THE MASS OF 197O

Correctly celebrated (and that precondition is important), the revised mass is recognisably a version of the historic Roman rite. That statement will probably surprise many readers, but the fact is that the text of the Ordinary contains just four significant changes compared to the Roman missal of 1570 (see below).,  

Two come at  the beginnng and end of the mass, involving the deletion of items alread removed from the Easter Vigil mass during the 1950s. The new Opening Prayers are based on the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar but without Psalm 42, originally recited as a preparatory prayer in the sacristy, while the Last Gospel fulfilled a similar function after mass, leading to a particularly messy closing section. 

The third deletion was more substantial and from the core of the mass. However, while one may regret the removal of the beautiful Offertory Prayers, it is worth remembering that doing so restored the mass to its historic shape, and that for all ther beauty, they had never been said aloud, being imported directly as private prayers of the priest. 

The fourth change, the relegation of the historic 1500-year old Canon to the status of one of four (now more) possible Eucharistic Prayers was both puzzling and shocking. However, the Canon survives as Eucharistic Prayer I and all the EPs have the same shape, opening with the dialogue beginning ‘Lift up your hearts’, followed by the Preface ad Sanctus, and closing with the raising of the consecrated host and chalice, accompanied by the doxology, ‘through him, and with him, and in him ... 

The perception that the revised liturgy represented a completely new departure is the result in the first place of the inherent novelty of any liturgical change, as well as the use of the vernacular, especially given the style of the first translations, innovations such as celebration facing the congregation, and the degree of variation following the removal of the highly prescriptive rubrics which characterized the traditional mass and then of other factors complicating its reception, such as the worldwide crisis of  authority in of the late 1960s.. 

For more on these complicating factors, see  GETTING IT RIGHT and the page on the sucessive TRANSLATIONS of he m

OPENING RITES

1. The ENTRANCE ANTIPHON (INTROIT) is said or sung and can be replaced by a hymn.                                                             

The priest goes to the centre of the altar, kisses it, and then takes his place standing next to his seat, to one side of the altar

2. All make the sign of the cross:  

P. ‘In the name of the Father... ‘ etc/ R ‘Amen’                                                                                                       

 P. ‘The Lord be with you /R And with your Spirit’ (two alternatives available)

3.  Penitential act:

P. Calls upon the congregation to join him in acknowledging their sins:                                                                                                Priest and people: ‘I confess to almighty God etc’ (two alternatives

4. Absolution                                                                                                                                                                                 

 P. ‘May almighty God ...  etc’/R Amen                                                                                                                                           

 5. Kyrie*: ‘Lord have mercy’ etc (Priest/people)

*If not already said or sung as one of the alternative prayers in the penitential rite

[From time to time’ on Sundays, especially in Eastertide, the sprinkling of the congregation with holy water in memory of our baptism can replace the penitential prayers.]

IN PLACE OF THE OFFERTORY

A hymn may  be sung, to accommodate which the two Preparatory prayers which follow are said quietly:                        

1, Standing at the centre of the altar, the priest raises the paten and bread, saying ‘Blessed are you, Lord God … .it will become for us the bread of life..’R. ‘Blessed be God forever’.                                                               

2. Then the formula is repeated, this time as the chalice is raised:                                                                                                    P. ‘... It will become our spiritual drink’ /R. ‘Blessed be God forever’.                                                                   

Between these prayers, while pouring a little wine into the chalice, he says quietly:                                                 

4. ‘By the mystery of this bread and wine ...’, then bows down, saying silently the prayer: ‘With a humble spirit ... ‘(These are all that remain of the deleted offertory)

5..  He then goes to the side of the altar and washes his hands, while praying quietly that he may be cleansd from sn.

THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER:                                                                                                                                          

Eucharistic Prayer I is the historic CANON. There are three other EPs, newly composed in the 1970s, drawing on parts of different ancient liturgies, and on the Canon itself. They have been available as Eucharistic Prayers II to IV since the approval in 1969 of the new missal, and there are a further six in an appendix to the latest edition of 2010. All the EPs include the same words of Consecration as the Roman Canon and close with the celebrant in the centre of the altar, raising the consecrated elements, and saying or chanting; 

‘Through him, and with him, and in him  … for ever and ever’ /R  Amen

CLOSING RITES

                                                                                                                                                                                                           1. P. ‘The Lord be with you’ /R ‘And with your spirit’  

2. Blessing:  

P. ‘May almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ /R. Amen 

All make the sign of the cross                                                                          

3. Dismissal:

P  ‘Go forth, the mass is ended’. /R. ‘Thanks be to God’                                                                                                                        

(three formulas for the dismissal available, the response to each is the same)