expressly permits part to be retained, or it is certain that the excess over the diocesan tax was given in consideration of the person. For quasi-manual Masses, unless the founder’s will is otherwise established, the excess may be legitimately retained, and it is sufficient to remit only the manual alms of the diocese in which the Mass is celebrated, if the generous alms form part of the endowment of the benefice or pious cause (can. 840).

VII. REQUIRED DISPOSITIONS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF MASS — To celebrate Mass licitly, the celebrant must possess the proper dispositions of soul and body.

12. Dispositions of the soul

These are the state of grace and freedom from irregularity and from any penalty that forbids the exercise of the priestly order. Moreover, the priest must prepare himself suitably for the celebration of Mass.

a) State of grace. — This is required by the exceeding dignity of the action that the priest performs in the name and person of Jesus Christ: namely, the admirable conversion of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ; the offering to God of Jesus Christ, that is, an unblemished victim, and the partaking of Christ Himself. Therefore, whoever celebrates Mass knowingly while in a state of mortal sin commits sacrilege.

Whoever knows himself to be in mortal sin must, as a rule, obtain the state of grace through sacramental confession (can. 807); and this is required not by divine law, strictly speaking, but certainly by ecclesiastical law. There are, however, cases in which one who knows himself to be in mortal sin may celebrate without confessing, namely, when there is a necessity to celebrate and at the same time an impossibility to confess.

The necessity to celebrate exists: a) when one must celebrate by reason of office or obligation; b) when otherwise the faithful cannot fulfill the precept of Sunday or a dying person cannot receive Viaticum; c) when it is impossible to omit the celebration without risk of scandal, infamy, or some other grave harm. The impossibility of confessing exists when there is no priest with jurisdiction or capable of understanding the penitent’s language; or when the available priest cannot receive the confession without damage to himself or to a third party; or when it is impossible to obtain a confessor without grave inconvenience, whether because there is not time to confess, or because the confessor lives at a great distance, or because there is danger of encountering serious difficulties. Even a grave extrinsic inconvenience, for example, of revealing a secret, may excuse one from the obligation to confess to the only available priest. Whoever, conscious of being in mortal sin, must celebrate and cannot confess, is bound: a) before the celebration to make an act of perfect contrition; b) after the celebration, to confess as soon as possible, that is, within three days; earlier, if he wishes to celebrate again, or if he must celebrate and has the opportunity to confess.

b) Freedom from irregularity or from a penalty that forbids the exercise of the priestly order. — Therefore, apart from grave necessity, whoever celebrates while bound by irregularity or censure or any other penalty that forbids the exercise of the priestly order commits a grave sin.

c) Prayers to be said before the celebration of Mass. — Before the celebration of Mass, according to the prescriptions of the rubrics (Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, tit. I, n. 1), one must say in advance: a) the recitation of Matins with Lauds (though this is only a directive rubric); b) the prayer (cf. can. 810), which does not seem obligatory even sub levi.

13. Dispositions of the body

The principal bodily disposition is that of the eucharistic or natural fast, to be observed from midnight with such strictness that it does not permit the taking of even the smallest amount of food or drink (can. 808). This is a most grave ecclesiastical law that admits no parity of matter (v. COMUNIONE EUCARISTICA; DIGIUNO).

Excusable from the law of the eucharistic fast are: the necessity of completing, after the consecration, the eucharistic Sacrifice, and probably also that of administering Viaticum; the harm or grave inconvenience resulting from not celebrating; and the dispensation granted by the pope through the Congregation of the Holy Office (can. 247 § 5). Indeed, local Ordinaries, on the basis of a decree of the Holy Office dated March 23, 1923, may grant (and in the most urgent cases have the right to grant) habitual faculty even to priests who have already celebrated to dispense from the law of the eucharistic fast, provided that: a) this is required for the spiritual good of the faithful; b) they take only liquid foods, excluding intoxicating beverages; c) scandal is avoided.

In some countries the Holy See permits that on holy days of obligation Mass may be celebrated in the afternoon at a certain interval after meals (cf. the indult of the Holy Office to the Belgian bishops, January 28, 1947, and another to Cardinal Suhard, October 28, 1947; cf. Il Monitore Ecclesiastico, 72 [1947], pp. 111–12; 73 [1948], pp. 78–80).

VIII. TIME AND PLACE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF MASS — Mass may be celebrated on every day except those excluded in the rite proper to the celebrating priest. In the Roman rite the only day excluded is Good Friday; not all priests may celebrate on Holy Thursday or Holy Saturday (can. 820). Mass may not be celebrated except within the time that elapses from one hour before dawn to one hour after midday (the beginning of the celebration). An exception is made for the night of Christmas (for other exceptions not deriving from common law but from indult, as already noted), when the conventual and parochial Mass may begin at midnight; and, beginning at midnight, three Masses may be celebrated by a single priest in the oratories of religious houses that have the faculty of habitually reserving the Blessed Sacrament (can. 821). Mass may be celebrated only in churches (Catholic, and not in those of heretics or schismatics: can. 823 § 1) or in public or semi-public oratories. Churches and public oratories (can. 1191) must, however, first be consecrated or at least solemnly blessed (can. 1165 § 1). To celebrate in a semi-public oratory no blessing is required, though one may be given.

To celebrate Mass habitually in a private oratory an apostolic indult is required (can. 1195 § 1).

In the indult ordinarily only one low Mass per day is granted, and even such a Mass is forbidden on days of greater solemnity. The bishop may permit it once or twice, even on these days, per modum actus, for reasons other than those for which the indult was granted (can. 1195 § 2). In private chapels in cemeteries, which the Code considers private oratories (can. 1190 § 1), the Ordinary may permit the celebration of more than one Mass in a day, whereas in other private oratories he may permit only one Mass per modum actus and after inspection of the place (can. 1194).

The celebration of Mass in a place other than a church or oratory, or outdoors (sub divo), may be permitted by the bishop and by the superiors of exempt religious institutes only for a just and reasonable cause, in some extraordinary case, and in the manner of a single act (can. 822 § 4). They can never grant permission to celebrate Mass in a bedroom (loc. cit.); they may, however, under certain conditions (including the outstanding dignity of the deceased), grant permission for up to three Masses to be celebrated in the so-called funeral chamber (AAS, 18 [1926], p. 388). Permission to celebrate Mass on board ships may be granted only directly by the Holy See (by privilege, it belongs also to cardinals and titular bishops: cann. 239 § 1, n. 8; 349, n. 1) through the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, which usually imposes certain conditions. Mass in the field, on the occasion of secular commemorations or political festivals, can never be permitted; and if the promoters insist for special reasons, the bishop must forward the request to the Congregation of the Sacraments (26 July 1924: AAS, 16 [1924], p. 370).

Mass must be celebrated only on a consecrated altar (can. 822 § 1). The privilege of the portable altar, however, where it exists, carries with it the faculty to celebrate anywhere except at sea, provided that the place is decent and the celebration takes place on the sacred stone (v. cf. can. 822 § 2-3). In the absence of an altar of one’s own rite, it is lawful to celebrate on a consecrated altar of a different rite, but not on the antimension of the Greeks (can. 823 § 2). On the so-called papal altars, no one may celebrate without an apostolic indult (can. 823 § 3; V. also ALTARE).

IX. FOUNDED MASSES — I. Nature — Founded Masses are those whose stipend is drawn from the income of pious foundations (can. 826 § 3). By pious foundations are understood temporal goods, in whatever manner delivered to a determined juridical person of the Church, with the perpetual or long-lasting burden of celebrating with the income certain founded Masses; or of performing other determined ecclesiastical functions, or certain works of piety and charity (can. 1554 § 1).

It is the competence of the local Ordinary (if the pious foundations are also in the parish churches of exempt religious) or of the major superior of a clerical exempt religious institute to determine the norms pertaining to the constitution of the endowment, the distribution of the income, and the investment of the capital. For the acceptance of the foundation, the written consent of the same Ordinary or major superior is required (can. 1545, 1546; cf. can. 1550).

Foundations, even if made orally, must be delivered in writing, in duplicate, one copy to be carefully preserved in the archive of the episcopal curia or of the major superior, the other in the archive of the juridical person to which it belongs. Moreover, in every church a table must be compiled and kept in a secure place with the rector, in which all the burdens incumbent upon the pious foundations are noted. Finally, besides the book of manual Masses, another book must be kept with the rector in which the individual perpetual and temporary burdens and their fulfillment and stipends are recorded, so that an exact account of them may be rendered to the local Ordinary or to the major superior (can. 1548, 1549; cf. can. 1550).

All and each of the founded Masses must be celebrated and applied under pain of mortal sin. It is likewise obligatory to fulfill all the prescribed conditions: of quality, place, and time; so that he gravely sins who, without reason, frequently (that is, more than twice a month) neglects prescribed circumstances for a grave reason.

2. Commutation — It belongs to the Apostolic See to commute or diminish the burdens of foundations, except where the founder has left such faculty also to the Ordinary (can. 1517 § 1). It is probable, however, that the Ordinary may, for a just cause, permit temporarily that the Mass be celebrated at another time or in another place, provided that the end established by the founder is not gravely impaired.

Moreover, if, because of the diminution of income or for another reason not imputable to those entrusted with the foundation, it is no longer possible to sustain all the burdens, the Ordinary, having heard the interested parties and respecting as far as possible the will of the founder, may diminish the burdens, but not the number of Masses. Even this may be diminished, if the founder has left such faculty (can. 1517 § 2; cf. 1551 § 2). And the same Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the CIC, when asked “whether the Ordinary, in accordance with cann. 1517 and 1551, on account of diminished income, may reduce the burdens of Masses, when this is expressly indicated in the foundation tables,” answered affirmatively (AAS, 14 [1922], p. 529).

If the income is entirely extinguished without fault on the part of the person obliged to celebrate, the obligation to celebrate the Masses ceases (cf. Sacred Congregation of the Council, 8 Aug. 1705).

The general indult to reduce the burdens of foundations applies, in the absence of contrary evidence, to the reduction of other burdens rather than to the Masses (can. 1551 § 2).

At the expiration of 31 December each year in which the founded Masses should have been celebrated, the sums corresponding to those not celebrated must be delivered to the proper Ordinary according to the manner established by him (can. 841 § 1).

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X. GREGORIAN MASSES (Gregorian Series, Tricenarius Gregorianus)

This term, derived from the name of the institute of the pious practice (St. Gregory the Great), refers to the celebration of 30 Masses in suffrage for a soul, for 30 consecutive days.

### 1. Origin and Nature of Gregorian Masses

The first recorded instance of this practice is found in the *Dialogues* of St. Gregory (IV, ch. 55; PL 77, 420-21). As abbot of the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome, after taking measures against the monk Justus for violating his vow of poverty by hiding three gold coins, upon the monk’s death Gregory ordered his burial in unconsecrated ground. He then commanded the prior, Praesidius, to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice “for thirty consecutive days... without omitting a single day.” On the thirtieth day, the deceased monk appeared to the brother Copiosus, a monk in the same monastery, announcing: “Until now I have suffered, but now I am well.”

The monastery of Cluny preserved this pious practice among its customs, which spread among the people with the belief that God, in His mercy, granted the benefit of freeing the soul from the pains of Purgatory for which the Masses were celebrated. The Church approved this pious custom, though condemning deviations or false interpretations. Benedict XIV (Inst. eccl., XXXIV, n. 22) prohibited the use of the term “Gregorian Masses” for 30 Masses celebrated non-consecutively, with intervals of time.

The Holy Office (17 March 1934) reproved the practice that had spread in Poland, specifically in the diocese of Przemyśl, whereby it was taught that the celebration of 44 Masses, applied for a living person, would free their soul from Purgatory after three days from death, and that this was certain by divine Revelation.

### 2. Conditions

a) The 30 Masses must be celebrated for 30 consecutive days;
b) It is not necessary that the Requiem Mass be celebrated on days permitted by the rubrics;
c) It is not required that all 30 Masses be celebrated by a single priest; several priests may celebrate them;
d) During the last three days of Holy Week, the series is not interrupted; if it continues afterward, the privilege is not lost;
e) If the series is culpably interrupted, it must be begun again, as the obligation remains;
f) If the series is interrupted without fault due to a legitimate impediment, some hold that it must be begun again; others state that if the alms are equivalent to those of manual Masses, the obligation of justice to begin the series anew and the obligation of fidelity to begin from the start remains; if the alms are greater than those of manual Masses, in the case of an inculpable interruption, the series must be begun again or the entire sum returned to the offerer, unless remitted or reduced by the same. According to a third, more common opinion, in the case of an inculpable interruption, it suffices to add the uncelebrated Masses, advising the priest to celebrate one of the Masses at a privileged altar or apply a plenary indulgence to II. In practice, to remove all doubt, it suffices to place the intention of the entire Gregorian series at the beginning, noting that if, through forgetfulness, another intention is made, the intention of the Gregorian series prevails.

It should also be noted that the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences (15 March 1884) declared it pious and approved in the Church the faithful’s trust in believing that every Mass celebrated at the altar of St. Gregory in his church on the Caelian Hill in Rome would free a soul from the pains of Purgatory.

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XI. MANUAL MASSES

These are Masses whose alms are offered, as it were, by hand, by the faithful, either for their own devotion or to fulfill perpetual obligations imposed by a testator upon their heirs (can. 826 § 1).

Similar to manual Masses are the so-called quasi-manual Masses (ad instar manualium); that is, founded Masses that cannot be applied in the place assigned or by those who are to apply them according to the foundation tables, and which, therefore, by right or by indult of the Holy See, may be transferred to other priests for celebration (can. 826 § 2).

Regarding manual or quasi-manual Masses, the Code of Canon Law establishes the following:
1) No one may accept obligations for Masses to be celebrated personally in a number greater than can be celebrated within the year (can. 835);
2) Without doubt, the superior of a religious house may accept as many obligations for Masses as his subjects can celebrate within the year; likewise, one may accept a greater number if they commit to having them celebrated within the year by others, even if not their subjects (cf. can. 836, 837);
3) Indeed, one may accept an even greater number if they celebrate them personally, provided the offerer knows that not all can be celebrated.

The obligation to apply the Mass according to the intention of the one who gave the alms is grave. This obligation does not cease by prescription or even by the fortuitous loss of the alms (can. 829).

It is never lawful:
1) To apply a Mass according to the intention of someone who has not yet requested it, offering the alms afterward and considering it given for a Mass already applied (can. 825, n. 1). Many except the case of applying Masses for a cause already existing at the time of application, e.g., for a deceased person for whom relatives have not yet requested the celebration of Masses.
2) To receive alms for a Mass that is owed or applied for another just title (can. 825, n. 2).
3) To receive double alms for the application of the same Mass (can. 825, n. 3).
4) To receive one alms for the mere celebration and another for the application of the same Mass, except where it is certain that one alms was offered for the celebration without the application (can. 825, n. 4). Except on Christmas Day, if one celebrates more than one Mass on the same day and applies one by reason of justice, no stipend may be received for the application of the others (can. 824 § 2).

