1.
Solemn Mass
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The term High Mass is also used in the United States to describe the less elaborate Missa Cantata, which lacks deacon and subdeacon and some of the ceremonies connected with them. This article deals with Solemn Mass as celebrated according to the Tridentine use and these terms distinguish the form in question from that of Low Mass and Missa Cantata. The parts assigned to the deacon and subdeacon are often done by priests in vestments proper to those roles, a Solemn Mass celebrated by a bishop has its own particular ceremonies and is referred to as a Solemn Pontifical Mass. Lutherans sometimes use the term High Mass to describe a more form of their Divine Service. Examples of similarities include vestments, chanting, and incense, lutheran congregations in North America commonly celebrate High Mass in essence, but rarely use the term Mass. Thus, the rubrics of the Ordinary of the Mass always suppose that the Mass is high, Low Mass, said by a priest alone with one server, is a shortened and simplified form of the same thing. Its ritual can be explained only by a reference to high Mass, the distinction between High and Low Mass is necessarily observed where the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite continues to be used. The term High Mass is sometimes encountered also, both in Anglican and certain Roman Catholic circles, to describe any Mass celebrated with greater solemnity, in the sacristy, before vesting, all three sacred ministers wash their hands. The sacred ministers recite certain prayers while they place on each vestment, first, the amice is kissed and then placed on top of the head briefly while reciting one of the prayers during vesting. Then it is tied around the shoulders on top of the cassock, the cincture, a long cloth cord also called a girdle, is then tied around the waist. The subdeacon then completes his vesting by placing the maniple on his arm, securing it either with pins or with the ribbons or elastic inside. The deacon places his stole over his shoulder and binds it in place, at his right hip. He then puts on the maniple and his dalmatic, the priest celebrant does the same except that he crosses his stole in front of him at the waist, binding it with the girdle or cincture. After the maniple he puts on a cope if the Mass is preceded by the Asperges, following the Asperges, the celebrant, assisted by the acolytes, removes the cope and puts on the chasuble. The servers of the Mass and the sitting in the liturgical choir stalls are vested in cassock and surplice or cotta, though in some places acolytes wore simple albs. Anyone ordained to the subdiaconate or above also wears the biretta while sitting, members of religious orders in habit have on a surplice over the habit. If it is part of their dress, they also use the biretta. If not, then use their hood in the same fashion as one uses a biretta
2.
Pontifical High Mass
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The term is also used among Anglo-Catholic Anglicans. Although in modern English the word pontifical is almost exclusively associated with the Pope, thus, the celebrant of a Pontifical High Mass may be any bishop, and not just a pope. In the early Church, Mass was normally celebrated by the bishop, most often the specific parts assigned to deacon and subdeacon are performed by priests. The full Pontifical High Mass is carried out when the bishop celebrates the Mass at the throne in his own cathedral church, instead of saying Dominus vobiscum The Lord be with you as the opening liturgical greeting, a bishop says Pax vobis Peace to you. When the bishop sits at the cathedra, a silk cloth, called a gremial. The Popes Pontifical High Mass, when celebrated with solemnity, was even more elaborate. This custom stresses the unity of the universal Catholic Church, formed by both the Eastern and the Western Churches in full communion, at the elevations of host and chalice, the Silveri symphony was played on the trumpets of the no longer existing Noble Guard. Through a misunderstanding of the name Silveri, English speakers sometimes referred to this as the sounding of silver trumpets, the Pope drank the Precious Blood, the wine having been consecrated, through a golden tube. In the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism, the term Pontifical High Mass may refer to a Mass celebrated with the traditional Tridentine ceremonies described above, liturgical manuals such as Ritual Notes provide a framework for incorporating Tridentine ceremonial into the services of the Book of Common Prayer. More generally, the term may refer to any High Mass celebrated by a bishop, usually in the presence of his or her throne
3.
Pope
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The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
4.
Papal coronation
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A papal coronation was the ceremony of the placing of the papal tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was that of Pope Nicholas I in 858, the last was the 1963 coronation of Pope Paul VI, who soon afterwards abandoned the practice of wearing the tiara. None of his successors has used the tiara, and their papal inauguration celebrations have included no coronation ceremony, the papal inauguration celebration, with or without a coronation, has only symbolic significance, as a pope assumes office immediately on giving his consent to a valid election. The rite is different from Coronacion Pontificia, a sometimes used in Spanish-speaking countries. If a newly elected pope is not a bishop, he is consecrated at once, if the new pope is already a bishop, as is normally the case, his election is announced immediately to the people gathered in Saint Peters Square and he gives them his blessing. The episcopal enthronement of the takes place in his cathedral. This ceremony was once combined with the coronation, during the Avignon papacy, the pope, being in France, could not be enthroned in his cathedral in Rome. The coronations continued, while enthronements had to await a return to Rome, when Pope Gregory XI did return to Rome, the Lateran Palace was badly in need of repair, so the popes made the Vatican their residence and transferred coronations to Saint Peters Basilica. The Lateran Basilica remains the cathedral of Rome, and the enthronement occurs there, during the prisoner in the Vatican period, the enthronement did not take place. The coronation took place on the first Sunday or Holy Day following the election and it began with a solemn Papal Mass. During the chanting of Terce, he sat on a throne and all of the cardinals made what was called their first obeisance to him, approaching one by one, then the archbishops and bishops approached and kissed his feet. Instead of the tiara, he wore a jewelled mitre. Once at the altar, he would begin to celebrate Solemn High Mass with full papal ceremonial. After the Confiteor, the pope was seated on the sedia gestatoria, which was resting on the ground, each in turn placed his hands above him and said the prayer, Super electum Pontificem. After the Gloria in excelsis and the Pax vobis, the pope said the Collect for the day, after the Mass, the new pope was crowned with the papal tiara. This frequently took place on the balcony of St. Peters Basilica, the pope was seated on a throne with the flabella to either side of him. Following his coronation, the pope imparted the solemn papal blessing Urbi et Orbi, the last act of the inauguration of a new pope is still the formal taking possession of his cathedra as Bishop of Rome in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. This is the final ceremony mentioned in Pope John Paul IIs Apostolic Constitution on the vacancy of the Apostolic See, the pope is enthroned in the same manner as other bishops
5.
