Ordinary of the Mass
Encyclopedia
The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian
liturgies
, refers to the part of the Eucharist
or of the canonical hours
that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper
, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year
, or of a particular saint
or significant event, and to the common
, which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints, such as apostles or martyr
s.
The ordinary of both the Eucharist and the canonical hours does, however, admit minor variations in accordance with the seasons, such as omission of "Alleluia" in Lent
and its addition in Eastertide
.
These two are the only liturgical celebrations in which a distinction is made between an ordinary and other parts. It is not made in other celebrations of Christian liturgy
: administration of sacrament
s other than the Eucharist, blessings, and other rites.
In connection with liturgy, the term "ordinary" may also refer to Ordinary Time
- those parts of the liturgical year that are part neither of the Easter cycle of celebrations (Lent and Eastertide) nor of the Christmas cycle (Advent
and Christmastide), periods that were once known as "season after Epiphany" and "season after Pentecost".
In addition the term "ordinary liturgy" is used to refer to regular celebrations of Christian liturgy, excluding exceptional celebrations.
, an arrangement of the Psalms
distributed over a period of a week or a month. To the psalter are added canticle
s, hymn
s and other prayers.
Traditionally the canonical hours were chanted by the participating clergy. Some texts of the canonical hours have been set to polyphonic music, in particular the Benedictus
, the Magnificat
, and the Nunc dimittis
.
is sometimes known as the Order of Mass
(Latin: Ordo Missae). In the Roman Missal
, the Order of Mass is printed as a distinct section placed in the middle of the book, between the Mass of the Easter Vigil
and that of Easter Sunday in pre-1970 editions, and between the Proper of the Seasons and the Proper of the Saints thereafter.
Much of the ordinary of the Eucharist
is common to Western liturgical Christian denominations, but quite different from that of Eastern Christianity
.
The Kyrie eleison was traditionally sung in Greek
, the others in Latin. Prior to the Council of Trent
the Kyrie was frequently troped
by adding texts particular to a specific feast day between the lines of the Kyrie; indeed English renaissance composers seem to have regarded the Sarum rite
Kyrie as part of the propers
and begin their mass settings with the Gloria. These tropes were essentially texts.
Until the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal, the Agnus Dei was modified for Requiem
Masses, and prayed not miserere nobis (have mercy on us) and dona nobis pacem (grant us peace), but dona eis requiem (grant them rest) and dona eis requiem sempiternam (grant them eternal rest).
It was at one time popular to replace at a Solemn Mass
the second half of the Sanctus (the Benedictus) with hymns such as the O Salutaris Hostia
, or, at requiem
s, with a musical setting of the final invocation of the Dies Irae
: "Pie Jesu
Domine, dona eis requiem."
Latin liturgical rites
Latin liturgical rites used within that area of the Catholic Church where the Latin language once dominated were for many centuries no less numerous than the liturgical rites of the Eastern autonomous particular Churches. Their number is now much reduced...
liturgies
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...
, refers to the part 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...
or of the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper
Proper (liturgy)
The Proper is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the Liturgical Year, or of a particular saint or significant event...
, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year
Liturgical year
The liturgical year, also known as the church year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches which determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which portions of Scripture are to be read. Distinct liturgical colours may appear in...
, or of a particular saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
or significant event, and to the common
Common (liturgy)
The Common or common of saints is a part of the Christian liturgy that consists of texts common to an entire category of saints, such as Apostles or Martyrs...
, which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints, such as apostles or martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s.
The ordinary of both the Eucharist and the canonical hours does, however, admit minor variations in accordance with the seasons, such as omission of "Alleluia" in Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
and its addition in Eastertide
Eastertide
Eastertide, or the Easter Season, or Paschal Time, is the period of fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.It is celebrated as a single joyful feast, indeed as the "great Lord's Day". Each Sunday of the season is treated as a Sunday of Easter, and, after the Sunday of the Resurrection,...
.
These two are the only liturgical celebrations in which a distinction is made between an ordinary and other parts. It is not made in other celebrations of Christian liturgy
Christian liturgy
A liturgy is a set form of ceremony or pattern of worship. Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis....
: administration of sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s other than the Eucharist, blessings, and other rites.
In connection with liturgy, the term "ordinary" may also refer to Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
- those parts of the liturgical year that are part neither of the Easter cycle of celebrations (Lent and Eastertide) nor of the Christmas cycle (Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
and Christmastide), periods that were once known as "season after Epiphany" and "season after Pentecost".
In addition the term "ordinary liturgy" is used to refer to regular celebrations of Christian liturgy, excluding exceptional celebrations.
Canonical hours
The ordinary of the canonical hours consists chiefly of the psalterPsalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, an arrangement of the Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
distributed over a period of a week or a month. To the psalter are added canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
s, hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s and other prayers.
Traditionally the canonical hours were chanted by the participating clergy. Some texts of the canonical hours have been set to polyphonic music, in particular the Benedictus
Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)
The Benedictus , given in Gospel of , is one of the three canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts...
, the Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
, and the Nunc dimittis
Nunc dimittis
The Nunc dimittis is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke named after its first words in Latin, meaning 'Now dismiss...'....
.
Eucharist
The ordinary of the EucharistEucharist
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...
is sometimes known as the Order of Mass
Order of Mass
The Order of Mass , also called the Ordinary of the Mass, is the set of texts of the Roman Rite Mass that are generally invariable. This contrasts with the proper, which are items of the Mass that change with the feast or following the Liturgical Year...
