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Bishops gathering during the Second Vatican Council
The history of the Roman Catholic Mass: Part IV Guest Columnist Father Wilmer Todd
(This is the final installment of a series of articles on the history of the Roman Catholic Mass.) The 19th Ecumenical Council of Trent assembled in the city of Trent in Northern Italy for 25 sessions between 1545 and 1563. The Council issued key statements on the church’s doctrinal teachings, Scripture, sacred tradition, original sin, justification, salvation, the sacraments, the Mass, and the veneration of saints. The Council also reformed the inner life of the church by addressing the abuses that had developed in it. In 1565, Pope Pius IV issued the Tridentine Creed, clarifications on church doctrine. Pope Pius V issued the Roman Catechism in
1566 and revisions to the Breviary in 1568. In 1570, Pope Pius V promulgated the Tridentine Mass that remained the church’s only form of the Mass for the next 400 years. It replaced about 200 different forms of the Mass that sprung up during the middle ages. The Missal of Pope St. Pius V was developed from the Gregorian Sacramentary. Copies of all the ancient manuscripts of the Mass that we have today were not available to scholars at that time. The Pope Pius V Missal contains the Ordinary (texts that remain the same for each Mass) and the Proper (texts that change for different liturgical feasts). Two forms of Masses existed: The Solemn High Mass and the Low Mass. The High Mass was sung by a choir and was celebrated by a priest, deacon and sub-deacon. The priest celebrated the Low Mass in a low spoken voice and was assisted by altar servers. As Protestant services began to use the vernacular, Catholic liturgies remained in Latin to maintain Catholic identity. The celebration of the Eucharist emphasized the sacrificial element: The
18 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • February 2022
sacrifice that Jesus Christ offered once for all on the Cross is made present in the Mass. Outward signs like the use of bells, incense, and kneeling when receiving holy Communion became common practice. In 1914, Pope St. Pius X issued the document that encouraged the faithful’s active participation in the liturgy by frequent reception of holy Communion and congregational singing. He also encouraged the earlier reception of holy Communion given at the age of reason. He gave priority to Sunday Masses over the feast day of the Saints and published a revised Missal. In 1955, Pope Pius XII revised the rites for Holy Week to its present form today. The church’s 21st Ecumenical Council was called the 2nd Vatican Council because they held it in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The Council formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on Oct. 11, 1962, and closed under Pope Paul VI on Dec. 8, 1965. The liturgy was revised with the intention that the people would be active
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