Solemn Mass
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Solemn Mass (in Latin Missa solemnis) or Solemn High Mass or simply High Mass are terms that refer to the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, or sometimes of the Anglican Holy Communion or Holy Eucharist, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon. The roles of the latter two are often supplied by two priests.
The book Ceremonial for the Use of the Catholic Churches in the United States of America (commonly called the Baltimore Ceremonial), published upon the request of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, used the term High Mass of a sung Mass, even without deacon and subdeacon. The general usage agrees instead with the definition given in the article "Liturgy of the Mass" of the Catholic Encyclopedia: "the essence of high Mass is not the music but the deacon and subdeacon."[1] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition, 2000) also defines "High Mass" as "A Mass in which the celebrant is assisted by a deacon and a subdeacon and accompanied by acolytes, a thurifer, and a choir."[2] The site Liturgical Terms in Music likewise describes High Mass and Missa Solemnis as "The full ceremonial form of the Choral Mass", distinguishing it from Missa Cantata, which it defines as "A choral Mass minus the Deacon and Subdeacon who participate in the High Mass" Other sites give similar definitions: "High Mass is sung, with a Priest, a Deacon and a sub-Deacon participating";[3] "A Mass in which the celebrant is assisted by a deacon and a subdeacon and accompanied by acolytes, a thurifer, and a choir";[4] "Mass with incense, music, the assistance of a deacon, subdeacon, etc."[5]
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[edit] Importance within the Tridentine Mass
The article on the Liturgy of the Mass in the Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say about Solemn or High Mass:
- This high Mass is the norm; it is only in the complete rite with deacon and subdeacon that the ceremonies can be understood. Thus, the rubrics of the Ordinary of the Mass always suppose that the Mass is high. Low Mass, said by a priest alone with one server, is a shortened and simplified form of the same thing. Its ritual can be explained only by a reference to high Mass. For instance, the celebrant goes over to the north side of the altar to read the Gospel, because that is the side to which the deacon goes in procession at high Mass; he turns round always by the right, because at high Mass he should not turn his back to the deacon and so on.[6]
With the reform of the Mass liturgy after the Second Vatican Council the categorization of Masses into High and Low and other variations was abolished, allowing flexibility with regard to the amount of music and the number of priests participating (See Mass of Paul VI). Naturally, the old distinctions continue to be observed where Mass is still celebrated in the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite, with or without canonical approval. It is also used widely among the few Roman Catholic parishes of the Anglican Use provision.
[edit] Vestments
See also Vestment.
In the sacristy, before vesting, all three sacred ministers (priest celebrant, deacon, and subdeacon) wash their hands. The subdeacon and deacon arrive a bit earlier than the celebrant so that they may be vested and ready to help the celebrant when he arrives in the sacristy. While the deacon and sub-deacon vest, the first and second acolytes, respectively, help them. The sacred ministers recite certain prayers while they place on each new piece of clothing. First, the amice (a rectangular cloth of linen with long strings for tying) is kissed (if it is embroidered with a cross) and then placed on top of the head briefly while reciting one of the prayers during vesting. Then it is tied around the shoulders on top of the cassock (or on top of the habit, if the sacred ministers belongs to a religious order with one). Next the alb (a long linen tunic with sleeves) is put on. The cincture (in Latin, cinctura), a long cloth cord also called a girdle, is then tied around the waist. The subdeacon then completes his vesting by placing the maniple (an embroidered piece of fabric, folded in half, with a cross in the middle) on his left arm (provided there is no Asperges or other liturgical ceremony before Mass begins), securing it either with pins or with the elastic inside, and then the tunicle (an embroidered tunic with short sleeves) over all. The deacon places his stole (a long narrow embroidered piece of cloth, similar to the maniple but of greater length) over his left shoulder and binds it in place, at his right hip, with the cincture or girdle. He then puts on the maniple and his dalmatic (similar to the tunicle). The priest celebrant does the same except that he crosses his stole in front of him at the waist, binding it with the girdle or cincture. After the maniple he puts on a cope (a long, heavy embroidered cape). Following the Gospel and homily, the celebrant, assisted by the acolytes, removes the cope and puts on the chasuble (similar to the tunicle, but without sleeves and usually with an embroidered cross or image on the back). He will remove the chasuble and put the cope back on after the dismissal and before processing out.
