What are all these differnt types of Masses?

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Please do not laugh, I am being very ernest–

This forum is constantly referring to all of these different types of masses. I have attended Catholic masses my entire life, at a host of different churches, in a variety of states (USA).

They all seem to be more or less the exact same format.

What do these the following mean?

Novus Ordo,
Tridentine,
SSPX,
Latin Rite
Any Other Type I’ve Missed

Can some one illuminate what all this means? I am coming at it from the perspective of being raised Catholic in a non-practicing/non-educating family. I know some masses are said in latin, but was under the impression that the form (meaning prayers, order of mass, etc) was universal.

I want to be able to follow the discussions here-- but everything is abbreviated and I need an answer key! 🙂
 
yellowdaisy said:
Please do not laugh, I am being very ernest–

This forum is constantly referring to all of these different types of masses. I have attended Catholic masses my entire life, at a host of different churches, in a variety of states (USA).

They all seem to be more or less the exact same format.

What do these the following mean?

Novus Ordo,
Tridentine,
SSPX,
Latin Rite
Any Other Type I’ve Missed

Can some one illuminate what all this means? I am coming at it from the perspective of being raised Catholic in a non-practicing/non-educating family. I know some masses are said in latin, but was under the impression that the form (meaning prayers, order of mass, etc) was universal.

I want to be able to follow the discussions here-- but everything is abbreviated and I need an answer key! 🙂
Click to expand...
Novus Ordo, properly called today The Ordinary Form, is the Mass of Paul VI, the one which is celebrated in most parishes today.

The Tridentine Mass is the Mass that was celebrated prior to 1964. Properly known as the Extraordinary Form. It’s the Mass celebrated by the SSPX, (Society of St. Pius X) who refuse to celebrate the Ordinary Form, in fact they feel it’s invalid.

“Latin Rite” is usually used, wrongly, to refer to the Extraordinary Form sometimes in the mistaken belief that the Ordinary Form is not celebrated in Latin. Latin is the language of both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form of the Mass but the Ordinary Form may be celebrated in part or in full in the language of the people with the priest facing the people or facing liturgical east while the Extraordinary Form may only be celebrated in Latin and with everyone facing liturgical east.
 
Pope Benedict XVI has allowed two forms of the Mass to be said in general, the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form. The Ordinary Form is called the Novus Ordo in some circles and is what you are probably most accustomed to. The Tridentine Mass is what the Pope calls the Extraordinary Form. If you are not aware, the Extraordinary Form is what was said in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church for many centuries with very little adaptation. This Mass is said entirely in Latin with the Priest facing in the direction of the people and follows a missal from 1962. This Mass is very different than what you are used to.

The SSPX are in talks with the Vatican in order for them to be welcomed back. They are in schism with the Church and it would be best to avoid them until they are welcomed back into the Church. They fell out of favor with the Vatican after many disputes over Vatican II and its changes. Please pray for their reunion.

The Latin Rite is what the majority of Catholics are. Many people do not realize that there are over 20 Rites in the Church. Other Catholic Rites are FULLY CATHOLIC and are to be treated as such. They have unique traditions in their liturgy and etc.
 
Most people are not aware that the “Catholic Church” is actually comprised of twenty-three independent Catholic Churches, all in union with the pope. The Western, or Latin Catholic Church, is so large, however, that many people, even Catholics, are completely unaware of the other twenty-two churches, which make up the Eastern Branch. (Some have from only a few thousand members to a few million.)

Originally, there was only one denomination… the Catholic Church (the word Catholic meaning “universal”). However, there were five cities that early on were singled out as being important centers of Christianity. They were Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and of course, Rome. Each developed its own unique traditions and liturgy, but ALL shared a common theology and were in communion with each other and the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. However, about 1000 years ago, due to a variety of unfortunate problems, the other four cities, allied with the Byzantine Empire, mutually broke off from Rome, forming the various Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although doctrinally, they are virtually identical to Catholics, they refuse to acknowledge that the pope is more than a “first among equals”. (A couple groups broke of much earlier in the 400s AD also, to form what are known as the Oriental Orthodox Churches).

What has happened is that over time, some portions of each of the various Orthodox groups have decided to reconcile with the Catholic Church and come back into communion with Rome. When they do, they are allowed to keep all of their traditions and much of their independence, although they acknowledge the authority of the Pope. They become truly Catholic, in that anyone from ANY branch of the Catholic Church can participate in the liturgy and ceremonies of any OTHER branch of the Catholic Church. The only two Eastern groups that never fell out of communion with the Catholic Church were the Maronite Catholic Church, and the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. So… for every branch of the Orthodox Churches that are NOT in communion with Rome, there is a corresponding and virtually identical branch of the Eastern Catholic Church that IS in communion with Rome. Since their customs and liturgies date from before the Council of Trent, they are allowed to remain.