As many Masses must be celebrated as alms were accepted, even if they are small (can. 828). Cf. the 10th proposition condemned by Alexander VII by decree of 24 Sept. 1665 (Denz.-U., 1110). If a sum of money was offered for the application of Masses without specifying the number, this must be determined according to the alms customary in the place where the offerer resided, unless there is legitimate reason to presume another intention in him (can. 830).

The Masses must be celebrated within the time fixed by the offerer, either expressly or equivalently, e.g., for the successful outcome of a business matter known to occur on a specific day. If the time is not fixed either expressly or equivalently, nor expressly left to the priest's discretion, the Masses must be celebrated within a short period, depending on the greater or lesser number of Masses. In this regard, the following formula may be used in the calculation: \(X - N + (N: 2) = 30\); that is, \(X = \text{useful time for the celebration of the Masses}\); \(N = \text{number of Masses}\). Therefore, if the Masses to be celebrated are 40, the formula is expressed as: \(X = 40 + 20 = 30 - 90\). Thus, 40 Masses can be celebrated in 90 days. Finally, if the offerer expressly left the determination of the time of celebration to the priest, the latter may celebrate them whenever he wishes, provided they are celebrated within the year, counted from the day of the undertaking (can. 834). They must be celebrated by 31 December of each year (can. 841 § 2). Apart from the time, the celebrating priest must also observe the circumstances of the celebration that the offerer, in delivering or promising the alms, has expressly declared and the priest has tacitly accepted (can. 833). For the legal relationship between the offerer and the priest, V. ELEMOSINA, III.

Summary:

I. Fundamental Elements

II. The Roman Mass in the 1st–4th Centuries

III. The African Latin Mass in the 3rd–5th Centuries

IV. The Roman Mass in the 4th and 5th Centuries

V. In the 6th and 7th Centuries

VI. From the 7th to the 12th Century

VII. From the 12th to the 15th Century

VIII. From the Reform of Pius V to Our Times

IX. The Mass Outside Rome: AMBROSIAN, MOZARABIC, CELTIC, GALLICAN

X. Nomenclature, Classifications, and Divisions of the Mass.

I. FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS

The Mass derives its origin from the institution of the Lord, made at the Last Supper, according to which the fundamental rites are three: 1) the Offering of bread and wine; 2) the Consecration, preceded by a prayer of thanksgiving; 3) Communion.

In the earliest times these rites were performed successively, first those of the bread, then those of the wine, then the Consecration and Communion of the Eucharistic bread, followed at a distance by that of the chalice. Following the example of Christ, the prayer of thanksgiving and the Consecration were also first performed over the bread, and then over the wine; between the two, a meal was taken, as appears from St. Paul (1 Cor 10:16; 11:23–25). When, however, the common meal was separated from the Eucharistic celebration, the two prayers of thanksgiving were united into one, with the double consecration followed by double Communion.

The distinction made by H. Lietzmann between the Jerusalemite type and the Pauline type, according to which the former is a simple meal (“breaking of bread”) imitating friendly meals (chaburoth, from chaburah, chaber = friend) and the latter, with the use of wine, commemorates the Last Supper, the Passion, and the Death of the Lord, is unfounded. Both the Gospels and St. Paul refer the consecration of both species to the Last Supper and either presuppose (Mt and Mk) or prescribe (Lk and Paul) their renewal.

The prayer of thanksgiving, not yet fixed in writing, was freely composed by the celebrant following the formulas used by the Jew in the thanksgiving after the meal; but to the type of Jewish ecologies (celebrating God’s benefits in the creation of the world and in the history of the Jewish people) was added a Christological type of thanksgiving for the redemption accomplished by Christ (cf. the prayers of the Didache). The consecration recalled the account of the Eucharistic institution, and the actions of the celebrant imitated those of Christ. The formulas found in all ancient liturgies appear almost independent of biblical relations, which means that they go back to a usage already existing when the Gospels were written, and before the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Later, according to the laws of symmetry (in actions and words) and biblical influence, they varied and theological reflections were added to them. In Mt and Mk the mandate of renewal is not found, but it is presupposed, because the narrative itself shows the influence of liturgical usage, given the symmetrical arrangement of Christ’s actions. In conformity with the Lord’s admonition, an anamnesis or commemoration of the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ followed.

Besides this Eucharistic action, the worship of the early Christians included preaching, readings, and other prayers and hymns, purely didactic parts. This has been explained by imitating the synagogue custom of reading the sacred books (Law and Prophets) on the Sabbath; a custom that would have continued even when participation in the Temple sacrifices was entirely replaced by the Eucharist (Duchesne). But this theory of a double cult—Eucharistic and non-Eucharistic or synagogal—does not seem acceptable. All Christian worship is one. According to the example of St. Paul, at Troas the Eucharistic Supper was preceded by preaching (Acts 20:7–11); in the Apostolic Letters the reading in assemblies is presupposed (Col 4:16; 2 Pt 3:16); St. Paul (1 Tim 2:1–3) refers to “supplications, prayers, petitions, thanksgivings for all men,” elements that later recur in the prayer of the faithful. Hymns are also mentioned in the letters of St. Paul, and especially in the Apocalypse. The distinction between Eucharistic worship and merely didactic worship therefore has no foundation. The didactic Mass, as described by Justin Martyr, is not the result of an evolution, but is already found in germ in apostolic times.

II. THE ROMAN MASS IN THE 1ST–4TH CENTURIES

The earliest traces of the Roman liturgy are found in the first letter of Pope Clement to the Corinthians, of 96 AD (40:1–3; 41:1–4; 44:4–5), where he speaks of a sacrificial rite, performed by bishops and priests (“offering the gifts”) and cites some texts of the Mass, not as a reproduction of a fixed formula but as a fine example of that improvised prayer.

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**FAMOLAR-QUEMURAR**

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(from E. A. Lowe, The Bobbio Missal, London 1920)

**MESSIA** — Beginning of the Canon in the Bobbio Missal (8th century). Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, ms. lat. 13246, f. 11v.

Proper to the Eucharistic assembly (Duchesne) or didactic (Baumstark), i.e.: a) of the oratio fidelium (59–60); b) of the Eucharistic prayer (in two parts: 20:1–12; 33:2–6 and 59:2–3); c) of the Trisagion (34:5–7); d) of the solemn conclusion of the Eucharistic prayer with the people’s response Amen (20:12 and 61:3). The words of institution and consecration are not recited, but instead a different kind of litanic prayer is used (59:4).

Fifty years later (in the year 150), in his *Apologia* (chapters 65, 66, 67) addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius in defense of the Christians, and in the *Dialogue with Trypho* (chapters 41, 70, 117), St. Justin provides the first description of the Roman Mass, in which he distinguishes two parts: the instructional part and the sacrificial part. In the first, the sacred Scriptures of the Apostles and prophets were read “as long as there is time” (*Apologia*, 67, 3); this was followed by the bishop’s homily (67, 4). The dismissal of the catechumens is implied, since only the baptized were present for the subsequent prayer. The prayer of the faithful, offered on behalf of all classes of people (65, 1; 67, 5), concluded with the kiss of peace (65, 2). The sacrificial part began with the offering of bread and wine made by the bishop (65, 3; 67, 3), followed by the Eucharistic prayer or anaphora, recited by the bishop “giving praise and glory to the Father in the name of the Son and the Holy Spirit” (65, 3); the *Sanctus* had not yet been inserted as a congregational chant.

Ignus dei q toti prata midi doma nobis parco minime iju spie q disiti appitoi tuis parre mea do vobis parre relinquo vob ne repirias prata mea teo fido etelie tuereap fdom vobitari tuia parfirare rufodire et roaduari dignare Dui viuis regnas cum do parte in unitate plus fandi duis. Per otiia ferula ferulo amen so aebri t erelie dii alter virulum paris et caritatis ut apri liris farofadis my terpes spi o ne iju spie fili dei vuiq e vobitare patris rogare fpu fado p mort reu midi viuifati libera me p per fare corpus i faguiem tuui ab otiibus iniquitatis meis vimurris malis et far me tuis fep obdure ma ditis Et a re nufo impetui ferariis

(from A. Ruppel, J. Gutenberg, Leipzig 1917, p. 159)

Mass – Prayers before Communion in the *Missale Abboriatum*, printed by J. Gutenberg (c. 1457) – Benedictine Abbey of St. Paul in Carinthia.

The central part is the memorial of the Lord’s Passion, with the recitation of the institution narrative and the consecration (66, 2–3; *Dial.*, 41), which in Justin is also accompanied by the epiclesis, an invocation of the Logos upon the elements to be consecrated. The people conclude by saying: Amen (65, 5; 67, 5). He then alludes to the fraction of the Eucharistic bread at Holy Communion, which was distributed under both kinds, and to the fact that the absent were served by deacons (65, 5; 67, 5).

A third witness is St. Hippolytus, in his *Apostolic Tradition* (c. 218 or 220), which provides the most complete and detailed description of the Mass, since it also contains a text of the Eucharistic Prayer presented as a model. Hippolytus does not treat the instructional part of the Mass, which could be omitted on certain occasions, such as at Baptism, the consecration of bishops, and similar rites, but he assumes it, since he had already discussed the office of the reader and described his ordination. The *oratio fidelium* and the kiss of peace followed. This entire instructional part was conducted as in the time of St. Justin. The second part is also described as in St. Justin, but with some particulars: at the Offertory, the faithful brought their offerings to the altar. In Hippolytus we find the first example of an anaphora; in particular, the *Dominus vobiscum*, *Sursum corda*, *Gratias agamus*. The anaphora, which was still left to the inspiration of the celebrant, consists of: a) a thanksgiving in a Christological sense (lacking the theological element and even the Trisagion); b) the narrative of the institution (the text of the consecration is quite archaic and simple); c) the anamnesis; d) the epiclesis. This is followed by the fraction of the bread (as in St. Justin, without the *Pater noster*) and Holy Communion under both kinds. There is no dismissal or special prayer of thanksgiving, and it concludes: *festinet unusquisque operam bonam facere*. The Mass is said in the Greek language. The deacons are assisted by subdeacons, mentioned here for the first time.

III. THE AFRICAN LATIN MASS IN THE 3RD–5TH CENTURIES

While in Rome the liturgy was still celebrated in Greek, the African Church from its earliest days used the Latin language, as attested by Tertullian (197–222) and St. Cyprian (249–58). In the instructional part, readings from Holy Scripture are found (Cyprian, *Ep.*, 38, 2; 39, 4–5), interspersed with psalmody (Tertullian, *Ad ux.*, 2, 9); after the Gospel, the homily customarily took place (Cyprian, *De mortal.*, 1); then followed the dismissal of the catechumens and penitents. At the prayer of the faithful, the names of those who offered oblations were read from the diptychs (v.). It ended with the kiss of peace, omitted only on Good Friday (Tertullian, *De orat.*, 18; *Ad ux.*, 2, 4). The faithful brought bread and wine for the sacrifice. A little water was added to the wine in the chalice (Cyprian, *Ep.*, 63, 13). The Eucharistic Prayer began with the verses *Sursum... Habemus...*, known as the Preface (Cyprian, *De orat.*, 31). St. Cyprian (*Ep.*, 63, 9, 10, 17) records the words of institution, the consecration, and the commemoration of the Passion. This was followed by the fraction of the consecrated bread and the *Pater noster*, here mentioned for the first time by Cyprian (*De orat.*, 2) and Tertullian (*De orat.*, 3–4). Holy Communion under the species of bread was distributed by the celebrant and placed in the hands of the faithful; the chalice was presented by the deacons. The Eucharist was also taken by the faithful to their homes and kept in a special casket.

These details are further supplemented by the writings of St. Augustine (d. 430). They include: a solemn entrance of the bishop (without chant); his greeting *Pax vobis* (not followed by any prayer); immediately after the triple reading from the Old Testament, the Acts or Apostolic Letters, and the Gospel, interspersed with psalmody; the dismissal of the catechumens, usually followed by the prayer of the faithful (with the diptychs); but the kiss of peace comes after the *Pater noster*. In Augustine’s time, a chant was introduced at the Offertory (*Retract.*, 2, 37), and he cites the acclamation *Dignum et iustum est*. Another novelty: after the fraction of the consecrated bread and the recitation of the *Pater noster*, the kiss of peace is followed by a blessing of the people before Communion (*Ep.*, 149, 2, 16; *Serm.*, fragm. 3 *contra Pelag.*). As at the Offertory, so at Communion a psalm is sung (Psalm 33). The Eucharist is given with the formula: *Accipite et edite corpus Christi... Accipite et potate sanguinem Christi* or more briefly: *Corpus Christi – Sanguis Christi*, to which the faithful respond: Amen (*Serm. ined.*, 3, 3; PL 46, 827; *Serm.*, 272; PL 38, 1274). It concludes with a thanksgiving (*gratiarum actio cuncta concludit*, *Ep.*, 149, 2, 16), the details and text of which are unknown.

IV. THE ROMAN MASS IN THE 4TH AND 5TH CENTURIES

At the time of Hippolytus the Roman Mass was still celebrated in Greek. But soon the Latin language prevailed. Marius Victorinus still cites, in 360, a passage from a Greek-Roman offertory prayer. Between 374 and 384 the author of the Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti (109, 20) refers to the use of Latin in worship. However, even earlier, the sacred reading in Greek was followed by a translation into Latin. Progress was made with the translation of the Eucharistic prayer (Canon) as well. At the same time, some changes were introduced into the text of the Canon itself. Beginning with the Preface, interrupted by the Sanctus, the Canon continued with the *Te igitur*, to which were added the *Quam oblationem* and *Qui pridie*.

Before Innocent I (401–17), the intercessory prayers of the *Memento* were introduced, with the reading of names (the diptychs); during the 5th century, other prayers were added: *Communicantes*, *Hanc igitur* (only in special Masses), *Nobis quoque*, prayers which already belong to the most ancient form of our Canon, perhaps dating from the time of Gelasius I (492–96). The entire Canon shows the same style in every part (parallelism of members, a certain predilection for the number three, a tendency toward richness of expression through the use of odd numbers (cf. A. Baumstark, *Antik-römischer Gebetstil im Messkanton*, in Miscellanea Mohlberg, I, Rome 1948, pp. 300–31). The most ancient form of the Latin Canon is found in the opusculum attributed to St. Ambrose, *De sacramentis* (I. IV, cap. 5). It is unclear whether Milan took the Canon from Rome or vice versa, but the Latin Canon was developed in Rome.

