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The Mass: An historical, theological, and pastoral survey
PARTIAL list of Aachen, acta apostolorum apocrypha, aelfric grammaticus, J. J. von Allmen; St. Ambrose, analecta hyumnica, Michel Andrieu, Pope Anicetus, Arianism, Arnoldshain Theses, Augustine of Hippo, Synod of Auxerre, W. Averbeck, Antiphonary of Bangor, J. Betz, Botota Eucharistic Congress, Bombay Eucharistic Congress, Bruno of Segni, Caeremoniale Episcoporum, Caesarius of Arles, Cajetan, Codex Iuris Cononici, etc., etc. (c) 1976 by The Liturgical Press. 312pages. Barcode 0814608876.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 11, 2013
Reprinted by Ave Maria Press, "The Mass of the Roman Rite" offers you a chronological history of how the Mass evolved through the centuries, the different forms of the Mass, and a detailed description of all the parts of the Mass. A chapter was also added that was unavailable in previous editions which discusses the commingling of the Eucharistic species.
This series reads like a textbook, and that is both good and bad. It is good because each chapter offers great detail and research and explains to you the subject in a straightforward manner. It is bad because the text of each page is half content and half footnotes. This can begin to bog the reader down while reading. Also, as I said above, there is a lot of Latin and Greek in the text, and if you don't read either language, you miss a lot.
My favorite section in this book was the history of the Mass and how it evolved over time. Some people tend to think that the Liturgy was established by the early Church and hasn't changed since it's origin. However, it has been an evolving creature, for lack of a better word. This is both good and bad. I will not discuss the merits and flaws of such an evolution though. It was just fascinating to me to see what has changed, what has stayed the same, and where the origins of different parts of the Mass came from.
I would give this book 5 stars for content and quality, but I would also include one BIG caveat. This is not light reading by any means. It takes a special mind to read and even halfway appreciate this work. I am not that special, and I don't feel I even scratched the surface of what this treasure has to offer. This book is academic, scholastic, and spiritual meat. Maybe one day I will get some teeth and I can try and chew through this book again.
This series reads like a textbook, and that is both good and bad. It is good because each chapter offers great detail and research and explains to you the subject in a straightforward manner. It is bad because the text of each page is half content and half footnotes. This can begin to bog the reader down while reading. Also, as I said above, there is a lot of Latin and Greek in the text, and if you don't read either language, you miss a lot.
My favorite section in this book was the history of the Mass and how it evolved over time. Some people tend to think that the Liturgy was established by the early Church and hasn't changed since it's origin. However, it has been an evolving creature, for lack of a better word. This is both good and bad. I will not discuss the merits and flaws of such an evolution though. It was just fascinating to me to see what has changed, what has stayed the same, and where the origins of different parts of the Mass came from.
I would give this book 5 stars for content and quality, but I would also include one BIG caveat. This is not light reading by any means. It takes a special mind to read and even halfway appreciate this work. I am not that special, and I don't feel I even scratched the surface of what this treasure has to offer. This book is academic, scholastic, and spiritual meat. Maybe one day I will get some teeth and I can try and chew through this book again.
November 3, 2017
It's one of those scholarly mid-20th century tomes where the footnotes routinely take up more than half the page and contain long discussions that I found on average to be just as interesting as the main text, but in that format much more annoying to read.
A snapshot of the time just before John XXIII and then the entire overturn of the Mass in 1970, you can see here a great deal of the motivation for changing the Mass so much: it had already changed so much, and so far, from its first millennium forms, and so much had been fossilized amid later accretions that it no longer made sense.
In any case, the real motivation for me to read this book was to grapple in massive detail with the history of the Mass and what it looked like in different places and different centuries, both from historical fascination and to get some idea what my predecessors in the faith lived and thought in worship. This book delivers that in spades, so for all the tedium of reading it as it stands, it was exactly what I hoped it would be.
A snapshot of the time just before John XXIII and then the entire overturn of the Mass in 1970, you can see here a great deal of the motivation for changing the Mass so much: it had already changed so much, and so far, from its first millennium forms, and so much had been fossilized amid later accretions that it no longer made sense.
In any case, the real motivation for me to read this book was to grapple in massive detail with the history of the Mass and what it looked like in different places and different centuries, both from historical fascination and to get some idea what my predecessors in the faith lived and thought in worship. This book delivers that in spades, so for all the tedium of reading it as it stands, it was exactly what I hoped it would be.
June 10, 2014
A work of genius, much written during the Second World War, with limited resources.
I am a priest for lo these many years and did not realize the riches of liturgical history. Fr. Jungmann helped lead to the liturgical reform of Vatican II.
I am a priest for lo these many years and did not realize the riches of liturgical history. Fr. Jungmann helped lead to the liturgical reform of Vatican II.
July 14, 2020
Definitive historical study of the Roman Mass. Very detailed and thorough.
March 6, 2025
Skimmed - skipped chapters:
This is a great resource for those looking into how and why the liturgy of the Roman Rite is not only Biblical, but a necessary continutation of the worship of the proto-Christians alive in the time of Christ. I will be revisiting this as I have questions related to specific instances of the liturgy.
The first part is about the history of the mass in general and how it has been passed down since the start.
The second parts go into specific histories of the aspects of the mass and how they developed.
This is a great resource for those looking into how and why the liturgy of the Roman Rite is not only Biblical, but a necessary continutation of the worship of the proto-Christians alive in the time of Christ. I will be revisiting this as I have questions related to specific instances of the liturgy.
The first part is about the history of the mass in general and how it has been passed down since the start.
The second parts go into specific histories of the aspects of the mass and how they developed.
October 8, 2025
The most thorough treatment of the Roman Rite you will ever find. Very matter of fact, with extensive footnotes. The definitive work in this area. Published immediately before Vatican II, thus providing invaluable insights into the thoughts in the minds of the Council Fathers.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews