How the Mass Has Changed Since the Middle Ages

Early Christians kept the Eucharistic celebration secret because it was so sacred. During the Middle Ages the mass was conducted in Latin, even though most of the  people did not speak it. The priest said mass facing the altar, with his back to the congregation, like he was leading a procession toward God. There were no hymns to sing, not usually a sermon to listen to, and no seats. The lay congregation listened, watched, walked up to the choir screen’s central entrance to receive communion, walked around the nave and its side altars, and prayed privately to God, the Virgin, and saints.

Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s the Mass has usually been prayed in the vernacular (language of the local people), to make it more accessible to modern congregations.  In the United States, it is in English. In some places the whole Mass is still prayed in Latin, as it was in the time of the Church Fathers, when Latin was the vernacular. The Eastern Churches use their own languages and prayers.

The Pope is trying to revive the ancient tradition of the Latin Tridentine Mass in Catholic churches around the world, according to sources in Rome. Pope Benedict XVI has apparently signed a universal indult (permission) for priests to celebrate the Mass used throughout the Church for nearly 1,500 years.