With the translation and the establishment of a fixed Canon, the other prayers of the celebrant were also stabilized. While the Canon no longer varied, the Preface varied according to the liturgical season, which from this time began to influence the prayers and readings of the Mass. The structure of the Mass received other additions: before the readings, an oration was recited; after the Offertory came the *Super oblata*, preceding the Canon; the Communion ended with the *Postcommunio*. At the beginning, and until Gregory I, a second oration was added to the first, the exact placement of which is still uncertain: it was either the oration after the reading of the Gospel (*post Evangelium*) or the one before the Offertory, similar to the Milanese oration *Super sindonem*. Moreover, a second oration, called *Super populum*, was added to the *Postcommunio*, which was recited before the dismissal.

From the 4th and 5th centuries, the arrangement of the orations in the Mass was as follows: two collects, before and after the readings; an oration *Super oblata*; the Preface with the Canon, the *Postcommunio*, and the oration *Super populum* (Leonine and Gelasian schema = 3-VD = Preface and Canon) — 2). St. Gregory shortened and abolished the second collect or oration of the readings and reserved the *Super populum* only for the days of Lent (Gregorian schema: 2-VD-1). The celebrant could formulate prayers, but well-crafted formulas were collected in a book kept in the archive.

Another innovation: until the time of Felix II (III) (483–92), the intercessory prayers were recited after the readings, i.e., before the Mass of the faithful; but from this time onward, the *Oratio fidelium* disappeared, and an introductory part in the form of a litany appeared before the reading: the *Kyrie* followed by the collect oration. This innovation likely occurred under Gelasius I (492–96), Felix’s successor. From this time, intercessory prayers also appear in the Canon: *Memento*, *Communicantes*, *Nobis quoque*. Perhaps there is a connection between these two innovations, and Gelasius is credited with the abolition of the *Oratio fidelium*, the introduction of the *Kyrie* and the orations before and after the readings, as well as the intercessory prayers in the Canon. At this time, the first collections of liturgical books appear (v.).

The rite of the Mass at the end of the 5th century thus unfolded as follows: it began with the litany of the *Kyrie*, followed by orations (preceded by the celebrant’s greeting), one before the reading and one after; between the readings, the Gradual and Alleluia were sung. There were still, before the Gospel, two lessons from the Old and New Testaments (the Apostle), followed by the Gospel; after which came the second oration (*post Evangelium*), later abolished; the *Dominus vobiscum* with *Oremus* remained. After the Gospel or the homily, the faithful brought their offerings to the altar; the *Oratio fidelium* was no longer recited (replaced by the *Kyrie*). At the end of the offerings, the celebrant recited the oration *Super oblata* (still aloud); there was no singing during the offerings.

The following order then ensued: the Canon, the fraction of the Host, the *Pater noster*, and the kiss of peace. The latter, which had been given at the end of the *Oratio fidelium*, was moved after the suppression of that prayer. At the end of Communion, the *Postcommunio* and the oration *Super populum* were said. The dismissal was announced with *Ite, missa est*.

V. IN THE 6TH AND 7TH CENTURIES

The Mass assumed great solemnity from the presence of the pope. At his entrance, the *Introit* was sung, an antiphonal chant, perhaps already introduced at the time of Celestine I in 431. Another chant was performed at the Offertory, i.e., during the offerings of the faithful, and similarly at the Communion of the people; all these chants were executed by the *Schola cantorum*, which also performed the Gradual before the solo chant. The chant of the *Gloria in excelsis* was transferred from the morning Office to the Mass, first at Christmas, then also on other feasts, but it was reserved to the pope.

In this century, some changes were made in the rite or in the orations, attributed to St. Gregory I. The daily acclamations of the *Kyrie* were shortened; the *Gloria in excelsis* was added

From the 8th to the 12th century. — The Roman liturgy began to spread also to the Italic regions starting from the 5th–6th centuries. Indeed, for Spain, Bishop Profuturus desired the Roman Canon (in 538), and the Synod of Braga in canon 4 (in 563) ordered the assimilation of the Spanish liturgy to the Roman. In England, with the mission of Augustine ordered by Gregory I, the Roman liturgy was also introduced. In Gaul, the reform instituted by Pippin and continued by Charlemagne, with the aim of replacing the Gallican Mass with the Roman, over the years also influenced the rite and orations of the Roman Mass itself.

In the regions of the Gallican Mass, there was a predilection for performing rites in a more dramatic form: they thus increased in number and grandeur. Incensation, used in the Roman Mass only at the entrance of the pope, was also practiced at the beginning of the Offertory: the altar was incensed from all four sides, and the oblations were also incensed. Incensation of the altar was also added immediately after the entrance, before the *Gloria* or the *Dominus vobiscum* (*Pax vobis*). Incense was carried in procession for the announcement of the Gospel, as a triumph of the Lord Himself; the book was incensed, as well as the celebrant, the acolytes, and the people. Incensing the people was reserved only after the incensation of the oblations to indicate that, with the offerings, the offerers were included in the Sacrifice. Before the announcement of the Gospel, the deacon greeted the people, as did the celebrant, and at the announcement the people responded with *Gloria tibi, Domine*. The rite of *Orate, fratres* was introduced before the beginning of the Canon.

The orations also increased. To the single oration of the feast, others were added, but not exceeding the number of seven. As in the Gallican rite (cf. the African rite of the time of Augustine), solemn blessings of the pope were not given after the *Pater noster* before Holy Communion.

In Gaul, the first signs of the Cross in the Canon are encountered. The ancient rite of blessing was the imposition of hands; in Gaul, however, the sign of the Cross was used, which is found in seven points of the Canon: a) in the *Te igitur*, at the words *haec dona, haec munera, haec sancta sacrificia*; these are the first and oldest signs (already in the Old Gelasian of the 8th century [Vatican codex 316]), and a sign is also added before, at *benedicas*; then from the 8th–9th centuries come: b) in the *Quam oblationem* (five signs, as today); c) in the *Qui pridie* and *Simili modo* (narrative of the institution); d) in the *Unde et memores*; e) in the *Supplices*; f) in the *Per quem* (these six groups are found in the oldest manuscripts of the 8th–9th centuries, and they are mentioned in the Ordo Romanum II, 10). By the end of the 10th century, they appear in group d) from the *Per ipsum* to the *Pax Domini* for the insertion of the particles.

These signs of the Cross are made for four purposes: a) to reinforce the idea of blessing or sanctification, b) to emphasize sacred words, c) for an ancient rhetorical gesture of indication, d) for a gesture of oblation. There is a certain preference for odd numbers (3 or 5).

From France, beginning in the 9th century, various tropes and verses were inscribed into the melodies of the Ordinary and into the texts of the Mass: a) in the Ordinary of the *Kyrie*, *Gloria*, *Sanctus*, *Agnus Dei*, *Ite* (never in the *Credo*), b) in the Proper of the Mass for time and saints, i.e., in the *Introit*, *Gradual*, *Offertory*, *Communion*; sometimes also in the Epistle, rarely in the Gospel. Similarly, the so-called sequences were sung at the *Alleluia*. All these chants flourished until the 13th century, but only five sequences were preserved in use: for Easter (*Victimae*), Pentecost (*Veni*), Corpus Christi (*Lauda Sion*), the Sorrows of the Virgin (*Stabat*), and the Dead (*Dies irae*).

In addition to this, the celebrant recited privately prayers called *Apologies*; for the preparation for the Sacrifice, in assuming the sacred vestments, during the singing of the *Gradual*, the celebrant recites with the deacon a prayer for the announcement of the Gospel; as the offering of the faithful diminished, the rites and prayers of the preparation of the elements increased: special prayers for the offering of the bread, the chalice, etc. Thus the new rite of the Offertory was formed. The celebrant prepared himself with special prayers for Holy Communion. Typical of these apologies is the consciousness of one’s own guilt. While the ancient Church prepared with hands open and raised, as is still done today in the prayers of the Mass and in the Canon, the apologies were recited with hands joined (a gesture derived from the homage of the vassal who placed his joined hands in those of the lord).

In the 8th–11th centuries, these four parts of the Mass were formed: 1) for the entrance: the preparatory prayers of vesting, special prayers at the approach to the altar (*Indica* and *Confiteor*); 2) for the Offertory: the prayers for the offering of the bread and chalice; the use of the *Lavabo* after the incensation began; 3) for Communion: the singing of the *Agnus Dei* extended until Communion, because there was no breaking of the Hosts. During this singing, the celebrant recited special prayers for his preparation. Also, the rite of the ablution of the chalice began in these centuries; 4) finally, after the *Ite, missa est*, a blessing was added (before the *Placeat*); in the sacristy, special prayers were recited at the removal of the priestly vestments.

Other changes that developed in these centuries: the prayer *Super oblata* began to be recited silently, in a low voice, from the middle of the 8th century. The word *Secreta* appears for the first time in the *Capitulare Ecclesiae* ordained by the Archimandrite John and comes from Gallican usage. The Canon was no longer recited aloud. The moment of the sacrifice was surrounded by solemn silence: *Quae dum* (*the Sanctus*) *explorant, surgit solus pontifex et tacite intrat in canonem* (Ordo Romanum II, 10: PL 78, 974a). The celebrant himself began this act with a sacred trembling; hence the new rite of the *Orate*, dominating the Mass. The first to mention it is Odo of Sully, bishop of Paris (1196–1208). Compared with the minor elevation at the end of the Canon (*Honor et gloria*), which is older because it contains the gesture not of showing to the people but of offering the gifts to God, the new rite is called the "greater" Elevation. The desire to see the Host became one of the most characteristic devotions of the 13th–15th centuries; sometimes the entire Mass for the faithful consisted in seeing the Host ("ocular Communion"). The elevation of the chalice, after the consecration of the wine, was not done at the same time, but was introduced by symmetrical analogy; Durandus in the *Rationale* gives the first certain account of it; practiced in the Papal Chapel in the 14th century, it was made obligatory by the Missal of Pius V (1570).

This greater Elevation led to the use of genuflections in the Canon, which were also imposed only by the Pian Missal. Previously, the celebrant and ministers made profound bows. The same may be said of the incensation of the Eucharistic species, introduced around the middle of the 12th century. In the 13th century (Durandus), the last Gospel of St. John was added.

The Roman Ordo, that is, of the Papal Chapel, diffused by the Franciscans, was the final stage in the evolution of the Ordinary of the Roman Mass.

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VIII. FROM THE REFORM OF PIUS V TO OUR OWN TIMES

The diffusion of the Ordinary of the Papal Chapel did not yet represent the unification of rites, which was the goal. Particular rites remained, both of dioceses and of major Orders; abuses also unfortunately persisted. To put an end to a near liturgical anarchy, the Council of Trent established a special commission; but the task was then left to the pope: Pius V, on 14 July 1570, by publishing the new Missal, decreed that the texts and rites of the Roman Mass should be observed throughout the Church of the West, except for those Churches which had possessed their own rite for at least 200 years. Further revisions were made under Clement VIII (1604), Urban VIII (1634), and finally under Pius X. List of additions to the Mass over the centuries. *Ps. Judica*, 11th–12th centuries; *Aufer a nobis* (Roman style) and *Oramus te* (Gallican style), 12th–13th centuries. Incensation of the altar at the *Introit*, 9th–13th centuries; more than one prayer, from the 11th century. Sequences: *Victimae* (11th century), *Veni sancte* (11th century), *Dies irae* (13th century), *Lauda Sion* (13th century), *Stabat* (14th century); accepted in Rome in the 18th century. *Munda cor meum*, 11th century. *Sequentia sancti Evangelii*, 9th century (in Gaul). *Gloria tibi Domine*—*Dominus vobiscum*, 13th century. *Per evangelica dicta*: after 1570 (in Rome). Incensation of the oblations, 11th century. *Per intercessionem*, *Incensum istud*, *Accendat*, 13th century. *Ps. Lavabo* (the gesture already in the 7th century), 11th century. The *Orate fratres* and the *Suscipiat* (as a response) added after 1200. Elevation of the Host, around 1200. Elevation of the chalice, 14th century. Genuflections instead of bows, toward the end of the 14th century. *Hæc coniunxisti*, 11th–13th centuries. *Confiteor*, *Agnus Dei*, *Domine non sum dignus* (for the Communion of the faithful), 13th century. Communion of the faithful under a single species of bread, 14th century. Purification with wine and water, 14th century. Blessing of the people, first a privilege of the bishop from the 7th–13th centuries (in Gaul), began to be imparted also by priests. The *Placeat*, an 11th-century prayer recited after Mass, was introduced by the Pian Missal of 1570. Kiss of the Altar, *Benedictus vos*, last Gospel, all from the Pian Missal of 1570. The prayers at the foot of the altar were added by Leo XIII.

IX. THE MASS OUTSIDE ROME: AMBROSIAN, MOZARABIC, CELTIC, GALLICAN

Besides the Roman-Latin rite and the African-Latin rite, there existed four other great Latin liturgical families: the Ambrosian (the most ancient Roman or archaic Roman rite), the Mozarabic (a native national liturgy), these two rites still in use; the Celtic (a varied complex of liturgical usages) and the properly Gallican. While the Ambrosian Mass is more of a Roman type, the other three form an almost common family, despite the particularities of each.

26. — ENCYCLOPEDIA CATHOLICA. — VIII.
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**MASS**

**MASS — Procession of the Ambrosian Pontifical Mass. Milan, Duomo.**

It is therefore sufficient to describe the rite of the Mass properly Gallican as a general type.

In it three well-distinguished parts are to be noted: introductory, didactic, and sacrificial (= Mass of the faithful). The offerings of the faithful (bread, wine, and other things) are brought to the sacristy before Mass. Here the oblations for the Mass are also prepared in advance and placed in a vessel to be carried to the altar after the litany of the faithful; the offerings not necessary for the Mass are placed to one side of the altar to be blessed at the end of the Canon for the use of the clergy and the poor.

1. Introductory part: at the entrance of the celebrant the "antiphon ad praelegendum" (= before the exhortation) is sung, corresponding to the Roman Introit (or the Ambrosian ingressus, in the Mozarabic liturgy called Officium). The deacon bids silence: "Silentium faciet!" and the celebrant greets the people: "Dominus sit semper vobiscum" (at Milan as at Rome "Dominus vobiscum" or "Pax vobis"). Three chants follow: a) of the "Aius" in Greek and Latin (Trisagion), already introduced before the Council of Vaison (529), which ordered it to be sung at every Mass (in the Roman Mass it is used on Good Friday: "agios o Theos"); b) the Kyrie, sung in unison by three boys, only three times; c) the "Prophetia," that is, the "Benedictus" (Lk. 1:68-79), sung by two choirs. This is followed by the "Collectio post prophetiam," composed of a Praefatio (address to the faithful) and the Collect. In place of the Trisagion, in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic liturgies, the "Gloria in excelsis" is said (Roman influence).

