The Work of God

The liturgy

Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962, known as the Missal of Saint Pius V, celebrated in the chapels of the abbey.

“Ergo nihil operi Dei præponatur.”
Nothing, therefore, shall be put before the Divine Office.
Rule of Saint Benedict, chapter 43 (translated by Gasquet)

In the chapels of the abbey, Mass is celebrated according to the Roman Missal of 1962, with the rubrics of 1960: the traditional Roman rite, codified by Saint Pius V after the Council of Trent. Until 2014 the Benedictine nuns sang the Office in the choir of the chapel of Saint-Pierre; the association was founded so that prayer might begin there again.

Celebrations

There is no fixed timetable yet. Celebrations depend on the priests who are present and on the retreats received at the Saint-Michel house. To find out when the next Masses will be, please write to ac@abbayesaintpierre.org; the times will be given here once they are regular.

Taking part

The chapels are open during celebrations. Those who are new to this liturgy can follow the Mass in a Latin and English hand missal, and may ask how to take part. A Mass may also be requested for someone who has died or for a particular intention; the offering is left to the giver. Those who can serve at the altar, sing, look after the linen or bring flowers for the altar are gratefully received.

Latin and silence

Mass is said in Latin, the language of the Roman Church. The Council of Trent judged that it was not expedient for it to be celebrated everywhere in the vernacular, while asking pastors to explain its meaning often to the faithful (session XXII, chapter 8); in a separate canon it defended the custom of saying part of the Canon and the words of consecration in a low voice (canon 9). The silence of the Canon is itself a way of praying: the faithful join the priest’s prayer in silence.

The priest facing the altar

In this liturgy priest and people turn together towards the altar and the cross, towards the east: the altars of the chapels face east, whence the Lord’s return is awaited. The priest stands at the head of the people and prays to God in their name, for it is to God that the sacrifice is offered. When he turns round, it is to say to the faithful Dominus vobiscum, or Orate, fratres: pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable.

What the Mass is

The Council of Trent teaches, in its twenty-second session (17 September 1562), that the Mass is a true sacrifice, in which the sacrifice of the Cross is made present in an unbloody manner: the victim is one and the same, and the same Christ offers himself through the ministry of priests (una enim eademque est hostia). This sacrifice is offered for the living and for the dead. Earlier, in its thirteenth session (11 October 1551), the Council had defined the real and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into his body and blood.

The gestures of the rite express this faith: the offertory, the Roman Canon, the genuflections and signs of the cross, the silence and the light around the altar.

Lex orandi, lex credendi

In the fifth century, a collection attached to the letters of Pope Saint Celestine I and attributed to Saint Prosper of Aquitaine states a rule often quoted since: ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi, “let the law of prayer establish the law of belief”. The Church’s prayer expresses her faith and hands it on. Pius XII, in the encyclical Mediator Dei of 20 November 1947 (§§ 46–48), takes up this saying and makes it more precise: the liturgy is a profession of faith, but it does not of itself decide what belongs to the Catholic faith; in that sense, he writes, the law of belief must govern the law of prayer.

The Missal of Saint Pius V

The Council of Trent (1545–1563) entrusted the revision of the Missal and the Breviary to the Pope. Saint Pius V published the Breviary in 1568, then the Missal with the bull Quo primum tempore of 14 July 1570. This Missal was not a new rite: it codified and revised the Missal in use at Rome, whose Canon goes back in substance to the early centuries; the bull says it was restored “to the original norm and rite of the holy Fathers” (ad pristinam sanctorum Patrum normam ac ritum). It was prescribed for the Latin Church, except for rites that had been in use for more than two hundred years. It was revised several times afterwards, notably under Saint Pius X and Pius XII; the typical edition of 1962, following the code of rubrics of 1960, is the last in this line. It is the edition followed in the chapels.

The Office and Gregorian chant

The Divine Office sanctifies the hours of the day. The Rule of Saint Benedict orders it for monks (chapters 8 to 20); the Church also has her own Office, the Roman Breviary, ordered by the rubrics of 1960. The Offices celebrated publicly in the chapels are given with the Mass times, on request. Gregorian chant is the chant proper to the Roman liturgy, as Saint Pius X recalled in 1903. Its study and teaching are the subject of the courses of the Conservatoire du Patrimoine des Abbayes, another association based at the abbey.

The ministers

The liturgy is celebrated by Catholic priests who say Mass according to this Missal. The association meets the costs of worship and the needs of its ministers, and helps to train those who serve at the altar, sing, and look after the sacristy.

The liturgical books

The Divinum Officium website gives the texts of the Mass and Office for each day according to the rubrics of 1960, in Latin with an English translation. It is an outside service, and not every part is translated.

Missale Romanum: the Mass of the day, in Latin and English;
Breviarium Romanum: the Office of the day, hour by hour, in Latin and English;
Ordo: the liturgical calendar of the year;
Rituale Romanum, which contains the sacraments and blessings: Latin text, Pustet edition, Regensburg, 1925 (Internet Archive). No bilingual edition earlier than 1962 is offered here for the present.