As promulgated by Pope Pius V as decreed by the Council of Trent and regularly used by Roman Catholics before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
[NB: Click on the image titles for links to the Mass texts and additional images.]
Preparations for Mass
The immediate preparations for the celebration of the Mass involve the celebrant washing his hands and putting on the liturgical vestments, each action accompanied by an appropriate prayer. Usually this is undertaken in the sacristy, but some ordained clerics of higher rank may vest in the sanctuary before the altar.
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Opening Rites
The celebrant, accompanied by a least one server, enters the sanctuary and prays at the foot of the altar before approaching and reverencing it and then reads the words of the entrance chant (at Low Mass), prays for mercy, gives glory to God, and reads/prays the opening prayer of the Mass of the day (the Collect).
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Kyrie (& Gloria)
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Liturgy of the Word
The first reading or Epistle is usually taken from one of the apostolic letters; the second or Gospel is always taken from one of the four gospels; in between are chants usually consisting of the Gradual and Alleluia and a versicle, but which vary slightly depending on the liturgical season.
Although integral to the Mass, a Sermon (Homily) or reflection commenting on the readings usually was given only on the Lord’s Day. It was followed by the common profession of faith, the Creed, on Sundays and certain feast days.
(And, at an earlier era in the life of the Church, the catechumens were then dismissed.)
The Liturgy of the Word originally concluded with the General Prayer of the Church.
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Liturgy of the Eucharist – Offertory
The immediate preparations for the Eucharist sometimes involved a procession of the faithful bearing bread , wine, and other offerings to the celebrant; however usually the bread to be consecrated, the host, was carried by the celebrant, along with some of the utensils for the Mass, when he first entered the sanctuary. The wine to be consecrated was already previously placed at the side of the altar on the credence table.
The celebrant raised first the bread and then the wine in offering with suitable prayers, and in more solemn liturgies they were incensed. Then the celebrant, having washed his hands, petitions the congregation for their prayers and then concludes the offertory rites with a final prayer (the Secret).
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Liturgy of the Eucharist – Canon
After a brief introductory dialogue with the congregation, the celebrant solemnly prayed the Preface to the Canon, which was followed by the Sanctus and Benedictus. After a plea for acceptance of the offerings, a general intercessory prayer, and a memento of the living, the consecration of the bread and wine took place. Following, there were other prayers including a memento of the dead and the concluding doxologies.
Fr. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J., in his 1948 masterwork translated as, The Mass of the Roman Rite: It’s Origins and Development, called attention to “…the movement in the eucharistic teaching which led to a lessening regard for the oblation which we ourselves offer up and in which we offer ourselves as members of the Body of Christ, and a greater attention to the act of transubstantiation in which the divine omnipotence becomes operative in the midst of us, bringing Christ to us under the appearances of bread and wine. This theological movement left its mark in various additions and appendages to the eucharistic prayer…”
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Liturgy of the Eucharist – Communion
A common recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, the fraction of the Host and commingling, and preparatory prayers preceded the Communion itself. It was followed by some post-communion rites and prayer.
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Concluding Rites
After a prayer over the people, they were dismissed from the Mass. Later this was followed with a closing blessing and a Last Gospel reading (always the same, from the beginning of the Gospel according to John), and a final addendum of Prayers after Low Mas, before the recession of the celebrant and server (and any other clergy) from the sanctuary.
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[All the images are photographs taken by the author in 1957 at the main altar
of the chapel of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, in Yonkers, New York.
The celebrant was Fr. Alan Smidlein, M.M. and the server, James Fanning.]