History of the Roman Canon
Encyclopedia
From the 7th century the Canon of the Mass
has remained relatively unchanged.
It is to Pope Gregory I
(590-604) the great organiser of all the Roman Liturgy, that tradition ascribes its final revision and arrangement. His reign thus provides a natural division in the discussion of the history of the Canon. Pope Pius V
made some changes such as removing from the Canon the mention of the emperor or king and shortening the "Communicantes" prayer by removing some saints' names and some clauses of the prayer.
had been composed by "a certain scholasticus", and Pope Benedict XIV
discussed whether he meant some person so named or merely "a certain learned man". Gregory himself is credited with adding a phrase to the Canon. The Canon that he left represents in fact the last stage of a development that amounted to a "complete recasting", in which "the Eucharistic prayer was fundamentally changed and recast."
A distinction must be made between the prayers of the Canon itself and the order in which they are now found. The prayers, or at least some of them, can be traced back to a very early date from occasional references in letters of the Church Fathers
: the prayers beginning Te igitur, Memento Domine and Quam oblationem were already in use, even if not with quite the same wording as now, by the year 400; the Communicantes, the Hanc igitur, and the post-consecration Memento etiam and Nobis quoque were added in the 5th century.
, like all other Christian Churches, celebrated the Holy Eucharist
by obeying Christ's direction and doing as He had done the night before he died, commonly called the Last Supper
. There were the bread and wine brought up at the Offertory
and consecrated by the words of Institution and by an invocation of the Holy Spirit
; the bread was broken and Communion
was given to the faithful. Undoubtedly, too, before this part of the service lessons were read from the Bible, as explicitly stated by Saint Justin Martyr
, litanies
and prayers were said.
It is also known that this Mass was said in Greek. Koine Greek
was the common tongue of Christians, at any rate outside Palestine, and it was spoken by them in Rome as well as everywhere else, at the time when it was understood and used throughout the empire, since the conquests of Alexander the Great, later incorporated into the Roman Empire
. This is shown by the facts that the inscriptions in the catacombs are in Greek, and that Christian writers at Rome use that language.
Of the liturgical formulas of this first period little is known. The First Epistle of St. Clement
contains a prayer that is generally considered liturgical (lix-lxi), though it contains no reference to the Eucharist, also the statement that "the Lord commanded offerings and holy offices to be made carefully, not rashly nor without order, but at fixed times and hours". It says further: "The high-priest has his duties, a special place is appointed to the priests, and the Levite
s have their ministry" (xi). From this it is evident that at Rome the liturgy was celebrated according to fixed rules and definite order. Chap. xxxiv tells us that the Romans "gathered together in concord, and as it were with one mouth", said the Sanctus from Is., vi, 3.
St. Justin Martyr
(died c. 167) spent part of his life at Rome and died there. It is possible that his First Apology was written in that city, and that the liturgy he describes in it (lxv-lxvi) was that which he frequented at Rome. From this we learn that the Christians first prayed for themselves and for all manner of persons. Then follows the kiss of peace, and "he who presides over the brethren" is given bread and a cup of wine and water, having received which he gives thanks to God, celebrates the Eucharist, and all the people answer "Amen." The deacons then give out Holy Communion (loc. cit.).
Here is found the outline of the liturgy: the Preface (giving thanks), to which may be added from I Clem. the Sanctus, a celebration of the Eucharist, not described, but which contains the words of Institution (c. lxvi, "by His prayer"), and which corresponds to the recent Canon, and the final Amen
that still keeps its place at the end of the Eucharistic prayer.
Perhaps a likeness may be seen between the Roman use and those of the Eastern Churches in the fact that when St. Polycarp
came to Rome in 155, Pope Anicetus
allowed him to celebrate, just like one of his own bishops. The canons of Hippolytus of Rome (in the beginning of the 3rd century, if they are genuine; allude to a Eucharistic celebration that follows the order of St. Justin, and they add the universal introduction to the Preface, "Sursum corda", etc.
language. Latin first appears as a language used by Christian
writers, not in Rome, but in North Africa. Pope Victor I
(190-202), an African, seems to have been the first Bishop of Rome who used it. After this time Latin soon becomes the only language used by Popes in their writings; Cornelius
(251-53) and Stephen
(254-57) write in Latin.
Greek seems to have disappeared at Rome as a liturgical
language in the second half of the 3rd century, though parts of the Liturgy were left in Greek. The Creed was sometimes said in Greek down to Byzantine
times (Louis Duchesne
, Origines, 290). The "Ordo Rom. I" says that certain psalms were still said in Greek; and of this liturgical use of Greek there are still remnants in the Kyrie Eleison
and the trisagion
, etc., on Good Friday
. Furthermore, until the recent simplification of the solemn Papal Mass the both the Epistle and Gospel of a solemn Papal Mass
were chanted in both Latin and Greek and even at present at a solemn Papal Mass celebrated in Rome the Gospel is still chanted in both Latin and Greek.
Very soon after the acceptance of Latin as the only liturgical language we find allusions to parts of the Eucharist
ic prayer, that are practically the same as parts of the Tridentine
Canon. In the time of Pope Damasus (366-84) a Roman writer who surprisingly identified Melchizedek
with the Holy Ghost writes, "The Holy Ghost being a bishop is called Priest of the most high God, but not high priest" (Sacerdos appellatus est excelsi Dei, non summus) "as our people presume to say in the Oblation
". These words evidently allude to the form "thy high priest Melchizedek" (summus sacerdos tuus Melchisedech) in the Canon. Pseudo-Ambrose in "De Sacramentis" quotes the prayers said by the priest in the Canon. The whole of this prayer, but for a few unimportant modifications, is that of the recent Canon.
Pope Damasus has been considered one of the chief compilers of the Roman Liturgy. One liturgical change made by this pope is certain. He introduced the word Alleluia
at Rome.
Innocent I (401-17) refers to the Canon as being a matter he ought not to describe — an apparent survival of the idea of the Disciplina arcani
— and says it is ended with the kiss of peace): "After all the things that I may not reveal the Peace is given, by which it is shown that the people have consented to all that was done in the holy mysteries
and was celebrated in the church". He also says that at Rome the names of persons for whom the celebrant prays are read in the Canon: "first the offertory
should be made, and after that the names of the givers read out, so that they should be named during the holy mysteries
, not during the parts that precede" (ib.). That is all that can be known for certain about the Canon before Gregory I. The earliest books that contain its text were written after his time and show it as approved by him.
s. There are undoubtedly very striking parallels between it and both of the original Eastern rites, those of Alexandria
and Antioch
. Mgr. Duchesne
is inclined to connect the Roman use with that of Alexandria, and the other great Western liturgy, the Gallican Rite
, with that of Antioch (Origines, 54). But the Roman Canon shows perhaps more likeness to that of Antioch in its formulæ. These parallel passages have been collected and printed side by side by Dr. Drews in his "Entstehungsgeschichte des Kanons in der römischen Messe", in order to prove a thesis which will be referred to later. Meanwhile, whatever may be thought of Drew's theory, the likeness of the prayers cannot be denied. For instance, the Intercession
in the Syrian Liturgy of St. James
begins with the prayer (Brightman, East. Lit., 89-90):
The whole of this prayer suggests the "Imprimis quæ tibi offerimus", etc., and certain words exactly correspond to "toto orbe terrarum" and "orthodoxis", as does "especially" to "imprimis", and so on.
Again the Syrian Anaphora continues:
The words of Institution occur in a form that is almost identical with the "Pridie quam pateretur" (ib., 86-87). The Anamnesis
(p. 89) begins: "Commemorating therefore ["unde et memores"] O Lord, thy death and resurrection on the third day from the tomb and thy ascension into heaven . . . . we offer thee this dread and unbloody sacrifice ["offerimus … hostiam puram," etc.].
It is true that these general ideas occur in all the old liturgies; but in this case a remarkable identity is found even in the words. Some allusions to what were probably older forms in the Canon make the similarity still more striking. Thus Optatus of Mileve says that Mass is offered "pro ecclesiâ, quæ una est et toto orbe terrarum diffusa" (Adv. Parm., III, xii). This represents exactly a Latin version of the "holy Church which is in all the world" that we have seen in the Syrian Anaphora above. The Syrian use adds a prayer for "our religious kings and queens" after that for the patriarch and bishop. So our Missal long contained the words "et pro rege nostro N."after "et Antistite nostro N." (see below). It has a prayer for the celebrant himself (Brightman, 90), where the Roman Missal once contained just such a prayer (below). The treatise "De Sacramentis" gives the words on Institution for the Chalice as "Hic est sanguis meus", just as does the Syrian Liturgy.
There are other striking resemblances that may be seen in Drews. But the other Eastern liturgy, the Alexandrine use, also shows very striking parallels. The prayer for the celebrant, of which the form was "Mihi quoque indignissimo famulo tuo propitius esse digneris, et ab omnibus me peccatorum offensionibus emundare" (Ebner, Miss. Rom., 401), is an exact translation of the corresponding Alexandrine text: "Remember me also, O Lord, thy humble and unworthy servant, and forgive my sins" (Brightman, 130). The author of "De Sacr." quotes the Roman Canon as saying "quod est figura corporis et sanguinis domini nostri Iesu Christi", and the Egyptian Prayer Book of Serapion
uses exactly the same expression, "the figure of the body and blood" (Texte u. Unt., II, 3, p. 5). In the West the words "our God" are not often applied to Christ in liturgies. In the Gelasian Sacramentary
they occur ("ut nobis corpus et sanguis fiat dilectissimi filii tui Domini Dei nostri Iesu Christi", ed. Wilson, 235), just where they come in the same context in St. Mark's Liturgy (Brightman, 126). The modern Mass refers to the oblation as "thy gifts and favours" (de tuis donis ac datis); so does St. Mark (ib., 133). But the most striking parallel between Rome and Alexandria is in the order of the Canon. The Antiochene Liturgy puts the whole of the Intercession after the words of Institution and the Epiklesis; in Alexandria it comes before. And in our Canon the greater part of this intercession ("imprimis quæ tibi offerimus", "Commemoratio pro vivis", "Communicantes") also comes before the Consecration
, leaving only as a curious anomaly the "Commemoratio pro defunctis" and the "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" to follow after the Anamnesis
(Unde et momores).
Although, then, it is impossible to establish any sort of mutual dependence, it is evident that the Roman Canon contains likenesses to the two Eastern rites too exact to be accidental; in its forms it most resembles the Antiochene Anaphora, but in its arrangement it follows, or guides, Alexandria.
The Canon begins "Te igitur". To what does that "igitur" refer? From the sense of the whole passage it should follow some reference to the sacrifice. One would expect some prayer that God may accept our offering, perhaps some reference such as is found in the Eastern liturgies to the sacrifices of Abraham
, Melchizedek
, etc. It should then be natural to continue: "And therefore we humbly pray thee, most merciful Father", etc. But there is no hint of such an allusion in what goes before. No preface has any word to which the "igitur" could naturally refer. At any rate there is no trace of it, either in our preface or in any of the other rites. Other difficulties are the reduplications between the ideas of the "Hanc igitur" and the "Nobis quoque peccatoribus". Various allusions to older forms of the Canon increase the number of these difficulties.
The Greek translation of the Roman Canon called the "Liturgy of St. Peter", edited by William de Linden, Bishop of Ghent
, in 1589 from a Rossano manuscript contains some variations that point in this direction. For instance, it gives a version of the "Supplices te rogamus", and then goes on: "Aloud. First remember, O Lord, the Archbishop. He then commemorates the living. And to us sinners", etc. This puts the Intercession after the "Supplices" prayer, and exactly corresponds to the order suggested above.
Matthias Flacius
published an "Ordo Missæ" in which there are still traces of the old order of the prayers. It begins with the "Unde et memores" and the Epiclesis
; then come the "Te igitur", prayer for the pope, "Memento Domine famulorum famularumque tuarum", and eventually "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", in short, the whole Intercession after the Consecration.
The prayer "Hanc igitur" has some difficulties. The Greek version adds a rubric before it: "Here he names the dead". What can the "Hanc igitur" have to do with the dead? The Antiochene Liturgy, in which several parallel passages to the modern Canon have already been noticed, has a parallel to the second half of this prayer too, and that parallel occurs in its commemoration of the dead. There, following a prayer that the dead may rest "in the land of the living, in thy kingdom . . . in the bosom of Abraham
, Isaac
and Jacob
", etc., is found this continuation: "And keep for us in peace, O Lord, a Christian, well-pleasing and sinless end to our lives, gathering us under the feet of thy Elect, when Thou willest and as Thou willest, only without shame and offence; through thy only begotten Son our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ." We notice here the reference to the elect (in electorum tuorum grege), the prayer that we may be kept "in peace" (in tuâ pace disponas), the allusion to the "end of our lives" (diesque nostros) and the unusual "Per Christum Dominum nostrum", making a break in the middle of the Eucharistic prayer. The Syrian form with its plain reference to death ("the end of our lives") seems more clearly to be a continuation of a prayer for the faithful departed. But in the Roman form too is found such a reference in the words about hell (ab æterna damnatione) and heaven (in electorum tuorum grege).
Drews then proposes to divide the "Hanc igitur" into two separate parts. The second half, beginning at the words "diesque nostros", would have originally been the end of the Commemoration of the Dead and would form a reduplication of the "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", where the same idea occurs ("partem aliquam et societatem donare digneris cum tuis sanctis Apostolis er Martyribus" being an echo of "in electorum tuorum iubeas grege numerari"). This second half, then, would belong to the Intercession after the Consecration, and would originally fall together with the "Nobis quoque". In any case, even in the present arrangement of the Canon the "Nobis quoque" following the "Commemoratio pro defunctis" shows that at Rome as in other liturgies the idea of adding a prayer for ourselves, that we too may find a peaceful and blessed death followed by a share in the company of the saints, after our prayer for the faithful departed was accepted as natural.
The first half of the "Hanc igitur" must now be accounted for down to "placatus accipias". This first half is a reduplication of the prayer "Quam oblationem". Both contain exactly the same idea that God may graciously accept our offering. "Hanc oblationem" and "Quam oblationem" differ only in the relative construction of the second form. We know that the relative construction is not the original one. In the "De Sacramentis", to which reference has several times been made, the "Quam oblationem" occurs as an absolute sentence: "Fac nobis hanc oblationem adscriptam, rationabilem acceptabilemque, quod est figura corporis et sanguinis Domini nostri Iesu Christi" (IV, v). We also know that the "Igitur" in "Hanc igitur" is not original. The parallel passages in Serapion
and St. Mark's Liturgy have simply tauter ten thysian (Drews, 16). Moreover, the place and object of this prayer have varied very much. It has been applied to all sorts of purposes, and it is significant that it occurs specially often in connection with the dead (Ebner, Miss. Rom., 412). This would be a natural result, if we suppose it to be a compilation of two separate parts, both of which have lost their natural place in the Canon. Drews then proposes to supply the first words of the "Quam oblationem" that we have put in the first place of his reconstructed Canon (see above), by the first half of the "Hanc igitur", so that (leaving out the igitur) the Canon would once have begun: "Hanc oblationem servitutis nostræ, sed et cunctæ familiæ tuæ, quæsumus Domine, ut placatus accipias ut in omnibus benedictam, adscriptam, ratam, rationabilemque facere digneris, ut nobis corpus et sanguis fiat dilectissimi filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi" (Drews, 30), and so on, according to the order suggested above. One word, "ut", has been added to this compilation, to connect the "Hanc igitur" with the continuation of "Quam oblationem". This word is vouched for by the Greek version, which has ina here (Swainson, 197). Drews further notes that such a change in the arrangement of the Canon is not inconceivable. Popes have modified its order on other occasions. Joannes Diaconus, the biographer of St. Gregory I, tells us that he re-arranged a few parts of the Canon ("pauca convertens", Vita Greg., II, xvii).
