Roman Rite

In Brief

The Roman Rite is the liturgy of the Church of Rome and the principal rite of the Latin Church, and its liturgy arrived in Rome when the church was planted there by the Apostles Peter and Paul. For its first three centuries and into the fourth it was celebrated in Greek, even in the heart of Rome; then it took on Latin, passed through Frankish hands in the early Middle Ages and returned to Rome with developments from without incorporated.^1,2 The Curia's missal became the book Pius V imposed in 1570, and later popes corrected it rather than rewrote it until Pius X called his psalter of 1911 "the first step" toward amending Breviary and Missal.^1,3,4,5,6 In 1969 Paul VI promulgated a new Roman Missal, calling it "il nuovo rito della Messa" (the new rite of the Mass) and "un cambiamento, che riguarda una venerabile tradizione secolare" (a change that touches a venerable tradition of centuries), while holding that "nulla è mutato nella sostanza" (nothing has changed in the substance).^7,8,9 Matthew Hazell counts 669 of the 1962 Missal's 1,273 orations unused in the new one.¹⁰ Since 2021 the law has named the books of Paul VI and John Paul II "the unique expression" of the rite's lex orandi, and the Missal of 1962 is celebrated by permission.¹¹

Where to Experience It

Most parishes of the Latin Church use the Missal of Paul VI.¹¹ The Missal of 1962 is celebrated where the diocesan bishop authorizes it, and in a parish church only with the Holy See's leave.^11,26 The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and the Institute of the Good Shepherd celebrate it under their own decrees, set out on the Vetus Ordo page.^27,28,29 Our Mass Finder lists where it is offered in the United States, and the Interactive Missal follows the Order of Mass of either Missal.

Your First Visit

Which Mass you meet depends on the church. At an ordinary parish it is the Missal of Paul VI. Where the bishop has authorized the Missal of 1962, it is the older order, in Latin, with the readings proclaimed in the vernacular, as the law now directs.¹¹ A Catholic not barred by law may receive Communion at either, and a Mass "celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite" fulfils the Sunday obligation.²¹ The Mass Finder also labels chapels of the Society of St Pius X; see the Vetus Ordo page.

The Shape of the Liturgy

The Roman Mass has kept its outline: an entrance with its chant, prayers and readings, the offertory, the Eucharistic Prayer, Communion and the dismissal. Paul VI said in November 1969 that "il disegno fondamentale della Messa rimane quello tradizionale" (the basic plan of the Mass remains the traditional one).⁹ The order below follows the Missal of 1962 and notes at each step what the Missal of Paul VI does differently. The History gives the figures.

The order of Mass

1. Entrance
   Introitus
   The entrance chant. In the Missal of 1962 the priest first says the prayers at the foot of the altar, with the Confiteor. The Missal of Paul VI suppresses them in that form, and the Mass opens with the entrance chant as the priest goes to the altar and the chair.^30,31
2. Kyrie and Gloria
   Kyrie, eleison / Gloria in excelsis Deo
   The Kyrie, still in Greek, and the Gloria on the days that call for it.^30,31
3. Collect
   Collecta · Oratio
   The prayer of the day, proper to each Mass. For the Missal of Paul VI new prayers were added and old ones restored "on the testimony of the most ancient evidences".^7,30
4. Readings
   Epistola · Graduale · Evangelium
   In the Missal of 1962, an Epistle and a Gospel with chants between them. The Missal of Paul VI assigns three readings on Sundays and solemnities, "from a Prophet, an Apostle, and a Gospel", with a responsorial psalm.^7,22,30
5. Creed
   Credo
   The Nicene Creed, on Sundays and the days that call for it.³⁰
6. Prayer of the faithful
   Oratio fidelium
   Not in the Missal of 1962. The 1964 Instruction allowed it before the offertory where it was already the custom; the Missal of Paul VI makes it a regular part of the Mass.^22,23
7. Offertory
   Offertorium
   The Missal of 1962 offers the host and the chalice with medieval prayers such as Suscipe, sancte Pater. The Missal of Paul VI reorders this part, which Notitiae said earlier reforms had never touched, around blessings that begin Benedictus es, Domine, Deus universi.^30,31
8. Prayer over the offerings
   Secreta · Oratio super oblata
   Said silently in the Missal of 1962, as the Secret; aloud since 1964.^23,30
9. Preface and Sanctus
   Praefatio · Sanctus
   The dialogue Sursum corda, the preface and the Sanctus. The Missal of Paul VI added a great number of prefaces, old and new.^7,30
10. Eucharistic Prayer
    Canon Missae · Prex eucharistica
    In the Missal of 1962, the Roman Canon alone, said silently. The Missal of Paul VI keeps it as the first of four Eucharistic Prayers, all said aloud, as the Canon could be from 1967.^7,30,32
11. Lord's Prayer
    Pater noster
    The Lord's Prayer and its embolism, Libera nos. The Missal of Paul VI shortens the embolism, drops the saints' names from it, and adds the people's acclamation.^30,31
12. Peace and Agnus Dei
    Pax Domini · Agnus Dei
    The peace, the breaking of the host and the Agnus Dei.³⁰
13. Communion
    Ecce Agnus Dei · Domine, non sum dignus
    When Communion is given, the priest shows the host with Ecce Agnus Dei and says Domine, non sum dignus three times; in the Missal of Paul VI priest and people say it together. The Communion antiphon follows.^22,30
14. Postcommunion
    Postcommunio
    The prayer after Communion.³⁰
15. Dismissal
    Ite, missa est
    The dismissal and the blessing. In the Missal of 1962 Mass ends, as a rule, with the Last Gospel, the opening of St John. The Instruction of 1964, in force from 7 March 1965, dropped it and suppressed the Leonine prayers said after Low Mass, and the Missal of Paul VI does not have it; wherever the Missal of 1962 is used, the Last Gospel is still said.^23,30

What makes it distinctive

• One eucharistic prayer until 1968, the Roman Canon (see History), which the Missal of Paul VI keeps as Eucharistic Prayer I.^7,18
• The proper of the day. The collect, the prayer over the offerings, the prayer after Communion and the chants change with the day and the season, around a fixed order.³⁰
• Brevity. Its collects run to three or four lines (see Theology).²
• Latin. The Council ruled that "the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites", while giving the vernacular a wider place; both Missals' typical editions are Latin.^15,16,17
• Gregorian chant, which the Council called "specially suited to the Roman liturgy".¹⁵

History

Origins

The Church of Rome first prayed in Greek, and its liturgy passed into Latin in the fourth century; by the century's end the core of the Canon existed.¹ The first text to quote it at length is De sacramentis, whose author wrote, "In all things I desire to follow the Roman Church." An anonymous writer of the same years had already cited one of its phrases. Who wrote De sacramentis is disputed (see Disputed Questions).^1,25 The Liber Pontificalis, a papal chronicle, credits Leo I (440–461) with the words sanctum sacrificium in the Canon and Gregory I (590–604) with diesque nostros in tua pace dispone. That is tradition, not proof.⁴⁷ The Catholic Encyclopedia judged that by Gregory's time the Canon "already stood as it does now".⁴⁸

