Variations in Mass

By John

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Throughout our trip, we have attended many liturgical events. Some of them where Masses and others prayer services like Vespers and morning prayer. Each had its own distinct style. One of the beauties of Rome is that it is a central and influential city in the Roman Catholic Church. It is also a city which brings together all of the various cultures and styles of the world. With the majority of Catholics belonging to the Roman Church the vast majority of Catholics attend liturgies that were developed in either 1570 at the Council of Trent or in 1970 at the Second Vatican Council. The later is more open to the broad cultural elements of worship found throughout the world today and is usually celebrated in the vernacular, the native tongue of the people. One of the Masses that I attended at the Vatican was said in Latin with a string orchestra and chanted propers. The Mass that the class attended at the church of Saint Agnes was said in the Italian vernacular with traditional Italian folk songs and the Mass that we celebrated at the lay center was in English with contemporary worship music. These represent several of the different ways that people gather to worship here in Rome. As different as they may seem they all are connected by the thought that the Mass is a prayer and that Jesus comes to us in each and every Mass in the physical body of the host and in the spoken word of the gospel.