Roman Rite

The Roman Rite (Latin: Ritus Romanus)^[1] is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.^[2]

The Roman Rite developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while distinct Latin liturgical rites such as the Ambrosian Rite remain, the Roman Rite has gradually been adopted almost everywhere in the Latin Church. In medieval times there were numerous local variants, even if all of them did not amount to distinct rites, yet uniformity increased as a result of the invention of printing and in obedience to the decrees of the Council of Trent of 1545–1563 (see Quo primum). Several Latin liturgical rites that survived into the 20th century were abandoned after the Second Vatican Council. The Roman Rite is now the most widespread liturgical rite not only in the Catholic Church but in Christianity as a whole.

The Roman Rite has been adapted through the centuries and the history of its Eucharistic liturgy can be divided into three stages: the Pre-Tridentine Mass, Tridentine Mass, and Mass of Paul VI. It is now normally celebrated in the form promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and revised by Pope John Paul II in 2002, but use of the Roman Missal of 1962 remains authorized under the conditions indicated in the 2021 papal document Traditionis Custodes.

Comparison with Eastern rites[edit]

The Roman Rite is noted for its sobriety of expression.^[3] In its Tridentine form, it was noted also for its formality: the Tridentine Missal minutely prescribed every movement, to the extent of laying down that the priest should put his right arm into the right sleeve of the alb before putting his left arm into the left sleeve (Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, I, 3). Concentration on the exact moment of change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ has led, in the Roman Rite, to the consecrated Host and the chalice being shown to the people immediately after the Words of Institution. If, as was once most common, the priest offers Mass while facing ad apsidem (towards the apse), ad orientem (towards the east) if the apse is at the east end of the church, he shows them to the people, who are behind him, by elevating them above his head. As each is shown, a bell (once called "the sacring bell") is rung and, if incense is used, the host and chalice are incensed (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 100). Sometimes the external bells of the church are rung as well. Other characteristics that distinguish the Roman Rite from the rites of the Eastern Catholic Churches are genuflections and keeping both hands joined together.

List of Catholic rites and churches

Liturgical books of the Roman rite

Ordines Romani

Baldovin, SJ., John F. (2008). Reforming the Liturgy: A Response to the Critics. The Liturgical Press.

Bugnini, Annibale (1990). The Reform of the Liturgy 1948–1975. The Liturgical Press.

Davies, Michael , said to be based on Adrian Fortescue's The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy

A Short History of the Roman Mass

Foley, Edward; Mitchell, Nathan D.; and Pierce, Joanne M. A Commentary on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. The Liturgical Press.

Johnson, Lawrence, J. (2009). Worship in the Early Church: An Anthology of Historical Sources. The Liturgical Press.

Marini, Piero (Archbishop) (2007). A Challenging Reform: Realizing the Vision of the Liturgical Renewal. The Liturgical Press.

Metzger, Marcel (1997). . Translated by Beaumont, Madeleine M. The Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814624333.

History of the Liturgy: The Major Stages

Morrill, Bruce T., SJ, contributing editor. Bodies of Worship: Explorations in Theory and Practice. The Liturgical Press.