The sacramentaries

The prayers of the Mass were gathered in books called sacramentaries. Their traditional names, after Leo I, Gelasius I and Gregory I, are at best partly right. No manuscript of the Gelasian type names Gelasius, and the Gregorian book that reached the Franks already held feasts introduced at Rome after Gregory's time, his own among them.^1,34,49 The Veronese collection, once called Leonine, survives in a single manuscript of the early seventh century.³³ The Old Gelasian is a Frankish copy of a Roman book.³⁴ The Gregorian book that Hadrian I sent to Charlemagne, with a letter written between 784 and 791, served the pope's own feasts and stations.^1,35

The Frankish synthesis

In Francia the Gregorian book was completed by a supplement for the rest of the year. The older editors gave the supplement to Alcuin, as Fortescue reported in 1912; since Jean Deshusses (1965) it has been assigned to Benedict of Aniane, about 810–815.^36,37,49 Edmund Bishop described the result as two books fused. One was "genuinely Roman"; the other was Roman in bulk but "considerably modified by Gallican hands". The fused book was then "received and adopted by the Roman Church"; he wrote that "Rome only adopted it ready made", and that of the date "we are altogether in the dark".² Jungmann placed its return in the Ottonian period, between about 950 and 1014.¹

The Curia's missal

At Rome the Curia formed its own Mass book, apparently under Innocent III (1198–1216), and the Franciscans adopted it and carried it everywhere.¹ Its first known printing, at Milan in 1474, opens its Temporale "Incipit ordo missalis secundum consuetudinem Romane curie".³⁸ More than 320 printings are reported before 1570.¹

Trent and Quo primum

The Council of Trent left the Missal to the pope in its last session, in December 1563, and Pius V's commission took the Curia's missal as its base.^1,50 The bull Quo primum of 14 July 1570 imposed the new Missal on every church that followed the rite of the Roman Church. It spared any church whose own way of celebrating, approved by the Apostolic See at its founding or resting on custom, had been observed for more than two hundred years.³ That exemption let Lyon and Braga, and the Dominicans, Carthusians and Carmelites, keep their books.^1,51

A Missal revised in place, 1570–1962

The Missal of 1570 was corrected and re-edited until 1962. Clement VIII revised it in 1604 because printers had corrupted it. He wrote that the rubrics his correctors set out more fully seem to imitate and supply the sense of the old books rather than bring anything new ("illorum sensum imitari potius, et supplere, quam aliquid novi afferre videantur"; our translation).⁴ In 1634 Urban VIII restored rubrics that had drifted ("degeneraverant") from the ancient use.³⁹ Pius X's new psalter of 1911 gave the old Sunday and Lenten weekday Masses back their place, and his programme of 1913, set out for the Breviary with the Missal to follow, called the liturgy "hoc quasi aedificium liturgicum" (this liturgical edifice, as it were).^6,52 The title page of the 1962 Missal calls it "restitutum" by decree of the Council of Trent and "recognitum" by the care of the popes.³⁰

The last growth, and a first stage

In Mediator Dei (1947) Pius XII taught that the liturgy has divine elements that cannot be changed and human ones that can, and that the Church "grows, matures, develops" in her worship. He also rebuked those bent on restoring "all the ancient rites and ceremonies indiscriminately".⁵³ A papal commission "pro generali liturgica instauratione" (for the general restoration of the liturgy; our translation) then prepared the Easter Vigil of 1951, restored to the night as an experiment; the Holy Week of 1955; and the Code of Rubrics of 1960.^20,42,54 John XXIII presented the Code as an interim step and left "the higher principles" of a general reform to the coming Council. Paul VI later called Pius XII's Holy Week "the first stage" of revising the Missal.^7,20

The Council and the new Missal

The Second Vatican Council ordered the rites of Mass simplified, "due care being taken to preserve their substance", and ruled that new forms should "grow organically from forms already existing".¹⁵ Sacram liturgiam (1964) set up the commission, known as the Consilium, that carried this out.⁴⁴ When the Synod of Bishops judged its "normative Mass" in October 1967, 71 voted placet, 43 non placet and 62 placet iuxta modum.⁵⁵ Three new Eucharistic Prayers were published in May 1968. On 3 April 1969 Paul VI promulgated the new Missal, whose "major innovation", he wrote, "concerns the Eucharistic Prayer".^7,18 That November he called it "il nuovo rito della Messa" and "un cambiamento, che riguarda una venerabile tradizione secolare" (a change that touches a venerable tradition of centuries). In the same audiences he said that "nulla è mutato nella sostanza della nostra Messa tradizionale" (nothing has changed in the substance of our traditional Mass).^8,9

What changed in 1969

The presentation of the normative Mass printed in Notitiae in 1967 held that its structure was "perfecte eadem" (exactly the same), and that "Nulla pars cadit, nulla additur" (no part falls away, none is added). It granted a difference in the prayers the priest says silently, but called them "extraneae, inexistentes" (foreign, non-existent) to the faithful and no part of the Mass's structure (our translations). The comparison table printed with it drops the prayers at the foot of the altar and cuts the offertory prayers from seven to three, which it marks "pro opportunitate" (as occasion suggests; our translation).⁵⁵ The table below gives figures where the change can be counted. Each count follows its author's own definitions. Matthew Hazell counts 1,273 orations; Anthony Cekada, in a critique of the Mass of Paul VI, counts 1,182, of which about 200 were left untouched.^10,56

The law since 1984

From 1984 bishops could allow the Missal of 1962 by indult.⁵⁸ Benedict XVI declared in 2007 that it had never been abrogated.²⁴ Traditionis custodes (2021) placed it under the diocesan bishop's authorization, and The Rite Today gives the law as it now stands.¹¹

Milestones

1. 1911Pius X's Divino afflatu reorders the psalter and restores the ancient Sunday and Lenten weekday Masses; he calls it the first step toward amending both Breviary and Missal⁶
2. 1920Benedict XV's typical edition of the Missal, changing only what the new rubrics required⁵
3. 1951The Easter Vigil is restored to the night, optionally and as an experiment⁵⁴
4. 1955Maxima redemptionis restores Holy Week, obligatory from Palm Sunday 1956⁴²
5. 1960John XXIII's Code of Rubrics²⁰
6. 1962The typical edition of the Missal (23 June); St Joseph is added to the Canon (13 November, in force 8 December)^16,43
7. 1963The Council's constitution on the liturgy orders the rites of Mass revised¹⁵
8. 1964Sacram liturgiam creates the Consilium; Inter oecumenici drops the Last Gospel and the Leonine prayers^23,44
9. 1967Tres abhinc annos lets the priest say the Canon aloud; in October the Synod votes on the "normative Mass"^32,55
10. 1968Three new Eucharistic Prayers are published, for use from 15 August¹⁸
11. 1969Paul VI promulgates the new Missal on 3 April, in force from 30 November⁷

Texts & Books

The three Eucharistic Prayers written for the reform follow a different plan from the Canon's, and each sets an epiclesis on the gifts before the words of institution and gathers the intercessions after the anamnesis, where the Canon divides them around the consecration.¹⁸ Cipriano Vagaggini, a relator in the Consilium, wrote that the "intrinsic value and genuine depth" of the Canon's theology of offering are "undeniable". He also set out what he judged its defects as a composition and called them "undeniable and of no small importance".^55,59

Theology & Spirit

The Roman Canon prays in the language of offering. It asks the Father to accept "haec dona, haec munera, haec sancta sacrificia illibata", and after the consecration offers "hostiam puram, hostiam sanctam, hostiam immaculatam".^1,49 The Church teaches that in the Mass the same Christ who offered himself on the Cross "is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner".¹²

Edmund Bishop, writing on "The Genius of the Roman Rite", found its character in "soberness and sense".² Its prayers are short. Of the collects of the early Roman Mass he wrote that they "are extremely short; three or four lines, as we have them in our missal to-day".²

Pius X brought the phrase "active participation" into papal teaching. In 1903 he called the faithful's "partecipazione attiva ai sacrosanti misteri" (active participation in the most holy mysteries) the "prima ed indispensabile fonte" (the first and indispensable source) of the Christian spirit.⁶⁰ The Council made "full and active participation by all the people" the aim "to be considered before all else".¹⁵

Sacred Arts

Chant

Gregorian chant is the Roman liturgy's own music. Pius X called it "il canto proprio della Chiesa Romana" (the proper chant of the Roman Church), and the Council ruled that, "other things being equal, it should be given pride of place".^15,60 The Missal of Paul VI repeats the condition, "all other things being equal", and gives the reason, "because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy", while admitting polyphony and other music.²²

Family & Relations

Rite, use and usage

In the older sense a use is a local or religious-order form of a rite. Adrian Fortescue wrote that the Western medieval rites, apart from the Ambrosian and Mozarabic, were "merely the Roman Rite with local additions and modifications, most of which are to its disadvantage". Elsewhere he called them "dialects of the Roman rite".^49,51 The older uses listed below are of that kind: Braga, Lyon and Sarum, and the uses of the religious orders that Quo primum's exemption let survive.^3,51

Benedict XVI used the word in another sense. Summorum Pontificum called the Missal of Paul VI and the Missal of 1962 "duo usus unici ritus romani" (two usages of the one Roman rite), and his letter to the bishops said they were not "two Rites" but "a twofold use of one and the same rite".^24,61 Unlike the older uses, both were universal in the Latin Church, and each was an edition of the Roman Missal. So this Index lists them as the Roman Rite's own Missals, not as uses of it, and keeps "use" in the older sense.

Two uses are recent. The Zaire Use (1988) adapts the Order of Mass of the Missal of Paul VI for the dioceses of Zaire. Divine Worship (2015), the Missal of the Personal Ordinariates, prints the General Instruction of that Missal and follows its Order of Mass in outline, with Anglican elements such as the Collect for Purity and the Prayer of Humble Access, the Roman Canon as its normative Eucharistic Prayer, and the Last Gospel as an option.^62,63 Each has its own page.

Compare with

• Byzantine Rite: Jungmann set the Byzantine Little Entrance beside the Roman introit and its Great Entrance beside the offertory, and he and Fortescue looked for Rome's epiclesis in different prayers^1,49
• Ambrosian Rite: Fortescue counted Milan's rite among the "really independent rites" that Pius V's exemption saved, while Edmund Bishop called it "really Roman at bottom"^2,49
• Hispano-Mozarabic Rite: Fortescue set Toledo's rite beside Milan's as the independent Latin rites that outlived Pius V's reform⁴⁹

The Rite Today

The law now names the books promulgated by Paul VI and John Paul II "the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite".¹¹ The Missal of 1962 requires permission. The diocesan bishop authorizes it in his diocese, "according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See". Two dispensations are reserved to the Holy See: its celebration in a parish church, and its use by a priest ordained after 16 July 2021. Traditionis custodes placed the institutes erected by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei under the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.^11,26 In 2025 the Dicastery for Divine Worship granted 34 licences to celebrate it in parish churches, most of them renewals "in aliud biennium", for a further two years.⁶⁴

As of 15 September 2026 Leo XIV has issued no act that changes this law. A letter of 18 March 2026, written on his behalf by the Secretary of State, prayed that the Holy Spirit would suggest to the French bishops concrete ways to include generously ("généreusement") those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo, with respect for the directions the Second Vatican Council intended ("dans le respect des orientations voulues par le Concile Vatican II"; our translations).⁶⁵ His letter of 29 June 2026 to Cardinal Roche asked for "fidelity to the approved texts and instructions" and for respect "toward the rites promulgated by Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Saint John Paul II"; it does not mention the Missal of 1962.⁶⁶

The Ordinariates' Missal, Divine Worship, is "the liturgical form approved by the Holy See for use in the Ordinariate".⁶⁷ The Western Rite of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, established in 1958, exists "to provide a home in the Orthodox Church for western people of non-Byzantine cultural and religious background", as its Directory puts it. Its parishes use either "the Gregorian (Overbeck) Canon of the Mass" or "the Moscow–Synodal 1904 (Anglican) Canon of the Mass".¹³ The Society of St Pius X says its priests "use the liturgical books of the 1962 Missale Romanum".⁶⁸ The Holy See's Note of 2 July 2026 is quoted under Your First Visit.

As of 15 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

On Domus Dei

• The Descent of the Roman RiteThe lineage drawn to scale, from the Upper Room to today, with the break of 1969 and the record behind it
• Mediator Dei (1947)Pius XII's encyclical on the liturgy, on our Liturgical Movement timeline
• The Easter Vigil of 1951The night restored, and the first stage begun
• The Restored Order of Holy Week (1955)
• Sacrosanctum Concilium
• The Consilium
• The Synod and the Missa Normativa
• Eucharistic Prayer II
• The Novus Ordo Missae is promulgated
• The Ottaviani Intervention
• Cardinal Ratzinger's critiques
• Quattuor abhinc annos (1984)
• Summorum Pontificum (2007)
• Traditionis custodes (2021)

Official resources

• Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• Missale Romanum (1969), the apostolic constitution

Recommended reading

• Fortescue, Adrian, The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy, London: Longmans, Green, 1912.The classic English history of the Roman Mass, part by part; free on archive.org Read online
• Jungmann, Josef A., The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (Missarum Sollemnia), tr. Francis A. Brunner, 2 vols., New York: Benziger, 1951–1955.The standard history of every part of the Roman Mass Read online
• Bishop, Edmund, Liturgica Historica: Papers on the Liturgy and Religious Life of the Western Church, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1918."The Genius of the Roman Rite", and how the Roman books were formed Read online
• Guéranger, Prosper, Institutions liturgiques, vol. 1, Le Mans: Fleuriot, 1840.Dom Guéranger's history of the Roman books and their reforms Read online
• Le Liber pontificalis: texte, introduction et commentaire, ed. L. Duchesne, vol. 1, Paris, 1886.The Liber Pontificalis in its critical edition, with the notices on the Canon Read online
• Vogel, Cyrille, Medieval Liturgy: An Introduction to the Sources, tr. William G. Storey and Niels Krogh Rasmussen (rev. and tr.), Washington, DC: Pastoral Press, 1986.The guide to the medieval sources: the sacramentaries and the ordines, and their dates Read online
• Westwell, Arthur, “The lost Missal of Alcuin and the Carolingian sacramentaries of Tours”, Early Medieval Europe, 2022, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 350-383.Free to read; current work on the Carolingian sacramentaries and the Supplement Read online
• Missale Romanum Mediolani, 1474, ed. Robert Lippe, 2 vols., Henry Bradshaw Society, London, 1899-1907.The first printed Roman Missal, collated with the editions that followed it Read online
• Bugnini, Annibale, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975, tr. Matthew J. O'Connell, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990.The reform as told by the Consilium's secretary Read online
• Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, General Instruction of the Roman Missal (third typical edition; English translation), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.The Missal of Paul VI's own case for its continuity with the Missal of 1570, in its preamble (§§1–15) Read online
• Gamber, Klaus, The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background, San Juan Capistrano: Una Voce Press; Harrison, NY: Foundation for Catholic Reform, 1993.The case for the received "Roman Rite" against a "Modern Rite", with a passage from Ratzinger's preface to the French edition Read online
• Ratzinger, Joseph, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy, tr. Graham Harrison, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986.Where he denies there is a "Tridentine liturgy" and asks for the new Missal to be received in continuity Read online
• Ratzinger, Joseph, The Spirit of the Liturgy, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.The theology behind his later proposals for the liturgy Read online
• Pristas, Lauren, “The Orations of the Vatican II Missal: Policies for Revision”, Communio: International Catholic Review, 2003, vol. 30, pp. 621-653.How the collects were edited, shown text by text Read online
• Hazell, Matthew P., “"All the Elements of the Roman Rite"? Mythbusting, Part II”, New Liturgical Movement, 2021.Free tables tracing what became of every oration of the old Missal Read online

