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Newsletter of the District of Asia September 1997 History of the Formation of the Holy Mass Part I - The Development of the Roman Rite up till 1570* Surprisingly, there was no papal or conciliar legislation regulating the celebration of Mass throughout the Roman Rite until the Bull Quo Primum Tempore in 1570. The most significant aspect of the Missal promulgated by this Bull is that it did not legislate on the manner in which Mass should be celebrated but gave legal sanction to the manner in which the Mass was being celebrated. The primary characteristic of liturgical development until Vatican II was that legislation codified development, not that development was initiated by legislation. Until the fourth century no liturgical books were used during Mass except for the Bible from which the lessons were read. The Mass contained two distinct parts. The first was a Christianized synagogue service of prayers, readings, and a sermon. At the end of this “Liturgy of the Word” the catechumens, those who were not baptized, had to leave, hence the name “Mass of the Catechumens”. Then followed the second part, the Christian Mystery, the Eucharist. This was an extempore celebration by the bishop but from apostolic times it had already acquired fixed forms. When St. Paul recounts the words of Institution he is citing an already established Eucharistic formula. The faithful participated in the Eucharist with appropriate hymns and responses, something they could not have done without fixed forms. A characteristic of the Christian faith has been a conservative, conservationist mentality. Thus a new bishop would be expected to pray with the same prayers used by his predecessor because that was the way things were done. The most evident characteristic of the Apostolic Church was missionary zeal. Our Lord had commanded his apostles to preach the Gospel unto all nations, and woe unto them who neglected His command. When a missionary founded a new Church he would naturally use the rites with which he was familiar. The constant movement of Christians among the different Churches1 insured a fairly uniform general pattern. This pattern still forms the basis of all the ancient rites still in use today as is made clear in a description of the liturgy in the celebrated Apologia (explanation or justification) of St. Justin Martyr (d. about 164). All the elements of the traditional Roman Mass can easily be discerned in his account. Once the practice of writing down the liturgy had become established in the fourth century the more or less uniform pattern previously used crystallized into four parent rites from which all others are derived. The word “rite” can be used in two different senses. It can refer to the order of service for particular liturgical functions: we thus refer to the rite of Baptism, the rite of Mass, the rite for blessing palms. It can also refer to the entire complex of liturgical services of a particular religion: we speak of Jewish rites, Christian rites, Hindu rites. The Roman Rite in this sense refers to all the liturgical services used by Churches within the Roman Patriarchate. The term “liturgy” is also applied to a complex of services and so the terms “Roman Rite” and Roman Liturgy” are interchangeable.2 Three of the four rites derive from the three ancient patriarchates of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch which were recognized by the Council of Nicea (325). The jurisdiction of a patriarch extends over the territories adjoining his own see. Patriarchal jurisdiction includes the right of ordaining the metropolitans, i.e. bishops of the principal sees in the Patriarchate, trying them when accused, and hearing appeals against their judgments. Jerusalem and Constantinople were recognized as patriarchates by the Council of Chalcedon (451) but their liturgies were derived from that of Antioch. The prestige of the patriarchal sees resulted in their liturgies being gradually adopted by neighboring cities until they spread throughout the patriarchate. The principle that rite corresponds with patriarchate then evolved with one notable exception. Four “parent-rites” have been referred to but the fourth, the Gallican Rite, does not derive from a patriarchal see. The Pope was Patriarch of all Western (Latin) Europe, yet the greater part of the West did not use the Roman Rite. The North of Italy (whose center was Milan), Gaul, Germany, Spain, Britain,3 and Ireland, all had their own liturgies. These liturgies are all modifications of a common type and are referred to as the Gallican Rite. It is obviously Eastern in origin and may derive from Antioch, though this is disputed. In spreading over Western Europe the rite was subjected to local variations and adaptation. The history of the liturgy in the West from the sixth century onwards is that of the gradual supplanting of the Gallican by the Roman Rite but this was the work not of the popes but of the local bishops or monarchs who wished to conform to the use of the Apostolic See. From the fifth century onwards, liturgical traditions and customs were collected into books called Sacramentaries. A Sacramentary does not correspond with the modern Missal as it only contained those parts of the liturgy said by the priest at the altar, e.g. the Collects, Preface, Cannon, but not the readings or chants. The most important of these was the Gregorian Sacramentary, traditionally ascribed to Saint Gregory I. The oldest surviving copy is dated about 811 or 812. This Sacramentary