Vatican II: Changes in Mass

[soc_puppet]

See what I did there, ohohoho.

DISCLAIMER: While I was raised Irish-Catholic, I lapsed a good five or so years ago, and my dad, from whom I got pretty much all of my information on pre-Vatican II services, was still a kid when the changes went down. My information is incomplete at best, and quite likely riddled with errors. If you know I got something wrong, or just have more specific information on anything, please correct me!

Here is the Wikipedia link for Vatican II, for more of the policy information and historical stuff.


Vernacular: The change that most people are aware of is the change from holding mass in Latin to holding it in the vernacular (the most common language(s) in the area). However, even before Vatican II, portions of the mass were in the local language(s): definitely the homily, and possibly also the readings. Everything else, though, was in Latin. I'm pretty sure it was to allow a certain sense of universality between individual churches, so individuals could still follow mass if they were in a country where they didn't know the language. It's still possible to do so now, but it's considerably more difficult to recite various prayers along with the rest of the congregation.

Altar and Priest Placement: Prior to Vatican II, the priest faced the altar which faced the back of the church (usually there's a crucifix there). After Vatican II, the entire altar was turned around and the priest faced the congregation. To the best of my knowledge, the idea before was that the priest faced God on behalf of the people, and the idea after was that the priest faced the people on behalf of God. (One of my dad's first thoughts on the priest turning around was that now he couldn't make trouble anymore.)

Alter Servers: Guess what, gals! You can now serve at the altar, too! After Vatican II, the position of Altar Server, formerly Altar Boy, was opened to girls as well.

Communion: AKA the bread and wine. During each Catholic mass, everyone of appropriate age would line up one-at-a-time to accept Communion. They would kneel in front of an altar boy, who would hold a small tray under their chin and place the host (bread*) directly on their tongue. They would then cross themselves and then return to their seats. Only the priest would taste the wine*. Now, Catholics still line up to accept communion (exceptions made for people with mobility problems; they usually sit in the front row to be served directly), and still cross themselves after accepting it, but most choose to take the bread* from the server (not necessarily an altar server) by hand and put it in their own mouths. The entire congregation is now allowed to taste the wine* as well, though not a lot do; the server wipes the rim of the cup with a special cloth after each person has drunk from it.

Hair Covering: Before Vatican II, girls and women were expected to wear something to cover their hair in church, in order to preserve modesty (or something). It could be as simple and small as a doily, or a handkerchief in an emergency, but hats were also allowed. Now women and girls are allowed to go to church bare-headed, and almost all do.

Music: There was somewhat less of it during mass before Vatican II, and considerably less singing along. Often there would be large choirs performing for special holidays (Christmas, Easter), but not so much other than that. The music has also gotten somewhat more "modern" since Vatican II, though rarely to the extent of the sort heard in Sister Act; heck, most of it doesn't even reach Vatican Rag standards.

Confession: The name of the sacrament as I learned it was Reconciliation, but you'll probably encounter it more often (and I've even said it more often) as Confession. Okay, sometimes in movies or on television there are those little booths with doors on either end and a screen to separate the parishioner/confessor from the priest? Those are called confessionals. Great for plot devices; mandatory before Vatican II, but mostly a formality these days. Whenever I went, I spoke with a priest face-to-face.


* Special Note: Catholics believe in a particular process called "Transubstantiation". We/they are taught that when the priest blesses the bread and wine it literally becomes the body and blood of Jesus. It still looks and tastes like ordinary bread and wine (actually, the wafers are kinda dry and hardly taste like anything) but has transcended that substance to become the flesh and blood of Christ. So when I say "bread and wine", I may just be substituting for "body and blood". There's more I could get into here, but I'll save that for a Catholicism 101 post, if anyone wants one of those, or if someone asks.


That's all that I'm aware of. Again, if anyone can expand on this or correct me in anything, I would love your input. Please feel free to link this around :)

Comments

[localfreak]

Hi There! I followed the link from Sam's Radio Free Monday.

I really enjoyed reading this- I'm a practicing Catholic and the first time I went to a catholic Mass that was based on the old format I found it very weird- I was in the plainchant choir for it and thought I would find it beautiful what with the universal language etc etc instead I found it to be what my Mum (who was very young when the changes occurred) described- very off putting because it was so hard to understand and follow- even to someone like me who could -at that time- recite the whole Mass in English. It made me realise how much I prefer Mass as it is now, and how lucky I am to have grown up with a Mass that I don't just have to hear I can actually understand.

You might be aware but I find it interesting- depending upon where the church is the church's records were kept in Latin decades after- I used to do the baptism and death records for our parish and even well into the 80s the books were still in Latin but, as the priests changed and moved on, the actual filled-out parts migrated slowly from latin to English.

Oh I've noticed someone mentioned altar girls not universal- it was a slow change, but Vatican II made it possible. In the 90s the first of my contemporaries were able to become servers regardless of sex, but the priest at the time did write for dispensation to do so from the Archbishop before it got the okay and other churches in the area were Much Slower to catch on. We used to have the letter framed in the room where the Altar servers say our prayers.

I was just wondering what you/your dad thought about the new changes in the Mass and the changes in language that have occured owing to the new translation?