Sources

1. ScholarshipJungmann, Josef A., The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (Missarum Sollemnia), tr. Francis A. Brunner, 2 vols., New York: Benziger, 1951–1955, vol. I, pp. 50–51 and nn., 95, 97; vol. I, p. 101; vol. I, pp. 50–51; vol. I, pp. 50–51 and nn.; vol. I, p. 52 n. 10; vol. I, pp. 95, 97; vol. I, pp. 51–52; vol. I, pp. 61, 63; vol. I, p. 63; vol. I, p. 102 n.; vol. I, p. 135; vol. I, p. 138; vol. I, p. 61; vol. II, pp. 224–225; vol. I, p. 264; vol. II, pp. 5, 190; vol. I, p. 52 n.; vol. I, p. 51; vol. II, p. 190. LinkVerified 2026-09-13 · archive.org scan (vols. I-II combined); vol. I pp. 255, 264 and vol. II pp. 5, 190 by running heads
2. ScholarshipBishop, Edmund, Liturgica Historica: Papers on the Liturgy and Religious Life of the Western Church, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1918, pp. 6, 41; p. 8; p. 6; p. 19; p. 2. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text, pages pinned by running heads: 'The Genius of the Roman Rite', p. 2 ('really Roman at bottom'); p. 6 ('genuinely Roman'; 'considerably modified by Gallican hands'; 'altogether in the dark'; 'Rome only adopted it ready made'); p. 19 ('soberness and sense'); p. 41
3. Magisterial / canonicalPius V, Quo primum (bull promulgating the Roman Missal), 1570. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · Latin read in the front matter of the 1962 editio typica (archive.org sp07mr62-editio-typica, page images pp. [V]-VI) and of an 1862 Missal: 'nisi ab ipsa prima institutione a Sede Apostolica approbata, vel consuetudine, quae, vel ipsa institutio super ducentos annos … assidue observata sit'; dated 'pridie idus iulii' 1570; the Council of Trent's decrees had left the Missal to the pope: 'inter alia Sacri Tridentini Concilii decreta, nobis statuendum esset de sacris libris, Catechismo, Missali, et Breviario edendis, atque emendandis' (1862 front matter)
4. Magisterial / canonicalClement VIII, “Cum sanctissimum Eucharistiae Sacramentum (brief, 7 July 1604)”, Missale Romanum, editio typica 1962, front matter, 1604, MR1962 p. VII. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · page images of the 1962 editio typica's front matter, pp. VI-VII: 'illorum sensum imitari potius, et supplere, quam aliquid novi afferre videantur' (p. VII); dated 'die VII iulii MDCIV'
5. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, “Decree on the typical edition of the Roman Missal (25 July 1920)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 12 (1920), 1920, pp. 448-449, AAS 12, 448–449. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 12 (1920) 448-449, read: the edition 'ex altera typica anni 1900 deprompta, illud tantum innovatum est' that the new rubrics required
6. Magisterial / canonicalPius X, “Divino afflatu (apostolic constitution, 1 November 1911)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 3 (1911), 1911, pp. 633-638, AAS 3, 636–637; pp. 636–637. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 3 (1911), vatican.va PDF, read: 'primum Nos fecisse gradum ad Romani Breviarii et Missalis emendationem' and the ancient Sunday and Lenten ferial Masses restored, pp. 636-637
7. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, Missale Romanum: Apostolic Constitution on the New Roman Missal, 1969, the paragraph on the Eucharistic Prayer; the paragraph on the prayers; the paragraph on the Gradual. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read on vatican.va (given at Rome, Holy Thursday, 3 April 1969): promulgation of the new Missal, effective the First Sunday of Advent (30 Nov 1969); SC as the basis of the revision. Re-read 14 Sep 2026 in English and Latin for the Eucharistic Prayer: 'The major innovation concerns the Eucharistic Prayer … we have decided to add three new Canons to this Prayer' ('tres novi Canones adderentur statuimus'; vatican.va's Latin prints the typo 'stauiimus')
8. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, Udienza generale, 19 novembre 1969. LinkVerified 2026-09-13 · vatican.va (IT): 'esso è dovuto ad una volontà espressa dal Concilio'; 'è un atto di obbedienza; è un fatto di coerenza della Chiesa con se stessa'; 'Non è un arbitrio'; 'è un passo in avanti della sua tradizione autentica'; 'nulla è mutato nella sostanza della nostra Messa tradizionale'; re-read 2026-09-16: 'nuovo rito della Messa. La Messa sarà celebrata in una forma alquanto differente'. English glosses are ours
9. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, Udienza generale, 26 novembre 1969. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read in Italian on vatican.va: 'Nuovo rito della Messa: è un cambiamento, che riguarda una venerabile tradizione secolare'; 'il disegno fondamentale della Messa rimane quello tradizionale'; the notice read out as from 'la Sacra Congregazione per il Culto Divino'; 'Non più il latino sarà il linguaggio principale della Messa, ma la lingua parlata'
10. ScholarshipHazell, Matthew P., “"All the Elements of the Roman Rite"? Mythbusting, Part II”, New Liturgical Movement, 2021, October 2021, totals; October 2021, totals and n. 4; October 2021, n. 4; October 2021. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · the article and its PDF tables, read: 1,273 orations (prefaces, hymns and sequences excluded); 165 (13.0%) identical; 307 (24.1%) edited; 669 (52.6%) not used; 463 (36.4%) identical or edited, nine prayers being in both lists; 206 (16.2%) centonised; the base is the Missal of 1951 (1,191) with the 82 orations added by 1962, 'not exactly representative of the 1962 Missal' (n. 4); 'more often than not, the changes made by the Consilium are entirely novel, with no basis in the manuscript tradition'
11. Magisterial / canonicalFrancis, Traditionis custodes, 2021, arts 1–2; art. 1; arts 2–3; arts 2–5; art. 2; arts 2–4, 6; art. 8. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read on vatican.va in Latin and English: art. 1 'unica expressio' / 'the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite'; art. 2 'exclusive competence to authorize the use of the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See'; art. 3 §3 'the readings are proclaimed in the vernacular language'; art. 4 priests ordained after the publication of the Motu Proprio; art. 6 the institutes erected by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei under the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies for Apostolic Life; art. 8 'Previous norms, instructions, permissions, and customs that do not conform … are abrogated'
12. Magisterial / canonicalCatholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed., Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997, §1203; §1367. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · §§460, 1105–1106, 1353, 1375, 1377 read on vatican.va; §1125 read on vatican.va; §1203 (ENG0015 __P3C) and §1367 (__P41) read on vatican.va 2026-09-15
13. Primary textAntony (Bashir), Metropolitan, Western Rite Edict and Directory, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 1958; 2015 edition, Directory III.D.2 a–b; Directory I.A, III.D.2 a–b. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read (PDF): the Western Rite established in 1958; Directory III.C: the Ordinary from 'The Missal for the Use of Orthodox', the propers from the Missale Anglicanum (1958); III.D.2 a–b: 'the Gregorian (Overbeck) Canon of the Mass' and 'the Moscow–Synodal 1904 (Anglican) Canon of the Mass'; I.A, the purpose (2026-09-15)
14. ReferenceVatican News, New data of Annuario Pontificio 2026 shows Catholics growing in Africa, 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read in a browser (automated requests are refused): 'In 2024, the Catholic population stood at just over 1.422 billion'; the Americas 47.7%, Africa 20.3%, Europe 20.1%, Asia 11.0%, Oceania 0.9% of all Catholics