When then may this change be supposed to have been made? It was not made in the time of Innocent I (401-417); it had already occurred when the Gelasian Sacramentary
was written (7th century); it may be taken for certain that in the time of St. Gregory I (590-604) the Canon already stood as it does now. The reason for believing that Innocent I still knew only the old arrangement is that in his letter to Decentius of Eugubium (Patrologia Latina
, XX, 553-554) he implies that the Intercession comes after the Consecration. He says that the people for whom we pray "should be named in the middle of the holy mysteries
, not during the things that go before, that by the very mysteries we should open the way for the prayers that follow". If the diptych
s are read after the way has been opened by the holy mysteries, the Roman Canon must follow the same order as the Church of Antioch
, and at any rate place the "Commemoratio vivorum" after the Consecration. Supposing, then, that this re-arrangement really did take place, it must have been made in the course of the 5th century.
Drews thinks that we can go farther and ascribe the change to Pope Gelasius I
(492-96). A very old tradition connects his name with at any rate, some important work about the Canon. The second oldest Roman sacramentary
known, although it is really later than St. Gregory, has been called the "Sacramentarium Gelasianum
" since the 9th century (Duchesne, Origines, 120). Gennadius I says that he composed a sacramentary (De. vir. ill., c. xciv). Moreover, the Liber Pontificalis
refers to his liturgical work (Origines, 122) and the Stowe Missal
(7th century) puts at the head of the Canon the title: "Canon dominicus Papæ Gelasi" (ed. Warren, 234). Baumer has collected all the evidences for Gelasius
's authorship of some important sacramentary (Histor. Jahrb., 1893, 244 sqq.). It is known that Gelasius did not compose the text of the Canon. Its component parts have been traced back to a far earlier date. But would not so vital a change in its arrangement best explain the tradition that persistently connects the recent Canon with the name of Gelasius?
There is even a further suggestion that Drews has noticed. Why was the reversal of the order made? Evidently to bring the Intercession before the Consecration. This means to change from the same order as Antioch
to that of Alexandria
. Is it too much to suppose that we have here a case of Alexandrine influence at Rome? Now it is noticeable that Gelasius
personally had a great reverence for the venerable "second See
" founded by St. Mark, and that since 482 Bishop John Talaia of Alexandria, being expelled from his own Church by the Monophysites, sought and found refuge in Rome. He would have celebrated his own liturgy in the pope's city, and was certainly greatly honoured as a confessor
and exile for the Faith. May we then even go so far as to suggest that we owe the present certainly unusual order of our Canon to Gelasius and the influence of John Talaia? So far Drews (p. 38).
Drews's theory has not been unopposed. An argument against it may be found in the very treatise "De Sacramentis" from which he gathers some of his arguments. For this treatise says: "In all other things that are said praise is given to God, prayers are said for the people, for kings, for others, but when he comes to consecrate the holy Sacrament the priest no longer uses his own words, but takes those of Christ" (IV, iv). According to this author, then, the Intercession comes before the Consecration. On the other hand it will be noticed that the treatise is late. That it is not by St. Ambrose
himself has long been admitted by every one. It is apparently an imitation of his work "De Mysteriis", and may have been composed in the 5th or 6th century (Bardenhewer, Patrologie, 407). German Morin thinks that Nicetas
, Bishop of Romatiana in Dacia, wrote it (Rev. Benéd., 1890, 151-59). In any case it may be urged that whatever reasons there are for ascribing it to an early date, they show equally conclusively that, in spite of its claim to describe "the form of the Roman Church" (III, 1) it is Milan
ese. The very assurance is a proof that it was not composed at Rome, since in that case such a declaration would have been superfluous. An allusion occurring in a Milanese work is but a very doubtful guide for the Roman use. And its late date makes it worthless as a witness for our point. When it was written probably the change had already been made at Rome; so we are not much concerned by the question of how far it describes Roman or Milanese offices. So far the theory proposed by Drews, which seems in any case to deserve attention.
became pope the Canon was already fixed in its present order. There are scarcely any changes to note in its history since then. "No pope has added to or changed the Canon since St. Gregory" says Benedict XIV (De SS. Missæ Sacr., 162). We learn from Joannes Diaconus that St. Gregory "collected the Sacramentary of Gelasius
in one book, leaving out much, changing little adding something for the exposition of the Gospels" (II, xvii).
These modifications seem to concern chiefly the parts of the Mass
outside the Canon. We are told that Gregory added to the "Hanc igitur" the continuation "diesque nostros in tuâ pace disponas" etc. (ib.). We have already noticed that this second part was originally a fragment of a prayer for the dead. St. Gregory's addition may then very well mean, not that he composed it, but that he joined it to the "Hanc igitur", having removed it from its original place.
From the time of Gregory the most important event in the history of the Roman Canon is, not any sort of change in it, but the rapid way in which it spread all over the West, displacing the Gallican Liturgy. Charlemagne
(768-814) applied to Pope Adrian I
(772-95) for a copy of the Roman Liturgy, that he might introduce it throughout the Frankish Kingdom. The text sent by the pope is the basis of what is called the "Sacramentarium Gregorianum", which therefore represents the Roman Rite at the end of the 8th century.
But it is practically unchanged since St. Gregory's time. The Gelasian book, which is earlier than the so-called Gregorian one, is itself later than St. Gregory. It contains the same Canon (except that there are a few more saints' names in the "Communicantes") and has the continuation "diesque nostros in tuâ, pace disponas", etc., joined to the "Hanc igitur", just as in the recent Missal. The Stowe Missal
, now in Dublin (a sixth or early 7th century manuscript), is no longer a sacramentary, but contains already the complete text of a "Missa quotidiana", with collects for three other Masses, thus forming what we call a Missal. From this time convenience led more and more to writing out the whole text of the Mass in one book. By the 10th century the Missal, containing whole Masses and including Epistles and Gospels, takes the place of the separate books ("Sacramentarium" for the celebrant, "Lectionarium" for the deacon and subdeacon, and "Antiphonarium Missæ" for the choir).
at Milan, the Mozarabic Rite
at Toledo, and the Byzantine Rite
among the Italo-Greeks in Calabria and Sicily, this has been the case ever since.
The local medieval rites of which we hear, such as those of Lyons, Paris, Rouen, Salisbury, York, etc., are in no sense different liturgies. They are all simply the Roman use with slight local variations—variations, moreover, that hardly ever affect the Canon. The Sarum Rite
, for instance, which Anglicans have sometimes tried to set up as a sort of rival to the Roman Rite, does not contain in its Canon a single word that differs from the parent-rite as used by the Catholic Church, with the exception of a commemoration for the king. But some changes were made in medieval times, changes that have since been removed by the conservative tendency of Roman legislation.
From the 10th century people took all manner of liberties with the text of the Missal. It was the time of farced Kyrie
s and Gloria
s, of dramatic and even theatrical ritual, of endlessly varying and lengthy prefaces, into which interminable accounts of stories from Bible history and lives of saints were introduced. This tendency did not even spare the Canon; although the specially sacred character of this part tended to prevent people from tampering with it as recklessly as they did with other parts of the Missal. There were, however, additions made to the "Communicantes" so as to introduce special allusions on certain feasts; the two lists of saints, in the "Communicantes" and "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", were enlarged so as to include various local people, and even the "Hanc igitur" and the "Qui pridie" were modified on certain days.