2. The didactic part follows: three readings, the first from the Old Testament, the second from the Apostolic Epistles (after Easter the Acts or the Apocalypse are also read; on the feasts of saints their lives are read). After these two lessons the hymn of the three children in the furnace is sung (Dan. 3:51), followed by a gradual responsory. With the repetition of the Trisagion, in a procession with seven candles, the book of the Gospels is carried to the ambo for the third lesson, that of the Gospel; this is followed by the bishop’s homily. This practice was observed in Gaul more than at Rome, for in the absence of the bishop priests also preached, or deacons read some passage from the Fathers, a custom extended even to rural parishes, from the Council of Vaison (529). The Mass of the faithful begins with a litanic prayer intoned by the deacon, to which the people respond. In the Ambrosian liturgy a trace of this prayer is preserved on the Sundays of Lent, but immediately after the entrance; and also in the triple Kyrie after the Gospel. The litany closes with the prayer called "Collecta post precem," after which the penitents and catechumens are dismissed. In the Roman liturgy the solemn prayers of Good Friday remain of this litany; now a break is noted after the "Dominus vobiscum" before the Offertory. After the prayers of the litany, in a solemn procession, the deacon carries the oblations, prepared in advance, the bread enclosed in a turret-shaped casket, the wine in a chalice covered with a precious veil, to the altar. During the procession a chant similar to the Byzantine Cherubikon is sung; this chant closes with Alleluia (called "laudes" in the Mozarabic liturgy; in the Ambrosian liturgy "Antiphonas post Evangelium"). This rite of the carrying of the oblations is to be distinguished from the offerings of the faithful, which in the Roman rite are made at the same moment. When the oblations are placed on the altar, a little water is poured into the wine; a triple Alleluia is sung ("Laudes," "Sacrificium," in the Mozarabic liturgy; "Offerenda" in the Ambrosian). The priest recites the prayer of the "veil" (so called because at this moment the oblations are covered with a large veil), composed like all the other prayers of a Praefatio and a Collect "ante nomina" (in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic liturgies preceded by a greeting), corresponding to the Roman "Secreta" or "Super oblata." The names of the bishops and of the faithful, both living and dead, are recited according to the diptychs (v.), followed by the "collectio post nomina." All give the kiss of peace, while the priest recites the "Collecta post pacem."

3. The "contestatio" ("immolatio," "illatio") follows, the Eucharistic prayer corresponding to the Roman Preface, followed by the "Sanctus." The "Post sanctus" is a brief formula of transition to connect the Preface and the Sanctus with the narrative of the institution. The text of this narrative is not known, for it is often indicated by a few words and recited from memory in a low voice (in contrast to the high voice in the Roman rite), but it was similar to the Roman, in analogy with the following prayers called "Post pridie" (and also "post secreta," from the low recitation).

After the final doxology of the "post pridie" the fraction of the Host was accompanied by the singing of the "confractorium," then the "Pater noster" was recited, in conformity with Greek usage, by the celebrant and the people; the prayer "Ante orationem Domini" was prefixed; the "post orationem dominicam," as a rule shorter than the Roman "Libera," but of identical content. The rite of the "Commixtio" follows. As a preparation for Communion, the bishop imparted a special blessing; priests used (in the Celtic and Ambrosian rites) a shorter formula: "Pax et communio" of Our Lord Jesus Christ, if they so wished.

Communion was given under both kinds of bread and wine at the altar (in Spain, for the faithful outside the choir). Men received the Host in the bare hand, women, covered by a cloth called "domenicale"; the deacon presented the Eucharistic chalice. The "Treccano" was sung, a chant composed of Psalm 33, "Gustate et videte," interspersed with Alleluia; sometimes as a variant the hymn "Sancti venite" (Antiphonale of Bangor: PL 72, 587). The Thanksgiving prayer "Post Communionem," also preceded by a praefatio, closes the Mass. The formula of dismissal, in the Gallican rite, corresponding to the "Ite, missa est," is unknown; in the Stowe Missal (Celtic rite) it is said: "Missa acta est. In pace!"

X. NOMENCLATURE, CLASSIFICATIONS, AND DIVISIONS OF THE MASS

I. The most ancient names of the Mass are "Breaking of Bread" (1 Cor. 10:16) or "Dominical Supper" (ibid. 11:20). From the 1st century the name "Eucharist" also came into use, and even the gifts themselves and the consecrated species of the Mass were called "Eucharist" (in the Didache, in St. Ignatius of Antioch, Tertullian, and St. Cyprian). In St. Cyprian and St. Augustine the term "Sacrifice" also occurs; in the writings of Egeria the word "Oblation" is found; St. Ambrose uses "Action" from "agere" = "to offer" (cf. Canon Actionis, Gelasian Sacramentary). By the Greeks, the Mass is called "Synaxis," then "Liturgy."

The Latin word *missa* certainly derives, as has been noted, from *missio* = *dimissio*, in the original sense of dismissal, still reflected in the farewell formula “Ita, missa est.” Between this original meaning and the present-day sense, four distinct meanings must be distinguished (already indicated by Eteria, *Peregrinatio ad Loca sancta*): a) the etymological sense of “dismissal”: “ut fiat missa Ecclesiae,” Eteria, ch. 25. I (about 70 times); Florus, *De expositione missae*, ch. 92; PL 119, 72; “Missa catechumenorum,” Council of Carthage IV (AD 398); “Missa catechumenorum” corresponds in modern usage to the first instructional part of the Mass; it occurs in Ivo of Chartres (d. 1116); b) the act of dismissal combined with a blessing or prayer (the rite of dismissal or the final prayer): “et sicut fit Missa” (Eteria, 24, 6); “Missam facere coepi” St Ambrose, *Ep.* 20, 4 = dismissal of the catechumens; “et missa,” “et missae sunt,” “oratione dominica fiat missae,” “et benedictione missae fiant,” St Benedict, *Reg.* ch. 17; the blessing itself is called “missa”; c) the entire liturgical action combined with a blessing or final prayer is called “missa” (Cassian, *De instit.*, II, 13, 15; III, 5, 8, 11, “missa nocturna, vigiliarum missa”; Council of Agde [AD 506], “missae matutinae, vespertinae”); d) finally, in a special way, the entire Eucharistic action is called “missa,” because it is combined with a blessing. The first text is Leo I (AD 445), *Ep.* 9, 2; from this time “missa” in the sense of the Eucharistic action is used everywhere in Italy, Gaul, and Africa; from St Gregory and others it appears in the plural form “missae” or “missarum sollemnia.”

2. According to the rite or solemnity, the Mass is solemn (pontifical, priestly); sung; private.

a) Pontifical Mass. – This is the solemn Mass celebrated by a bishop or a priest having the use of pontificals, either by canon law (canons 325 and 625; abbots of the Benedictine rule, abbots *nullius*, prelates *nullius*), or by apostolic concession, according to the rite prescribed in the *Caeremoniale episcoporum* (1600). The rites of the present pontifical Mass derive from the ancient solemn papal Mass described in the *Ordines Romani* and have preserved some of its particular features. The ordinary bishop is assisted by a representation of his clergy, by the assisting priest (from the 12th century), by the deacon and subdeacon who serve, and by two assisting deacons; he has the privilege of seven candles on the altar (instead of the seven acolytes of the solemn papal Mass), greets the “sancta” on his entrance, adores the Blessed Sacrament, kisses the Gospel book at the beginning of Mass, presides from his cathedra over the liturgical assembly during the instructional part of the Mass (before the Offertory), and uses the *Lavabo* before the Offertory. The ancient use of the fraction and of Communion taken at the cathedra is reserved to the papal Mass. Formerly only the bishop, as the hierarchical head, celebrated Mass on Sundays and feast days; the other priests concelebrated with him (v. CONCELEBRATION). In conformity with this ancient usage, even today the deacon and subdeacon receive Holy Communion in the papal Mass.

The solemn papal Mass has, moreover, these particular features: at the entrance seven acolytes with candles precede; as in the *Ordines*, at the altar the three youngest cardinal priests greet the pope with the kiss of peace; the Epistle and Gospel readings are done in Latin and Greek; at the Offertory the pre-tasting takes place, i.e., the sacristan must pre-taste two of the three Hosts and the wine; at the Elevation after the Consecration the pope elevates the sacred species toward three directions, in the middle, to the right, and to the left; after the fraction of the Host the pope goes to the cathedra and there receives Communion, reserving a part of the sacred Host and of the consecrated chalice for the deacon and subdeacon. For the Communion of the Precious Blood the pope uses a metallic tube (fistula, calamus, pugillaris).

b) Priestly Mass. – The solemn Mass celebrated by a priest with a deacon and subdeacon, with the chant of the ministers and choir, and with other solemn rites such as incense, etc., derives from the pontifical type and is an adaptation of the papal Mass of the *Ordines Romani* to occasions when a bishop was not present (v. the “Capitulare ecclesiasticorum ordinum” ed. by Silva-Tarouca). Even the *De officiis ecclesiasticis* of John of Avranches (AD 1065; PL 147, 32) grants to a simple priest many of the features of the pontifical rite (excepting the cathedra). The rite is later simplified: only a deacon and subdeacon assist, the priest greets with “Dominus vobiscum,” everything is done at the altar (Gloria, Oratio, Credo), and the *Lavabo* follows the incensing. These simplifications are already seen in a Dominican ordinal of 1256. There are also reverences to the celebrant and multiple kisses in presenting and receiving. The celebrant recites with the assisting ministers the texts that are sung by the choir.

c) Sung Mass. – From the second type, the priestly Mass, derives the Sung Mass. There was a Mass used in the presbyteral churches of Rome: the priest with a deacon or at least with a reader or acolyte. The latter read the Epistle, recited the Gradual with the response of the faithful, and performed the auxiliary services of the Mass. There were no chants of the Introit, Offertory, or Communion by the singers. The faithful responded to the greeting and at the end of the Prayers and of the Canon, and sang the Sanctus. Later, this Sung Mass developed along the lines of the pontifical Mass, i.e., it assumed the rite of the solemn entrance with the chant of the Introit, first, already in the time of Gelasius I, that of the Kyrie and the Prayer, later also of the Gloria (Credo), Agnus Dei; from the 12th century the celebrant himself recited the part of the chant. This form of the Sung Mass (celebrated by the celebrant alone) was the ordinary form in small rural parishes where there was insufficient clergy. The form of the Sung Mass was also the ordinary form in convents, known since the Middle Ages as the conventual Mass. The Carthusians even today have only one deacon to assist the celebrant and a reader who reads the Epistle; the same holds for the Cistercians in ferial rite. The conventual Mass in convents is the daily Mass, to which all members take part. The Mass, corresponding to the Office of the day, is normally celebrated after Terce on ferial days, after Sext on feast days, and after None on days of fasting.

All three of these types of Mass, celebrated on Sundays and feast days, are also called public Masses, because they are intended for the community. Today, to satisfy the Sunday obligation of the faithful, the public Mass is not always sung or solemn, but a merely read Mass suffices.

d) Private Mass. — In its original and strict sense, this was the Mass said in private homes or in the martyrs’ shrines, a practice dating back to the earliest centuries, especially during times of persecution (Tertullian, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine: *qualiter poterant et ubi poterant*). In the Middle Ages, it was celebrated in the villas of great landowners or lords. The Council of Trent forbade private Masses in private homes. From this more or less public form, there developed the *Missa privata* (or solitary Mass), celebrated by the celebrant alone with only a server. It was said as a votive Mass, especially for the dead, from the 7th century onward, to satisfy the personal piety of priests and monks and to foster the devotion of the faithful. From the 9th century onward, the presence of at least two people was prescribed. It was celebrated with the simplest rite, in a low voice (*in directum*), omitting all parts of the chant; the priest was vested at the altar. Thus, the *Missa privata* became the *Missa lecta* or low (or secret) Mass. Today, in rite or in prayers, there is no difference between the private or low Mass and the public or sung Mass. Indeed, the low Mass, as recognized in the Missal of Pius V, is almost the ordinary form, since the rubrics speak of the low Mass in order to add to it the special rites of the solemn or pontifical Mass. A more recent form is the dialogued Mass (recited), which adds nothing to the rite but intensifies the participation of the faithful; the faithful respond to the celebrant, recite with him the Gloria, Credo, and Pater; the didactic texts of the Epistle are read, in addition to the celebrant, by a lector, and sometimes those of the Gospel as well; the Sanctus is omitted. Another variety is when the people sing in the vernacular texts corresponding to the Latin of the celebrant.

3. According to the text, there are temporal, sanctoral, common, and votive Masses. Temporal Masses are those composed for the feasts of the Lord: Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and for the Sundays preceding or following Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. Another series of Masses is that of the proper of the saints; that is, the Masses of saints who have their own oration and readings. This is followed by the common of the saints, that is, the Masses for groups of saints who do not have a proper formulary (Apostles, Supreme Pontiffs, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and non-Virgins). A Mass is called votive when it is celebrated not according to the Office of the day or the feast, but for a vow or for weddings, illness, calamities, or similar private or public circumstances, or to honor a saint outside the day of his feast.

In the Roman rite, the *Missa praesanctificatorum* is used only on Good Friday; that is, with pre-consecrated species, lacking the Offertory and the Consecration, it is reduced to a solemn rite of Communion with the sacred species consecrated on Holy Thursday, preceded by readings, prayers, and the veneration of the Cross. Having come from Gaul, it was in use in Rome by the 9th century. In the Greek liturgy, it was in use before every day of Lent, except Sundays, then twice in the weeks of Lent, and on the first three days of Holy Week.

Today, a priest may say only one Mass a day; only on Christmas Day and, since Benedict XV, on All Souls’ Day is a priest permitted to say three Masses. At the beginning of the 5th century, the private and daily celebration of the Sacrifice by the same priest had reached such a multiplicity that some were permitted to say three, four, or more (Leo II) “one day he often celebrated seven or nine solemn Masses” (*Walafrido Strabone, De exord., cap. 21*). Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) forbade the saying of multiple Masses outside of Christmas “unless for a necessity.” This necessity arises when, on Sundays or feast days of precept, a considerable part of the faithful would otherwise be deprived of Holy Mass.

4. For historical remembrance, mention must be made of the so-called bifacial or trifacial Mass of the 13th century. Especially in France, a certain formulary was read up to the Offertory, then a second (and sometimes a third) formulary was begun, after which the Mass continued normally. Different is the *Missa sicca*, practiced from the 9th century (Pontifical of Prudenzio) until the time of Durandus (d. 1296). It was a Mass without Consecration or Communion, while the ceremonies were performed both by the celebrant and by two ministers; in Rome it was in use until the time of Burkhard of Strasburg (d. 1506). Durandus distinguishes two kinds: a) a lesser one, composed of the Epistle, the Gospel, the Pater noster, and the Blessing (the priest wore only the stole); b) a greater one, in which all the texts were recited except the lesser Offertory canon and the greater “Te igitur”; that is, the Preface, Pater noster, Agnus Dei, etc., were sung (without Communion); the celebrant and the ministers wore sacred vestments. Perhaps the present blessing of palms was modeled on a *Missa sicca*.