15. Magisterial / canonicalSecond Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963, §36; §116; §47; §§23, 50; §14. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · §4 read on vatican.va 17 Sep 2026, verbatim: the Council 'declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way', and desires that 'where necessary, the rites be revised carefully in the light of sound tradition'. §47 read on vatican.va 15 Sep 2026, verbatim: 'At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood'; §23 read on vatican.va; §50 read, and re-read in Latin and English on vatican.va 14 Sep 2026: 'ritus, probe servata eorum substantia, simpliciores fiant' (the substance clause governs the simplifying); 'restituantur vero ad pristinam sanctorum Patrum normam' / 'restored to the vigor which they had in the days of the holy Fathers'; §54 and §116 read on vatican.va 16 Sep 2026: 'a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue'; 'The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services'
16. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, “Decree declaring the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal typical (23 June 1962)”, Missale Romanum, editio typica 1962, 1962. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · page image of the decree at the head of the 1962 editio typica (leaf n1), read: 'praesens Vaticana Missalis romani editio uti « typica » declaratur'; dated 23 June 1962, Card. Larraona
17. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation for Divine Worship, “Celebrationis eucharisticae (decree declaring the new edition of the Roman Missal typical, 26 March 1970)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 62 (1970), 1970, p. 554, AAS 62, 554. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 62 (1970) 554, vatican.va PDF: 'Nova editio Missalis Romani promulgatur et typica declaratur'; 'permittitur ut editio latina … in usum assumi possit'; dated 26 March 1970
18. Primary textConsilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra Liturgia, Notitiae 4 (1968), no. 40: the new Eucharistic Prayers, 1968, pp. 156–157; p. 156; pp. 152–154, 157–159; p. 157; pp. 157–158; p. 153. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · cultodivino.va PDF: the presentation of the prayers ('elle s'inspire de l'anaphore d'Hippolyte'), p. 153; the decree, Prot. R. 26/967, 23 May 1968, p. 156; the norms ('Canon Romanus, qui semper adhiberi potest'), pp. 157-159
19. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, “Mysterii paschalis (motu proprio approving the General Roman Calendar, 14 February 1969)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 61 (1969), 1969, pp. 222-226. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read in Latin on vatican.va: 'nonnullorum Sanctorum nomina a Calendario generali sublata sunt'; in force 'a die I mensis Ianuarii … MCMLXX'
20. Magisterial / canonicalJohn XXIII, “Rubricarum instructum (motu proprio, 25 July 1960)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 52 (1960), 1960, pp. 593-595, AAS 52, 593–595; AAS 52, 594. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 52 (1960), vatican.va PDF: 'altiora principia … in proximo Concilio Oecumenico Patribus esse proponenda', p. 594; dated 25 July 1960, p. 595; 'Pontificia Commissione pro generali liturgica instauratione', pp. 593–594
21. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, cann. 924 §2, 926; can. 924 §1; can. 925; cann. 844 §1, 912, 1248 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
22. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, General Instruction of the Roman Missal (third typical edition; English translation), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, §§281–283; §295; §299; §41; §119; §357; §69; §157; §6; §7. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on usccb.org: §41 ('Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy'); §69; §119; §§281-283; §295; §299 ('desirable wherever possible'); §357 ('three readings'); 2026-09-15: §6 ('separated by four centuries, embrace one and the same tradition'), §7 ('only very slight changes'), §157 ('With the people he adds'); 2026-09-16: §§2, 32, 43, 45, 70, 73, 82, 112–113, 160–161, 199, 252–254, 284, 320, 322, 357 and 390 read in the vatican.va English (the same translation), among them §2 ('The sacrificial nature of the Mass, solemnly asserted by the Council of Trent'), §43 ('The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant'), §357 ('For Sundays and solemnities, three readings are assigned') and §390 ('It is up to the Conferences of Bishops to decide on the adaptations')
23. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, Inter oecumenici (first instruction on the Constitution on the liturgy, 26 September 1964), 1964, §91; §56; §48e; §48j and the closing formula; §48. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · English text on adoremus.org (AAS 56 (1964) 877-900): §48 e ('recited aloud') and j ('The last gospel is omitted; the Leonine Prayers are suppressed'); §56; §91 ('preferably be freestanding'); in force from the first Sunday of Lent, 7 March 1965 (closing formula)
24. Magisterial / canonicalBenedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum, 2007, preamble; art. 1. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · art. 1 read in Latin on vatican.va: 'duo usus unici ritus romani'; 'formam extraordinariam'; the preamble read in Latin and English: 'libros liturgicos instauratos et partim innovatos' / 'revised and in part renewed', and John Paul II 'approved the third typical edition'
25. Primary textAmbrose (attributed), St. Ambrose "On the Mysteries" and the Treatise On the Sacraments by an Unknown Author, tr. T. Thompson, ed. J. H. Srawley, London: SPCK, [1919], IV.5.21–IV.6.27; p. 99, IV.5.21–IV.6.27; pp. xix–xx. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text: De sacramentis III.1.5, p. 99 ('In all things I desire to follow the Roman Church'); the Canon at IV.5.21-IV.6.27, pp. 113-116; Srawley on the author and date, pp. xix-xx
26. Magisterial / canonicalDicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (Card. Arthur Roche), Rescriptum ex audientia SS.mi (20 February 2023), 2023. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on press.vatican.va: the dispensations for parish churches and for priests ordained after Traditionis custodes 'are reserved in a special way to the Apostolic See'
27. Primary textFrancis, Decree granting the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter the use of the liturgical books in force in 1962 (11 February 2022). LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · Latin and Spanish as printed by the FSSP (no Holy See printing found in AAS 114): 'iuxta editiones typicas librorum liturgicorum, scilicet Missalis, Ritualis, Pontificalis et Breviarii, anno 1962 vigentium'; 'in ecclesiis vel oratoriis propriis, alibi vero nonnisi de consensu Ordinarii loci'
28. ReferenceInstitut du Christ Roi Souverain Prêtre, Province de France, Qui sommes-nous ?. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read 15 Sep 2026: the decree Saeculorum Rex, 7 Oct 2008 (the decree itself not seen); '147 chanoines aujourd'hui'
29. ReferenceInstitut du Bon Pasteur, Le charisme liturgique de l'Institut du Bon Pasteur dans le droit de l'Eglise. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read 15 Sep 2026: the Institute's excerpt of its decree of erection, 8 Sep 2006, 'ut eorum ritum proprium, utendo libris liturgicis […] anno 1962 vigentibus' (the Holy See text not seen)