The Council of Trent
(1545–63) restrained this tendency and ordered that "the holy Canon composed many centuries ago" should be kept pure and unchanged; it also condemned those who say that the "Canon of the Mass contains errors and should be abolished" (Sess. XXII., cap. iv. can. vi; Denzinger, 819, 830). Pope Pius V
(1566–72) published an authentic edition of the Roman Missal in 1570, and accompanied it with a Bull
forbidding anyone to either add, or in any way change any part of it. This Missal was to be the only one used in the West and everyone was to conform to it, except that local uses which can be proved to have existed for more than 200 years were kept.
This exception saved the Ambrosian Rite
, the Mozarabic Rite
, as well as a few ancient modified forms of the Roman Rite, such as the Dominican, Carmelite, and Carthusian Missals. The differences in these Missals, however, hardly affect the Canon, except in one or two unimportant rubrics. Since Pius V, the Canon, then, with the very slight retouches under Pope John XXIII
and Pope Paul VI
, has been brought back to its original simplicity and remains unchanged throughout the year, except that on a few of the very greatest feasts slight additions are made to the "Communicantes" and the "Hanc igitur", and on one day to the "Qui pridie quam pateretur".
After Pope Pius V
, Pope Clement VIII
(1592–1605), Pope Urban VIII
(1623–44), and Pope Leo XIII
(1878–1903) each re-edited the Missal, and a great number of additional Masses for new feasts or for local calendars have been added to it. But none of these changes affected the Roman Canon until Pope John XXIII
inserted the name of Saint Joseph
and Pope Paul VI
made some changes, nearly all of which were rubrical, not textual.
Canon of the Mass
Canon of the Mass is the name given in the Roman Missal, from the first typical edition of Pope Pius V in 1570 to that of Pope John XXIII in 1962, to the part of the Mass of the Roman Rite that begins after the Sanctus with the words Te igitur...
has remained relatively unchanged.
It is to Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
(590-604) the great organiser of all the Roman Liturgy, that tradition ascribes its final revision and arrangement. His reign thus provides a natural division in the discussion of the history of the Canon. Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V
Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
made some changes such as removing from the Canon the mention of the emperor or king and shortening the "Communicantes" prayer by removing some saints' names and some clauses of the prayer.
Before St. Gregory I (to 590)
Gregory himself thought that the CanonCanon of the Mass
Canon of the Mass is the name given in the Roman Missal, from the first typical edition of Pope Pius V in 1570 to that of Pope John XXIII in 1962, to the part of the Mass of the Roman Rite that begins after the Sanctus with the words Te igitur...
had been composed by "a certain scholasticus", and Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV
Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...
discussed whether he meant some person so named or merely "a certain learned man". Gregory himself is credited with adding a phrase to the Canon. The Canon that he left represents in fact the last stage of a development that amounted to a "complete recasting", in which "the Eucharistic prayer was fundamentally changed and recast."
A distinction must be made between the prayers of the Canon itself and the order in which they are now found. The prayers, or at least some of them, can be traced back to a very early date from occasional references in letters of the Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
: the prayers beginning Te igitur, Memento Domine and Quam oblationem were already in use, even if not with quite the same wording as now, by the year 400; the Communicantes, the Hanc igitur, and the post-consecration Memento etiam and Nobis quoque were added in the 5th century.
Early period
In the 1st century, as known, the Church of RomeRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, like all other Christian Churches, celebrated the Holy Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
by obeying Christ's direction and doing as He had done the night before he died, commonly called the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
. There were the bread and wine brought up at the Offertory
Offertory
The Offertory is the portion of a Eucharistic service when bread and wine are brought to the altar. The offertory exists in many liturgical Christian denominations, though the Eucharistic theology varies among celebrations conducted by these denominations....
and consecrated by the words of Institution and by an invocation of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
; the bread was broken and Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
was given to the faithful. Undoubtedly, too, before this part of the service lessons were read from the Bible, as explicitly stated by Saint Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
, litanies
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
and prayers were said.
It is also known that this Mass was said in Greek. Koine Greek
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
was the common tongue of Christians, at any rate outside Palestine, and it was spoken by them in Rome as well as everywhere else, at the time when it was understood and used throughout the empire, since the conquests of Alexander the Great, later incorporated into the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. This is shown by the facts that the inscriptions in the catacombs are in Greek, and that Christian writers at Rome use that language.
Of the liturgical formulas of this first period little is known. The First Epistle of St. Clement
First Epistle of Clement
The First Epistle of Clement, is a letter addressed to the Christians in the city of Corinth. The letter dates from the late 1st or early 2nd century, and ranks with Didache as one of the earliest — if not the earliest — of extant Christian documents outside the canonical New Testament...
contains a prayer that is generally considered liturgical (lix-lxi), though it contains no reference to the Eucharist, also the statement that "the Lord commanded offerings and holy offices to be made carefully, not rashly nor without order, but at fixed times and hours". It says further: "The high-priest has his duties, a special place is appointed to the priests, and the Levite
Levite
In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
s have their ministry" (xi). From this it is evident that at Rome the liturgy was celebrated according to fixed rules and definite order. Chap. xxxiv tells us that the Romans "gathered together in concord, and as it were with one mouth", said the Sanctus from Is., vi, 3.
St. Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
(died c. 167) spent part of his life at Rome and died there. It is possible that his First Apology was written in that city, and that the liturgy he describes in it (lxv-lxvi) was that which he frequented at Rome. From this we learn that the Christians first prayed for themselves and for all manner of persons. Then follows the kiss of peace, and "he who presides over the brethren" is given bread and a cup of wine and water, having received which he gives thanks to God, celebrates the Eucharist, and all the people answer "Amen." The deacons then give out Holy Communion (loc. cit.).
Here is found the outline of the liturgy: the Preface (giving thanks), to which may be added from I Clem. the Sanctus, a celebration of the Eucharist, not described, but which contains the words of Institution (c. lxvi, "by His prayer"), and which corresponds to the recent Canon, and the final Amen
Amen
The word amen is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Its use in Judaism dates back to its earliest texts. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua and the...
that still keeps its place at the end of the Eucharistic prayer.
Perhaps a likeness may be seen between the Roman use and those of the Eastern Churches in the fact that when St. Polycarp
Polycarp
Saint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
came to Rome in 155, Pope Anicetus
Pope Anicetus
Pope Saint Anicetus was Pope of the Catholic Church from about 150 to about 167 . His name is Greek for unconquered...
allowed him to celebrate, just like one of his own bishops. The canons of Hippolytus of Rome (in the beginning of the 3rd century, if they are genuine; allude to a Eucharistic celebration that follows the order of St. Justin, and they add the universal introduction to the Preface, "Sursum corda", etc.
Exclusive use of Latin in Rome
The first great turning point in the history of the Roman Canon is the exclusive use of the LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
language. Latin first appears as a language used by Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
writers, not in Rome, but in North Africa. Pope Victor I
Pope Victor I
Pope Saint Victor I was Pope from 189 to 199 .Pope Victor I was the first bishop of Rome born in the Roman Province of Africa: probably he was born in Leptis Magna . He was later canonized...
(190-202), an African, seems to have been the first Bishop of Rome who used it. After this time Latin soon becomes the only language used by Popes in their writings; Cornelius
Pope Cornelius
Pope Saint Cornelius was pope from his election on 6 or 13 March 251 to his martyrdom in June 253.- Christian persecution :Emperor Decius, who ruled from 249 to 251 AD, persecuted Christians in the Roman Empire rather sporadically and locally, but starting January in the year 250, he ordered all...