provides the basis of the Missal of St. Pius V and fixed the liturgical calendar. In 785 or 786 Charlemagne obtained a copy of this Sacramentary from Pope Adrian I in order to obtain a more uniform liturgy within his empire. The Sacramentary was incomplete and did not include the ordinary Sunday Masses. Charlemagne entrusted his liturgical reform to the direction of an Anglo-Saxon, Alcuin of York (c. 735-804). Alcuin had the task of completing the Gregorian Sacramentary, which he did with Masses and prayers drawn from the Gallican sources. His Missal was made the official Mass book for the Frankish Church and spread throughout Europe. It was largely instrumental in achieving the high degree of uniformity which existed in pre-Reformation Europe. But although the Gallican liturgy was eventually supplanted by the Roman liturgy it was a Roman liturgy containing distinct Gallican elements. Father Fortescue writes: So we see that at the latest by the tenth or eleventh century the Roman Rite has driven out the Gallican except in two sees (Milan and Toledo), and is used alone throughout the West, thus at last verifying here too the principle that rite follows patriarchate. But in the long and gradual supplanting of the Gallican Rite the Roman was itself affected by its rival, so that when at last it emerges as sole possessor it is no longer the old pure Roman Rite, but has become the gallicanized Roman Use that we now follow. The Roman elements are sober, restrained and dignified while the Gallican elements are more exuberant and contribute the variety and emotion which play a vital role in bringing the Roman Mass as near to perfection as any earthly liturgy can be. During the pontificate of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), the Franciscans decided to adopt the Missal according to the Rite of the Roman Curia (Missale Romanum for short) and the wandering friars eventually carried it all over the world. It was soon the predominant Mass book in Christendom and paved the way for the reform of St. Pius V, even though there were still some developments to come, e. g. the prayers at the foot of the altar, the priest’s Offertory prayers, the Last Gospel. Pope Nicholas III (1277-1280) imposed a modified version of the Franciscan version of the Missal of the Curia upon the diocese of Rome and it is in all important respects the form found in the Missal of St. Pius V. The first printed Roman Missal was published in Milan in 1474; the Order of Mass is virtually identical to that contained in the Missal of 1570. The Protestant Reformation provided the stimulus for a liturgical reform which would have become necessary in any case. The exuberance of some local variations of the Roman Rite with their many sequences and all sorts of customs, some of them strange and eclectic had lasted long enough. But far more important was the need for a uniform and authoritative liturgical expression of Catholic Eucharistic teaching. This would provide a bastion of the true faith against the Protestant heresies which the Reformers had expressed in their new liturgies. As I have shown in Cranmer’s Godly Order, the Reformer’s gave liturgical expression to their heresies principally by removing prayers from the variants of the Roman Rite previously used in the local churches over which they had obtained control. The two particular Protestant bêtes noires were the Offertory Prayers and the Roman Canon. The Council of Trent codified Catholic Eucharistic teaching in clear but inspiring terms. This teaching must remain unmodified until the end of time: And so this Council teaches the true and genuine doctrine about this venerable and divine sacrament of the Eucharist -- the doctrine which the Catholic Church has always held and which She will hold until the end of the world, as She learned it from Christ Our Lord Himself, from His Apostles, and from the Holy Ghost, Who continually brings all truth to Her mind. The Council forbids all the faithful of Christ henceforth to believe, teach, or preach anything about the most Holy Eucharist that is different from what is explained and defined in the present decree. The Council decreed a reform of the Roman Rite and it appears not merely reasonable but obvious that it intended the reformed Missal to be invested with the same permanence as its doctrinal teaching. The Missal is, therefore, not simply a personal decree of the Sovereign Pontiff, but an act of the Council of Trent even though the Council closed on 4 December 1563 before the Commission finished its task. The matter was remitted to Pope Pius IV but he died before the work was concluded so that it was his successor, St. Pius V, who promulgated the Missal resulting from the Council with the Bull Quo Primum Tempore, July 14, 1570. Because the Missal is an act of the Council of Trent its official title is Missale Romanum ex decreto sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum (“The Roman Missal restored according to the decrees of the Holy Council of Trent”). This was the first time during the one thousand, five hundred and seventy years of the Church’s history that a Council or Pope had legislated on the subject of the liturgy. The Bull Quo Primum Tempore 1. Does not promulgate a new missal but consolidates and codifies (statuimus et ordinamus) the immemorial Roman Rite. 2. It extends its use throughout the Latin Church except: 3. For the rites having a continuous usage of over two hundred years, 4. And grants an indult to all priests to freely and lawfully use this Missal in perpetuity. 5. The Bull specifies minutely the persons, times, and places to which its provisions apply. 6.
