Latin Rite

[CradleCath]

Christ celebrated the first Eucharist at the Last Supper. To call it a Mass would seem to be a misnomer, as the Early Church celebrated what we now call Mass or Divine Mysteries over two days - the Old Testament readings on the Sabbath, and the Eucharistic Meal on the First Day (Sunday). Gradually, as the followers of Christ were kicked out of more and more synagogues, and gradually as the New Testament was written, the day of readings and the day of Eucharist were combined into one on Sunday.

To say that the Mass as we have it started with the Last Supper then seems to be a bit of a stretch; unless one is referring only to the Consecration and the subsequent consumption of the Eucharist. And at that point, The Mass as well as the Divine Mysteries, and any and all other forms of the Eucharistic celebration all started in the same place and at the same time. But the form that we have in the Roman/Latin rite took some time to coalesce (as did the others).

This is true, as I said in my post…it took time. However, it didn’t take as much time as most people think. The early Christians called the Eucharistic Meal…the agape meal & you’re correct that at one time it took 2 days. However, by the middle of the first century, it had morphed into a one day affair.
Following the agapè meal, as at the Last Supper, the apostle, bishop or priest prayed several prayers in combination with the words of institution over bread and wine placed on a specially made and cleaned altar table; after which the Communion was received from their hands by all the faithful present. In the later half of the first century, especially after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, passages from the writings of the apostles were read and preached upon before the consecration of the bread and wine took place. Justin the Martyr records that, in his time, the rituals already were closely described.

Since Justin the Martyr was killed in 165AD., I think that we can assume that he’d seen the development of the Eucharistic Sacrifice into BOTH the Liturgy of the Eucharist & the Liturgy of the Word.

I’d call that the Mass.

 

[bpbasilphx]

\The Roman rite was then codified i.e. written in stone & became known as the Tridentine Mass. \

**And just what do you mean by “written in stone”?

Even if you mean this metaphorically, it’s a poor metaphor, because the Tridentine Mass was tinkered with CONSTANTLY since its promugation, most recently in 1961 or so.**

 

[otjm]

This is true, as I said in my post…it took time. However, it didn’t take as much time as most people think. The early Christians called the Eucharistic Meal…the agape meal & you’re correct that at one time it took 2 days. However, by the middle of the first century, it had morphed into a one day affair.
Following the agapè meal, as at the Last Supper, the apostle, bishop or priest prayed several prayers in combination with the words of institution over bread and wine placed on a specially made and cleaned altar table; after which the Communion was received from their hands by all the faithful present. In the later half of the first century, especially after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, passages from the writings of the apostles were read and preached upon before the consecration of the bread and wine took place. Justin the Martyr records that, in his time, the rituals already were closely described.

Since Justin the Martyr was killed in 165AD., I think that we can assume that he’d seen the development of the Eucharistic Sacrifice into BOTH the Liturgy of the Eucharist & the Liturgy of the Word.

I’d call that the Mass.

I would too. It would be interesting to see the development as East and West found their own directions.