(Latin: Ordo Missae). In the Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
, the Order of Mass is printed as a distinct section placed in the middle of the book, between the Mass of the Easter Vigil
Easter Vigil
The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this service that people are baptized and that adult catechumens are received into...
and that of Easter Sunday in pre-1970 editions, and between the Proper of the Seasons and the Proper of the Saints thereafter.
Much of the ordinary 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...
is common to Western liturgical Christian denominations, but quite different from that of Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
.
Structure
The ordinary of the Eucharist in Western liturgy generally consists of the following sections:- The Prayers at the Foot of the Altar or the Penitential Rite.
- Kyrie eleisonKyrieKyrie, 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 ....
("Lord, have mercy"). - GloriaGloria 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")...
("Glory to God in the highest"). - The prayers said in connection with the scripture readings.
- CredoCredoA credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
("I believe in one God"), the Nicene CreedNicene CreedThe Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
. - The Offertory prayers.
- The 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...
, or Eucharistic Prayer, with its opening dialogue and its Preface, the latter of which, in spite of being variable, is included in the ordinary. - (Included in the preceding:) SanctusSanctusThe Sanctus is a hymn from Christian liturgy, forming part of the Order of Mass. In Western Christianity, the Sanctus is sung as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine...
("Holy, Holy, Holy"), the second part of which, beginning with the word "Benedictus" ("Blessed is he"), was often sung separately after the consecration, if the setting was long. - The Lord's PrayerLord's PrayerThe Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
and the following prayers until the distribution of Holy Communion - (Included in the preceding:) Agnus DeiAgnus Dei (liturgy)In the Mass of the Roman Rite and also in the Eucharist of the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Church, and the Western Rite of the Orthodox Church the Agnus Dei is the invocation to the Lamb of God sung or recited during the fraction of the Host...
("Lamb of GodLamb of GodThe title Lamb of God appears in the Gospel of John, with the exclamation of John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" in John 1:29 when he sees Jesus....
"). - The prayer said at the cleansing of the chalice, and the concluding prayers, which in the 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...
included the reading of what was called the Last Gospel (usually, the first fourteen verses of Saint John's Gospel) as a farewell blessing. - (Included in the preceding:) The phrase Ite, missa estIte missa estIte, missa est are the concluding words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite, as well as the Lutheran Divine Service. The exact meaning of the words is disputed, it has the effect of "Go", or "It is Sent", but the term "Mass" derives from this phrase...
"Go, it is the dismissal" (referring to the congregation) is the final part of the Order of Mass. In the Tridentine Mass, it was followed by a private prayer that the priest said silently for himself, by the final blessing, and by the reading of the Last Gospel (usually John 1:1-14), and in some Masses it was replaced by Benedicamus DominoBenedicamus DominoBenedicamus Domino is a closing salutation used in the Roman Mass instead of the Ite missa est in Masses which lack the Gloria . The response, said afterwards, is "Deo gratias"...
or Requiescant in pace. These phrases are sung to music given in the Missal, as is the choir's response, Deo gratias or (after Requiescant in pace) Amen. In the Episcopal ChurchEpiscopal Church (United States)The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
's Book of Common PrayerBook of Common PrayerThe Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
, the service ends with the celebrant saying, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord." To which the congregation responds, "Thanks be to God."
The Kyrie eleison was traditionally sung in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, the others in Latin. Prior to 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...
the Kyrie was frequently troped
Trope (music)
A trope or tropus may be a variety of different things in medieval and modern music.The term trope derives from the Greek τρόπος , "a turn, a change" , related to the root of the verb τρέπειν , "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change"...
by adding texts particular to a specific feast day between the lines of the Kyrie; indeed English renaissance composers seem to have regarded 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...
Kyrie as part of the propers
Proper (liturgy)
The Proper is a part of the Christian liturgy that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the Liturgical Year, or of a particular saint or significant event...
and begin their mass settings with the Gloria. These tropes were essentially texts.
Until the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal, the Agnus Dei was modified for Requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
Masses, and prayed not miserere nobis (have mercy on us) and dona nobis pacem (grant us peace), but dona eis requiem (grant them rest) and dona eis requiem sempiternam (grant them eternal rest).
It was at one time popular to replace at a Solemn Mass
Solemn Mass
Solemn Mass , sometimes also referred to as Solemn High Mass or simply High Mass, is, when used not merely as a description, the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of...
the second half of the Sanctus (the Benedictus) with hymns such as the O Salutaris Hostia
O Salutaris Hostia
O salutaris Hostia, "O Saving Host", is a section of one of the Eucharistic hymns written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi. He wrote it for the Hour of Lauds in the Divine Office. It is actually the last two stanzas of the hymn Verbum supernum prodiens, and is used for the...
, or, at requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
s, with a musical setting of the final invocation of the Dies Irae
Dies Irae
Dies Irae is a thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano . It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress and its rhymed lines. The metre is trochaic...
: "Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu is a motet derived from the final couplet of the Dies irae and often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass. The settings of the Requiem Mass by Luigi Cherubini, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, John Rutter, Karl Jenkins and Fredrik Sixten include a Pie Jesu as an independent...
Domine, dona eis requiem."