IV. THE MASS IN THE LITURGY OF THE EASTERN RITE

CONTENTS:

I. General Notices

II. The Byzantine Liturgy

III. The Badarak of the Armenians

IV. The Qurbānā of the Syrians

V. The Qurbānā of the Maronites

VI. The Qāḏāšā of the Chaldeans

VII. The Qāḏāšā of the Malabarians

VIII. The Aghiasmos of the Copts

IX. The Qāḏāšā of the Ethiopians.

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

By the Greeks and those who follow the Byzantine rite, the Mass is called the “holy and divine liturgy,” thus emphasizing the concept of a sacred public function; the Armenians say *baradak*, the Syrians and Maronites *qurbānā*, that is, oblation, sacrifice, the Chaldeans *qādāšā*, meaning by this word the sanctification, the consecration; the same may be said of the Coptic word *haghiasmos* and of the Ethiopian *qādāšē*.

In many Catholic churches of the Eastern rite, the use of the so-called private or read Mass has been introduced; others, however, seek to remove from the celebration of the simple rite as little as possible of that solemnity which gives it its public character. Although a “simple liturgy,” as the Greeks call it, is not unknown to the dissidents, they, faithful to the ancient principle of a Mass on an altar on a feast day, generally celebrate the Mass with pomp: deacon, reader, choir, people, all from their side collaborate in the solemn function with the priest or with the concelebrating priests. Understanding the obligation of Sunday and feast-day Mass in a way different from that established in the West, they are content with a single synaxis on these days, since they do not understand that multiplication of liturgies among Catholic Orientals and they are amazed at the shortenings which these practice and at the haste with which they celebrate. Among the dissident Syrians the Sunday Mass lasts two and a half hours, among the Copts more than three hours, and, as can be observed, the faithful remain present until the end.

In the present Mass of the Orientals, one can find the division into the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful, or rather into an instructional and exhortatory part and the

eucharistic part. In the eucharistic part, the liturgical actions can be grouped around the three principal acts: the Offertory, the Consecration, and Communion. However, in all the Eastern rites, the Offertory, or preparation of the bread and wine, has come to be placed before the Mass of the Catechumens and has been joined, often increasing its rites, to the preparatory prayers which already preceded the exhortatory part of the Mass. For the sake of clarity in exposition, the Eastern Mass is divided into six parts: 1) preparatory rites; 2) liturgy of the catechumens; 3) transfer of the gifts, symbol of faith and kiss of peace; 4) anaphora with the Consecration; 5) Lord’s Prayer, fraction and Elevation; 6) Communion and thanksgiving. In this division, the more ancient parts (2, 4, and 6) remain well distinguished from secondary creations, less essential and often more complicated.

Here the ordinary Mass is described, that is, the sung Mass, with the assistance of the deacon and the choir, not the pontifical Mass which introduces certain particular rites.

**II. THE “LITURGY” OF THE BYZANTINES.** – 1. The priest with the deacon, vested in the **phelonion**, bow before the iconostasis (v.), recite in a low voice some prayers, kiss the image of the Saviour and that of the Mother of God; then the priest, with arms outstretched, says a prayer for himself. Having entered the sanctuary, they kiss the altar, put on the liturgical vestments, and wash their hands. At the altar of the prothesis, the priest first prepares the principal offering, extracting from the bread the central part called

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the Lamb, with the inscription

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and the chalice, pouring into it wine and water, then the secondary offerings; for this purpose he places on the diskos around the Lamb particles of bread

**Courtesy of Fr. W. De Vries**
**Mass – Byzantine Rite. Preparation of the bread and wine.**

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**Het Christelijke Oosten, IX, Heemstede 1911, pl. 10**
**Mass – Byzantine Rite. Blessing of the bishop with the dikirion and the trikirion.**

in honour of the Mother of God, nine others in honour of nine categories of saints, others for the living, for the dead, and for himself. The remaining bread is cut into pieces which, blessed after the Consecration, will be distributed at the end of the liturgy as **antidoron**. After covering and incensing the offerings, the priest recites the prayer of the prothesis: “O God, our God, who didst send the heavenly bread, food of the whole world, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, Saviour, Redeemer, and Benefactor, who blessest and sanctifiest us: do thou thyself bless this prothesis and accept it on thy supercelestial altar...” The deacon incenses the altar, the sacred vessels, and the whole church to purify the place of sacrifice. Then the veil of the central door is drawn aside; the priest and deacons are seen kissing the altar, the deacon leaves the sanctuary and goes before the door, near the people, whose prayer he will lead; but first he says to the priest: “Bless, master,” and the priest, elevating the Gospel which always rests on the altar, exclaims: “Blessed be the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...” The choir: **Amen**. And the deacon begins the Great Collect, followed by the Office, connected, of three stichera psalms; each psalm is accompanied by a litany and a priestly prayer. These three ancient Byzantine prayers are most beautiful in their conciseness.

2. The ancient beginning of the Mass is found in the rite of the entrance with the Gospel, called the lesser entrance. The deacon, carrying the Gospel and followed by the priest, comes out of the sanctuary, stops before the royal doors, and after presenting the Gospel to the priest to kiss, he elevates it saying: “Wisdom! Stand upright!” And as they enter the sanctuary, the choir sings: “Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ...” This is followed by the singing of the troparia of the feast and of the mystery of the day and that of the Trisagion: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” When the hymn is finished, a reader stands in the middle of the nave, recites the verses of the **prokeimenon**, and reads the Epistle of the day. When this is finished, the deacon incenses the sanctuary and the people, the choir sings the Alleluia, and the deacon, standing at the door of the sanctuary or on the ambo, reads the Gospel. As in the ancient Church, the deacon, taking the Gospel in his hands, says: “The Lord said to his disciples: ‘Take, eat... this is my body...’” and thus with the narration of the Last Supper the words of Christ are sung to which the people respond with the Amen of their faith. And after the anamnesis, which is very brief, the deacon crosses his arms and raises the diskos and the chalice while the priest says aloud: “Thine own of thine own we offer unto thee in all and for all.” The epiclesis, with which the priest now asks the Holy Spirit to come down upon these gifts to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ, so that they may be of spiritual profit to the communicants, is done with repeated signs of the cross and bows, but secretly. This is followed by the commemoration of the Theotokos (the Madonna), in whose honour the choir sings, then that of the saints, of the dead, and that of the living, among whom the supreme pontiff is named first, and finally the deacon concludes: “And of those whom each has in mind, and of all and of all,” and the choir repeats: “and of all and of all.” A beautiful doxology of the priest brings the anaphora to an end.

5. The following is a distant preparation for Communion. After the priest’s blessing and the deacon’s litany, the Pater noster is sung or recited, followed by a prayer with bowed head. Then the deacon exclaims: “Let us be attentive,” and the priest, elevating the holy bread, says aloud: “The holy things to the holy.” The choir responds: “One alone is holy, one alone is the Lord, Jesus Christ, in the glory of God the Father.” Meanwhile, the priest breaks the holy bread into four parts and places the piece marked IC into the chalice; the deacon adds a little hot water, called *zeon*.

6. Meanwhile, the two recite the preparatory prayers for Communion and receive Communion with the consecrated bread and wine. Then the deacon, holding the chalice, goes out to the door and exclaims: “With fear of God, with faith and love, draw near.” The priest then distributes Communion with a spoon to the faithful, who receive it under both kinds. In some regions, the custom has been introduced of distributing Communion in this manner: on the *diskos* the priest keeps prepared thin, elongated pieces of consecrated bread; he takes them one by one, dips them in the wine, and gives them to the communicants. The deacon returns the *diskos* to the prothesis and the priest the chalice. A choral chant, a brief litany by the deacon, and a prayer by the priest constitute the thanksgiving. Having exited the sanctuary and standing before the image of the Savior, the priest recites the bowing prayer called *opistambona* (= behind the ambo). Then he gives the blessing and pronounces the *apolysis*. Meanwhile, the deacon has gone to the prothesis, where he consumes what remains of the sacred species.

III. THE ARMENIAN “BADARAK.”

1. While the priest, after some preparatory prayers, begins to vest in the sacristy, the choir, which takes its place in the middle of the nave, sings the hymn: “O deep mystery...,” and, when the priest with the ministers advances in procession, intones the antiphon: “O heavenly King, preserve your Church steadfast and guard in peace those who worship your name.” Having reached the foot of the altar, the priest washes his hands, invokes the Mother of God, recites the Confiteor with the Miserere, while two clerics recite Psalm 99; then he says the first part of a prayer for the Church, interrupts it to recite “Introibo ad altare Dei” and Psalm Judica, and resumes the prayer as he ascends the altar steps; then the great curtain before the sanctuary is closed. It is easy to recognize in this beginning the introduction of Latin elements. What follows, however, is taken from the Byzantine rite: the preparation of the bread and wine without the secondary offerings, the prayer of the prothesis: “O God, our God, who sent...,” fervent supplications for all needs, especially for the catechumens, who are dismissed with the deacon’s words: “All you catechumens, go out; catechumens, go out;”

the bread...,” the recitation of Psalm 92, as used in the Byzantine rite while the offerings are covered, the general incensation, the priest’s exclamation: “Blessed be the kingdom...,” and finally, during the chant of the proper hymn of the day, the recitation of the three orations that in the Byzantine rite accompany the three antiphonal psalms.

2. The procession with the Gospel begins with the deacon’s exclamation and the priest’s prayer, which are Byzantine. Here, however, the Trisagion is sung while the deacon, holding the Gospel, goes around behind the altar escorted by candles and torches, incensed by the thurifer; one of the faithful is invited to kiss the Gospel, and the priest blesses him. The Greater Collect is now recited, which is probably its ancient place. Then a reader recites the antiphon and the Epistle, and after the Alleluia the deacon sings the Gospel, while the thurifer incenses II. Immediately the deacon, still holding the Gospel, recites the Symbol of Faith, which has a text proper to the Armenians. This is followed by the ancient universal prayer in the form of a litany, and after the priest’s blessing the deacon exclaims: “Let none of the catechumens, none of the imperfect in faith, none of the penitents, and none of the impure approach the divine mystery.”

3. The Great Entrance is announced by the clerics’ chant: “The Body of the Lord and the Blood of the Redeemer are about to become present. The celestial powers sing invisibly and with unceasing voice say: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” The priest at the altar recites secretly the same long prayer that the Byzantine priest says before the Great Entrance. Meanwhile, the deacons carry the bread and chalice to the altar, where the priest accepts them, shows them to the faithful, places them on the altar, and incenses them, concluding his prayer: “For you, O Christ our God, are the offerer and the offered, the receiver and the distributor, and to you we render glory....” The chant of the entrance is called the *Agiologia* and varies with the feasts. After washing his hands, the priest recites secretly an offertory prayer while the deacon makes an exhortatory proclamation to the faithful: “With faith and holiness let us stand to pray....” Then, after a blessing by the priest, he exclaims: “Greet one another with the holy kiss, and all who are not fit to partake of the divine Sacrament, go to the doors and pray.” The chant “Christ among us...” accompanies the kiss of peace.

4. The deacon admonishes: “Let us attend with fear, let us attend with reverence, let us attend devoutly and with steadfast attention.” The priest blesses, and the deacon continues: “The doors, the doors (keep them) with all attention and caution,” and immediately adds the *Sursum corda* and the *Gratias agamus....* In his Eucharistic Prayer, recited in a low voice, the priest adores and glorifies the Father who, through the work of his Word, has removed the obstacle of the curse; “therefore let us join,” he says, raising his voice, “with the seraphim and cherubim and sing the *Sanctus*.” The silent prayer continues to develop the theme of Christ’s redemptive work, who, taking the bread in his holy and venerable hands... and thus the account of the Last Supper is narrated with the consecratory words spoken aloud, to which the people respond twice: *Amen*.

At the end of the anamnesis, the priest, lifting the offerings, says aloud: “We offer you these two of your gifts, in all and for all.” The words of the epiclesis are accompanied by signs of the cross but are said in a low voice. It is to be noted that after the Consecration the choir performs three short hymns, one to the Father, one to the Son, the third, during the epiclesis, to the Holy Spirit. This is followed by the long intercessory and commemorative prayers: the saints, the living, the dead.

5. This part begins with the priest’s blessing and the deacon’s great litany. Then the people, with arms outstretched, sing the *Pater noster*, to which the priest adds the embolismic prayer and the prayer of head-bow. Now the great Elevation takes place: all kneel, the deacon cries out, “Let us attend!” and the priest, raising the bread with reverence, says, “To the holiness of the saints,” and after the response, “Only holy, only Lord, Jesus Christ, in the glory of the Father,” he adds, “Blessed be the holy Father… The holy Son… blessed be the Holy Spirit…” And, having placed the consecrated bread down, he raises the chalice while the people sing, “Holy Father, holy Son…” Then he sets the chalice down, kisses the altar, and, taking the sacred Body, dips it entirely into the most pure Blood (at least this is what the dissenters do), and, turning to the people prostrate in adoration, he blesses them with the sacred species, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy.” The priest at the altar recites secretly the same long prayer that the Byzantine priest says before the great entrance. Meanwhile, the deacons carry the bread and chalice to the altar where the priest receives them, shows them to the faithful, places them on the altar, and incenses them, concluding his prayer: “For you, O Christ our God, are the offerer and the offered, the receiver and the distributor, and to you we render glory…” The entrance chant is called the *Agiologia* and varies with the feasts. After washing his hands, the priest recites secretly an offertory prayer while the deacon delivers an exhortation to the faithful: “With faith and holiness let us stand and pray…” And then, after a blessing by the priest, he cries out, “Greet one another with the holy kiss, and those of you who are not fit to partake of the divine Sacrament, go to the doors and pray.” The chant, “Christ is among us…” accompanies the kiss of peace.

6. The priest recites the long preparatory prayers for Communion, holding the consecrated bread in his hands. As he communicates himself, he says, “May your incorruptible Body be to me for life, and your sacred Blood for propitiation and remission of sins.” The Communion of the faithful follows a rite and formulas similar to those of the Byzantine rite, except that Catholics give Communion under the species of bread alone. Ablutions are then performed, and as a sign of thanksgiving the choir sings a hymn, the deacon delivers an exhortation, and the priest a prayer. He adds a prayer aloud which is the *opistambona* of the Byzantines, but then, like the Latins, he recites the last Gospel, which is that of St. John. Finally, turning to the people, he pronounces the customary invocation to the Holy Cross, and the clergy recite Psalm 33 while blessed bread is distributed; then the priest blesses and at the same time dismisses them: “May you be blessed by the grace of the Holy Spirit; go in peace, and the Lord be with all of you. Amen.”