30. Primary textMissale Romanum ex decreto SS. Concilii Tridentini restitutum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum (editio typica 1962), Vatican City: Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1962, Ordo Missae; Canon Missae; Ordo Missae; Rubricae generales n. 503; Ordo Missae; Rubricae generales nn. 509–510; Proprium de Tempore; Proprium Sanctorum; title page; Ritus servandus V.3, p. LVII. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org scan (rights not established; consulted; a printing later than 13 Nov 1962, so cited by page as reprinted): the title page; the Ordo Missae and Canon Missae incipits and some twenty Ordo pages in the OCR; Proprium de Tempore and Proprium Sanctorum; Ritus servandus I.3, II.2, II.4, V.3 (p. LVII, page image), VI.6, X.6, X.7 and XII; Rubricae generales nn. 425, 503, 509–510; 'In Missis defunctorum dicitur prædicta oratio: sed aqua non benedicitur' (p. 221)
31. Primary textSacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Notitiae 5 (1969), no. 46: the new Ordo Missae and General Instruction, 1969, p. 148; pp. 148–149; p. 149. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · cultodivino.va PDF: p. 140, Paul VI's consistory address of 28 April 1969, the new altar book and the other liturgical books 'post diligens studium, a Consilio ad exsequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia recogniti sunt' (re-read 2026-09-18); p. 148, the prayers at the foot of the altar suppressed and the offertory, 'mai toccato nelle precedenti riforme', reordered; p. 149, 'Benedictus es, Domine, Deus universi' and the embolism 'abbreviato e senza i nomi dei Santi'; the Ordo 'il punto di arrivo della riforma della Messa, dopo le tappe intermedie', p. 148; 'in modo da non anticipare la vera offerta del sacrificio', p. 149; re-read 2026-09-16: p. 148 'viene ora riordinato in modo da rispondere meglio al suo vero significato'; p. 149 'che sarà fatta nel Canone', and 'espressioni di benedizione tradizionali nella Bibbia'
32. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, “Tres abhinc annos (second instruction, 4 May 1967)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 59 (1967), 1967, pp. 442-448, n. 10. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 59 (1967), n. 10: 'licet sacerdoti celebranti Canonem, pro opportunitate, intellegibili voce proferre'
33. Primary textSacramentarium Leonianum, ed. C. L. Feltoe, Cambridge: University Press, 1896, pp. vii, xv; p. xv; p. vii. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text: the introduction on the single Verona manuscript and the collection's date, pp. vii, xv
34. Primary textThe Gelasian Sacramentary: Liber sacramentorum Romanae ecclesiae, ed. H. A. Wilson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1894, pp. xvii, lviii; p. xvii; p. lviii. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text: p. xvii (the Vatican manuscript, a Frankish copy, 7th or early 8th c.); p. lviii ('None of the manuscripts classed as "Gelasian" contains any mention of S. Gelasius')
35. Primary textDas Sacramentarium Gregorianum nach dem Aachener Urexemplar, ed. Hans Lietzmann, Liturgiegeschichtliche Quellen 3, Münster: Aschendorff, 1921, pp. XV, XVII; p. XV. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text: Hadrian I's covering letter dated 'zwischen 784 und 791', p. XV; Cambrai 164 and the year 812, p. XVII
36. ScholarshipVogel, Cyrille, Medieval Liturgy: An Introduction to the Sources, tr. William G. Storey and Niels Krogh Rasmussen (rev. and tr.), Washington, DC: Pastoral Press, 1986, pp. 2, 61. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org lending copy, search inside (editor): Benedict of Aniane's Supplement '(ca. 810-815)', pp. 2, 61
37. ScholarshipWestwell, Arthur, “The lost Missal of Alcuin and the Carolingian sacramentaries of Tours”, Early Medieval Europe, 2022, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 350-383, pp. 351, 355. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · the author's open-access PDF (Regensburg repository), read: the Supplement assigned since Deshusses (1965) to Benedict of Aniane, pp. 351, 355 and n. 19
38. Primary textMissale Romanum Mediolani, 1474, ed. Robert Lippe, 2 vols., Henry Bradshaw Society, London, 1899-1907, vol. I, pp. 1, 502. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text and search inside (editor): vol. I, p. 1, the Temporale opens 'Incipit ordo missalis secundum consuetudinem Romane curie'; the colophon, Milan, 6 December 1474, p. 502 (leaf 536)
39. Magisterial / canonicalUrban VIII, “Si quid est (brief, 2 September 1634)”, Missale Romanum, editio typica 1962, front matter, 1634, MR1962 p. VIII (unnumbered). LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · page image of the 1962 editio typica, p. [VIII] (unnumbered), read: 'rubricae, quae sensim ab usu rituque veteri degeneraverant, in pristinum restitutae'
40. ScholarshipBugnini, Annibale, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975, tr. Matthew J. O'Connell, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990, pp. 8–9; p. 450 n. 4. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org lending copy, search inside (editor): p. 450 n. 4, study group 10 (the Ordinary of the Mass) enlarged, its members including J. Gelineau; pp. 8-9, Pius XII's commission for the general reform appointed 'May 28, 1948', Micara presiding, its meetings held 'in absolute secrecy'
41. ScholarshipGiampietro, Nicola, The Development of the Liturgical Reform: As Seen by Cardinal Ferdinando Antonelli from 1948 to 1970, Fort Collins, Colorado: Roman Catholic Books, 2009, pp. 18–20. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · open full text on archive.org (folios print at the foot of the page): p. 18, at the audience of 28 May 1948 'The Holy Father nominated a Pontifical Commission' to examine the plan for the reform, Micara presiding; p. 19, 'The Commission met for the first time on June 22, 1948 in Cardinal Micara's apartments', its members bound to 'the strictest secrecy'; p. 20, Antonelli's diary for that evening, 'This evening (June 22, 1948), the first meeting of the Commission was held', naming those present. English edition of the Italian original (Studia Anselmiana, 1998); ISBN 978-1-934888-12-4
42. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, “Maxima redemptionis nostrae mysteria (general decree, 16 November 1955)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 47 (1955), 1955, pp. 838-841 (the decree; the Instruction of the same date follows at pp. 842-847), preamble, pp. 839–840, n. 2; AAS 47, 838–841. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 47 (1955) 838-841, read 2026-09-15: n. 2 'Novus hic Ordo servari debet a die 25 Martii, dominica II Passionis seu in palmis, anni 1956' (p. 840); n. 7 the Mass of the Lord's Supper in the evening, not before 5 p.m. nor after 8 p.m.; n. 9 'quae permittat Missam solemnem eiusdem vigiliae incipere circa mediam noctem', anticipation by the local Ordinary 'non ante diei crepusculum, aut certe non ante solis occasum' (p. 841)
43. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, “Decree inserting the name of St Joseph in the Canon of the Mass (13 November 1962)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 54 (1962), 1962, p. 873, p. 873; AAS 54, 873. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 54 (1962) 873, read: 'sed et beati Ioseph eiusdem Virginis Sponsi'; in force 8 December 1962
44. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, Sacram Liturgiam (motu proprio, 25 January 1964), 1964. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · vatican.va (LA), seen for the research canon: the special commission set up to carry out the Constitution on the liturgy, known from 1964 as the Consilium: 'peculiarem condimus Commissionem'