The obligation is confirmed by express sanctions. Part 2 - The Bull Quo Primum and other subsequent papal texts. We give hereafter four major texts, (the first one complete, the other three, extracts only) in order to show the mind of the Magisterium in liturgical matters before Vatican II. It can be summed up in the words “Tradidi quod et accepi - I have passed on what I myself have received”(cf. I Cor. XI, 23). The difference between this pre-Vatican II conservative attitude and the new conciliar attitude of creativity, of inculturation, of evolution, which now exists in the Church is very clear. As it was said above, the primary characteristic of liturgical development until Vatican II was that legislation codified development, not that development was initiated by legislation. The first text is the famous Bull Quo Primum of 1570 with notes from a well-known French canonist. Less than 35 years later, Pope Clement VIII, in his Brief Cum Sanctissimum of 1604, calls everyone’s attention on the necessity to cling faithfully to Quo Primum. Another 30 years later, Urban VIII makes a new examination on the fidelity to observe the prescriptions of his predecessors. (We must always keep in mind that the Protestant reformation was in full bloom all the time.) Finally, St Pius X, in 1911, legislating on the Divine Office this time, takes nevertheless as his rule to walk in line with the three popes previously mentioned. How far have our modern liturgists gone from this attitude of respect towards the ancients! “(These popes) religiously kept this law: the heritage of our Fathers” (St. Pius X). a) The Bull Quo Primum Tempore, July 14th, 1570 Pius V, Pope Servant of the Servants of God ad perpetuam rei memoriam Upon Our elevation to the Apostolic throne We gladly turned Our mind and energies, and directed all Our thoughts, to the matter of preserving incorrupt the public worship of the Church; and We have striven, with God’s help, by every means in Our power to achieve that purpose. Whereas amongst other decrees of the Holy Council of Trent, We were charged with revision and re-issue of the sacred books, to wit the Catechism, the Missal and the Breviary; and whereas We have with God’s consent published a Catechism for the instruction of the faithful, and thoroughly revised the Breviary for the due performance of the Divine Office, We next, in order that Missal and Breviary might be in perfect harmony, as is right and proper (considering that it is altogether fitting that there should be in the Church only one appropriate manner of Psalmody and one sole rite of celebrating Mass), deemed it necessary to give Our immediate attention to what still remained to be done, namely the re-editing of the Missal with the least possible delay. We resolved accordingly to delegate this task to a select committee of scholars; and they, having at every stage of their work and with the utmost care collated the ancient codices in Our Vatican Library and reliable (original or amended) codices from elsewhere, and having also consulted the writing of ancient and approved authors who have bequeathed to us records relating to the said sacred rites, thus restored the Missal itself to the pristine form and rite of the holy Fathers. When this production had been subjected to close scrutiny and further amended We, after mature consideration, ordered the final result be forthwith printed and published in Rome, so that all may enjoy the fruits of this labor: that priests may know what prayers to use, and what rites and ceremonies they are to observe henceforward in the celebration of Masses. Now therefore, in order that all everywhere may adopt and observe what has been delivered to them by the Holy Roman Church, Mother and Mistress of the other churches, it shall be unlawful henceforth and for ever throughout the Christian world to sing or to read Masses according to any formula other than that of this Missal published by Us; this ordinance to apply to all churches and chapels, with or without cure of souls, patriarchal, collegiate and parochial, be they secular or belonging to any religious Order whether of men (including the military Orders) or of women, in which conventual Masses are or ought to be sung aloud in choir or read privately according to the rites and customs of the Roman Church; to apply moreover even if the said churches have been in any way exempted, whether by indult of the Apostolic See, by custom, by privilege, or even by oath or Apostolic confirmation, or have their rights and faculties guaranteed to them in any way whatsoever; saving only those in which the practice of saying Mass differently was granted over 200 years ago simultaneously with the Apostolic See’s institution and confirmation of the church, and those in which there has prevailed a similar custom followed continuously for a period of not less than 200 years; in which cases We in no wise rescind their prerogatives or customs aforesaid. Nevertheless, if this Missal which We have seen fit to publish be more agreeable to these last, We hereby permit them to celebrate Mass according to its rite, subject to the consent of their bishop or prelate, and of their whole Chapter, all else to the contrary notwithstanding.1 All other churches aforesaid are hereby denied the use of other missals, which are to be wholly and entirely rejected; and by this present Constitution, which shall have the force of law in perpetuity, We order and enjoin under