CANIMUS, SINE FINE DICENTES

Accommodating perceived pastoral needs within the liturgy has a long history in the Church, from adapting the Roman rite to Gallican temperaments in the Carolingian kingdom to adaptations still being developed today around the world following the Second Vatican Council. The influence of an early twentieth-century pastoral provision called “Dialogue Mass” - spoken participation of the lay faithful in Low Mass, that form of celebration itself intended as private - on the Roman Missal prepared at the request of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) has been largely overlooked until the present volume. The author traces the origins and development of the compromised liturgical practice, the controversies surrounding it and the cautious expressions of acceptance by Roman authority. He examines its influence on the thinking behind the Order of Mass revised at the request of the Council Fathers and upon the active participation of the faithful celebrating the liturgy. He concludes by opening a reflection on the value of spoken celebrations versus chanted ones, spoken participation versus sung participation, and the de facto loss of sung form in many parts of the Roman Church, suggesting the question is far more significant than acknowledged heretofore and may be one of the most influential elements in the present crisis of liturgical discipline. The present volume is intended as both background and invitation to a more important conversation yet to be had.