45. ScholarshipPristas, Lauren, “The Orations of the Vatican II Missal: Policies for Revision”, Communio: International Catholic Review, 2003, vol. 30, pp. 621-653, p. 652. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · the publisher's PDF, read: 'never before have reformers freely altered the texts of orations', p. 652
46. ScholarshipGelineau, Joseph, The Liturgy Today and Tomorrow, London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1978, p. 11; pp. 9, 11. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org lending copy, search inside (editor; leaves 11, 13 = pp. 9, 11): p. 9, 'the long, too long stagnation of liturgical forms' and 'the signal to start moving'; p. 11, 'the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone'; 'we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building'. The authorized English of Demain la liturgie (Paris: Cerf, 1976)
47. Primary textLe Liber pontificalis: texte, introduction et commentaire, ed. L. Duchesne, vol. 1, Paris, 1886, vol. I, pp. 239, 312. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org page images and OCR: Leo I, 'sanctum sacrificium', p. 239; Gregory I, 'diesque nostros in tua pace dispone', p. 312
48. ReferenceFortescue, Adrian, “Canon of the Mass”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, New York: Robert Appleton, 1908. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on newadvent.org: 'it may be taken for certain that in the time of St. Gregory I (590-604) the Canon already stood as it does now'
49. ScholarshipFortescue, Adrian, The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy, London: Longmans, Green, 1912, p. 121; pp. 122–123; p. 329; pp. 405–406; p. 207; p. 201; p. 129 n. 7. LinkVerified 2026-09-13 · archive.org full text, pages fixed from the running heads: p. 100, the older theory that the Gallican family came from Asia Minor, 'brought to Lyons by the disciples of St John', and 'This theory is now abandoned'; p. 106, 'That it is related to the Gallican liturgies and not to that of Rome (as the Roman rite is now) seems obvious'; p. 184 (the medieval additions 'take nothing from its dignity') and p. 394 (Pius V's Missal of 1570 'for the first time admits it as part of the Mass'), each between its running heads
50. Magisterial / canonicalCouncil of Trent, “Session XXV (3-4 December 1563)”, The Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Oecumenical Council of Trent, tr. J. Waterworth, London: Dolman, 1848, p. 279. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on history.hanover.edu (Waterworth's page numbers in brackets): the Missal and Breviary committed to the Roman Pontiff, p. 279
51. ReferenceFortescue, Adrian, “Rites”, Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 13, 1912. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read in the New Advent text: the general part, signed ADRIAN FORTESCUE (New Advent's citation line names P. Griffin, wrongly): 'merely the Roman Rite with local additions and modifications, most of which are to its disadvantage'; dioceses (e.g. Lyons) and orders 'keep their special uses'. It misdates Quo primum to 19 July 1570 (the bull: pridie Idus Julii, 14 July), so that date is not repeated
52. Magisterial / canonicalPius X, “Abhinc duos annos (motu proprio, 23 October 1913)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 5 (1913), 1913, pp. 449-451, AAS 5, 449–451. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 5 (1913) 449-451, read: 'hoc quasi aedificium liturgicum', said of the programme for the Breviary, the Missal to follow (p. 449, the sentence running onto p. 450)
53. Magisterial / canonicalPius XII, Mediator Dei (encyclical on the sacred liturgy), 1947, §§50, 59, 61. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on vatican.va (EN): §50, divine and human elements; §59, 'she grows, matures, develops'; §61, 'bent on the restoration of all the ancient rites and ceremonies indiscriminately'; AAS 39 (1947) 521-595
54. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, “Decree on the restoration of the solemn Easter Vigil (9 February 1951)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 43 (1951), 1951, pp. 128-137, AAS 43, 128–129. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · AAS 43 (1951) 128-129: the Vigil restored for that year 'prudenti iudicio instauranda, et ad experimentum'
55. Primary textConsilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de sacra Liturgia, Notitiae 3 (1967): the Synod of Bishops and the normative Mass; the calendar of the study groups, 1967, pp. 357, 363; pp. 372–373; p. 427. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · cultodivino.va PDFs of nos. 35-36: the Synod's votes, pp. 354-363; 'Nulla pars cadit, nulla additur' with the comparison table, pp. 372-373; Coetus 11 'de lectionibus biblicis in Missa', relator P. C. Vagaggini, p. 427; p. 372, the three offertory prayers carry note 3, '« Pro opportunitate »' (page image, 2026-09-15)
56. ScholarshipCekada, Anthony, Work of Human Hands: A Theological Critique of the Mass of Paul VI, West Chester, OH: Philothea Press, 2010, pp. 222–223. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org full text, read: 1,182 orations, about 760 dropped, about 200 left untouched, pp. 222-223 and n. 13
57. ReferenceJust, Felix, S.J., Lectionary Statistics, 2009, the New and Old Testament tables, the key and note 3. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on catholic-resources.org (page last updated 2 January 2009): under the heading 'Readings from the New Testament', in the body and not in the notes, 'Before Vatican II, the same readings were used each year for the various Masses in the Roman Missal' (re-read 2026-09-15); New Testament verses read on Sundays and major feasts 16.5% before 1970, 40.8% now, 71.5% with the weekdays; Old Testament outside the Psalms 1.0%, 3.7% and 13.5%; the 'before' column is the Missal before 1951, whose revision cut the Old Testament to 0.39% (note 3), and 'now' is the Lectionary's second edition (1981)
58. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for Divine Worship, “Quattuor abhinc annos (circular letter, 3 October 1984)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 76 (1984), 1984, pp. 1088-1089. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read firsthand in the AAS OCR PDF on vatican.va, AAS 76 (1984) pp. 1088-1089, 'EPISTULA: De usu Missalis Romani iuxta editionem typicam anni MCMLXII': 'Episcopis dioecesanis facultatem concedit utendi Indulto, quo sacerdotes et christifideles, qui in petitione proprio Episcopo exhibenda explicite indicabuntur, Missam celebrare valeant Missale Romanum adhibendo iuxta editionem typicam anni 1962, servatis autem normis, quae sequuntur'; conditions (a)-(e) read verbatim (no part with those questioning the 1970 Missal; petitioning groups only; bishop-designated churches/oratories; Latin only; no mixing of rites/texts; bishops report to the Congregation). Signed 'Ex aedibus Congregationis pro Cultu Divino, die 3 Octobris 1984', A. Mayer Pro-Praefectus, V. Noè a Secretis.
59. ScholarshipVagaggini, Cipriano, The Canon of the Mass and Liturgical Reform, Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 1967, pp. 88, 90.Verified 2026-09-15 · a scan linked from Matthew Hazell's blog (rights not established; consulted), read: 'These defects are undeniable and of no small importance', p. 90; 'the intrinsic value and genuine depth of this theology is undeniable', p. 88 (page image, 2026-09-15)
60. Magisterial / canonicalPius X, “Tra le sollecitudini (motu proprio on sacred music, 22 November 1903)”, Acta Sanctae Sedis 36 (1903-04), 1903, pp. 329-339, ASS 36, 331; §3. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read in Italian on vatican.va and in ASS 36: 'la partecipazione attiva ai sacrosanti misteri' the 'prima ed indispensabile fonte', p. 331; §3, Gregorian chant 'il canto proprio della Chiesa Romana'