3. Since the preparation of the bread and chalice takes place on the altar itself, there is no longer any transfer of the gifts; but formerly it did occur, because the *sedrâ* that is now sung is called the *sedrâ* of the entrance, and it is accompanied by the blessing of the incense. The incensation, however, is now performed while the faithful recite the Symbol of the Faith. The priest then, having washed his hands, asks forgiveness of those present and addresses a prayer to the Most Holy Trinity on his own behalf, because he is about to “offer the Sacrifice with his sinful hands,” and he also prays for the living and the dead. The deacon exclaims, “Stomen kalos!” the priest recites the prayer for peace, and all exchange the kiss of peace. While the priest removes the great veil from the offerings, the deacon admonishes the people: “Let us stand well, with fear, with modesty, with purity, with holiness…”

4. After the blessing and the dialogue of the Preface, the priest in the silent prayer praises God (generally this depends on the text of the different anaphoras) for the creation of the universe and of man, and in the prayer after the Sanctus he recalls the incarnation of the Word and His redeeming work, and proceeds to the narrative of the Last Supper. At the words of the Consecration, spoken aloud, the people respond, Amen. The anamnesis, which recalls the events of our Redemption and the second dread coming of the Son of God, ends with a supplication of the Church. The epiclesis is very solemn: the deacon says, “How terrible is this hour, how awesome this moment when the Holy Spirit comes from the sublime celestial spheres, descends upon that Eucharist and consecrates it…” and the priest, “We prostrate our faces to the earth and we beg you, almighty God… to send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon the offerings that lie before us,” and blessing continues, “and to make this bread the venerable Body of our Lord Jesus Christ… and that which is mingled in the chalice the Blood…” The “intercessions” or “canons” are six: for the hierarchy, the brethren, kings, the saints, the doctors, and the dead. A *sclosoglia* concludes this central part of the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

5. In the rites the manual acts precede the *Pater noster*. During the consignations the priest recites a splendid hymn: “O Father of truth…” After the *Pater noster*, followed by the embolismic prayer and a prayer of head-bow, the priestly blessing introduces the Elevation: “The holy things are given to the holy and to the pure.”

6. The priest recites the preparatory prayers for Communion and communicates himself. Then, holding the paten in his right hand and the chalice in his left, he presents himself to the people, blesses them by crossing his arms, and should distribute Communion to the faithful (in fact, the custom, or rather the abuse, has become widespread even among Catholics, of giving Communion to the faithful only after the final dismissal). The thanksgiving and the prayer of head-bow are followed by the final *hittamâ* and dismissal: “…Go in peace, content, joyful, and pray for me.” The veil of the sanctuary is drawn, and the priest in an Office composed of various prayers consumes what remains of the sacred species and performs the ablutions. Finally, after laying aside the sacred vestments, he goes to kiss the altar, saying, “Remain in peace, holy altar of the Lord. I do not know whether I shall return to you again or not…”

14. The “qûrbânâ” OF THE MARONITES

The principal differences from the Syrian Mass are:

1. From the very beginning the priest washes his hands and puts on his liturgical vestments. After the preparation of the paten and chalice, these are immediately covered with the great veil; then follows a kind of *Confiteor*, an incensation of the altar, the offerings, and the people, other prayers, and a series of psalm verses introduced by the words: “Glory to God in the highest.” At the end of these preparatory rites the incensation does not follow but precedes the *sedrâ*.

2. During the singing of the Trisagion, the priest incenses the offerings, the crucifix, and the altar. The Gospel procession takes place around the altar while an anthem is sung that precedes the reading of the Epistle. After the Gospel, the rubrics prescribe that the deacon, addressing the catechumens, say: «Go in peace».

3. There is no sedrâ but rather an entrance chant that ends thus: «...And now, behold, the priests carry me (that is, the Bread of Life) with their hands above the altars». The choir sings the Symbol of Faith while the priest incenses the offerings, the cross, the altar, and the people; this incensing must be connected with the ancient translation of the gifts; likewise the Lavabo that follows.

4. The narrative of the Last Supper and the words of the Consecration are a literal translation of the Roman Canon. Before the epiclesis, the priest prostrates himself on both knees and repeats three times aloud: «Hear us, O Lord», and each time he touches the altar with his fingers and kisses II. The words of the epiclesis have been altered in this way: «And may this mystery, which is the Body of Christ our God, be for our salvation», but the signs of the cross have remained. The Maronites often use the so-called Roman Church anaphora, in which the intercessions are much abbreviated.

5. The numerous consignations over the consecrated species are made during the prayer: «We have believed, we have offered and we sign...» followed by another: «O Father of truth...». The fraction, the commingling, and the immersion have been moved after the Elevation.

6. After his Communion, the priest blesses the people, first to the right with the holy bread, then to the left with the chalice, and then gives Communion to the faithful under the species of bread alone, saying, like the Latins: «Ecce Agnus Dei...». Particular to the Maronites is, after Communion, that prayer for the dead sung by the deacon with the people; once this chant is finished, the priest blesses once more with the sacred species. The consumption and ablutions take place before the thanksgiving prayers and the final blessing.

VI. THE «QIDDŠ» OF THE CHALDEANS

1. Among the Nestorians there is a very lengthy rite for the material preparation of the eucharistic bread in the oven; a particle of the bread consecrated in a previous Mass is always placed in the new dough: it is the «sacred» leaven transmitted, according to a legend, from apostolic times. After baking, the bread is taken to the prothesis where the chalice is also prepared. The Catholic Chaldeans have abandoned these customs. After the Lavabo and the vesting, the priest, standing before the altar, says: «Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good hope to men, at all times, for ever». Then the people recite the Pater noster. This is followed by a psalmody, generally Psalms 14, 15, and 11, and, after an introductory prayer, the hymn of the sanctuary; in ancient times, during this hymn, the priest would leave the sanctuary and go to take his place on the bema in the midst of the nave. The choir then sings the hymn Lakû Mârâ: «To Thee, O Lord of the universe, we give thanks and we glorify Thee, Jesus Christ, because Thou art the Resurrector of our bodies and Thou art the Saviour of our souls». Then the deacon incenses the altar and the priest.

2. The singing of the Trisagion with a priestly prayer precedes the lessons, which are or may be four, two from the Old and two from the New Testament. Before the Epistle the antiphon (sûrâjâ) is sung, and before the Gospel the Alleluia with its verses (sûmârâ). During the litanic prayers (kârâzûtâ), the priest accompanied by the deacon goes into the sacristy and there incenses the paten and the chalice; then he places the bread on the paten and prepares the chalice with formulas taken from the Maronites. Returning to the sanctuary, the deacon exclaims: «Bow your heads for the laying on of hands and receive the blessing», and the priest recites the corresponding prayer, perhaps a remnant of the ancient dismissal of penitents. Then the deacon from the door of the sanctuary says: «Let him who has not received Baptism depart. Let him who has not received the sign depart. Let him who does not receive it depart. Go forth, O hearers. And see the doors!».

3. While the hymn (ûnîdâ) of the mysteries is being sung, the priest, having washed his hands, goes to take the offerings in the sacristy and, having arrived at the altar, takes the paten in his left hand, the chalice in his right, and says an offertory prayer; having placed the offerings down, he covers them with the large veil. Then, having placed them before the door of the sanctuary, he says a prayer for himself and then intones the Symbol of Faith, which is sung by the faithful. While the deacon makes the proclamation «... pray for the memory of our patriarchs...», the priest, moving toward the altar, makes three bows, and at each bow takes a step forward saying supplications; having arrived at the altar, he prostrates himself, rises, and kisses it in the middle; then he does the same at the right and left corners; finally he kisses the altar in the middle to the right and left. After other prayers that prepare him and the people for the Sacrifice, the priest blesses, and the deacon issues the invitation: «Give one another the peace». Meanwhile the diptychs are read. And while the deacon gives his admonitions: «... stand firm and observe what is being accomplished: the awesome mysteries are being sanctified; the priest has approached to pray... lower your gaze... let no one dare to speak...», the priest removes the veil from the offerings and incenses the altar.

4. After the continuous blessing: «Lift up your hearts», they respond: «We lift them up to Thee, O God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, glorious King». The priest: «The sacrifice is offered to God, Lord of the universe». They respond: «It is meet and right». The eucharistic prayer, interrupted by the Sanctus, praises the name of the most holy Trinity and gives thanks for His mercy toward men, for the Incarnation of the Word and our redemption. This is followed by the narrative of the Last Supper with the words of Christ spoken aloud, to which the people respond: «Amen. We believe and confess». A doxology concludes this part. Now the intercessions are made: the saints, the hierarchy, the Church, the needy, the dead. The anamnesis is not entirely clear, and the epiclesis is expressed thus: «May Thy Holy Spirit come, O Lord, and descend upon this oblation of Thy servants, bless it and sanctify it, so that...». Another doxology concludes this part.

5. The priest invokes the Christ of peace, gives thanks to the Father, asks for mercy by reciting Psalm 50, and then prepares for the fraction by having his hands incensed. He takes and raises the holy bread and pronounces an act of faith and adoration; then he kisses it in the form of a cross, without touching it with his lips, and breaks it; he dips a part in the holy Blood and with it signs the other and places it on the paten. Raising the chalice, he says: «They have been separated, sanctified, fulfilled, accomplished, united, commingled, conjoined, and sealed one within the other, these mysteries...»; however, no rubric speaks here of a commingling. After a prayer and the priest’s blessing, the deacon begins a kind of litany, to which the people respond at intervals: «Lord, forgive the sins and offenses of Thy servants». The Pater noster is recited by the people; the priest says: «The holy things are for the holy», without making the Elevation. Then those inside the sanctuary, conversing with those outside, sing the hymn: «Thou art awesome...». And while they add the first hymn of the «bema», the priest, holding the holy bread above the chalice in his left hand, says: «O Son, Who hast given us Thy Body...» or the «Agnus Dei», three times.

6. While the choir sings the second hymn of the *bema*, the priest receives Communion. There are no actual formulas of Communion. This is followed by the Communion of the faithful and the ablutions. The thanksgiving consists of a choral chant, a proclamation by the deacon, and a prayer by the priest, to which all respond with the *Pater noster*. From the door of the sanctuary the priest gives the blessing, and as he returns to the sacristy he recites the prayers that anticipate the consumption of the remaining sacred species.

VII. THE « GŪDĀŠĀ » OF THE MALABAR

Here the differences, sometimes of great importance, that separate the Eucharistic celebration of the Malabar from that of the Chaldeans are noted. 1. The psalmody is always reduced to Psalms 14, 150, and 116. Further on, the *rinfacciatione* precedes the singing of the hymn *Lakū Mārā*. 2. No procession; not four but two scriptural readings; after the Gospel, a chant of the Symbol of Faith, as in the Latin rite; during the litanies, the priest incenses the veil, the *discos*, and the chalice, but with formulas different from those used by the Chaldeans. 3. No transfer of the gifts, because these are prepared on the altar. 4–5. Here the greatest difference is noted: after the prayer that follows the *Sanctus*, in all Eastern and Western rites one finds the narration of the Last Supper with the words of Christ; instead, the Malabarese immediately proceed to the intercessory prayers, and only after the anaphora, at the preparatory prayers for the fraction, when the priest has his fingers incensed, he takes the bread in hand, not to break it as the Chaldeans do, but to consecrate II. The formulas of consecration are those of the Roman Missal, as are the gestures: elevations and genuflections. Further on, during the prayer for forgiveness, the Malabarese priest recites secretly the hymn: « Father of Truth » which is found among the Syrians and Maronites. 6. Among the prayers before Communion the priest says « Domine, non sum dignus ». For the distribution of Communion to the faithful he uses all the formulas in use among the Latins, including the blessing after Communion. The ablutions are performed with the prayers that in the Chaldean book stand after the dismissal.

VIII. THE « AGHASMOS » OF THE COPTS

1. Vested in sacred vestments, the priest approaches the altar and kisses it, turns to the people, and after blessing them recites the *Pater noster* with them. The choir begins to sing the hymn that accompanies the procession with the offerings that are about to take place. Meanwhile, the priest says a preparatory prayer, arranging the *discos*, the chalice, and the veils on the altar, and after washing his hands, he chooses one of the loaves that the deacon presents to him in a basket (at least the dissenters do so), places it in a cloth, examines the wine, and recites an offertory prayer, adding brief formulas for various intentions. Then, holding the bread at the height of his head, he makes, with the deacon who carries the wine and water and with ministers who carry lights, a procession around the altar. Having returned, he blesses the offerings three times in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, places the bread on the *discos*, and puts the wine and water into the chalice. The thanksgiving prayer, attributed to St. Basil and often recited at the beginning of a liturgical function, interrupts the action for a moment. Then the priest pronounces the Offertory prayer, which is nothing other than an anticipatory epiclesis, already asking for the transformation of the gifts. After covering them with the great veil, he leaves the sanctuary and reads over the people a formula of absolution addressed to the Son. The priest performs the *rinfacciatione* of the altar by going around it three times and that of the church, incensing with his left hand and placing his right hand on the head of each of the faithful, while the people sing the beautiful hymn: « This is the golden censer of pure gold... The Virgin is the golden censer, her perfume is our Savior... ».

2. There are four readings, all taken from the New Testament: the letters of St. Paul, the Catholic epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Gospel. Each reading is preceded by a prayer of the priest; the Trisagion is sung after the reading of the Acts. Among the deacon’s supplications that follow the Gospel, one concerns the catechumens, another the increase and decrease of the waters of the Nile.

3. There is no transfer of the gifts; however, the priest recites the prayer of the « veil » (of the sanctuary), as if he wished to enter the sanctuary now to begin his ministry. Then, going around the altar three times, he sings with the people the three prayers: for the Church, for the hierarchy, and for those present; then all recite the Symbol of Faith. After the prayer for peace, the deacon says: « Give one another the kiss of peace... » and adds his admonitions: « ... stand with fear; look toward the East ».

4. The dialogue of the Preface is exactly that of the Latin rite. If the priest takes the anaphora of St. Cyril, he inserts into the prayer « Vere dignum... » the long prayers of intercession; if instead he takes that of St. Basil or St. Gregory, he will say the intercession after the epiclesis. Three times the deacon interrupts the priest’s prayer to say to the faithful: « You who are seated, rise » — « Look toward the East » — « Pay attention ». The *Sanctus* does not have the addition: « Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus... », and the prayer that follows is connected to the « Pleni sunt ». At the words of Christ the people respond with these acts of faith: « We believe and confess and glorify ». The anamnesis briefly recalls the oblation, and the epiclesis, similar to the Byzantine one, is recited aloud and the people respond Amen. The prayers of intercession are long; the priest sings them all.

5. In this rite the fraction precedes the *Pater noster*, but the other manual acts follow the Elevation. This fraction is, according to the rubrics of the dissenters, very complicated; Catholics are content to divide the holy bread into three parts. After the *Pater noster*, the prayer of the *emboslimic* and that of the inclination, the priest recites the formula of absolution addressed to the Father. The Elevation, the intention, the consignation, and the imminent are done in a very simple manner. But here the priest pronounces a lively profession of faith in the incarnate Word with suitable responses from the people (homology).

