MASS HISTORY

The Mass Is the Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of his life that He gave for us, made once and for all on the hill of Calvary, outside of Jerusalem, around the year 30. The Mass that we participate in, as Catholic Christians, is the same sacrifice, now made present to us, today. When we attend Mass, we obey the command of Jesus at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me.” And from that first Easter Sunday night, the disciples of Jesus would meet, once a week, on a Sunday, to do what Jesus had done. In imitation of his actions at the Last Supper, the priest, who acts in the person of Jesus, takes bread, says a blessing, breaks the bread, and gives it to us for Communion. In the same manner, the priest takes the cup of wine, says a blessing, and gives it to us to take.

The Mass Has Been the Central Prayer of the People of God, the Church, for almost two thousand years. Since the time of the Last Supper, Christians have been asked to gather together once a week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as commanded by Jesus. The language of the Mass, originally celebrated by Jesus and the Apostles, was Aramaic. Then later the prayers of the Mass were in Greek, and later in many other languages of the ancient world: Syriac, Coptic, Latin, etc. Today Mass is celebrated in all the languages of the world either in the Western Church or in the Eastern (Orthodox and United) Church.

Throughout the History of Christianity the format and prayers that have been used for the Mass have changed and evolved, from Masses in the homes of the early Christians (with everyone sitting or reclining at tables) to the Masses in the larger buildings of ancient
Rome called basilicas. For many years, the language of the Mass was Greek, and from the end of the 300's, and throughout the 400's, parts of the Mass were read in Latin, which was the common language of the people of the time.

With More and More Persons Participating in the Mass, there was no longer any room in the home, even larger homes, so after the emperor Constantine gave Christians the right to practice their religion publicly, the emperor or others built buildings made for the larger gatherings. The churches of the time had no pews – everyone stood for the whole Mass. There was a stone bench at one end, called the apse, where the bishop and other priests sat. The bishop would preach, sitting down, from this bench. There were no electronic sound systems at the time, so a rounded wall in the apse, provided natural sound amplification.

The Mass Began with Readings from the Hebrew Scriptures (now called the Old Testament) and then other readings from the letters of Paul or the other apostles. The bishop, or presiding priest, would comment on the readings, applying the message of the readings to Christian life. This was called the homily. Bread, wine and water were brought in, and the bishop or presiding priest prayed a Prayer of Thanksgiving, asking God to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. People came to Communion standing, with hands outstretched, and received the Sacred Host in their hands, and then drank from the chalice. At the end of the Mass, another prayer was prayed, and the congregation was dismissed.

The Second Vatican Council was a gathering of Catholic bishops from all over the world held in Rome during four sessions, in the fall of 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965. Over 3,000 bishops, heads of religious orders, and other church leaders took part. The First Work of Renewal assigned to the bishops of the Vatican Council by Pope John 23rd was the renewal of the sacred liturgy – the Mass and other sacraments. Within a year after the document was promulgated by the Pope, by 1964, Catholics around the world began to participate in the Mass in a more meaningful, more communal way. The ceremonies of the Sacred Sacrifice of the Mass were simplified so that the basic structure of the Mass - Liturgy of the Word, and Liturgy of the Eucharist were more easily visible and understood. Prior to This Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy, as a result of the events of more than a thousand years, some of the meaning of the Mass had become hidden by many added ceremonies and duplications that obscured the original intent of Jesus’ command “Do this in memory of me.” The main purpose of the change was for the pastoral benefit of the Catholic people. The goal, first encouraged by Pope Pius 10th in 1903, was the greater participation of those who attended the Mass. At certain times in the Mass, the priest and people exchanged a dialogue of prayer and praise to God. Before 1964, when people attended Mass, they often were simply spectators to the Mass, and passed time by praying their own private prayers and devotions. Now after 1964 the Prayers by the Priest were said aloud, and the people responded enthusiastically, with devotion -- “The Lord be with you!” “And with your spirit” “Lift up your hearts!” “We lift them up to the Lord!” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!” “It is right to give him thanks and praise!” In the first 5 or 6 years after 1964, the words of the people’s response actually was closer to Latin than it later became. But in 1969-1970, the response “And with your spirit”, was changed to “And also with you.” As of this Advent, 2011, the original response will return and will more closely match the Latin – “And with your spirit!” We will explain in another week why the word spirit is a more rich, biblical response than “And also with you.”

