The "Non-Roman" Latin Rites
Fr Joseph R Valentine FSSP
When we think, "Latin Mass", we usually think of the "Tridentine Rite" (aka "Extraordinary Form"), but in reality, the Latin Liturgical tradition is much bigger (and more complicated) than this. For one thing, the "Novus Ordo" - the Misale Romanum of 1970 can be celebrated in Latin, and if we look back in history, we find a marvelous variety in "Latin Masses"... all of them part of our Catholic liturgical tradition.
First
of all, what does "Tridentine" mean?
The term “Tridentine” Mass refers to the Council of
Trent (1545-63). Because ot the name, many people assume that our
Traditional Latin Mass was created at Trent, in much the same way that
the new Mass of Pope Paul VI was composed after Vatican II. This is not
the case.The Roman Missal was barely changed at all in the Tridentine Reform and most of it dates back at least to the time of St. Gregory the Great (circa AD 600).
So, what was the significance of Trent for the Mass? In the 16th Century, the Protestant revolt left the Church in disarray, so in order to help heal the divisions, the Fathers at Trent decided to make the Roman Missal -the “Mass of the Popes”- standard throughout the Latin Rite, replacing the “local” Missals that were in use in the various countries of Europe. Some of these local Latin Rites were of great antiquity, but as the Church struggled to unite behind the Popes, most of the Bishops chose to abandon their local rites and to show their solidarity with the Successors of St. Peter by adopting their ancient ‘Missale Romanum’. Now, let's take a look at some of the other unfamiliar versions of our familiar Latin Mass.
The
Gallican Rite
The Gallican Rite is the ancient Mass Liturgy
of the churches of France. It was once believed that this rite
was written by St. John the Evangelist and brought to (what is now)
France by St. Irenæus in the 2nd Century, but modern scholars
think it more likely that it grew out of the Romanized Celtic culture
of western Europe. The Gallican Liturgy was much more
“exuberant” than the Roman, full of complex ceremonies and
long poetic prayers (all in Latin, of course!). While the Roman
Canon is pretty much the same throughout the year, the Gallican
Eucharistic Prayer had many variable parts that changed according to
the season; very complicated, and very difficult for historians to
decipher from the few fragmentary Missals that are still in existence.The Gallican Mass was gradually replaced by the Roman Rite in the 9th Century after the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
Although the “French Rite” is completely extinct, it’s influences are still with us; The “Confiteor” seems to have originated in France, and the response, “Gloria tibi, Domine” before the Gospel is a direct import from the Gallican Rite into the Roman.
The
Mozarabic Rite
A close “relative” of the French Gallican
Rite, The Mozarabic Rite is the ancient Liturgy of the See of Toledo in
Spain. It appeared around 500 AD, and was once used throughout
what is now Spain and Portugal.In 1071, King Sancho of Aragon bowed to pressure from Rome and decreed that the old Spanish Rite was to be replaced by the Roman Missal. When the people objected to this change in their traditions, the king decided to wager the choice of Missals on a bullfight (!). Two bulls, one named “Rome” and the other “Toledo” were set to fight in the arena. Toledo won, but the king went back on his bet and imposed the Missale Romanum on his subjects anyway.
The old Rite continued to be used in the parts of Spain that were under Moslem control (hence the name “Mozarabic, which means “under Arab rule”), but when Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Moslems from Spain in 1492 they made the Roman Mass mandatory throughout the newly unified country.
Still, the “Catholic Monarchs” did not want the old Rite to disappear completely; they built a Mozarabic chapel in the Cathedral at Toledo where the ancient Liturgy is still celebrated (now only once a year).
In the Mozarabic Rite the Credo is recited after the Consecration while the priest holds the Host aloft for veneration; the blessing is given before Communion; and the Salve Regina is sung right before the Dismissal (“Ite missa est”).
The
Ambrosian Rite
The Ambrosian Rite of the ancient See of Milan is
named for St. Ambrose (+397 AD), the great bishop of that city, who
restored the Rite and removed the Arian errors put into it by his
heretical predecessors. Some scholars believe that the Ambrosian
Rite is a “Latinized” version of the French Gallican Rite;
others think it is an early version of the Roman Rite that was
preserved in Milan. Originally this Rite had it’s own
unique Eucharistic Prayer, but around the year 600, the Milanese
adopted the Roman Canon.This Rite was once used in a large part of Italy and parts of Switzerland (in the 15th Century it even turned up in a church in England!)
In the 9th Century the Emperor Charlemagne tried to suppress the Milan Rite, but the city’s bishop convinced him to put the issue to a supernatural “test”. An Ambrosian Missal and a Roman Missal were left overnight on the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica; in the morning both Missals were found open... a sign that God was equally pleased with both Masses.