(251-53) and Stephen
Pope Stephen I
Pope Saint Stephen I served as Bishop of Rome from 12 May 254 to 2 August 257.Of Roman birth but of Greek ancestry, he became bishop of Rome in 254, having served as archdeacon of Pope Lucius I, who appointed Stephen his successor....
(254-57) write in Latin.
Greek seems to have disappeared at Rome as a liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
language in the second half of the 3rd century, though parts of the Liturgy were left in Greek. The Creed was sometimes said in Greek down to Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
times (Louis Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
, Origines, 290). The "Ordo Rom. I" says that certain psalms were still said in Greek; and of this liturgical use of Greek there are still remnants in the Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
and the trisagion
Trisagion
The Trisagion , sometimes called by its opening line Agios O Theos or by the Latin Tersanctus, is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Catholic Churches.In those Churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted...
, etc., on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
. Furthermore, until the recent simplification of the solemn Papal Mass the both the Epistle and Gospel of a solemn Papal Mass
Papal Mass
A Papal Mass is the Solemn Pontifical High Mass when offered by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.There are numerous special ceremonials which are particular to the pope...
were chanted in both Latin and Greek and even at present at a solemn Papal Mass celebrated in Rome the Gospel is still chanted in both Latin and Greek.
Very soon after the acceptance of Latin as the only liturgical language we find allusions to parts of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
ic prayer, that are practically the same as parts of the Tridentine
Tridentine Mass
The Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
Canon. In the time of Pope Damasus (366-84) a Roman writer who surprisingly identified Melchizedek
Melchizedek
Melchizedek or Malki Tzedek translated as "my king righteous") is a king and priest mentioned during the Abram narrative in the 14th chapter of the Book of Genesis....
with the Holy Ghost writes, "The Holy Ghost being a bishop is called Priest of the most high God, but not high priest" (Sacerdos appellatus est excelsi Dei, non summus) "as our people presume to say in the Oblation
Oblation
Oblation, an offering , a term, particularly in ecclesiastical usage, for a solemn offering or presentation to God.-Bible usage:...
". These words evidently allude to the form "thy high priest Melchizedek" (summus sacerdos tuus Melchisedech) in the Canon. Pseudo-Ambrose in "De Sacramentis" quotes the prayers said by the priest in the Canon. The whole of this prayer, but for a few unimportant modifications, is that of the recent Canon.
Pope Damasus has been considered one of the chief compilers of the Roman Liturgy. One liturgical change made by this pope is certain. He introduced the word Alleluia
Alleluia
The word "Alleluia" or "Hallelujah" , which at its most literal means "Praise Yah", is used in different ways in Christian liturgies....
at Rome.
Innocent I (401-17) refers to the Canon as being a matter he ought not to describe — an apparent survival of the idea of the Disciplina arcani
Disciplina arcani
Disciplina Arcani or Discipline of the Secret or Discipline of the Arcane, is a theological term used to describe the custom which prevailed in Early Christianity, whereby knowledge of the more intimate mysteries of the Christian religion was carefully kept from non-Christians and even from those...
— and says it is ended with the kiss of peace): "After all the things that I may not reveal the Peace is given, by which it is shown that the people have consented to all that was done in the holy mysteries
Sacred Mysteries
The term sacred mysteries generally denotes the area of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious ideology.-Pre-Christian religious mysteries:...
and was celebrated in the church". He also says that at Rome the names of persons for whom the celebrant prays are read in the Canon: "first the offertory
Offertory
The Offertory is the portion of a Eucharistic service when bread and wine are brought to the altar. The offertory exists in many liturgical Christian denominations, though the Eucharistic theology varies among celebrations conducted by these denominations....
should be made, and after that the names of the givers read out, so that they should be named during the holy mysteries
Sacred Mysteries
The term sacred mysteries generally denotes the area of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious ideology.-Pre-Christian religious mysteries:...
, not during the parts that precede" (ib.). That is all that can be known for certain about the Canon before Gregory I. The earliest books that contain its text were written after his time and show it as approved by him.
Relation to other Anaphoras
A question that can only be answered by conjecture is that of the relation between the Roman Canon and any of the other ancient liturgical AnaphoraAnaphora (liturgy)
The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine liturgy, Mass, or other Christian Communion rite where the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the usual name for this part of the Liturgy in Eastern Christianity, but it is more often called the...
s. There are undoubtedly very striking parallels between it and both of the original Eastern rites, those of Alexandria
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
and Antioch
Antiochian Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and the Antiochian Orthodox Church , is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
. Mgr. Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
is inclined to connect the Roman use with that of Alexandria, and the other great Western liturgy, the Gallican Rite
Gallican rite
The Gallican Rite is a historical sub-grouping of the Roman Catholic liturgy in western Europe; it is not a single rite but actually a family of rites within the Western Rite which comprised the majority use of most of Christianity in western Europe for the greater part of the 1st millennium AD...
, with that of Antioch (Origines, 54). But the Roman Canon shows perhaps more likeness to that of Antioch in its formulæ. These parallel passages have been collected and printed side by side by Dr. Drews in his "Entstehungsgeschichte des Kanons in der römischen Messe", in order to prove a thesis which will be referred to later. Meanwhile, whatever may be thought of Drew's theory, the likeness of the prayers cannot be denied. For instance, the Intercession
Intercession
Intercession is the act of interceding between two parties. In both Christian and Islamic religious usage, it is a prayer to God on behalf of others....
in the Syrian Liturgy of St. James
Liturgy of St James
The Liturgy of Saint James is the oldest complete form of the Eastern varieties of the Divine Liturgy still in use among certain Christian churches....
begins with the prayer (Brightman, East. Lit., 89-90):
Wherefore we offer unto Thee, O Lord, this same fearful and unbloody sacrifice for the holy places…. and especially for holy Sion … and for thy holy church which is in all the world…. Remember also, O Lord, our pious bishops … especially the fathers, our Patriarch Mar N. and our Bishop ["and all the bishops throughout the world who preach the word of thy truth in Orthodoxy", Greek Lit. of St James].
The whole of this prayer suggests the "Imprimis quæ tibi offerimus", etc., and certain words exactly correspond to "toto orbe terrarum" and "orthodoxis", as does "especially" to "imprimis", and so on.
Again the Syrian Anaphora continues:
Remember also, O Lord, those who have offered the offerings at thine holy altar and those for whom each has offered [cf. "pro quibus tibi offerimus vel qui tibi offerunt"]…. Remember, O Lord, all those whom we have mentioned and those whom we have not mentioned [ib., p. 92]. Again vouchsafe to remember those who stand with us and pray with us ["et omnium circumstantium", ib., 92]; Remembering…. especially our all-holy, unspotted, most glorious lady, Mother of God and ever Virgin, Mary, St. JohnJohn the BaptistJohn the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
the illustrious prophet, forerunner and baptist, the holy Apostles PeterSaint PeterSaint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and PaulPaul of TarsusPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, AndrewSaint AndrewSaint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
…. [the names of the Apostles follow] … and of all thy Saints for ever … that we may receive thy help ["ut in omnibus protectionis tuæ muniamur auxilio", Greek St. James, ib. 56-57].
The words of Institution occur in a form that is almost identical with the "Pridie quam pateretur" (ib., 86-87). The Anamnesis
Anamnesis (Christianity)
Anamnesis , in Christianity is a liturgical statement in which the Church refers to the memorial character of the Eucharist and/or to the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ...
(p. 89) begins: "Commemorating therefore ["unde et memores"] O Lord, thy death and resurrection on the third day from the tomb and thy ascension into heaven . . . . we offer thee this dread and unbloody sacrifice ["offerimus … hostiam puram," etc.].