pain of Our displeasure2 that nothing be added to Our newly published Missal, nothing omitted therefrom, and nothing whatsoever altered therein. We specifically command each and every patriarch, administrator and all other persons of whatsoever ecclesiastical dignity, be they even Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, or possessed of any other rank or pre-eminence, and We order them by virtue of holy obedience to sing or to read the Mass according to the rite and manner and norm herein laid down by Us, and henceforward to discontinue and utterly discard all other rubrics and rites of other missals, howsoever ancient, which they have been accustomed to follow, and not to presume3 in celebrating Mass to introduce any ceremonies or recite any prayers other than those contained in this Missal. Furthermore, by these presents and by virtue of Our Apostolic authority We give and grant in perpetuity4 that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely,5 without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used.6 Nor shall bishops, administrators, canons, chaplains and other secular priests, or religious of whatsoever Order or by whatsoever title designated, be obliged to celebrate Mass otherwise than enjoined by Us. We likewise order and declare7 that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal; and this present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law, notwithstanding8 previous constitutions or edicts of provincial or synodal councils, and notwithstanding the usage of the churches aforesaid, established by very long and even immemorial prescription, saving only usage of more than 200 years. Consequently it is Our will, and by the same authority We decree,9 that one month after publication of this Our Constitution and Missal, priests of the Roman Curia shall be obliged to sing or to read the Mass in accordance therewith; others south of the Alps, after three months; those who live beyond the Alps, after six months or as soon as the Missal becomes available for purchase. Furthermore, in order that the said Missal may be preserved incorrupt and kept free from defects and errors, the penalty for non-observance in the case of all printers resident in territory directly or indirectly subject to Ourselves and the Holy Roman Church shall be forfeiture of their books and a fine of 100 gold ducats payable ipso facto to the Apostolic Treasury. In the case of those resident in other parts of the world it shall be excommunication latae sententiae10 and other penalties at Our discretion; and by Our apostolic authority and the tenor of these presents We also decree that they must not dare or presume either to print or to publish or to sell or in any way to take delivery of such books without Our approval and consent, or without express permission of the Apostolic Commissary in the said parts appointed by Us for that purpose. Each of the said printers must receive from the aforementioned Commissary a standard Missal to serve as an exemplar for subsequent copies, which, when made, must be compared with the exemplar and agree faithfully therewith, varying in no wise from the first impression printed in Rome. But, since it would be difficult for this present simultaneously, We direct that it be as usual, posted and published at the doors of the Constitution to be transmitted to all parts of the world and to come to the notice of all concerned Basilica of the Prince of Apostles, at those of the Apostolic Chancery, and at the end of the Campo de’Fiori;11 moreover We direct that printed copies of the same, signed by a notary public and authenticated with the seal of an ecclesiastical dignitary, shall possess the same unqualified and indubitable validity everywhere and in every country that would attend the display there of Our present text. Accordingly, no one whosoever is permitted to infringe or rashly contravene this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, direction, grant, indult, declaration, will, decree and prohibition. Should any person venture to do so, let him understand that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at St. Peter’s, Rome, in the year of Our Lord’s Incarnation one thousand five hundred and seventy, on the fourteenth day of July in the fifth year of Our Pontificate. Translated by John Warrington b) The Brief Cum Sanctissimum, July 7th 1604 Clement VIII, Pope For an Everlasting Memorial SINCE THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT of the Eucharist by means of which Christ Our Lord has made us partakers of His Sacred Body, and ordained to stay with us unto the consummation of the world, is the greatest of all the Sacraments, and it is accomplished in the Holy Mass offered to God the Father for the sins of all the people, it is highly fitting that we who are in one body which is the Church and who share of the one Body of Christ, should use in this ineffable and awe-inspiring Sacrifice the same manner of celebration and the same ceremonial observance and rite. Not only have the Roman Pontiffs, Our Predecessors, always desired, and for a long time greatly striven to achieve, this aim, but above all Pope Pius V of happy memory undertook, in accordance with the decree of the Council of Trent, to bring the Roman Missal into conformity with the old and purer pattern and to have it printed in Rome. Although he very severely forbade under many penalties that anything should be added to it, or that anything for any reasonable removed from it, nevertheless, in the course of time, it has come to