How Christ Said the First Mass

by James L. Meagher

Shows how the traditional Mass sums up the entire Old Testament worship from the time of Adam to the time of Christ, how even minute details of the present Mass were used by Christ in the very First Mass, and how they have come down to our day with the same symbolic meaning they originally had. The author delves into the history and tradition of every aspect of Hebrew worship and shows clearly how Our Lord blended and wove them all together into the beautiful liturgy we call the Mass. Impr. 443 pgs, PB

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Theology, Nonfiction, History, Christian

443 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who wants to know why we do the Mass the way we do. The 19th century literary style is a little thick to read at times (look at A.E. Waite for a comparison).

[Maximos McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book that bridges the connection of Apostolic (whether Catholic or Orthodox) worship to the Old and New Testament and to Jesus and his Apostles, as well as connects its origin to Jewish roots, then this book is a great start in reading on this topic. The flow of the book is smooth and provides much-needed information about the Jewish formulation and development of Temple and Synagogue worship and how that shaped later Christ worship. There are not many problems I have with the book, only a few. The author, many times in many of his chapters, sometimes in every paragraph, says something along the lines of "We shall see in more detail..." or "I will begin to describe in more detail..." but fails to do so and then repeats that same comment again, leaving you wondering when the author will actually begin to provide the "extra details" he speaks of. There are also many factual errors in this book, almost too many to account for. I found several grammatical errors, such as the author claiming a specific word is Greek when it is actually Hebrew and vice versa. There are other times the author will cite a source for a provided factual statement, just for that source to be either misread or misused, although this does not happen all the time; it does still occur. Some of the sources included also do not provide any solid evidence to quantify as a source; there is an example of the author citing a chapter from an early Christian homily as proof of apostolic vestments just for that entire homily to not include anything about vestments. Overall, the book does a good job showing support for the Apostolic origins of Orthodox/Catholic worship, but the scholarship in the book at times seems to be extremely flawed and frustrating.

[LittleFlowerEnjoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, extremely in-depth look at how the Latin Mass directly corresponds to the Passover rite and Sacrifices of the Temple in the Old Testament. It should leave out any doubts that the Catholic claims about Our Lord's Last Supper and it's direct progression into the Latin Mass we know today are completely true.