The servers of the Mass (Master of Ceremonies, acolytes, thurifer, torch-bearers) and the clergy sitting in the liturgical choir stalls are vested in cassock (the ankle-length black robe with buttons, usually seen on priests and altar servers) and surplice (a flowing white tunic with sleeves) or cotta (a shorter version of the surplice). Anyone ordained to the subdiaconate or above also wears the biretta (a four-cornered hat with a pom-pom on top in the center and three fins on top around the edges) while sitting. Members of religious orders in habit have on a surplice over the habit. If it is part of their "choir dress", they also use the biretta. If not, then they use their hood in the same fashion as one uses a biretta. Birettas are plain black for priests, deacons and subdeacons, black with purple or red trim for monsignori, canons and bishops, and purple for archbishops; cardinals' birettas are scarlet.
[edit] Music
The typical music of Solemn High Mass is Gregorian chant. However, a wide variety of musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass have been composed over the centuries, and may be used instead. There are also several musical settings for the propers of Masses during seasons and on feast days and for certain votive Masses. An example is William Byrd's setting of the minor propers for the Lady Mass in Advent.
Despite the ban imposed by Pope Pius X on almost all sacred music composed after the Renaissance, musical settings for the Ordinary of the Mass by composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart continued in use. Being based on texts in Latin, these settings, as well as the earlier ones, are less frequently met today.
The music of the Mass is typically performed by a choir made up of lay men and women (though in churches run by religious orders it is often made up of their members.) The choir, at least if monastic, was traditionally placed close to the altar. However, with the appearance of elaborate musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass it became necessary to employ lay singers, and with this innovation, the choir moved first from the front of the church up to galleries on the sides of the church and then finally to a loft in the back. This in turn allowed musical instruments, besides the organ, to be employed in the music.
Apart from the many parts that the priest says inaudibly and a very few other parts, such as the "Orate Fratres", the entirety of High or Solemn Mass is sung. It is considered by Catholics to be a continuous song in praise of God for sending His own son to redeem humankind. Mass is also considered by Catholics to be a "re-presentation" (making present again) of the Holy Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for mankind. Some might describe High Mass as, "a divinely instituted opera of praise to God, with God as the sole member of the audience." This is in line with Catholic theology, as the early Greek name for the Mass (used in writing by Ignatius, Justin, and Irenæus) was Eucharistia meaning "thanksgiving". This also stresses the fact that everyone present is participating in some fashion in the Mass - from the priest celebrating the Mass to the parishioners in the pews, even if these are praying, as was common in celebrations of Tridentine Mass, the Rosary or other prayers of their own.
[edit] Structure & Ceremonial
The ceremonies begin when the Master of Ceremonies (MC) rings the bell. The porter opens the sacristy door and the servers and ministers leave the sacristy and enter the church in the following manner: first the thurifer carrying his thurible and boat (or the aspersorium if the Asperges is to be had); next come the acolytes carrying their candles (the custom in Northern European and English-speaking countries is to have a crucifer holding a processional cross walking between the acolytes); the Master of Ceremonies comes next; and finally the three sacred ministers enter in single file in order of precedence (or on either side of the celebrant if he is wearing the cope for some extra-liturgical ceremony before the Mass, such as the Asperges. The deacon and sub-deacon should be holding the ends of the cope.)
- Asperges (only on Sundays at the principal Mass of the day.) This ceremony of sprinkling the congregation with lustral water is performed by the celebrant with the assistance of the other sacred ministers. After blessing the altar, himself, and the sacred ministers and servers, the celebrant then proceeds through the nave of the church to bless the congregation. All the while the choir, or a cantor, is singing the text from Psalm 50, verse 9 (all Biblical references from here on are from the Douay-Rheims Bible) "Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow." After the sacred ministers have returned to the altar a few verses and responses are sung between the celebrant and everyone else. The sacred ministers then go to the sedilia (the bench or seats where the sacred ministers sit during parts of the Mass) to put on their maniples and to help the celebrant change from cope to chasuble.
- Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. These prayers are said by the sacred ministers standing on the floor at the bottom of the steps leading up to the High Altar. They are also said to each other, kneeling, by the acolytes and those servers sitting in the liturgical choir. If the acolytes are close enough, they may say them with the sacred ministers. These prayers consist primarily of Psalm 42 with the verses said alternately between the celebrant and the other sacred ministers. While these prayers are being said, the musical choir is singing the text of the Introit. After the prayers are finished, all rise. The sacred ministers ascend the steps to the altar to cense it.
