Introduction to the Extraordinary Form
The primacy of the altar in our devotion to the most holy Eucharist must never be forgotten, as the distinguished theologian and liturgist, Canon A. Croegart, emphasises: “Without the eucharistic sacrifice, there would be no communion; without communion, there would be no reserved sacrament, nor any of the other forms of devotion connected with the worship of the reserved sacrament. Everything depends upon the altar, yet this order of importance is all too frequently ignored.” His conclusion is obvious, yet startling: “the altar is not an ornament of the church, but rather, the church is an architectural ornament housing and covering the altar. The jewel does not exist for the casket, but the casket is adapted to and serves the jewel.” (August Croegaert, The Mass, vol. 1.) Consequently, our attitude to the altar should reflect a respect for its essential character and sacredness. The altar should not be touched and nothing should be placed upon it, save those things required for the celebration of Mass, and then only by the celebrant and his ministers.
The Structure of the Latin Mass
What is this Rite of Mass? This is the Mass which was normally celebrated throughout the Western Church up until 1970. It has been referred to in several different ways (e.g. “the Traditional Latin Mass”, “the Old Mass” etc.), but is usually referred to as the Tridentine Mass, because the Roman Missal was first published by Pope Saint Pius V, at the specific request of the Fathers of the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century (the adjective Tridentine is derived from the name of the city of Trent). It is important to recall, however, that what Pius V published in 1570 was a Missal based upon the continuous liturgical practice of the Church since the time of Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the sixth century. Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum has referred to this Mass as an Extraordinary Form, or More Ancient Use of the Roman Rite.
Over the course of the centuries, organically, since the time of the Apostles, various prayers and ceremonies were added to the Roman Rite of Mass. Parts of it are very ancient: the Collects were composed before the fifth century and are believed to be the work of Popes Saint Damasus (366-84) and Leo the Great (440-461); the Canon of the Mass is believed to have been arranged, in part, by Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in the fourth century, but the Preface and Sanctus and the Anamnesis are much older, whilst the formula of Consecration is (as one would expect) the oldest of all. The sequence of readings (which differs from the three cycles of the New Order of Mass) was set by the ninth century (but in the main by the sixth), although parts of it probably were arranged by Saint Jerome (O.B. 420). The Lord’s Prayer and the Embolism which follows it, were set in place by Pope Saint Gregory the Great (590-604), although the use of the Lord’s Prayer goes back, of course, to the earliest days of the Church. Other prayers were added somewhat later: the Prayers at the foot of the altar (between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries); the Offertory Prayers (fourteenth century); the Beginning of the Gospel of John at the conclusion of Mass (sixteenth century, although in some places it had been recited centuries before this). The ceremonies of this Rite - as distinct from the prayers - are recognisable from the sixth century.
Until 1965, the Mass had been entirely in Latin, but after the Second Vatican Council (and even before it in Germany and certain other countries), vernacular language (according to the spoken language of each nation) was introduced into the Mass in stages. Significant structural changes and the complete use of the vernacular were introduced in 1970 with the publication of the New Order of Mass by Pope Paul VI.
In 1984, and again in 1988, Pope John Paul II issued decrees which entitled bishops to authorise the celebration of this form of the Latin Mass again in their dioceses and he established the Ecclesia Dei Commission as a reference point for bishops, priests and the faithful in their “rightful aspiration” for this ancient liturgy. Next