The following liturgies are used by the Eastern Catholic Churches:
  • The Liturgy of St. Basil
  • The Chaldean Mass
  • The Order of the Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints Gregory the Theologian (or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts)
  • The Liturgy of St. James
  • The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
  • The Liturgy of St. Mark
  • The Holy Qorbono
(Here’s a link that contains the text of each of these liturgies. It’s the equivalent of the Order of the Mass in the Latin Rite.):
faswebdesign.com/ECPA/Worship/overview.html

Here is a listing that includes EACH of the twenty-three Catholic Churches in union with the Pope. Do not confuse “churches” with “rites”. A rite is a series of traditions, that includes different customs and liturgies. Several different churches may use the exact same rite. A Church has its own rules and separate line of authority to the Pope. It may also have a figure in charge, like a Metropolitan or a Patriarch (like an Archbishop), since these churches are generally very small and work very hard to preserve their unique traditions. The major rites are the Latin, Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian, Chaldean, and Byzantine.

continued…
 
**The Western (Latin) Catholic Church

Latin liturgical tradition**
  1. Ordinary Form (This is the form of the Mass that you will find in virtually every Latin Catholic Church almost every day of the week. This Mass has existed since the mid-1960s, ever since reforms were made following the Second Vatican Council. It is sometimes referred to as the “Novus Ordo” Mass)
  2. Extraordinary Form (This is the form of the Mass that was used in virtually every Latin Catholic Church from the Middle Ages until the mid-1960s. It may still be said in Catholic Churches should a priest choose to use it. Some of the differences from the Ordinary Form include the exclusive use of the Latin language (except for the homily), the receipt of Communion exclusively on the tongue and kneeling, the priest facing the same direction as the people (toward the altar and God) so he can lead the people in prayer, no lay participation on the altar, and usually, no responses by lay people. Other names for this form include the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and the Tridentine Mass.)
  3. Ambrosian Rite (Only permitted in the Archdiocese of Milan)
  4. Mozarabic Rite (Only permitted in the Cathedral of Toledo, Spain and a few surrounding churches of the diocese)
  5. Bragan Rite (Only permitted in the Archdiocese of Braga, Portugal)
  6. Anglican-Use Mass (This form was once only permitted in the extremely rare circumstance in which an Anglican priest converted to Catholicism and brings his entire parish with him. In that event, a parish could continue to use the Anglican liturgy, with corrections to make it conform with Catholic teachings. It was originally meant as a transitional liturgy, and upon the death of the pastor, the church would revert to the Ordinary Form. With the recent provisions announced by the Vatican to allow Anglicans into the Catholic Church and keep their traditions, it seems that the Anglican-Use will now become both far more widespread AND permanent.)
**Rites of Religious Orders **
  1. Dominican Rite
  2. Carthusian Rite
  3. Carmelite Rite
  4. Cisternian Rite
Note: Technically, the forms of the Latin liturgy listed above are NOT different rites, but variations of the SAME rite, although people do tend to commonly use the term somewhat erroneously in this context. The differences between the Latin “rites” are FAR less than those between the Latin liturgy and any of the Eastern Rites.)
**
The Eastern Catholic Churches
  1. Alexandrian liturgical tradition**
  2. Coptic Catholic Church (patriarchate): Egypt (1741)
  3. Ethiopian Catholic Church (metropolia): Ethiopia, Eritrea (1846)
    2. Antiochian (Antiochene or West-Syrian) liturgical tradition
  4. Maronite Church (patriarchate): Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Argentina, Brazil, United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico (union re-affirmed 1182)
  5. Syriac Catholic Church (patriarchate): Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, United States and Canada, Venezuela (1781)
  6. Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (major archiepiscopate): India, United States (1930)
    3. Armenian liturgical tradition:
  7. Armenian Catholic Church (patriarchate): Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Ukraine, France, Greece, Latin America, Argentina, Romania, United States, Canada, Eastern Europe (1742)
    4. Chaldean or East Syrian liturgical tradition:
  8. Chaldean Catholic Church (patriarchate): Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, United States (1692)
  9. Syro-Malabar Church (major archiepiscopate): India, Middle East, Europe and America.
    5. Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition:
  10. Albanian Greek Catholic Church (apostolic administration): Albania (1628)
  11. Belarusian Greek Catholic Church (no established hierarchy at present): Belarus (1596)
  12. Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church (apostolic exarchate): Bulgaria (1861)
  13. Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Križevci (an eparchy and an apostolic exarchate): Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (1611)
  14. Greek Byzantine Catholic Church (two apostolic exarchates): Greece, Turkey (1829)
  15. Hungarian Greek Catholic Church (an eparchy and an apostolic exarchate): Hungary (1646)
  16. Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (two eparchies and a territorial abbacy): Italy (Never separated)
  17. Macedonian Greek Catholic Church (an apostolic exarchate): Republic of Macedonia (1918)
  18. Melkite Greek Catholic Church (patriarchate): Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Jerusalem, Brazil, United States, Canada, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt and Sudan, Kuwait, Australia, Venezuela, Argentina (1726)
  19. Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic (major archiepiscopate): Romania, United States (1697)
  20. Russian Catholic Church: (two apostolic exarchates, at present with no published hierarchs): Russia, China (1905); currently about 20 parishes and communities scattered around the world, including five in Russia itself, answering to bishops of other jurisdictions
  21. Ruthenian Catholic Church (a sui juris metropolia, an eparchy, and an apostolic exarchate): United States, Ukraine, Czech Republic (1646)
  22. Slovak Greek Catholic Church (metropolia): Slovak Republic, Canada (1646)
  23. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (major archiepiscopate): Ukraine, Poland, United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Germany and Scandinavia, France, Brazil, Argentina (1595)
 