After Vatican II, the Ambrosian Mass was only celebrated privately in Milan, but as part of the 2000 Jubilee, several High Masses in the Rite were allowed in Rome.
In the Ambrosian Rite the Kyrie comes after the Gloria, the Lavabo (washing of the priest’s hands) comes in the middle of the Canon right before the Consecration, and the Agnus Dei is only said in Requiem Masses.
The
Celtic Rite
The name “Celtic Rite” is given to the
Masses that were celebrated in England, Ireland, and Scotland from the
time of the first missionaries up until the Middle Ages.
Unfortunately no complete Missals from this Rite have survived and the
fragments that we do have present a confusing and contradictory picture.In the 19th Century, Anglican scholars tried to put these “pieces” together in a way that proved that British Christianity came, not from Rome, but from somewhere in the East such as Ephesus (the idea was to justify the Church of England’s separation from Rome by appealing to an “older” tradition), but this theory doesn’t hold up. The Celtic rite was, most likely, a mixture of parts of the Roman, Gallican, and other Western rites. The most complete fragment, the 8th Century Stowe Missal, reads like a rather eccentric version of the Roman Mass
The Celtic Rite began to be replaced by the English Sarum Rite around the year 900, and it had all but disappeared by 1200.
In the Stowe Missal, the words of Consecration are labeled, “The Most Dangerous Prayer”... a reminder to priests of the sort of care and reverence with which these sacred words should always be pronounced!
The
Sarum Rite
When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066,
he brought his own Norman bishops with him, including St. Osmund who
was established as Archbishop of Salisbury. It was he who
combined the French Gallican style of worship with the Anglo-Saxon and
Celtic traditions to form the Sarum Rite; the unique Mass of English
Catholics.The Sarum Rite was very similar to the Roman (some scholars claim that it should not be called a separate “rite” at all, but merely a local variation of the Roman Mass) with the addition of elaborate ceremonies and long poetic prayers borrowed from the French Church.
In the 16th Century when Henry VIII and Elizabeth I banned the Catholic religion, they naturally banned the Sarum Liturgy too. During the centuries of persecution, the underground English Catholic Church was kept alive by the work and sacrifices of the Jesuits and, since the Jesuits always used the Tridentine Missal exclusively, the Sarum Rite disappeared entirely (although, ironically, some of the unique Sarum prayers were preserved in the Protestant Anglican service books). In recent years, the Rite has been revived by a Western-Rite Orthodox monastery in Texas(!)
One unusual feature of the Sarum Mass is the Liturgical colors; The priests wore red vestments most of the Sundays of the year, dark blue during Advent, White during Lent, and yellow for feast days of Confessor saints.
Rites
Proper to Religious Orders
In addition to the various regional latin Rites, many
religious and monastic orders once had their own unique Missals
and ways of celebrating Mass. Among these were the Franciscans,
the Dominicans, the Carthusians, the Cistercians, and the Carmelites.These rites were all variations of the Roman Mass and differ very little from the Traditional Latin Rite as we know it. The differences were mostly things like the inclusion of the order’s founder or patron saint in the “Confiteor”, and proper Masses for feasts days not contained in the Roman Missal.
Some of these rites enshrined customs that once were a part of the Roman Mass, but which had changed over time. For example; in the Dominican Rite, the Hosts and Chalice are prepared in a separate ceremony before the Mass rather than at the Offertory... a custom which was once common in Rome (and is still practiced in the Byzantine Rite).
The rites of the various orders were recognized and allowed to continue after the Tridentine Reform, but most fell into disuse after Vatican II; Although Traditionalist priests who belong to these orders sometimes use these ancient rites today.
When
is a Latin Rite not a Latin Rite? When it’s Glagolitic!
The Glagolitic Rite is unique to the Catholics of
Croatia and Dalmatia. The Christians in this area have always found
themselves pulled back and forth between three Liturgical Traditions;
the Roman Rite, the Greek Rite of Constantinople and the Slavic/Russian
tradition. These churches have always remained in communion with Rome,
but by the 9th Century they had developed the custom of celebrating
Mass in the Roman Rite, but in Old Church Slavonic (the liturgical
language of the Slavs) rather than in Latin. Their Missals were written
using the ancient Glagolitic alphabet (an ‘ancestor’ of the
Slavonic and Cyrillic alphabets) which gives the rite it’s name.This rite has declined since Vatican II, but the Slavonic language and Glagolitic writing are still used in some churches in Croatia.
The Glagolitic Alphabet
