Stills from a Sarum
Mass DVD
The following pictures are of an old
Western rite, as celebrated for a special occasion at Oxford, Merton
College, by Fr. Sean Finnegan, a Roman Catholic priest,in the late
1990s. A video was made of this service (stills below).
Mass of the Purification, Feb. 2
All the stills on the left hand side are
thumbnails. Click on the image to see greater detail.
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1.
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The blessing of candles before the mass. Note the three crucifers or
cross-bearers, which is a feature of many older uses of the Roman rite.
The main cross-bearer serves at Mass as the thurifer, and as such wears
a tunicle, even if he is a layman filling in as altar server.
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2.
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The three clergy with copes on, around a choir stand back from the
altar area in the choir area, are "rectores chori," the rulers of the
choir. They intone the chants at Vespers, Matins, and Mass, which the
choir then picks up and sings through. In olden times they carried
beautifully carved wooden staves as symbols of their office. On simple
feasts and ordinary weekdays, there were no rulers of the choir, so
their presence signifies festivity and rejoicing. In olden times, there
were either 2 or 4 rulers, and they were near to one side of the choir
or the other, so that the view of the priest was unimpeded.
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3.
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A more comprehensive camera angle. It appears that lay people are
standing in the choir stalls, which was not allowed in olden times,
when clergy and servers and choir boys occupied the stalls which were
always behind the rood screen.
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4.
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The priest celebrating mass is at the altar. Behind him is the deacon,
and the three in copes may be the same rulers of choir, or assisting
priests (?). In olden times, the rulers of the choir did not come up to
the altar in this way so I am not sure of how to describe the
picture.
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5.
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One of the entrances of the mass, of which in Sarum usage there are 3.
This appears to be the bringing in of the chalice with burse and veil.
This picture is very similar to the pictures of the Sarum Mass at St.
Mary's Church in Austin, Texas, from September of 2004. The entrances
of the Sarum use mass are not an import from the Byzantine rite, as
some have taken them to be.
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6.
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During the canon of the mass, the priest lifts his arms up to "pray in
the cross" as he commemorates the saving death of Christ on the cross
and His glorious third-day Resurrection. In olden days, the layfolks
too in their private devotions would "pray in the cross."
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7.
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The very end of the mass, as the clergy prepare for the festal
retrocession or final procession. The man in black is a verger. Having
a verger lead church processions, including the first entrance at mass
and the retrocession, as well as other processions such as Vespers, is
a feature of many older Roman rite churches of Europe.
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