Rolltide said:
Most people are not aware that the “Catholic Church” is actually comprised of twenty-three independent Catholic Churches, all in union with the pope. The Western, or Latin Catholic Church, is so large, however, that many people, even Catholics, are completely unaware of the other twenty-two churches, which make up the Eastern Branch. (Some have from only a few thousand members to a few million.)

Originally, there was only one denomination… the Catholic Church (the word Catholic meaning “universal”). However, there were five cities that early on were singled out as being important centers of Christianity. They were Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and of course, Rome. Each developed its own unique traditions and liturgy, but ALL shared a common theology and were in communion with each other and the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. However, about 1000 years ago, due to a variety of unfortunate problems, the other four cities, allied with the Byzantine Empire, mutually broke off from Rome, forming the various Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although doctrinally, they are virtually identical to Catholics, they refuse to acknowledge that the pope is more than a “first among equals”. (A couple groups broke of much earlier in the 400s AD also, to form what are known as the Oriental Orthodox Churches).

What has happened is that over time, some portions of each of the various Orthodox groups have decided to reconcile with the Catholic Church and come back into communion with Rome. When they do, they are allowed to keep all of their traditions and much of their independence, although they acknowledge the authority of the Pope. They become truly Catholic, in that anyone from ANY branch of the Catholic Church can participate in the liturgy and ceremonies of any OTHER branch of the Catholic Church. The only two Eastern groups that never fell out of communion with the Catholic Church were the Maronite Catholic Church, and the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. So… for every branch of the Orthodox Churches that are NOT in communion with Rome, there is a corresponding and virtually identical branch of the Eastern Catholic Church that IS in communion with Rome. Since their customs and liturgies date from before the Council of Trent, they are allowed to remain.

The following liturgies are used by the Eastern Catholic Churches:
  • The Liturgy of St. Basil
  • The Chaldean Mass
  • The Order of the Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints Gregory the Theologian (or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts)
  • The Liturgy of St. James
  • The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
  • The Liturgy of St. Mark
  • The Holy Qorbono
(Here’s a link that contains the text of each of these liturgies. It’s the equivalent of the Order of the Mass in the Latin Rite.):
faswebdesign.com/ECPA/Worship/overview.html

Here is a listing that includes EACH of the twenty-three Catholic Churches in union with the Pope. Do not confuse “churches” with “rites”. A rite is a series of traditions, that includes different customs and liturgies. Several different churches may use the exact same rite. A Church has its own rules and separate line of authority to the Pope. It may also have a figure in charge, like a Metropolitan or a Patriarch (like an Archbishop), since these churches are generally very small and work very hard to preserve their unique traditions. The major rites are the Latin, Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian, Chaldean, and Byzantine.

continued…
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Many thanks for everyone for the (name removed by moderator)uts on Catholic Liturgies. I went to my Roman Latin Rite Novus Ordo Mass Vigil (Resurrection, Fort Myers, FL) this past Saturday evening fufilling Mass obligation. Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m., I attended a Byzantine Rite Mass (All Saints Byzantine, North Fort Myers,FL). It was such an extraordinary experience learning the liturgy and participating with our Byzantine Rite brothers and sisters during this Mass originating around 300’s A.D. This Rite returned in union with Rome in 1646. At this Mass seeing the flag of the Vatican and the priest in prayer proclaiming “Benedict our Pope” even futher enhanced our unified experience. I will remain in Roman Latin Rite and many thanks and appreciation to our Byzantine Rite brothers and sisters in union with Pope Benedict XVI.
 
