Assist at mass - is this phrase modern in origin?

[puzzleannie]

this was the terminology in which I and my generation were instructed in parochial school about our duty to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation (pre 1960s), as in “duty to assist at Mass”. the post V2 admonition would be along the lines of “full and active participation at Mass”. Same thing.

 

[ProVobis]

the post V2 admonition would be along the lines of “full and active participation at Mass”. Same thing.

Maybe but consider this opinion:

…
Moreover, Pius XII’s encyclical is the first to give us the full Latin term for active participation: actuosa participatio. Again, note the wording: When translating the Italian partecipazione attiva into Latin, the normative language of the universal Church, the pope could have chosen activa as the adjective – but he did not. He speaks instead of actuosa participatio, which is better translated into English as “actual participation” (and here I must express my profound gratitude to Dr. Daniel Van Slyke for this insight). This phrase more clearly mirrors the profile of ideal liturgical participation as outlined by the supreme pontiffs than “active participation,” which can give the impression that the focus is on mere outer activity. In his essay “Active Participation and Pastoral Adaptation,” Alcuin Reid is quite right to describe true “active participation,” even that which involves complete bodily or vocal activity, as “essentially contemplative.”

Therefore, when the Second Vatican Council speaks of “fully conscious and active [actuosa] participation” in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (14; cf. 19, 21, 27, 30), it is not inventing a new idea but simply reaffirming the teaching of the popes. Indeed, adding the word “conscious” more directly highlights the centrality of deliberate, alert, and engaged attention, or what the ancients called contemplation. True, Vatican II wanted to see the congregation involved in the responses and singing (see no. 30), but it did so for the sake of this internal, actual participation, not as an end unto itself. Vatican II did not abolish papal teaching on actual participation; it presupposed them.
…

catholicity.com/commentary/mfoley/08548.html

 

[malphono]

Important to know that the English cognates (such as “assist” for “assistit”) aren’t always accurate. One of the reasons the Church has traditionally condemned the use of vernacular in the Mass and scripture.

The words “assist” and “attend” may be synonymous, but I think there’s a nuance involved here. In English, when one “assists” there’s a sense of some voluntary activity, where as when one “attends” it’s more of an involuntary thing. Let’s go back a few decades and think about school. Did we “assist” or “attend”? Let me see …

 

[ocleirbj]

I was told once that “to assist” came from some very literal translations of French devotional books from the 18th and 19th century, when there wasn’t that much written in English, so English-speaking Catholics translated works from other languages, especially French, because there was at least one seminary for English priests in France. In French, “assister” means “to attend”, as it does in Spanish [spelled a little differently]. After a while I think it just got to be familiar, and people used it as the ordinary term for being at Mass. Later still, after Vatican II et al., these books weren’t read much any more, so only older or more traditional Catholics have kept on using “assist” in its older sense. Now, younger people who aren’t familiar with traditional devotional literature think it’s a new word!

 

[Pug]

Quite welcome Pug, that page is the introduction.
Here are the Joyful Mysteries and meditations (I’ve not typed out the rest yet)

Thanks, At Trent. I enjoyed reading those, especially the Nativity.

 

[Pug]

I was told once that “to assist” came from some very literal translations of French devotional books from the 18th and 19th century, when there wasn’t that much written in English, so English-speaking Catholics translated works from other languages, especially French, because there was at least one seminary for English priests in France. In French, “assister” means “to attend”, as it does in Spanish [spelled a little differently]. After a while I think it just got to be familiar, and people used it as the ordinary term for being at Mass. Later still, after Vatican II et al., these books weren’t read much any more, so only older or more traditional Catholics have kept on using “assist” in its older sense. Now, younger people who aren’t familiar with traditional devotional literature think it’s a new word!

I have at least two things translated to English via the French, so your thoughts seem reasonable to me. That would explain the situation well.

Thanks to everyone for their (name removed by moderator)ut. I’m glad I made this thread. I feel better about the whole thing now.