It is true that these general ideas occur in all the old liturgies; but in this case a remarkable identity is found even in the words. Some allusions to what were probably older forms in the Canon make the similarity still more striking. Thus Optatus of Mileve says that Mass is offered "pro ecclesiâ, quæ una est et toto orbe terrarum diffusa" (Adv. Parm., III, xii). This represents exactly a Latin version of the "holy Church which is in all the world" that we have seen in the Syrian Anaphora above. The Syrian use adds a prayer for "our religious kings and queens" after that for the patriarch and bishop. So our Missal long contained the words "et pro rege nostro N."after "et Antistite nostro N." (see below). It has a prayer for the celebrant himself (Brightman, 90), where the Roman Missal once contained just such a prayer (below). The treatise "De Sacramentis" gives the words on Institution for the Chalice as "Hic est sanguis meus", just as does the Syrian Liturgy.
There are other striking resemblances that may be seen in Drews. But the other Eastern liturgy, the Alexandrine use, also shows very striking parallels. The prayer for the celebrant, of which the form was "Mihi quoque indignissimo famulo tuo propitius esse digneris, et ab omnibus me peccatorum offensionibus emundare" (Ebner, Miss. Rom., 401), is an exact translation of the corresponding Alexandrine text: "Remember me also, O Lord, thy humble and unworthy servant, and forgive my sins" (Brightman, 130). The author of "De Sacr." quotes the Roman Canon as saying "quod est figura corporis et sanguinis domini nostri Iesu Christi", and the Egyptian Prayer Book of Serapion
Serapion
-Physicians:*Serapion of Alexandria , Greek physician*Yahya ibn Sarafyun , also known as Serapion the Elder or Johannes Serapion, Christian physician who wrote two medical compilations in Syriac...
uses exactly the same expression, "the figure of the body and blood" (Texte u. Unt., II, 3, p. 5). In the West the words "our God" are not often applied to Christ in liturgies. In the Gelasian Sacramentary
Gelasian Sacramentary
The so-called "Gelasian Sacramentary" is a book of Christian liturgy. A sacramentary contains the priest's texts for celebrating the Eucharist throughout the year...
they occur ("ut nobis corpus et sanguis fiat dilectissimi filii tui Domini Dei nostri Iesu Christi", ed. Wilson, 235), just where they come in the same context in St. Mark's Liturgy (Brightman, 126). The modern Mass refers to the oblation as "thy gifts and favours" (de tuis donis ac datis); so does St. Mark (ib., 133). But the most striking parallel between Rome and Alexandria is in the order of the Canon. The Antiochene Liturgy puts the whole of the Intercession after the words of Institution and the Epiklesis; in Alexandria it comes before. And in our Canon the greater part of this intercession ("imprimis quæ tibi offerimus", "Commemoratio pro vivis", "Communicantes") also comes before the Consecration
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
, leaving only as a curious anomaly the "Commemoratio pro defunctis" and the "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" to follow after the Anamnesis
Anamnesis (Christianity)
Anamnesis , in Christianity is a liturgical statement in which the Church refers to the memorial character of the Eucharist and/or to the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ...
(Unde et momores).
Although, then, it is impossible to establish any sort of mutual dependence, it is evident that the Roman Canon contains likenesses to the two Eastern rites too exact to be accidental; in its forms it most resembles the Antiochene Anaphora, but in its arrangement it follows, or guides, Alexandria.
The order of the prayers
The division of the Intercession is unique among liturgies and is difficult to account for. Again, one little word, the second word in the Canon, has caused much questioning; and many not very successful attempts have been made to account for it.The Canon begins "Te igitur". To what does that "igitur" refer? From the sense of the whole passage it should follow some reference to the sacrifice. One would expect some prayer that God may accept our offering, perhaps some reference such as is found in the Eastern liturgies to the sacrifices of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Melchizedek
Melchizedek
Melchizedek or Malki Tzedek translated as "my king righteous") is a king and priest mentioned during the Abram narrative in the 14th chapter of the Book of Genesis....
, etc. It should then be natural to continue: "And therefore we humbly pray thee, most merciful Father", etc. But there is no hint of such an allusion in what goes before. No preface has any word to which the "igitur" could naturally refer. At any rate there is no trace of it, either in our preface or in any of the other rites. Other difficulties are the reduplications between the ideas of the "Hanc igitur" and the "Nobis quoque peccatoribus". Various allusions to older forms of the Canon increase the number of these difficulties.
The Greek translation of the Roman Canon called the "Liturgy of St. Peter", edited by William de Linden, Bishop of Ghent
Bishop of Ghent
The Bishop of Ghent is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gent, which comprises the entire province of East Flanders as well as the Antwerp municipalities of Zwijndrecht and Burcht. The current Bishop of Ghent is Mgr...
, in 1589 from a Rossano manuscript contains some variations that point in this direction. For instance, it gives a version of the "Supplices te rogamus", and then goes on: "Aloud. First remember, O Lord, the Archbishop. He then commemorates the living. And to us sinners", etc. This puts the Intercession after the "Supplices" prayer, and exactly corresponds to the order suggested above.
Matthias Flacius
Matthias Flacius
Matthias Flacius Illyricus was a Lutheran reformer.He was born in Carpano, a part of Albona in Istria, son of Andrea Vlacich alias Francovich and Jacobea Luciani, daughter of a wealthy and powerful Albonian family...
published an "Ordo Missæ" in which there are still traces of the old order of the prayers. It begins with the "Unde et memores" and the Epiclesis
Epiclesis
The epiclesis is that part of the Anaphora by which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit upon the Eucharistic bread and wine in some Christian churches.In most Eastern Christian traditions, the Epiclesis comes after the Anamnesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from "invocation" or...
; then come the "Te igitur", prayer for the pope, "Memento Domine famulorum famularumque tuarum", and eventually "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", in short, the whole Intercession after the Consecration.
The prayer "Hanc igitur" has some difficulties. The Greek version adds a rubric before it: "Here he names the dead". What can the "Hanc igitur" have to do with the dead? The Antiochene Liturgy, in which several parallel passages to the modern Canon have already been noticed, has a parallel to the second half of this prayer too, and that parallel occurs in its commemoration of the dead. There, following a prayer that the dead may rest "in the land of the living, in thy kingdom . . . in the bosom of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
and Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
", etc., is found this continuation: "And keep for us in peace, O Lord, a Christian, well-pleasing and sinless end to our lives, gathering us under the feet of thy Elect, when Thou willest and as Thou willest, only without shame and offence; through thy only begotten Son our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ." We notice here the reference to the elect (in electorum tuorum grege), the prayer that we may be kept "in peace" (in tuâ pace disponas), the allusion to the "end of our lives" (diesque nostros) and the unusual "Per Christum Dominum nostrum", making a break in the middle of the Eucharistic prayer. The Syrian form with its plain reference to death ("the end of our lives") seems more clearly to be a continuation of a prayer for the faithful departed. But in the Roman form too is found such a reference in the words about hell (ab æterna damnatione) and heaven (in electorum tuorum grege).
Drews then proposes to divide the "Hanc igitur" into two separate parts. The second half, beginning at the words "diesque nostros", would have originally been the end of the Commemoration of the Dead and would form a reduplication of the "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", where the same idea occurs ("partem aliquam et societatem donare digneris cum tuis sanctis Apostolis er Martyribus" being an echo of "in electorum tuorum iubeas grege numerari"). This second half, then, would belong to the Intercession after the Consecration, and would originally fall together with the "Nobis quoque". In any case, even in the present arrangement of the Canon the "Nobis quoque" following the "Commemoratio pro defunctis" shows that at Rome as in other liturgies the idea of adding a prayer for ourselves, that we too may find a peaceful and blessed death followed by a share in the company of the saints, after our prayer for the faithful departed was accepted as natural.
