How was the Tridentine Mass of 500 years the Mass of the Ages? What about the previous 1500 years?
You have apparently not studied enough history. Please read
The Organic Development of the Liturgy by Dom Alcuin Reid; or go to
Liturgica.com and read about the history of liturgical development there.
The âTridentineâ Mass was nearly identical to the Roman Mass as celebrated 50 years before, and shockingly similar to the Roman Mass as celebrated for previous centuries. The Roman Canon was in existence by the late 4th century; and while the âApostolic Tradition of Hippolytusâ includes a Eucharistic Prayer, the author says it serves as a model, and is for use at the Mass in which a bishop is installed⌠but nowadays we hear Eucharistic Prayer II (which is based on the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus) almost all the time. Did you know that some of the members of the Consilium wished that this prayer would be used
without the Sanctus? That is rank archeologism and antiquarianism.
Sure, the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus might be
older than the Roman Canon, but it fell out of use. Perhaps it fell out of use because something better came along.
Sailka;4214894:
How are we shoulder to shoulder with the Priest in Tridentine? We only look at his back, non-participatingly, trying to find in English what he is praying so beautifully in Latin.
That is typical ignorant cliche. The person in the pew in front of me⌠I see only
his back⌠so maybe he should turn and face me? At
least during the liturgy of the Eucharist, it was the earliest tradition that everyone would face
east together (priest included!). Weâre not looking at his back, because weâre not looking at
his back, weâre looking at what is in front of him, what is coming from the East. We are gazing upon the Eucharist when he lifts it up for us to adore and worship.
And ânon-participatinglyâ? There is participation (and not just of the interior and sacramental kinds) in the
usus antiquior; it became more and more common to have âdialogueâ Masses, and the people were encouraged to take part in the Gregorian chants and responses of the ordinary of the Mass.
Vatican II called for a
continued education of the people, by their pastors, in Gregorian chant and Latin.
Read the Vatican II constitution on the liturgy.