6. The singing of Psalm 150 serves as preparation for Communion. After his Communion, the priest turns to the people, holding the *discos* in his hand, and blesses them. Among the dissenters the communicants receive first the consecrated bread, then the chalice. During Communion the people sing: « Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord ». The ablutions are performed while the priest recites the thanksgiving prayer, which is followed by that of the inclination; then, as he leaves the sanctuary, he says, holding his hands extended over the people, a prayer of blessing, and after the people themselves recite the *Pater noster* he blesses them. Then all approach the sanctuary and the priest sprinkles them with holy water (at least this is what the dissenters do). Finally, blessed bread is distributed to all.

IX. THE «QÉDÂSÉ» OF THE ETHIOPIANS

1. The priest’s personal preparation involves the recitation of a penitential prayer and several psalms; his approach to the altar and the preparation of the altar itself are likewise accompanied by various prayers. When the priest has put on his sacred vestments and washed his hands, the ministers arrive carrying the basket containing the recently baked loaves from a place adjacent to the church called Bethlehem. Meanwhile, the choir has intoned the Alleluia. The priest blesses the loaves, selects one or gives it to the assisting priest, who places it in a cloth. The latter, having made the circuit of the altar, presents the bread to the celebrant, who also makes the circuit of the altar before placing the bread on the paten. The deacon, holding the wine, circles the altar and gives it to the assisting priest, who pours it, together with water, into the chalice. With the people’s *Pater noster*, the priest’s *Unus Pater sanctus...*, the singing of the psalm *Laudate Dominum omnes gentes*, the deacon’s exhortation *‘Stand upright for prayer’*, and the priest’s *‘Peace be with you all’*, a new part of the Mass begins. These are the thanksgiving prayer of St Basil, two offertory prayers (the episcopal one as in the Coptic Mass), and the prayer said while the priest covers the offerings with veils. At the absolution of the Son, the Ethiopian rite adds a lengthy deacon’s litany with the response *Kyrie eleison*. The priest then blesses five grains of incense, placing three of them in the censer. The incensation is performed with great solemnity, accompanied by singing and various formulas.

2. Four readings follow, as in the Coptic rite; after the third, the *Tristatio* is sung, followed by a beautiful hymn to the Virgin. Before the Gospel, the priest places the fourth grain of incense in the censer, and a procession with the holy book takes place; meanwhile, the assisting priest recites secretly the litany of supplication, which normally follows the Gospel and includes a petition for the catechumens. After the Gospel, the people profess their faith, and the deacon says: *‘Depart, catechumens.’*

3.–6. In the subsequent parts, the Ethiopian rite differs little from the Coptic. Noteworthy points include: the priest removes the veil from the offerings even before the kiss of peace; he has at his disposal fourteen traditional formularies for the anaphora; the Elevation is more solemn and is followed by the deacon’s exhortation *‘You who are in penance, bow your heads’*, to which the priest adds an appropriate prayer. After Communion, the people intersperse the *Pater noster* several times among the thanksgiving prayers, and after the prayer of inclination, blessing, and absolution, the deacon dismisses the faithful with *‘Go in peace.’*

V. THE CHANTS OF THE MASS

From liturgical-historical study it is clear that the various elements and prayers of the Mass were introduced at different times; consequently, the musical repertoire of the Mass developed gradually and exhibits considerable variety.

SUMMARY:

I. Different styles

II. Musical forms

III. Liturgical destination (or function)

IV. Selection of texts

V. Technique of melodic composition

VI. Modal practice

VII. The unity of composition in the Gregorian and polyphonic chants of the Mass

VIII. The expressiveness of Gregorian chants of the Mass

IX. Polyphony.

I. DIFFERENT STYLES

The chants of the Mass display various styles. The *Communio* is generally a chant in a neumatic style; however, during Lent, among the series of 26 Communio psalm-tone settings for ferial days, some Communios with Gospel texts are interspersed. The psalm-tone series is in neumatic style, while the majority of the Gospel Communios are in syllabic style; but precisely these belong to an earlier period of composition, the beginning of the 6th century and even the 5th, whereas the well-known 26 Communio psalm-tone settings date from the second half of the 6th century.

A first formal distinction establishes well-characterized groupings among the various chants of the Mass; the three styles are represented. Syllabic style belongs to the unspecialized soloist, i.e., the celebrant, with the Preface and the *Pater noster*; it also belongs to the assembly, even if not always musically trained, as well as to the Creed and the Sequence, at least in part. The verse of the Introit is a somewhat ornate psalmody, now alternated between soloist and schola. Neumatic style is found in the Introit and Communio, some Kyries, the *Gloria in excelsis*, the *Sanctus*, and the *Agnus Dei*; the term ‘neumatic’ should not be understood in a strict sense of a single neume of two or three notes per syllable. Generally, the last of the three final Kyries is a vocalization of sometimes considerable proportions, e.g., in Kyrie VI or Kyrie I ad libitum. The *Sanctus* also admits vocalic developments, which are rare in the *Agnus Dei* (see, for example, *Sanctus VII*). Melismatic style is used for the Gradual, the *Tractus*, the Alleluia, and many Offertories. Even here the classification is generic, since ‘melismatic’ does not mean that every word requires a vocalization on some syllable, but rather suggests that, throughout the entire melody—and more often on the final syllable—there will be a flourish of notes, a purely musical projection of a sentiment that the text cannot convey: hence the independence of music from the text. Syllabic style occasionally intervenes in melismatic style when, through contrast, a word is emphasized, e.g., in the gradual *Adiutor*, on the word *‘patientia pauperum’*; the ancient melodist thus achieved expressive efficacy and rhythmic emphasis. In the gradual *Exsurge... non praevaleat*, which is of unquestionable musical value like the preceding one, a less strict syllabic style appears on the words *‘inimicum’* and *‘infra-mabuntur’*, with *podatus* of accent and *elixis* of preparation.

The classification of the Mass chants by style is not absolute, since within a single piece a transition from one style to another is permissible; moreover, chants assigned to one category may present examples of another, a phenomenon that in many cases is explained by the fact that the composition spans several centuries.

The same applies to the Offertories: generally adorned with vocalizations, especially on the word *Alleluia* (e.g., *Bonum est*, *Intonuit*, *In die*, *Erit vobis*, *Benedictus*, etc.), they may be treated in a neumatic style (*Vir erat*, *Domine in auxilium*, *In te speravi*, etc.); and in at least one case, the style approaches the syllabic (*Domine convertere*), perhaps a vestige of the primitive antiphonal form of the Offertory.

II. MUSICAL FORMS

The chants of the Mass are classified into two main groups with regard to their literary composition and musical form. Indeed, the chants that constitute almost the entire ancient repertoire, the *Proprium Missae*, are drawn from the Psalter or from scriptural canticles. Their structure can be:

1) **Responsorial**, in the form A2 B2 A2 C2 etc.; this is the form now reduced to the Gradual and Alleluia, which is recognized as the most ancient.

2) **Antiphonal**, in the form A BC A DE A FG A etc. The Introit and Communion are chants of the Mass in antiphonal form; their structure may vary in that the repetition of the refrain A occurred after each psalm verse A B A C A D A etc., or even after a group of four verses A B B2 C2 A etc., as is still seen in the chant for Holy Thursday *Ubi caritas et amor*. The difference from the responsorial form consists in the absence of a soloist and in the psalmody by two alternating choirs in the antiphony, whereas in the responsorial form the psalmody is entrusted to the soloist and the entire choir, that is, the assembly of the faithful, which repeats the refrain after each verse.

3) A third psalmodic form is called **direct** or **in directum** and is distinguished by the absence of a refrain. It is believed that the Tract, the sole representative of this form in the Mass, was sung entirely by the soloist on account of its ornate style, and there is no difficulty in admitting this for the two verses of the Tract *Laudate Dominum* on Holy Saturday or the three verses of *Cantemus* on the same day; instead, the thirteen verses of *Qui habitat* or the fourteen of *Deus Deus meus* perhaps exceed the capacity of the soloist and the receptivity of an assembly with a quarter of an hour of little varied chant, since this is a typical form repeated for each verse. It is true that Tracts with numerous verses in the second mode are originally Graduals from which the refrain has disappeared; whereas Tracts in the eighth mode are brief and easier.

This mention suggests that, as for style, one must eliminate any idea of fossilization: within well-defined frameworks there exists a certain freedom, and evolution is a vital law. The example of the Offertory is demonstrative. At the beginning it was antiphonal: “Antiphona ad offerenda” “Antiphona ad Offertorium.” Later, the verses appear highly ornate. In its current form the Offertory would be almost direct, since it is sung without a refrain; but it no longer has verses and lacks the musically psalmodic structure characteristic of the Tract, that is, intonation, tenor, tonic or cursive cadence. The Offertory has therefore become a kind of motet; unfortunately it is rarely sung despite possessing some masterpieces of diatonic melodic composition, such as the two *Iubilate Deo*, *Precatus est*, *Ave Maria*, *Lustorum animae*, etc.

Not all chants are psalmodic: both with regard to the origin of the literary text and to musical structure, the chants of the Ordinary of the Mass lie outside this classification; the alternation of choirs, or of the choir with the soloist, as in the Kyrie and in the *Gloria in excelsis*, is not sufficient to characterize the antiphonal chant; nonetheless, sometimes the non-psalmodic chants of the Ordinary recall psalmodic formulas, as, for example, the *Gloria XV*.

III. LITURGICAL DESTINATION (OR FUNCTION)

The evolution in the structural form of the chants is greatest in the Offertory, but is also noticeable in the Gradual, Communion, and Introit, where the verses are reduced to a minimum or have even disappeared. This may perhaps be explained by the forgetting of the original purpose of these chants.

Some are action chants, that is, they accompany a rite or movement: the procession of the entrance (Introit), the offering of the gifts for the Sacrifice (Offertory), the distribution of Holy Communion (Communion). Others are called chants of rest, or rather, of contemplation; they follow readings that aim to give the listener time to assimilate the instruction received, meditating upon and savoring II. These are:

1) The Gradual responsory after the reading from the Old Testament; indeed, sometimes the last passage is taken as the text of the chant, as, for example, on Epiphany.

2) The Tract, which initially is not a chant of sadness: it is sung after the reading from the Apostle and is sung, for example, on Easter night after the announcement of the Alleluia, the sole original Alleluia of the Roman liturgy.

3) Finally, the Alleluia, before or after the Gospel, took the place of the Tract on Sundays and feast days and is perhaps the only chant remaining in its original structure, responsorial and melismatic.

By losing sight of the functional purpose of the Introit, it began to be sung only when the celebrant had reached the altar, and it was no longer possible or useful to multiply the psalmodic verses. The chants of the Ordinary of the Mass do not easily fit into the above classification. If we admit that the Kyrie is the conclusion of the litany and not the reduction of the *Deprecatio* instituted by Pope Gelasius I (492–96), it should be counted among the action chants. The *Agnus Dei* also corresponds to the purpose of accompanying an action in the papal Mass; it was introduced by Sergius I (687–701) and, after the *fractio panis*, occupies the long time of the procession to the throne where the pope will receive Communion and where, upon arrival, he will sing the *Pater noster*, until St. Gregory the Great moved the *Pater noster* to before the *fractio panis*. The repetition of the *Agnus Dei*, originally more than three times in addition to its historical origin, suggests the true functionality of this chant.

Three other chants could be considered contemplative chants; they do not follow readings but perfectly correspond to the idea of laudatory, Eucharistic prayer; these are the *Gloria in excelsis*, the *Sanctus*, and especially the Preface, which conceptually and practically should not be separated from the *Sanctus*. Only the *Credo* is a chant of a didactic nature; it is a superficial explanation to say that the *Credo* is not part of the ancient Roman Mass because there was no danger of heresy in Rome: was there perhaps no danger of heresy from the 11th century onward? The public proclamation of the true faith has never been lacking in Rome, but its place was in the rite of Baptism, from where it passed into the Mass, both in text and music.

IV. SELECTION OF TEXTS

The selection of texts for the *Proprium Missae* obeys at least three criteria.

1) For major solemnities, the melodist seeks in the Psalms or in Holy Scripture a passage applicable to the event in the life of the Lord being commemorated, since the liturgy commemorates events and not ideas. For example, the Introit for Christmas, “Dominus dixit ad me... ego hodie genui te.” For the Blessed Virgin or a saint, a text is chosen that alludes to a singular event in their life; for St. Peter, “Nunc scio vere...,” or to the church dedicated to the saint, “Confessio et pulchritudo” for St. Lawrence, with an allusion to the splendor of his basilica; or simply a generic text of praise, “Vultum tuum deprecabuntur,” for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin in the 7th century. But new festive texts are also written: “Gaudeamus omnes” for the feast of St. Agatha.

2) For the Sundays after Pentecost, the Psalter provides the Introits for the first 16 Sundays (Gelasian repertory), in a progression of arithmetic order. This progression by leaps is also observed in the already mentioned 26 Communions for the ferial days of Lent, beginning with Psalm 1.

3) The nocturnal readings

They may suggest the choice of a text: the Offertory “Vir erat... nomine Iob” is sung roughly at the time when the Book of Job is read. The present arrangement of the Liber gradualis, with its regular series of Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Communion, was neither universal nor obligatory even in the tenth century, when Alleluias were still grouped together at the end of the Cantatorium; the chief cantor was left free to choose, as some rather broad rubrics sometimes state: “Quale volueris.”

V. TECHNIQUE OF MELODIC COMPOSITION

In its general principles the technique of melodic composition remains identical in the various Gregorian chants of the Mass, whether for the Proper or for the Ordinary: the melodic line unfolds the musical design inherent in the text when it is well declaimed, giving prominence to the naturally higher, if not more intense, pitch of the verbal accent. The divisions into musical phrases, members and incises correspond to the logical division of the literary text; the very word of the oratorical discourse often delimits the elementary musical motif; sometimes a musical motif is so closely bound to a word that the use of that word leads to the repetition of the same motif, e.g., the intonation of the Introit Dominus illuminatio is repeated in the other Introits Dominus defensor, Domine ne longe, Dominus fortitudo.

It does not seem that special compositional procedures are reserved for any particular category of pieces: in all chants one will find parallelism, amplifications, imitations, inversions, etc. The composition adheres to the logic of musical discourse formulated with antecedent and consequent, that is, protasis and apodosis; the development in each is suggested by the very proportion of the text or by the importance given to a thought, which will be highlighted if it reaches the climactic phraseological accent of the entire piece. Only the Offertory enjoys the privilege of verbal repetitions, which, as a rule, are accompanied by melodic repetition as well. The procedure is that of the formulated statement A A¹ B, as in the Offertory Precatus est Moyses and in the two Iubilate; or A B A¹, as in the Offertory De profundis and, with a brief repeated incise, the Offertory for the Dedication Domine Deus in simplicitate. In the verses, moreover, these repetitions reach excess, at least in the Offertory Vir erat, where the incise ut videat bona is repeated up to nine times. The larger proportions both for the Offertory and for the other chants, and the repetitions themselves, may perhaps be justified by the prolongation of the action of offering the gifts; the cantor could, at will, cut short the chant when the procession of the donors had ended; but when more ornate Offertories were composed for the schola and for highly skilled soloists, the offering of the gifts during Mass was no longer in use: perhaps these chants, the longest in the repertory, accompanied an action, namely the incensing of the oblations. The purely musical intent of these anti-verbal repetitions is indicated by the fact that they are missing in the Missal used by the priest.