The first half of the "Hanc igitur" must now be accounted for down to "placatus accipias". This first half is a reduplication of the prayer "Quam oblationem". Both contain exactly the same idea that God may graciously accept our offering. "Hanc oblationem" and "Quam oblationem" differ only in the relative construction of the second form. We know that the relative construction is not the original one. In the "De Sacramentis", to which reference has several times been made, the "Quam oblationem" occurs as an absolute sentence: "Fac nobis hanc oblationem adscriptam, rationabilem acceptabilemque, quod est figura corporis et sanguinis Domini nostri Iesu Christi" (IV, v). We also know that the "Igitur" in "Hanc igitur" is not original. The parallel passages in Serapion
Serapion
-Physicians:*Serapion of Alexandria , Greek physician*Yahya ibn Sarafyun , also known as Serapion the Elder or Johannes Serapion, Christian physician who wrote two medical compilations in Syriac...
and St. Mark's Liturgy have simply tauter ten thysian (Drews, 16). Moreover, the place and object of this prayer have varied very much. It has been applied to all sorts of purposes, and it is significant that it occurs specially often in connection with the dead (Ebner, Miss. Rom., 412). This would be a natural result, if we suppose it to be a compilation of two separate parts, both of which have lost their natural place in the Canon. Drews then proposes to supply the first words of the "Quam oblationem" that we have put in the first place of his reconstructed Canon (see above), by the first half of the "Hanc igitur", so that (leaving out the igitur) the Canon would once have begun: "Hanc oblationem servitutis nostræ, sed et cunctæ familiæ tuæ, quæsumus Domine, ut placatus accipias ut in omnibus benedictam, adscriptam, ratam, rationabilemque facere digneris, ut nobis corpus et sanguis fiat dilectissimi filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi" (Drews, 30), and so on, according to the order suggested above. One word, "ut", has been added to this compilation, to connect the "Hanc igitur" with the continuation of "Quam oblationem". This word is vouched for by the Greek version, which has ina here (Swainson, 197). Drews further notes that such a change in the arrangement of the Canon is not inconceivable. Popes have modified its order on other occasions. Joannes Diaconus, the biographer of St. Gregory I, tells us that he re-arranged a few parts of the Canon ("pauca convertens", Vita Greg., II, xvii).
When then may this change be supposed to have been made? It was not made in the time of Innocent I (401-417); it had already occurred when the Gelasian Sacramentary
Gelasian Sacramentary
The so-called "Gelasian Sacramentary" is a book of Christian liturgy. A sacramentary contains the priest's texts for celebrating the Eucharist throughout the year...
was written (7th century); it may be taken for certain that in the time of St. Gregory I (590-604) the Canon already stood as it does now. The reason for believing that Innocent I still knew only the old arrangement is that in his letter to Decentius of Eugubium (Patrologia Latina
Patrologia Latina
The Patrologia Latina is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865....
, XX, 553-554) he implies that the Intercession comes after the Consecration. He says that the people for whom we pray "should be named in the middle of the holy mysteries
Sacred Mysteries
The term sacred mysteries generally denotes the area of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious ideology.-Pre-Christian religious mysteries:...
, not during the things that go before, that by the very mysteries we should open the way for the prayers that follow". If the diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
s are read after the way has been opened by the holy mysteries, the Roman Canon must follow the same order as the Church of Antioch
Church of Antioch
The Church of Antioch is one of the five major churches that composed the Christian Church before the East-West Schism.-History:...
, and at any rate place the "Commemoratio vivorum" after the Consecration. Supposing, then, that this re-arrangement really did take place, it must have been made in the course of the 5th century.
Drews thinks that we can go farther and ascribe the change to Pope Gelasius I
Pope Gelasius I
Pope Saint Gelasius I was pope from 492 until his death in 496. He was the third and last bishop of Rome of African origin in the Catholic Church. Gelasius was a prolific writer whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages...
(492-96). A very old tradition connects his name with at any rate, some important work about the Canon. The second oldest Roman sacramentary
Sacramentary
The Sacramentary is a book of the Middle Ages containing the words spoken by the priest celebrating a Mass and other liturgies of the Church. The books were usually in fact written for bishops or other higher clegy such as abbots, and many lavishly decorated illuminated manuscript sacramentaries...
known, although it is really later than St. Gregory, has been called the "Sacramentarium Gelasianum
Gelasian Sacramentary
The so-called "Gelasian Sacramentary" is a book of Christian liturgy. A sacramentary contains the priest's texts for celebrating the Eucharist throughout the year...
" since the 9th century (Duchesne, Origines, 120). Gennadius I says that he composed a sacramentary (De. vir. ill., c. xciv). Moreover, the Liber Pontificalis
Liber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
refers to his liturgical work (Origines, 122) and the Stowe Missal
Stowe Missal
The Stowe Missal, which is strictly speaking a sacramentary rather than a missal, is an Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin with some Gaelic in about 750. In the mid-11th century it was annotated and some pages rewritten at Lorrha Monastery in County Tipperary, Ireland...
(7th century) puts at the head of the Canon the title: "Canon dominicus Papæ Gelasi" (ed. Warren, 234). Baumer has collected all the evidences for Gelasius
Pope Gelasius I
Pope Saint Gelasius I was pope from 492 until his death in 496. He was the third and last bishop of Rome of African origin in the Catholic Church. Gelasius was a prolific writer whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages...
's authorship of some important sacramentary (Histor. Jahrb., 1893, 244 sqq.). It is known that Gelasius did not compose the text of the Canon. Its component parts have been traced back to a far earlier date. But would not so vital a change in its arrangement best explain the tradition that persistently connects the recent Canon with the name of Gelasius?
There is even a further suggestion that Drews has noticed. Why was the reversal of the order made? Evidently to bring the Intercession before the Consecration. This means to change from the same order as Antioch
Antiochian Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and the Antiochian Orthodox Church , is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...
to that of Alexandria
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
. Is it too much to suppose that we have here a case of Alexandrine influence at Rome? Now it is noticeable that Gelasius
Pope Gelasius I
Pope Saint Gelasius I was pope from 492 until his death in 496. He was the third and last bishop of Rome of African origin in the Catholic Church. Gelasius was a prolific writer whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages...
personally had a great reverence for the venerable "second See
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
" founded by St. Mark, and that since 482 Bishop John Talaia of Alexandria, being expelled from his own Church by the Monophysites, sought and found refuge in Rome. He would have celebrated his own liturgy in the pope's city, and was certainly greatly honoured as a confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
and exile for the Faith. May we then even go so far as to suggest that we owe the present certainly unusual order of our Canon to Gelasius and the influence of John Talaia? So far Drews (p. 38).
Drews's theory has not been unopposed. An argument against it may be found in the very treatise "De Sacramentis" from which he gathers some of his arguments. For this treatise says: "In all other things that are said praise is given to God, prayers are said for the people, for kings, for others, but when he comes to consecrate the holy Sacrament the priest no longer uses his own words, but takes those of Christ" (IV, iv). According to this author, then, the Intercession comes before the Consecration. On the other hand it will be noticed that the treatise is late. That it is not by St. Ambrose
Ambrose
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...
himself has long been admitted by every one. It is apparently an imitation of his work "De Mysteriis", and may have been composed in the 5th or 6th century (Bardenhewer, Patrologie, 407). German Morin thinks that Nicetas
Nicetas of Remesiana
Saint Nicetas was Bishop of Remesiana, present-day Bela Palanka in the Pirot District of modern Serbia, but which was then in the Roman province of Dacia Mediterranea.-Biography:...