So how do you know if a church you are attending has an SSPX mass?

I have other questions, but this one just popped into my head while I was wading through the responses-- many MANY thanks to everybody who responded!
 
yellowdaisy said:
So how do you know if a church you are attending has an SSPX mass?

I have other questions, but this one just popped into my head while I was wading through the responses-- many MANY thanks to everybody who responded!
Click to expand...
FSSP and Institute of Christ the King are two groups who charism is the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

Contact your diocese or go to masstimes.org in order to find if this mass is licit.

Best Wishes.
 
yellowdaisy said:
So how do you know if a church you are attending has an SSPX mass?
Click to expand...
Any TLM /“Extraordinary Form” masses listed on your diocese’s website will be OK to attend. The SSPX is currently in talks which may (hopefully) lead to their regularization with the Holy See, but for now, an SSPX chapel and their mass times will not be listed on the diocesan website.
 
yellowdaisy said:
So how do you know if a church you are attending has an SSPX mass?

I have other questions, but this one just popped into my head while I was wading through the responses-- many MANY thanks to everybody who responded!
Click to expand...
SSPX, the Society of St. Pius X, has, shall we say, an “irregular” relationship with the Catholic Church right now, and there is a LOT of controversy over this group. It would probably be wrong to call the group out and out schismatic, but there are definitely serious problems between them and the hierarchy. Essentially, they refuse to celebrate the Ordinary Form of the Mass. Many members reject the Ordinary Form, and many reject the Second Vatican Council. They also consecrated their own priests and bishops, in violation of requests from the Church. While their Masses are technically licit, you would want to give SERIOUS thought and investigation before attending one of their services.

The Fraternal Society of St. Peter (FSSP) and the Institute of Christ the King are two legitimate societies that work WITHIN the structure of the Catholic Church to offer the Extraordinary Form exclusively at their parishes. They are given special permission to do so.

Ordinary priests (outside of FSSP and Institute of Christ the King) may offer the Extraordinary Form if they like also, but not exclusively. This is at the discretion of the individual priest, as well as the local bishop.

To find a legitimate Extraordinary Form Mass in your diocese, first check out your bulletin. It will say “Extraordinary Form” by the Mass time. Please do NOT be confused with the term “Latin Mass”. Many people improperly refer to the Extraordinary Form as the “Latin Mass”, when in fact, it is perfectly legitimate to offer the Ordinary Form in Latin as well. When a layperson says “Latin Mass”, they often mean Extraordinary Form, but when a church bulletin says “Latin Mass”, they are almost certainly just referring to the language, not the FORM of the Mass.

If that doesn’t work, contact your diocese. They should be able to tell you the locations of other parishes that offer the Extraordinary Form (or any others that might be in your diocese as well. For example, our diocese recently offered an Ambrosian Mass, which is very rare).
 
\ while the Extraordinary Form may only be celebrated in Latin and with everyone facing liturgical east.\

**Actually, the Tridentine Mass (aka EF) was celebrated in Slavonic for centuries before Vatican 2 in certain Dioceses along the Adriatic.

This is an excerpt from the article “Glagolithic Alphabet” on Wikipedia:**

“In 1248, Pope Innocent IV gave the Croats of southern Dalmatia the unique privilege of using their own language and this script in the Roman Rite liturgy. Formally given to bishop Philip of Senj, the permission to use the Glagolitic liturgy (the Roman Rite conducted in Slavic language instead of Latin, not the Byzantine rite), actually extended to all Croatian lands, mostly along the Adriatic coast. The Holy See had several Glagolitic missals published in Rome. Authorisation for use of this language was extended to some other Slavic regions between 1886 and 1935.[9] In missals, the Glagolitic script was eventually replaced with the Latin alphabet, but the use of the Slavic language in the Mass continued, until replaced by the modern vernacular languages.”
 
yellowdaisy said:
Please do not laugh, I am being very ernest–

This forum is constantly referring to all of these different types of masses. I have attended Catholic masses my entire life, at a host of different churches, in a variety of states (USA).

