I recently found a fascinating artifact, a “People’s Mass Book” dated 1966, the year the transitional sacramentary came out in both English and Latin. It was the period when every so often a new piece of the mass would come out in the vernacular. In the Order of the Mass at the opening of the rite, I found this:
Priest: In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I will go to the altar of God.
People: To God who gives joy to my youth.
Priest: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
People: Who made Heaven and Earth.
Priest: I confess to almighty God….to pray to the Lord our God for me.
People: May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins and bring you to everlasting life.
Priest: Amen.
People: I confess to almighty God….to pray to the Lord our God for me.
Priest: May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins and bring you to everlasting life.
People: Amen.
Priest: May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution and remission of our sins.
People: Amen.
Priest: O God, you will give us life again.
People: And your people will rejoice in you.
Priest: Show us, O Lord, your kindness.
People: And grant us your salvation.
Priest: O Lord, here my prayer.
People: And let my cry come to you.
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.
Priest: Let us pray.
Priest: Lord have mercy…
These are the old prayers at the foot of the altar formerly said between the priest and a deacon. What I learned from this is that there was a period of time from 1966 when much of the old rite was still intact, but was said in the vernacular with the priest facing and in dialogue with the congregation. Fascinating!!
It is pretty amazing to note that the people actually pray over the priest in the opening dialogue. That actually strikes me as more “liberal” than the present rite. Perhaps that is, in part, why it was changed, though the literature generally attributes the change to the elimination of the a prayer said exclusively by the priest so that he now says the prayer with the congregation. Many, man prayers said by the priest alone in the old rite with either eliminated or cut down to a tiny fraction of what they had been in the old rite. (Saved for another post).
I am especially intrigued that there were intermediate steps in the reform which, if returned to, might actually satisfy many in the Church now miserable with the cheesyness in many of their parishes.
Could Benedict actually be pointing to an eventual middle way? I hope so. Most Catholics today would not be open to the EF every Sunday, but to have it partly in Latin and partly in the vernacular would solve so much of the present situation, in my humble opinion.
David Bennett
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March 17, 2008 at 12:55 am
I have a 1965 missal with just the mass you’ve described. I believe the monks at Clearwater (Clearcreek?) use the 1965 mass on occasion. They are, as far as I know, the only ones who do so.
March 17, 2008 at 4:31 am
Hey Rob,
It figures I would have an affinity for this mass. It was current when I was born (in the final months of the Council in 1965). I actually have a couple of memories from this mass from the age of five. One is that would used to say “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof.” My mother explained to me that mean receiving Communion–so I remember thinking it meant “under the roof of my mouth.” I also remember that the ladies all wore hats, the soldiers wore there dress uniforms (Dad was an Army officer) and we boys all wore coats and ties–even I at age 5.
I also remember having a hard time understanding the concept from the Sanctus, “Lord, God of Hosts.” I was sure it referred to the communion hosts. But Mom told me for sure it didn’t. And my last childhood misconception that I remember was “for our good and the good of all his Church,” which I was sure went like this, “for our good and the good of Falls Church,” a nearby town which I imagined was praying in their mass, “for our good and the good of Alexandria.” Again, my mother disabused me of this idea for a long time to no avail.
Isn’t it amazing how the people pray over the priest in these prayers at the foot of the altar? Seems uber modern to me. But, of course those prayers were not really written for the people, but for the deacon or server.
March 17, 2008 at 5:35 am
I share your hope in some of a retention of the N.O. & the EF. I hold to the idea of latin for the commons and english or (whatever) for the rest of it.
March 17, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I have always been very moved by the humility of the priest in the TLM. Time and again he prays forgiveness of God, begging that he be allowed to perform this rite in the name of the people, reciting again and again his unworthiness.
March 18, 2008 at 5:52 am
That is very interesting. One of the things I have commonly thought (in the last eight years since becoming Catholic) is that deacons sometimes seem little more than alter servers allowed to read the Gospel and give the homily. Of course I know it is not true because I know a lot about the Church but it seemed like an easy misconception to make. One of the things that seems fitting to me (IMHO) is to have some sort of a dialog like that between the priest and the deacon.
April 15, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Greetings all
I am currently trying to find missals used at the time of the Vatican council, notably using the 1966 edition or any other of the like. For use as reference as well as use at Mass. I am a traditional Catholic and am at current using missals prior to the changes made during this period: ie the lesseing of the prayers at the foot of the altar and the omision of the last Gospel.
It is proving difficult to aquire such texts here in South Africa, as there is no official tridentine mass parish established as of yet. I however attend Society of St. Pius X parish here in the Archdiocese.
If anyone can help or direct me as to where I might aquire such texts, I would greatly appreciate the effort.
In Christ and Our Good Mother
Mr.C.J.Montgomery B.A
April 15, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Calvin James,
Here I think you’ll love this link.
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/index.html