, Bishop of Romatiana in Dacia, wrote it (Rev. Benéd., 1890, 151-59). In any case it may be urged that whatever reasons there are for ascribing it to an early date, they show equally conclusively that, in spite of its claim to describe "the form of the Roman Church" (III, 1) it is Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
ese. The very assurance is a proof that it was not composed at Rome, since in that case such a declaration would have been superfluous. An allusion occurring in a Milanese work is but a very doubtful guide for the Roman use. And its late date makes it worthless as a witness for our point. When it was written probably the change had already been made at Rome; so we are not much concerned by the question of how far it describes Roman or Milanese offices. So far the theory proposed by Drews, which seems in any case to deserve attention.
From the time of St. Gregory I (590-604)
Certainly when St. GregoryPope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
became pope the Canon was already fixed in its present order. There are scarcely any changes to note in its history since then. "No pope has added to or changed the Canon since St. Gregory" says Benedict XIV (De SS. Missæ Sacr., 162). We learn from Joannes Diaconus that St. Gregory "collected the Sacramentary of Gelasius
Gelasian Sacramentary
The so-called "Gelasian Sacramentary" is a book of Christian liturgy. A sacramentary contains the priest's texts for celebrating the Eucharist throughout the year...
in one book, leaving out much, changing little adding something for the exposition of the Gospels" (II, xvii).
These modifications seem to concern chiefly the parts of the Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
outside the Canon. We are told that Gregory added to the "Hanc igitur" the continuation "diesque nostros in tuâ pace disponas" etc. (ib.). We have already noticed that this second part was originally a fragment of a prayer for the dead. St. Gregory's addition may then very well mean, not that he composed it, but that he joined it to the "Hanc igitur", having removed it from its original place.
From the time of Gregory the most important event in the history of the Roman Canon is, not any sort of change in it, but the rapid way in which it spread all over the West, displacing the Gallican Liturgy. Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
(768-814) applied to Pope Adrian I
Pope Adrian I
Pope Adrian was pope from February 1, 772 to December 25, 795. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.Shortly after Adrian's accession the territory ruled by the papacy was invaded by Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and Adrian was compelled to seek the assistance of the Frankish king...
(772-95) for a copy of the Roman Liturgy, that he might introduce it throughout the Frankish Kingdom. The text sent by the pope is the basis of what is called the "Sacramentarium Gregorianum", which therefore represents the Roman Rite at the end of the 8th century.
But it is practically unchanged since St. Gregory's time. The Gelasian book, which is earlier than the so-called Gregorian one, is itself later than St. Gregory. It contains the same Canon (except that there are a few more saints' names in the "Communicantes") and has the continuation "diesque nostros in tuâ, pace disponas", etc., joined to the "Hanc igitur", just as in the recent Missal. The Stowe Missal
Stowe Missal
The Stowe Missal, which is strictly speaking a sacramentary rather than a missal, is an Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin with some Gaelic in about 750. In the mid-11th century it was annotated and some pages rewritten at Lorrha Monastery in County Tipperary, Ireland...
, now in Dublin (a sixth or early 7th century manuscript), is no longer a sacramentary, but contains already the complete text of a "Missa quotidiana", with collects for three other Masses, thus forming what we call a Missal. From this time convenience led more and more to writing out the whole text of the Mass in one book. By the 10th century the Missal, containing whole Masses and including Epistles and Gospels, takes the place of the separate books ("Sacramentarium" for the celebrant, "Lectionarium" for the deacon and subdeacon, and "Antiphonarium Missæ" for the choir).
Later variations
After the 9th century the Roman Mass, now quite fixed in all its essential parts (though the Proper Masses for various feasts constantly change), quickly became the universal use throughout the Western patriarchate. Except for three small exceptions, the Ambrosian RiteAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
at Milan, the Mozarabic Rite
Mozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
at Toledo, and the Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
among the Italo-Greeks in Calabria and Sicily, this has been the case ever since.
The local medieval rites of which we hear, such as those of Lyons, Paris, Rouen, Salisbury, York, etc., are in no sense different liturgies. They are all simply the Roman use with slight local variations—variations, moreover, that hardly ever affect the Canon. The Sarum Rite
Sarum Rite
The Sarum Rite was a variant of the Roman Rite widely used for the ordering of Christian public worship, including the Mass and the Divine Office...
, for instance, which Anglicans have sometimes tried to set up as a sort of rival to the Roman Rite, does not contain in its Canon a single word that differs from the parent-rite as used by the Catholic Church, with the exception of a commemoration for the king. But some changes were made in medieval times, changes that have since been removed by the conservative tendency of Roman legislation.
From the 10th century people took all manner of liberties with the text of the Missal. It was the time of farced Kyrie
Kyrie
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
s and Gloria
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...
s, of dramatic and even theatrical ritual, of endlessly varying and lengthy prefaces, into which interminable accounts of stories from Bible history and lives of saints were introduced. This tendency did not even spare the Canon; although the specially sacred character of this part tended to prevent people from tampering with it as recklessly as they did with other parts of the Missal. There were, however, additions made to the "Communicantes" so as to introduce special allusions on certain feasts; the two lists of saints, in the "Communicantes" and "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", were enlarged so as to include various local people, and even the "Hanc igitur" and the "Qui pridie" were modified on certain days.
The Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
(1545–63) restrained this tendency and ordered that "the holy Canon composed many centuries ago" should be kept pure and unchanged; it also condemned those who say that the "Canon of the Mass contains errors and should be abolished" (Sess. XXII., cap. iv. can. vi; Denzinger, 819, 830). Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V
Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
(1566–72) published an authentic edition of the Roman Missal in 1570, and accompanied it with a Bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
forbidding anyone to either add, or in any way change any part of it. This Missal was to be the only one used in the West and everyone was to conform to it, except that local uses which can be proved to have existed for more than 200 years were kept.
This exception saved the Ambrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
, the Mozarabic Rite
Mozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
, as well as a few ancient modified forms of the Roman Rite, such as the Dominican, Carmelite, and Carthusian Missals. The differences in these Missals, however, hardly affect the Canon, except in one or two unimportant rubrics. Since Pius V, the Canon, then, with the very slight retouches under Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
and Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, has been brought back to its original simplicity and remains unchanged throughout the year, except that on a few of the very greatest feasts slight additions are made to the "Communicantes" and the "Hanc igitur", and on one day to the "Qui pridie quam pateretur".
After Pope Pius V
Pope Pius V
Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
, Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...
(1592–1605), Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
(1623–44), and Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
(1878–1903) each re-edited the Missal, and a great number of additional Masses for new feasts or for local calendars have been added to it. But none of these changes affected the Roman Canon until Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
inserted the name of Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
and Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
made some changes, nearly all of which were rubrical, not textual.
See also
- Canon of the MassCanon of the MassCanon of the Mass is the name given in the Roman Missal, from the first typical edition of Pope Pius V in 1570 to that of Pope John XXIII in 1962, to the part of the Mass of the Roman Rite that begins after the Sanctus with the words Te igitur...
- Text and rubrics of the Roman CanonText and rubrics of the Roman CanonBefore the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal, the Mass had, in the Roman Rite, only one Anaphora or Eucharistic Prayer, which was referred to as the Canon of the Mass. Since the 1970 revision, which made only minimal changes in the text, but somewhat more important changes in the rubrics, it is...
- MassMass (liturgy)"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
- Pre-Tridentine MassPre-Tridentine MassThe term Pre-Tridentine Mass here refers to the variants of the liturgical rite of Mass in Rome before 1570, when, with his bull Quo primum, Pope Pius V made the Roman Missal, as revised by him, obligatory throughout the Latin-Rite or Western Church, except for those places and congregations whose...
- Tridentine MassTridentine MassThe Tridentine Mass is the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962. It was the most widely celebrated Mass liturgy in the world until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI in December 1969...
- Mass of Paul VIMass of Paul VIThe Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite promulgated by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council...