pass that, through the rashness and boldness of the printers, or of others, many errors have crept into the missals which have been produced in recent years. That very old (Latin) version of the Holy bible, which even before St. Jerome’s time was held in honor in the Church, and from which almost all the Introits, Graduals and Offertories of the Masses had been taken, has been entirely removed; the texts of the Epistles and Gospels, which hitherto were read during the celebration of the Mass, have been disturbed in many places; different and utterly unusual beginnings have been prefixed to the Gospel texts; and finally many things have been here and there arbitrarily altered. All these changes seem to have been introduced under the pretext of conforming everything to the standard of the Vulgate edition of the Holy Writ, as if it were allowable to anyone to do so on his own authority, and without the advice of the Apostolic See. Having considered these innovations, in Our pastoral solicitude which induces us to earnestly protect and preserve in everything and especially in the sacred rites of the Church the best and old norm, We have ordered in the first place that the above-mentioned printed Missals, so corrupted, be banned and declared null and void and that their use be disallowed in the celebration of the Mass, unless they be entirely and in everything emended according to the original text published under Pius V. We have also entrusted some of Our Venerable Brethren, Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, versed in Holy Writ and skilled in ecclesiastical antiquity, with the business of restoring the Missal to its primitive and purest form. In their loyalty to Us, and in their piety and devotion to the Church these Cardinals, employing also other learned men trained in ecclesiastical scholarship and having searched for, and diligently examined, old Missals and other books bearing upon the subject, have endeavored to restore the Roman Missal to its original purity and to confirm and attest the painstaking care and diligence of Pius V and of those appointed by him. c) The Brief Si Quid Est, September 2nd, 1634 Urban VIII, Pope For an Everlasting Memorial IF THERE IS ANYTHING DIVINE among man’s possessions which might excite the envy of the citizens of Heaven (could they ever be swayed by such a passion), this is undoubtedly the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by means of which men, having before their eyes and taking into their hands the very Creator of Heaven and earth, experience, while still on earth, a certain anticipation of Heaven. How keenly, then, must mortals strive to preserve and protect this inestimable privilege with all due worship and reverence and be ever on their guard lest their negligence offend the angels who vie with them in eager adoration! In view of this consideration, following in the footsteps of the Supreme Pontiffs, Our Predecessors, Pius V and Clement VIII, who undertook to review and restore more diligently the rite and prayers pertaining to the celebration of this sacred Mystery, We have ordered that these be again examined and that if by chance anything, as often happens, has been corrupted in the course of time, it shall be restored to its former standard. The rubrics which had been allowed to gradually degenerate from the old usage and rite, have been restored to their former pattern; those which did not seem to be easily intelligible to the readers have been more clearly stated; and moreover, having compared the pertinent texts with the Vulgate edition of Holy Writ, the differences which had crept into the Missal have been emended according to this standard and norm. Before granting this permission, the Inquisitors or the Ordinaries must very diligently compare the Missals to be printed, both before and after they have been printed, with the standard text revised by Our authority, and they must not allow anything to be added to, or removed from, it. In granting the original license, they must attest in their own handwriting that, having made the collation, the Missals are found to agree perfectly with the standard edition. This document must be printed always at the beginning or at the end of every Missal. d) The Apostolic Constitution Divino Afflatu, November 1st, 1911 Pius X, Pope Servant of the Servants of God For an Everlasting Memorial Our Predecessors, St. Pius V, Clement VIII and Urban VIII on revising the Roman Breviary, religiously kept this law, the heritage of our Fathers. Therefore, the Psalter must be recited in its entirety, unless because of changed circumstances this recitation be frequently impeded. (The whole document dwells on the Divine Office, the Breviary. The important element here for our purpose is the reference to and the work in continuity with the previous Popes: “...this law, the heritage of our Fathers.”) Part 3 - The Mass Itself We give in this section the precise or approximate date of the various parts of the Roman Rite, codified by St Pius V. St Gregory the Great proclaimed the practice “to imitate what is found as being the best in the usages of the various churches”. It is truly an historical monument, similar to an old monastery restored, enlarged many times in the course of history. A work of art, the pearl of great price, matured under the rays of Divine grace reaching it through the Magisterium, the Saints, the Martyrs. Our Mass is one, holy, Catholic and, we prove it here, apostolic. I - Mass of the Catechumens
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