Papal infallibility
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According to Catholic theology, there are several concepts important to the understanding of infallible, divine revelation, Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Sacred Magisterium. The infallible teachings of the Pope are part of the Sacred Magisterium, which consists of ecumenical councils. In Catholic theology, papal infallibility is one of the channels of the infallibility of the Church, the infallible teachings of the Pope must be based on, or at least not contradict, Sacred Tradition or Sacred Scripture. The use of power is referred to as speaking ex cathedra. The solemn declaration of papal infallibility by Vatican I took place on 18 July 1870, since that time, the clearest example of an ex cathedra decree took place in 1950, when Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary as an article of faith. The church teaches that infallibility is a charism entrusted by Christ to the church, whereby the Pope, as head of the college of bishops. The church further teaches that divine assistance is given to the Pope when he exercises his ordinary Magisterium. As with all charisms, the church teaches that the charism of papal infallibility must be properly discerned, the way to know if something a pope says is infallible or not is to discern if they are ex cathedra teachings. Also considered infallible are the teachings of the body of bishops of the Church, especially. In July 2005 Pope Benedict XVI stated during an address to priests in Aosta that, The Pope is not an oracle, he is infallible in very rare situations. Pope John XXIII once remarked, I am only infallible if I speak infallibly but I shall never do that, the limitation on the popes infallibility on other matters is frequently illustrated by Cardinal James Gibbonss recounting how the pope mistakenly called him Jibbons. Catholic theologians in general hold that the canonization of a saint by a pope is infallible teaching that the person canonized is definitely in heaven with God, a decree of canonization commands that the person be venerated by the whole Church as a saint, while beatification merely permits it. The response demanded from believers has been characterized as assent in the case of ex cathedra declarations of the popes and due respect with regard to their other declarations. On the basis of Mark 3,16,9,2, Luke 24,34 and 1 Corinthians 15,5, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Peter as holding first place among the apostles. It speaks of Peter as the rock on which, because of Peters faith, Christ said in Matthew 16,18 he would build his Church, which he declared would be victorious over the powers of death. In Luke 22,32, Jesus gave Peter the mission to keep his faith after every lapse, doctrine-based religions evolve their theologies over time, and Catholicism is no exception, its theology did not spring instantly and fully formed within the bosom of the earliest Church. The doctrine of the Primacy of the Roman Bishops, like other Church teachings, thus the establishment of the Primacy recorded in the Gospels has gradually been more clearly recognised and its implications developed. Clear indications of the consciousness of the Primacy of the Roman bishops, L. Ott Pope St. Clement of Rome, c
6.
Canonization
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Originally, persons were recognized as saints without any formal process. Later, different processes were developed, such as used today in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The first persons honored as saints were the martyrs, pious legends of their deaths were considered affirmations of the truth of their faith in Christ. The Roman Rites Canon of the Mass contains only the names of martyrs, along with that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, since 1962, that of St. Joseph her spouse. By the fourth century, however, confessors—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by word, examples of such people are Saint Hilarion and Saint Ephrem the Syrian in the East, and Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Hilary of Poitiers in the West. Their names were inserted in the diptychs, the lists of saints venerated in the liturgy. Since the witness of their lives was not as unequivocal as that of the martyrs and this process is often referred to as local canonization. This approval was required even for veneration of a reputed martyr, and Saint Cyprian recommended that the utmost diligence be observed in investigating the claims of those who were said to have died for the faith. Evidence was sought from the records of the trials or from people who had been present at the trials. Saint Augustine of Hippo tells of the procedure which was followed in his day for the recognition of a martyr, the bishop of the diocese in which the martyrdom took place set up a canonical process for conducting the inquiry with the utmost severity. Other churches still use the older practice, in the Catholic Church, canonization is a decree that allows universal veneration of the saint in the liturgy of the Roman Rite. For permission to venerate merely locally, only beatification is needed, only acceptance of the cultus by the Pope made the cultus universal, because he alone can rule the universal Catholic Church. In the Medieval West, the Apostolic See was asked to intervene in the question of canonizations so as to more authoritative decisions. Swibert by Pope Leo III in 804, thereafter, recourse to the judgment of the Pope was had more frequently. Pope Urban II, Pope Calixtus II, and Pope Eugene III conformed to this discipline, a decree of Pope Alexander III1170 gave the prerogative to the ope thenceforth, so far as the Western Church was concerned. However, the procedure initiated by the decretal of Pope Alexander III was confirmed by a bull of Pope Innocent III issued on the occasion of the canonization of St. Cunegunda in 1200. The bull of Pope Innocent III resulted in increasingly elaborate inquiries to the Apostolic See concerning canonizations and he further regulated both of these acts by issuing his Decreta servanda in beatificatione et canonizatione Sanctorum on 12 March 1642. His work published from 1734-8 governed the proceedings until 1917, the article Beatification and canonization process in 1914 describes the procedures followed until the promulgation of the Codex of 1917
7.