The Mass – The Bishops of the Second Vatican Council, together with the Pope, issued its first decree on the 4th of December, 1963. The title of the decree, Sacrosanctum Concilium, is a description of what the meeting of over 3,000 bishops was about – to begin to give Catholics in the 20th century an added stimulus for proper worship of God. Also, it wanted to adapt more closely to the needs of our own age those ceremonies of the sacred liturgy which needed to be revised. The ultimate goal was to call all human beings into a knowledge of God that leads to greater love and service. In the process, the hope was to gather all who believe in Christ into a greater expression of unity. The Council Said: “For it is the liturgy (Mass and Sacraments) through which, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, the work of our redemption is accomplished. And it is through the liturgy, especially, that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the Church.” “The Church Is Essentially Both Human And Divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, present in the world, but walking as a pilgrim with other human beings, so constituted that the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, searching for that divine city, heaven, which is to come.” The Liturgy Builds Up The People of God, who are part of the Church, who are the Church, into a holy temple of the Lord, where God and his Holy Spirit live. The Council tells us in the same document: “God wills that every person be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they might preach the Gospel to every creature, and proclaim that the Son of God by his death and resurrection has freed us from the power of Satan and from death, and has brought us into the kingdom of his Father. In The Revised Lectionary of The Mass, issued after the Council, the Word of God in the Bible was opened up far more, for all the faithful to hear and to be instructed. Each weekend Mass now has three readings from the Bible, instead of two, as previous to 1970. On almost every weekend of the year, the first reading is taken from the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Old Testament. The second reading is taken from the letters or epistles of Saint Paul, or one of the other apostles. Lastly, the third reading, read by a priest or deacon, is taken from one of the four Gospels. These readings are spread out over a period of three years in cycles A, B, and C. Therefore, If You Attend Mass every Sunday or weekend for three years, you will hear a good part (though not all) of the whole Bible. If you attend Mass every weekday Mon.-Sat.) for two years, and the Sunday or weekend Masses, you will hear read almost the whole Bible. Isn’t it wonderful that we can hear the Scriptures in this way, and appreciate more fully the Revelation of God to us through his Holy Word!

The Mass – The Second Vatican Council was a gathering of Catholic bishops from all over the world held in Rome during four sessions, in the fall of 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965. Over 3,000 bishops, heads of religious orders, and other church leaders took part.
The First Work Of Renewal assigned to the bishops of the Vatican Council by Pope John 23rd was the renewal of the sacred liturgy – the Mass and other sacraments. Within a year after the document was promulgated by the Pope, by 1964, Catholics around the world began to participate in the Mass in a more meaningful, more communal way. The ceremonies of the Sacred Sacrifice of the Mass were simplified so that the basic structure of the Mass - Liturgy of the Word, and Liturgy of the Eucharist were more easily visible and understood.
Prior To This Renewal Of The Sacred Liturgy, as a result of the events of more than a thousand years, some of the meaning of the Mass had become hidden by many added ceremonies and duplications that obscured the original intent of Jesus’ command, “Do this in memory of me.” The main purpose of the change was for the pastoral benefit of the Catholic people. The goal, first encouraged by Pope Pius 10th in 1903, was the greater participation of those who attended the Mass. At certain times in the Mass, the priest and people exchanged a dialogue of prayer and praise to God. Before 1964, when people attended Mass, they often were simply spectators to the Mass, and passed time by praying their own private prayers and devotions. Now After 1964 The Prayers By The Priest were said aloud, and the people responded enthusiastically, with devotion -- “The Lord be with you!” “And with your spirit” “Lift up your hearts!” “We lift them up to the Lord!” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!” “It is right to give him thanks and praise!” In the first 5 or 6 years after 1964, the words of the people’s response actually was closer to Latin than it later became. But in 1969-1970, the response “And with your spirit”, was changed to “And also with you.” As of this Advent, 2011, the original response will return and will more closely match the Latin – “And with your spirit!”

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