61. Magisterial / canonicalBenedict XVI, Letter to the Bishops on the occasion of the publication of Summorum Pontificum, 2007. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read on vatican.va: 'Forma ordinaria'; 'Forma extraordinaria'; 'the new Missal will certainly remain the ordinary Form of the Roman Rite'; also 'There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal' and 'In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, but no rupture'
62. Magisterial / canonicalCongregatio pro Cultu Divino, “Decree Zairensium Dioecesium (Prot. 1520/85), 30 April 1988, with J. Evenou's presentation”, Notitiae 24 (1988), no. 264, 1988, pp. 454-457, p. 457. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · PDF read: 'libenter approbat seu confirmat'; 'servata tamen substantiali ritus Romani unitate' (p. 457); Evenou: the 'Missel Romain pour les diocèses du Zaïre' 'a été approuvé le 30 avril dernier par la Congrégation pour le Culte divin' (p. 454)
63. ReferenceUSCCB Committee on Divine Worship, “Holy See Confirms Divine Worship: The Missal for Ordinariates”, Committee on Divine Worship Newsletter, October 2015, 2015, pp. 37-39, pp. 37–38. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · PDF read: the three Ordinariates named (Walsingham; Chair of St Peter; Our Lady of the Southern Cross); 'seems to deliberately avoid the use of terms like "Anglican Use"'; the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) printed in the Missal's front matter; re-read 2026-09-17: p. 37 'In May 2015, the Holy See subsequently approved the second book, Divine Worship: The Missal', its use 'beginning on the First Sunday of Advent', the 2014 Divine Worship: Occasional Services 'containing rituals for baptisms, weddings, and funerals', and 'according to the usual stipulations, may receive Holy Communion'; p. 38 'several traditional Anglican elements', 'the placement of the Penitential Rite after the Liturgy of the Word', and The English Missal and The Anglican Missal as 'essentially translations of the traditional Roman Missal', prepared by Anglicans for use in 'high Anglican' services; p. 39 'Prayer Book English' and the Prayer of Humble Access 'said by the priest and congregation just after the Agnus Dei'
64. Primary textDicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Index decretorum anni MMXXV, 2025. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · PDF read and re-parsed entry by entry 2026-09-15: exactly 34 entries 'celebrandi secundum Missale Romanum a sancto Ioanne XXIII anno 1962 promulgatum, in ecclesia parœciali'; 25 of them renew a licence 'in aliud biennium'; and Prot. N. 651/25 (Glasgow, 25 Nov) 'abrogat et substituit' Prot. N. 163/25, so the year's decrees reach 33 churches
65. Primary textParolin, Pietro (Secretary of State), for Pope Leo XIV, “Lettre aux évêques de France réunis en Assemblée plénière, 18 mars 2026”, Église catholique en France, 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read: 'Sa Sainteté le Pape Léon XIV me charge de vous transmettre'; 'dans le contexte de la croissance des communautés liées au Vetus Ordo'; 'des solutions concrètes permettant d'inclure généreusement les personnes sincèrement attachées au Vetus Ordo, dans le respect des orientations voulues par le Concile Vatican II en matière de Liturgie'; signed 'Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secrétaire d'État de Sa Sainteté', 'Du Vatican, le 18 mars 2026' (published 25 Mar 2026)
66. Magisterial / canonicalLeo XIV, Letter to Cardinal Arthur Roche for the Liturgical Conference at Mount Angel Abbey (29 June 2026), 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on vatican.va: 'we must emphasize the need for fidelity to the approved texts and instructions'; no mention of the Missal of 1962; re-read 2026-09-16: 'the respect that all those called to prepare the celebration of the divine mysteries, and priests in particular, must show toward the rites promulgated by Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Saint John Paul II'
67. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Complementary Norms for the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, 2019, art. 15. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read in the Holy See Press Office bulletin of 9 Apr 2019: art. 15, 'the liturgical form approved by the Holy See for use in the Ordinariate'; public celebration 'restricted to the Personal Ordinariates'; re-read 2026-09-17: 1 in full, the patrimony 'understood as that which has nourished the Catholic faith throughout the history of the Anglican tradition and prompted aspirations towards ecclesial unity'; 2 a priest of an Ordinariate may celebrate outside its parishes 'when celebrating Mass without a congregation, or publicly with the permission of the rector/pastor'; 3 'In cases of pastoral necessity or in the absence of a priest incardinated in an Ordinariate, any priest incardinated in a Diocese or in an Institute of Consecrated Life or Society of Apostolic Life may celebrate'
68. Primary textSociety of St Pius X (US District), Why the SSPX uses the 1962 missal. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on sspx.org: the Society's priests 'use the liturgical books of the 1962 Missale Romanum', with Abp Lefebvre's letter of 28 April 1983
69. Primary textMissale Romanum ex decreto sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini restitutum (Venice printing), Venice, 1570, Ritus servandus, De Oratione. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org page image (leaf n33), Ritus servandus, De Oratione, read: the provision for an altar facing the people already present, unnumbered
70. ScholarshipRatzinger, Joseph, The Spirit of the Liturgy, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000, ch. 3. LinkVerified 2026-09-13 · ch. 3 read in the publisher's own excerpt (IgnatiusInsight, via the Wayback Machine); no page numbers, so cited by chapter
71. ScholarshipRatzinger, Joseph, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy, tr. Graham Harrison, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986, pp. 85, 87; p. 87. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org lending copy, search inside (editor; leaves 89, 91 = pp. 85, 87): 'In fact there is no such thing as a Tridentine liturgy'; 'differed only in tiny details'; 'very grateful for the new Missal'; 'a new book rather than … continuity within a single liturgical history'; 'nothing other than a renewed form of the same Missal', p. 87
72. Magisterial / canonicalPontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Universae Ecclesiae (instruction), 2011, §6. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read on vatican.va (English): 'usus antiquior'
73. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, Allocution to the consistory of 24 May 1976, 1976. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read in Latin on vatican.va: 'Novus Ordo promulgatus est, ut in locum veteris substitueretur', set beside the comparison with Pius V ('Haud dissimili ratione, Decessor Noster S. Pius V…')
74. ScholarshipRatzinger, Joseph, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977, tr. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998, p. 148. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · archive.org lending copy, search inside (editor; leaf 160 = p. 148): 'the old building was demolished, and another was built, to be sure largely using materials from the previous one'; 'a real improvement and enrichment'; 'and even using the old building plans'; 'setting it as a new construction over against what had grown historically'