- Introit. This text of the Mass varies daily. It usually consists of Scriptural or religious text, followed by a Psalm verse, followed by the Doxology. Then the Scriptural or religious text is repeated. This is usually being sung while the sacred ministers are saying the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar mentioned above and while they incense the altar. After Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, the sacred ministers ascend the steps to the altar, the thurifer brings his thurible, or censer, and a 'boat' of incense. The celebrant places incense into the thurible, blesses it and then proceeds to cense the altar, accompanied by the other ministers. After he is finished, he hands the thurible to the deacon and the deacon censes him. The thurible is then given back to the thurifer , who departs to the sacristy till he is needed again. The sacred ministers then form a "semi-circle" (really a line) on the altar steps--the celebrant on the top platform (called a footpace), the deacon on a middle step, and the sub-deacon on the bottom step. The Master of Ceremonies then helps the celebrant find his place in the Missal. The priest makes the sign of the cross and recites the Introit in a low voice to himself, all bowing with him when he recites the Doxology. All the while the Introit and Kyrie Eleison are being sung by the choir.
- Kyrie Eleison. When the celebrant has finished reciting the Introit, he then recites the Kyrie Eleison alternately with the Master of Ceremonies (the other sacred ministers may join in with the M.C.) After this is finished the sacred ministers either form a straight line, remaining on their respective steps, until the Kyrie is near finished or they bow to the cross and descend the steps to sit at the sedilia if the musical setting for the Kyrie is particularly long.
- Gloria in Excelsis. Toward the end of the Kyrie, the sacred ministers walk (still staying)in a line to the center of the altar. If they have been sitting all rise, save the celebrant, until his biretta has been collected by the deacon. The three sacred ministers genuflect at the foot of the altar steps, then ascend and form a line. (The deacon and subdeacon usually lift the ends of the celebrant's alb whenever they ascend the steps together, and place their closest hand under his elbows when they descend together. The celebrant intones (i.e. sings) the first few words of the Gloria, after which the choir sings the rest and the deacon and subdeacon ascend the steps to stand at either side of the celebrant while he says the remainder of the Gloria in a low voice. When they are finished they remain in this position until the singing is near done, or if it is a long musical setting, they may go down and sit (first genuflecting) as mentioned above at the Kyrie.
- Collect (sometimes called the Oration). Towards the end of the singing of the Gloria in excelsis (or Kyrie if the Gloria be omitted) the sacred ministers head to the center of the altar in a line. When the singing has finished, the Celebrant turns away from the altar and says, with hands in the orans position, "Dominus vobiscum" ("The Lord be with you") to which is replied, "Et cum spiritu tuo" ("And with thy spirit".) The Celebrant then reads the collect or prayer of the day. (Any time the verb read is used, this should be interpreted as sing in monotone often with note variations at certain puntuations, and a special tone for the ending. The entirety of the Mass, as heard by the congregation, is sung.)
- Epistle. Towards the end of the collect (or the last collect if there be more than one) the Master of Ceremonies heads to the credence table to get the Epistolary or book of readings. He hands it to the Subdeacon, who bows to the crucifix at the end of the collect if the Holy Name of Jesus is mentioned, and then reverences to the altar and then the liturgical choir (as opposed to the musical choir) if there be one. He then stands on the floor aligned somewhat behind the Celebrant who recites the Epistle in a low voice with the Deacon responding to him, also in a low voice, at the end with, "Deo gratias" ("Thanks be to God.") The Subdeacon reads the Epistle (or other reading proper to the day) and then reverences the choir, then the altar. Ascending the steps to where the celebrant is, he kneels whil he is blessed by the celebrant, then kisses the Celebrant's hand after he places it on the Epistolary. The Epistolary is then handed to the Master of Ceremonies and placed back on the credence table or in some other appropriate place.
- Gradual & Alleluia (or Tract). After the Celebrant has recitedthe Epistle he recites the scriptural or other verses given as the Gradual & Alleluia (or Tract, instead of the Alleluia, on Lenten ferial days.) He should be finished before the Subdeacon has finished reading the Epistle. Once the Subdeacon has finished reading the Epistle the musical choir begins to sing the appointed chant (or a musical setting) for the Gradual & Alleluia.
- Gospel
- Sermon (optional)
- Credo
- Offertory
- Secret
- Preface
- Sanctus & Benedictus
- Canon of the Mass
- Paternoster
- The Pax
- Agnus Dei
- Distribution of Holy Communion
- Ablutions
- Communion
- Post-Communion Collect
- Dismissal
- Blessing
- Last Gospel