VI. MODALITY

Neither with regard to modality do strictly observed canons exist, with the exception of the Tract. There is no ideal correspondence of a particular mode for a particular category of chants; all modes, or almost all, are used for all chants. Yet some clear preferences may be noted. The Gradual, for example, shows a marked preference for the tritus, so much so that one might think that originally the typical formula of this essentially restrained chant was exclusively in tritus.

Mode I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
No. of Graduals 23 18 5 73 18 3

The absence of Graduals in mode 6 should not be surprising: in fact, according to the criteria of traditional modal classification, the first part of the Gradual is normally sung in the plagal scale and the second, that of the soloist, in the authentic scale, especially for Graduals in tritus.

It is the reaction of the melodists of the Alleluias, who came after those who composed the Gradual in mode 5–6, to have almost completely abandoned the tritus and to have given

Mode I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
No. of Offertories 24 24 21 28 14 21 3 37

Before drawing conclusions or hypotheses from such statistics, one must bear in mind that the Vatican edition is not a critical but a practical one, and does not include the repertory of the seventh–eighth centuries, that is, the period of maturity of Roman liturgical monody. Systematic compilation was completed in the ninth century, before the corruptions, ignorance or new orientations of taste. These statistics will need to be revised when the long-awaited edition by the Benedictines of Solesmes appears. Moreover, it is known that the figure marked today in the margins of Gregorian chant books gives only the final note, i.e., the mode in which the piece ends, and not always the mode of the entire piece.

If one were to continue the inquiry into the chants of the Ordinary of the Mass, one would find in the series of eighteen Masses that the Kyries in the second and sixth modes are missing. This does not indicate that no Kyrie in these modes was ever written: the Vatican edition presents a selection of chants from the Ordinary and not all the pieces contained in the manuscripts. Indeed, in the appendix of ad libitum chants, Kyries in the second and sixth modes do appear.

Mode I II III IV V VI VII VIII
Kyries 18 1 18 18 18 1 18 18

Comparing this last table with the preceding ones, one should rather be struck by the lesser importance of this part of the repertory, perhaps the best known but not the most interesting nor the most representative of the melodic genius of Latin musicians, especially since it is of later composition than the classical period of Gregorian chant.

VII. THE UNITY OF COMPOSITION IN GREGORIAN AND POLYPHONIC MASSES

A fundamental divergence of concept in the composition of a Gregorian Mass strikes anyone acquainted with the repertory of classical polyphony: among the successive pieces, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, there is in Gregorian chant no thematic unity; there is no connection from one to the other, except in a few cases, such as in the first Mass for Easter time, “Lux et origo,” whose opening words of the first Kyrie have almost disappeared. The final Kyrie begins like the intonation of the Gloria, and the Agnus Dei like the Sanctus. The diversity of the date marked above the chants of the Ordinary of the Mass suggests that these are not grouped in the manuscripts as they are currently in printed editions; this date, moreover, does not indicate the date of composition but the age of the oldest known manuscript at the time of the preparation of the Vatican edition. Indeed, not only does the present collection leave many chants of the Ordinary unpublished, but it may be said that the order proposed today does not correspond to that of some codices. This justifies the practice of certain choirmasters of altering this order, all the more so since a legitimate rubric allows such freedom.

Thematic and modal unity is likewise absent in the Masses of the Proper, both of the temporal and sanctoral cycles. No Mass for a feast or for a saint can be demonstrated with certainty to be the work of a single author. The Masses of the Common of Saints, less than others, conform to the criterion of contemporaneity of composition. The various chants were first composed for a particular saint; then an Introit, a Gradual, an Alleluia were collected, or an already known series was taken and assigned to another saint or martyr, and thus a first, second, third Mass for several martyrs came into being.

Some chants of the Mass are traditionally and without exception performed in Gregorian chant: the recitatives of the famous passage, or certain chants of Holy Week. In the course of musical history, even pieces from the Proper were set polyphonically, especially the Introit. The part of the Mass that has given rise to the most abundant musical inspiration and composition is the Ordinary of the Mass.

VIII. EXPRESSIVENESS OF THE GREGORIAN CHANTS OF THE MASS

The particular expressiveness of the Gregorian chants of the Mass cannot, of course, be summed up in a single word. In general, what strikes the listener is their gentle character, the absence of contrasts. This impression may perhaps result from modern systems of interpretation.

The habit of hearing music with strong contrasts may well have sharpened the modern listener’s faculty of perceiving subtle nuances, even as it has dulled his ability—through the teaching of instruments with equal temperament—to grasp the variety of modal shadings. Objectively, however, the expressive possibilities of Gregorian chant are limited only by the suitability of music intended to approach the most sacred mysteries: the monodic genre, pure diatonicism, and the assignment of the chant to soloist, schola, or people impose their own demands. On the other hand, the richness of this music shines forth more in the perfection of its form than in the abundance of its material means. The study of individual chants can only reveal the delicacy with which elevated sentiments—those that must permeate genuine liturgical sacred music—are conveyed: praise and admiration of God, humility and penitence, gratitude and trust, supplication and hope. Certainly, the melodist is granted great freedom in the manner of expression; nor is he constrained to treat all Alleluias with expansive joy: one need only hear the 261 Alleluias of the Gradual to realize this. Nor are these varied sentiments painted musically: Gregorian chant does not aim at musical pictorialism, which is rare even in the polyphonic and secular realms. Yet one sees that in the most stylized forms (such as the typical forms of the Tract in the 8th mode, for example), the composer did not hesitate to depart from the established path to suggest the labor of an ascent on the word “montes” in the Tract “Qui confidunt.” If one wishes to define the intent of the Gregorian musician, one might say that he fears to reveal the innermost depths of his soul, that he does not wish to impose himself upon others, but always prefers to remain at the threshold of another’s soul, respecting its mystery and freedom. The liturgy is classical in its verbal expression; it is restrained in its gestures; the Gregorian musician has always sought to avoid the jarring and discordant effect of bringing excessively romantic music into the Church.

IX. POLYPHONIC MASS

From the 10th century onward, the chants of the Mass were influenced by the new vocal polyphonic sensibility; nascent polyphony gradually insinuated itself into the Church, first as an organal voice added to a *cantus firmus*, and later as free invention in two or more voices, often alternating with the ancient liturgical chant.

After the first tentative polyphonic efforts—consisting of detached pieces, troped Kyries (v. 1700), etc.—one must reach the 14th century to find a true and proper musical composition of the entire Mass in its five fixed singable parts that constitute the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) in the so-called Tournai Mass for three voices, transcribed and printed by Coussemaker from a now-lost manuscript (

V. Ch

E. de Coussemaker, Messe du XIIIe siècle, Tournai 1861). However, the first organic work entirely by a single author is the *Messe de Notre Dame*, composed after the mid-14th century by Guillaume de Machaut for four voices—a true masterpiece of medieval sacred music, rich in Gregorian inspiration and at the same time exuding a multifaceted melodic vein, agile rhythmic structure, and a new power of invention and expression. In the 15th century, the Flemish school contributed significantly to the artistic development of the polyphonic Mass, endowing it with its own contrapuntal style and the characteristic cyclic form that would make it a homogeneous and well-organized type of composition, both internally and externally balanced.

After the two cited examples—the Tournai Mass and that of Machaut—one must wait until the mid-15th century with Dufay and the other Flemish composers to find complete Masses: documentary sources include the six Trent Codices (Trento, Archivio del Duomo, nos. 87–92) and the Old Hall manuscript (Catholic College of St. Edmunds, Old Hall, England), ca. 1450. At this time, Masses are still found with choral parts (Gregorian chant) alternating with polyphonic parts, whereas at the beginning of the 16th century the Mass becomes a self-contained composition in which polyphony, independent of alternation with Gregorian chant, absolutely dominates the newly delineated musical form. After an initial period in which the individual parts of the polyphonic Mass were inspired by the corresponding parts of the Gregorian Mass from which they derived, there followed a phase—richer in types and examples—that flourished throughout the 16th century: the Mass is entirely centered on a single thematic material (hence the strictly cyclic character of the composition), which is taken, in long notes, as a *cantus firmus* (or dominant motif), usually from the tenor voice (so named precisely because of its function of “holding” the basic melody), which passes it to the other voices, which in turn modify it rhythmically or melodically. Depending on whether the *cantus firmus* is drawn from the secular or liturgical repertoire, or is invented by the composer, various types of Mass emerge: those inspired by secular songs in vogue—popular and amorous (a frequent type in 15th-century Flemish music, when the flourishing of madrigals was so fresh and luxuriant that it overflowed even into the dark naves of Gothic cathedrals (v. the typical example of the popular song “L’homme armé,” which provided the thematic impetus and name for some thirty Masses composed by polyphonists of various countries and periods up to the 17th century, such as Dufay, Busnois, Caron, Ockeghem, Obrecht, Tinctoris, Josquin Des Prez, Brumel, De la Rue, Pipelare, Senfl, de Orto, Morales, Palestrina, Carissimi, etc)—those imbued with liturgical themes, mostly antiphons or hymns, which abound in the 16th century, especially in its second half, and those in which themes are composed by the author (a category less abundant than the others).

The first type of Mass—that which draws on secular motifs—persists over time, even beyond the Council of Trent, which had prohibited its use; in such cases, the titles of the Masses no longer hint at their content, taking on vague and generic designations such as “Missa sine nomine,” “Missa quarta” (the Palestrina Mass of 1582 that was inspired by the famous song “L’homme armé”), etc.

An important type is the “parody Mass,” in which melodic derivation is no longer limited to a thematic borrowing but is an extensive adaptation of a borrowed piece (song or madrigal in the 15th century; mostly motet in the 16th), by the same or another composer: with this technique, Masses were composed by Dufay, Josquin, Ockeghem, Agricola, Palestrina, Lassus, and many others. Of lesser importance is the type of Mass called “quodlibet,” which combines various motifs from secular sources (v. ISACCO). Among the Masses with themes freely invented by the composer, or taken from syllables or the notes of the scale, one should recall the Mass “Hercules dux Ferrariae” (with the theme re-ut-re-ut-re-fa-mi-re, derived from the vowels of the title) and the other “Lassa fare a mi,” both by Josquin Des Prez, as well as the various Masses based on the first notes of the hexachord do-re-mi-fa-sol-la (“Missa super voces musicales” by Josquin, Brumel, Palestrina, etc.).

The musical composition of the Mass reached its zenith in the golden age of polyphony, namely in the 16th century, particularly through the work of the Roman school, PALESTINA (v.) who wrote 93 Masses (for 4, 5, 6, and 8 voices) with grand architectural lines that adorn the cantus firmus with the most radiant splendor. G. Animuccia (v.), whose Masses "Secundum formam Concilii" (where the purest melodies confer diamond-like brilliance to the Gregorian cantus firmus) are the living expression of the Catholic Reformation as embodied in the Council of Trent, and later with C. Festa, G. M. Nannino, the two Anerios, R. Giovannielli, F. Soriano, A. Cifra, A. Zoilo, Ann. Stabile, Arc. Crivelli, and others. In the same period, the Venetian school flourished, predominantly pictorial in a harmonic sense, characterized by exquisite chromatic and decorative features, whereas the Roman school was the triumph of plastic and architectural counterpoint. Among this school, which was already entirely oriented, in a riot of colors and timbral richness, toward the harmonic innovations of the imminent 17th century, the luminous glories are the Fleming A. Willaert and the two Gabrielis (v.), C. de Rore, G. Croce, with the prolongation in time and space of the so-called Deutschvenetianer, or German followers of the Venetian style, among whom are remembered Jacob Gallus, H. Praetorius, H. L. Hassler, and M. Praetorius. Nor can we pass over in silence the flourishing of polyphonic Masses in Spain, with the glorious names of Cristobal Morales, T. L. Da Victoria, Francisco Guerrero, and others. Still in the full 17th century, among the ideal continuators of Rome and Venice, are V. Ruffo, M. A. Ingegneri, Ludovico Grossi da Viadana; it is now the Baroque Mass, which aims to astonish with effect and spectacular display of voices and instruments (a most eloquent example being the Mass in 53 parts composed by Orazio Benevoli for the inauguration of the Salzburg cathedral in 1628).

In the 18th century, Bach’s great Mass in B minor (1733), composed for the Catholic court of Dresden in the form of a cantata, strips the Mass of the ornaments that Baroque had lavished upon it as cumbersome superstructures and restores it to the realm of symphonic music, a realm into which it had already entered with Scarlatti, Durante, Leo, and in which it remains with the Viennese classics. Beethoven’s great Missa solemnis (1819–22), along with those of Haydn and Mozart, stands at the sublime heights to which the Mass in music had risen with Bach, though now reduced essentially to a concert composition. Closer to our own time, Bruckner’s trio of Masses (in D minor, E minor, and F minor, 1824–96) still speaks the word of Romanticism in this form, but the characteristic devotional unction arising from the correspondence of notes with the sacred text is now far removed: the secularization of the Mass, except for isolated instances of moved mysticism, is now an accomplished fact.

The reform of sacred music in the last century led to a reevaluation of traditional currents, and there then arose an abundant flowering of Masses in Germany and Italy, with Witt, Haberl, Haller, Mitterer, Griesbach, Goller, Santini, Alfieri, and others, while in the new music of today an attempt is made to restore ancient immortal values in the light of a new sensibility. In addition to the Masses of Lemacher, Ahrens, Haas, Refice, Perosi, and many others, a final singular example of our era is cited: the Mass of I. Stravinsky, in which the archaic savor of the most ancient Gregorian chant is united with the echo of the liturgical melodies of the Eastern Church.

A particular genre of Mass is the "Missa pro defunctis," also called, from the first word of the Introit, the "Requiem." The characteristic parts, in addition to the Introit, which replaces the Kyrie, are the Sequence (Dies irae) and the Offertory ("Domine Jesu Christe"); the Sanctus with the Benedictus and the Agnus Dei are also present here, while the Gloria and the Credo are omitted. Notable examples of "Requiem Masses" have been left by Pierre de La Rue, Joh. Prioris, Ant. de Févin, Palestrina, Morales, Lasso, Victorii, Kerll, Cavalli (1706), Jommelli (1756), Mozart, Cherubini (1816 and 1836), Berlioz (1838), Dvořák (op. 88, 1891), Bruckner (1885), Verdi (1874), Saint-Saëns (op. 54, 1878), Fauré (1887), and others. — See plates XLVI–XLIX.