The Roman Rite

The Roman Rite, or Mass, is the name used to describe the ceremonies, prayers and hymns that together make up the service of the Eucharist in the Western Catholic Church.

While some of the liturgical rites discussed in this series are no longer used, and others are rather uncommon, the Roman rite remains the most common liturgical service of the Catholic church. The Roman Rite was, as might be easily determined, the Rite used in the Roman church. The Holy See of Rome was, by the early Christian period, the most prominent of bishoprics due to the connection to St. Peter and the fact that Rome was the Patriarchate of the Western church.

The Roman rite evolved out of the simple and common liturgy of the earliest centuries of Christianity, apparently becoming a unique creation during the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries. In the early years of the Roman Rite, it was used primarily in Rome, and occasionally in Africa. By the Middle Ages, it spread rapidly into the remainder of Europe.

Sometime during the third century, the language of the Roman church changed from Latin to Greek. This linguistic change led to the service being shortened, due to the differences in grammar and rhetoric between Latin and Greek.

As has been true of some of the other rites previously discussed, it seems likely that the Roman rite has its origins in the Apostolic Constitution. There have been significant abridgements to the service described in the Apostolic Constitution in the Roman Rite. Other significant changes occured in the liturgy in the following centuries, perhaps due to the influence of Jerusalem and Alexandria.

By the end of the sixth century, the Roman Rite existed in a form that would be little changed over the centuries to come. While we have discussed the other liturgies of the church as liturgies, services and rites, the term "Mass" is commonly used for the Roman Rite. While the Rite preexists the term, it begin to come into use as early as the end of the fourth century, and was commonly used by the Middle Ages.

For more information on the Roman Rite, please see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09790b.h... http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/lat...

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