Low Mass before the Council

[Pius_XII_1]

Can anyone who was around before Vatican II tell me how prominent Low Masses were on Sunday. I was talking to relatives of mine, and they only remember singing on Christmas and Easter. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems at ethnic churches, singing was more common, while at territorial churches, a simple Low Mass was the norm.

 

[Joannm]

Can anyone who was around before Vatican II tell me how prominent Low Masses were on Sunday. I was talking to relatives of mine, and they only remember singing on Christmas and Easter. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems at ethnic churches, singing was more common, while at territorial churches, a simple Low Mass was the norm.

Most parishes had only one high Mass on a Sunday and that was usually around noon. It was also not well attended becausing of the fasting laws. In all my 12 years of attending mass before the changes the only time I went to a high mass was Christmas midnight Mass. We did sing however at the school masse…3 hymns, but the Mass itself was not sung, not the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus etc.

 

[palmas85]

Can anyone who was around before Vatican II tell me how prominent Low Masses were on Sunday. I was talking to relatives of mine, and they only remember singing on Christmas and Easter. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems at ethnic churches, singing was more common, while at territorial churches, a simple Low Mass was the norm.

Most Masses were Low Masses at least that I remember. There was always at least one High Mass one on Sundays and Holy days. If you had more than one Mass on Holy Days such as Christmas etc, there would be several High Masses.

High Masses are not particularly easy to celebrate, speaking for the Celebrants and the servers that is. They are very ritualized and everything has to be done in a prescribed fashion. They took a lot longer as a general rule and were very spectacular to observe and to be involved in.

But it is true that most Masses in those days were Low Masses.

 

[John_Higgins]

Yes, it’s true most Masses were Low Masses. The Christmas and Easter Masses were usually divided up between High Masses and Solemn High Masses. In the SHM there were ordinarily three priests, one serving as celebrant and the other two as deacon and subdeacon. Of course if they had any real transitional deacons, they could use them too.

John

 

[Frosty]

In the parish where I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s we had three Masses on Sunday. The early Mass was a Low Mass [Missa Privatus] by which I mean a spoken Mass. The middle one was a Missa Cantata or Sung Mass with a choir. The third one was a Missa Solemnis Solemn High Mass]. On Holy Days, there was just the Low Mass and the Solemn High Mass. Most of the other larger parishes in the Archdiocese went by the same schedule. We had only one daily Mass but it was always a Sung Mass although the choir sometimes consisted only of the organist and one or two choir members.

 

[JuanCarlos]

My Grandma says that back then everyone tried to avoid the High Masses unless it was a special occasion- they said it was just too long!

 

[Claire_from_DE]

In the 1950’s in my Baltimore parish we had only one high mass on Sunday. We had 3 or 4 priests and several masses both in the church and the school auditorium including the children’s mass that the school children were required to attend. I remember that we sang hymns at the beginning and end of mass and after communion. After communion we often sang Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All which had very appropriate words. Holy God, We Praise Thy Name was popular at the end of mass.

 

[mlpt77]

. . . In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.

If there is no singing at the entrance, the antiphon in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector . . .

Similar options are given for singing at the Offertory and Communion. In practice, it is the fourth option — “a suitable liturgical song” — that is almost always employed. Note that this song must have official approval. In the Latin text of GIRM 48 it is clear that it is the text that must be approved, and that the approval is to come from the full conference of bishops. The option for approval by the diocesan bishop was added as an adaptation for the US. However, there is no real procedure or set policy for reviewing the texts of songs used in the liturgy.​

Cosmetic Surgery | Boob Job

 

[ProVobis]

My Grandma says that back then everyone tried to avoid the High Masses unless it was a special occasion- they said it was just too long!

And longer if it included the Asperges Me beforehand and the Benediction afterwards.