Special
To understand Pope Francis’ decree on the Latin Mass we must know its history Guest Columnist Father Wilmer Todd
(This is part one of a series of articles on the history of the Roman Catholic Mass.) An interview on my phone featured a gentleman who was commenting on Pope Francis’ new instructions limiting the use of the Latin Mass. He said, “I prefer the English Mass, but we have to respect the Latin Mass because it is 1,500 years old.” I know he was not a historian, because Pope St. Pius V promulgated the Tridentine Mass in
1570 which is only 451 years ago. This made me think that many Catholics and others do not know the history of the Roman Catholic Mass. I would like to submit a brief history of the Mass. It all started at the Last Supper. Jesus was gathered with his followers for the Feast of the Passover. The Passover was a family celebration, so the apostles and their families who came to Jerusalem for the feast and those women St. Luke mentioned in his Gospel were probably in the Upper Room for the ritual. To think otherwise would be like someone at Thanksgiving announcing: “This year, we will only invite men for the Thanksgiving dinner.” During this family ritual, Jesus took bread, blessed, and broke it saying, “Take this all of you and eat it; for this is my Body that is broken for you.” Later he said, “Take this all of you and drink
24 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • September 2021
of it; for this is my blood that is poured out for you. Do this in memory of me.” The earliest account of the early church celebrating the Eucharist is found in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians written around 53-57 A.D.: “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Documents like the Didache (late 1st to early 2nd Century) show how the early Christians celebrated
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