Saint
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A saint, also historically known as a hallow, is a term used for a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term also retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is in Christ and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, the English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus. The word translated the Greek ἅγιος, which derives from the verb ἁγιάζω, the word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament, saint did not denote the deceased who had recognized as especially holy or emulable. Many religions also use similar concepts to venerate persons worthy of some honor, the anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question Who is a saint. These saintly figures, he asserts, are the points of spiritual force-fields. They exert powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the lives of others in transforming ways as well. In the Bible, only one person is called a saint, They envied Moses also in the camp. The apostle Paul declared himself to be less than the least of all saints in Ephesians 3,8, in the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not. There are many persons that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized, sometimes the word saint also denotes living Christians. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ, the Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroicity required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God. On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint, on the petition of the German ruler, before that time, the popular cults, or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs, walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope, Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, one source claims that there are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints, the latest revision of this book, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, SJ and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints. Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints
8.
Easter
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It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension. The First Council of Nicaea established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council. No details for the computation were specified, these were worked out in practice and it has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary. Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, in many languages, the words for Easter and Passover are identical or very similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally decorates the area of churches on this day. Additional customs that have associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally, however, it is possible that Bede was only speculating about the origin of the term since there is no firm evidence that such a goddess actually existed. In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Πάσχα, Pascha, the word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek, Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration. The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness. For those who trust in Jesus death and resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory, any person who chooses to follow Jesus receives a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Through faith in the working of God those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation. Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the room during the Last Supper he prepared himself. He identified the matzah and cup of wine as his soon to be sacrificed
9.
Christmas
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In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
10.
Pope Pius X
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Pope Saint Pius X, born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was Pope from August 1903 to his death in 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and his most important reform was to order the codification of the first Code of Canon Law, which collected the laws of the Church into one volume for the first time. He was also considered a pastoral pope, in the sense of encouraging personal holiness, piety and he was born in the town of Riese, which would later append Pio X to the towns name. Pius X believed that there was no surer or more direct road than by the Virgin Mary to achieve this goal. His immediate predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, had promoted a synthesis between the Catholic Church and secular culture, faith and science, and divine revelation and reason. Pius X defended the Catholic faith against popular 19th-century attitudes and views such as indifferentism and relativism which his predecessors had warned against as well and he followed the example of Leo XIII by promoting Thomas Aquinas and Thomism as the principal philosophical method to be taught in Catholic institutions. Pius X vehemently opposed modernism, which claimed that Roman Catholic dogma should be modernized and blended with nineteenth-century philosophies and he viewed modernism as an import of secular errors affecting three areas of Roman Catholic belief, theology, philosophy, and dogma. Personally, Pius X combined within himself a strong sense of compassion, benevolence and poverty, but also stubbornness and he wanted to be pastoral in the sense that he was the only pope in the 20th century who gave Sunday homily sermons in the pulpit every week. After the 1908 Messina earthquake he filled the Apostolic Palace with refugees and he rejected any kind of favours for his family, his brother remained a postal clerk, his favourite nephew stayed on as village priest, and his three sisters lived together close to poverty in Rome. He often referred to his own origins, taking up the causes of poor people. I was born poor, I have lived poor, and I wish to die poor, considered a holy person by many, public veneration of Pope Pius X began soon after his death. Numerous petitions resulted in a process of beatification which started in the 1920s. The Society of Saint Pius X, a Traditionalist Catholic group, is named in his honor, a gigantic statue of him is enshrined within Saint Peters Basilica, while the town of his birthplace was also renamed after his canonization. Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was born in Riese, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia and he was the second born of ten children of Giovanni Battista Sarto and Margarita Sanson. He was baptised 3 June 1835, giuseppes childhood was one of poverty, being the son of the village postman. Though poor, his parents valued education, and Giuseppe walked 3.75 miles to each day. At a young age, Giuseppe studied Latin with his village priest, on 18 September 1858, Sarto was ordained a priest, and became chaplain at Tombolo. While there, Father Sarto expanded his knowledge of theology, studying both Saint Thomas Aquinas and canon law, while carrying out most of the functions of the parish pastor, in 1867, he was named archpriest of Salzano
