The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (2 vols.)

by Joseph A. Jungmann

Publisher:

Christian Classics

, 1951

Overview

First published in English in 1951 and one of the greatest achievements of twentieth-century theology, Joseph Jungmann’s towering work is a comprehensive study of the origins, evolution, and theology of the Mass from its earliest forms to the dawn of Vatican II. It is now revised with a chapter unavailable in the previous English-language edition.

The fruit of over a decade of painstaking research, The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development is a magisterial treatment of every part of the Mass: its form, its history, and its theology. Originally written in German, the work was revised several times by Jungmann, and this new edition includes an important revised chapter on the comingling of the eucharistic species unavailable in the previous two-volume set. The Mass of the Roman Rite was hugely influential on the reformers of the Second Vatican Council and is essential reading for anyone wishing to deeply understand Roman Catholic worship. As the Church continues to reflect on the Mass and reform its rites and rituals, Jungmann’s work is sure to find a new audience of dedicated readers.

Key Features

• Explains the various rites and prayers of the Roman Mass
• Provides a brief history of the Mass
• Examines the development and changes in the liturgy of the Mass

Contents

Part One

• The Form of the Mass Through the Centuries
• The Nature and Forms of the Mass
• The Mass Ceremonies in Detail

Part Two

• The Mass Ceremonies in Detail-The Sacrifice

Top Highlights

“orations and prefaces that vary from feast to feast” (Volume 1, Page 60)

“After the bishop had entered the Church of the Resurrection, a priest, a deacon, and another cleric, each in turn, intoned a psalm, to each verse of which the people responded with a refrain; the psalm was followed in each case by an oration.” (Volume 1, Page 263)

“In this term ‘breaking of bread’ we have an entirely new, Christian mode of expression, a term alien to both Jewish¹⁵ and classical literature.” (Volume 1, Page 10)

“Kyrie, Gloria, and oration are part of a unified plan which is patterned on an ascending scale, the oration forming the high point.” (Volume 1, Page 266)

“a serving of bitter herbs and unleavened bread that recalled the want felt during the journey out of Egypt” (Volume 1, Page 8)

Endorsements

The word ‘Jungmann’ is synonymous with the history of the Mass. Have a question about the origins of some part of the Sunday Eucharist? ‘Look it up in Jungmann,’ people will say. These volumes are both historical and historic. This new edition will make this timeless research more available to the eager reader.

—Rev. Paul Turner, author of Glory in the Cross

What a delight to have this classic work in print again! It still remains the most reliable and detailed guide to the evolution of the Roman mass, to which every student of liturgical history should turn.

—Paul Bradshaw, Professor of Liturgy, University of Notre Dame

Product Details

• Title: The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (2 vols.)
• Author: Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J.
• Publisher: Ave Maria Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Pages: 1056
• Christian Group: Catholic
• Resource Type: Liturgy
• Topic: Catholicism

About Joseph A. Jungmann

Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. (1889–1975), an Austrian Roman Catholic priest and scholar, was ordained to the priesthood in 1913 and entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) four years later. He spent most of his career as professor of pastoral theology at the University of Innsbruck, where he taught both catechetics and liturgy. With the exception of the years during which Hitler closed down the theological faculty (1939–1945), Jungmann’s entire teaching career was spent at Innsbruck, where for a time he also served as Rector of the community of Jesuits.