They all seem to be more or less the exact same format.

What do these the following mean?

Novus Ordo,
Tridentine,
SSPX,
Latin Rite
Any Other Type I’ve Missed

Can some one illuminate what all this means? I am coming at it from the perspective of being raised Catholic in a non-practicing/non-educating family. I know some masses are said in latin, but was under the impression that the form (meaning prayers, order of mass, etc) was universal.

I want to be able to follow the discussions here-- but everything is abbreviated and I need an answer key! 🙂
Click to expand...
The only authentic Liturgies are the Novus Ordo and the Tridentine in the Latin rite. The SSPX is a schismatic group which broke away after Vatican II and specifically celebrates through the Tridentine liturgy (Latin).

Now, let’s confuse you even more. There are many other types of Liturgies in the Church. They are all the Mass, but are said differently, such as Byzantine, Melkite, Maronite, etc.
 
peary1 said:
The only authentic Liturgies are the Novus Ordo and the Tridentine in the Latin rite.
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Incorrect. As stated above, the allowed (and authentic) Latin rite liturgies include:
  1. Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo)
  2. Extraordinary Form (Tridentine)
  3. Ambrosian From
  4. Mozarabic Form
  5. Bragan Form
  6. Anglican-Use Form
  7. Dominican Rite
  8. Carthusian Rite
  9. Carmelite Rite
  10. Cisternian Rite (7-10 are really forms of the Latin Rite, not individual rites, but the term “rite” is almost always used when referring to these.)
In the past, there were others, such as the Galician and Sarum Rites, but for various reasons, these have been suppressed and are no longer used.

Then, there are the Eastern liturgies (although these would not be used in the Latin rite, except by the Pope, who may use any liturgy he pleases, as he is head of the ENTIRE Catholic Church):
11) The Liturgy of St. Basil
12) The Chaldean Mass
13) The Order of the Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints Gregory the Theologian (or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts)
14) The Liturgy of St. James
15) The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
16) The Liturgy of St. Mark
17) The Holy Qorbono

As another aside, Latin liturgies are referred to as Masses, while Eastern liturgies are referred to as “Divine Liturgies”, not Masses. The exception to this is the Maronite liturgy, which is referred to as the “Holy Qorbono”.
 
How many times do we have to tell you crazy kids?

The SSPX is NOT SCHISMATIC.
 
I agree. The relationship is troubled.

Unfortunately, the focus during the 70’s 80’s and 90’s was on rooting the orthodox out of Catholicism… Down with tradition! Down with the Latin Mass! Down with sin!

What were the bishops and priests who were in “good standing” up to during that time??
 
Rolltide said:
Incorrect. As stated above, the allowed (and authentic) Latin rite liturgies include:
  1. Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo)
  2. Extraordinary Form (Tridentine)
  3. Ambrosian From
  4. Mozarabic Form
  5. Bragan Form
  6. Anglican-Use Form
  7. Dominican Rite
  8. Carthusian Rite
  9. Carmelite Rite
  10. Cisternian Rite (7-10 are really forms of the Latin Rite, not individual rites, but the term “rite” is almost always used when referring to these.)
In the past, there were others, such as the Galician and Sarum Rites, but for various reasons, these have been suppressed and are no longer used.

Then, there are the Eastern liturgies (although these would not be used in the Latin rite, except by the Pope, who may use any liturgy he pleases, as he is head of the ENTIRE Catholic Church):
11) The Liturgy of St. Basil
12) The Chaldean Mass
13) The Order of the Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints Gregory the Theologian (or Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts)
14) The Liturgy of St. James
15) The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
16) The Liturgy of St. Mark
17) The Holy Qorbono

As another aside, Latin liturgies are referred to as Masses, while Eastern liturgies are referred to as “Divine Liturgies”, not Masses. The exception to this is the Maronite liturgy, which is referred to as the “Holy Qorbono”.
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These are either classified under Latin Rite or Eastern rites. I never said that all the other liturgical rites in the Church were not authentic. And this had nothing to do with my answer.
 
peary1 said:
These are either classified under Latin Rite or Eastern rites. I never said that all the other liturgical rites in the Church were not authentic. And this had nothing to do with my answer.
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You said,

“The only authentic Liturgies are the Novus Ordo and the Tridentine in the Latin rite.”

Which is incorrect. There are many “authentic” liturgies allowed in the Latin rite. Rolltide simply corrected that statement.
 
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