Primary sources and historical commentary

Documents & Sources

Church documents, Roman Missal references, footnotes, and clearly labeled historical commentary supporting the Mass study pages.

A contemporary critical source

The Ottaviani Intervention

A Brief Critical Study of the Novus Ordo Missae, commonly called the Ottaviani Intervention, was submitted to Pope Paul VI in 1969 with a covering letter signed by Cardinals Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci. It is historically useful for understanding objections raised at the time, particularly concerning the Offertory, sacrificial language, the priesthood, the Real Presence, and the structure of the new rite. It is not itself a magisterial document; therefore this page uses it as historical commentary while the Missals and official Church documents determine what the rites actually prescribe.15

Documentation

Sources & Footnotes

The strongest sources are placed first: the Roman Missal/GIRM, Vatican II, and instructions of the Holy See. Historical commentary is labeled as such.

  1. General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), nos. 296–299. The altar is the place on which the Sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs and is also called the table of the Lord; it is to be the center toward which the congregation's attention naturally turns. USCCB — GIRM Chapter V.
  2. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Chapter IV. Order and manner of the current celebration: introductory rites, Liturgy of the Word, preparation of the gifts, Eucharistic Prayer, Communion, and concluding rites. USCCB — GIRM Chapter IV.
  3. 1962 Roman Missal, Ordo Missae. Primary Latin liturgical source for the prayers at the foot of the altar, Confiteor, Offertory, Roman Canon, Communion rites, and Last Gospel. English hand-missal translations vary slightly. 1962 Latin Ordo Missae transcription.
  4. Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 22 §3. “No other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.” Vatican text.
  5. Congregation for Divine Worship, Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004), especially nos. 51–72. The Eucharistic Prayer belongs to the priest; unauthorized alteration of liturgical texts must cease; prescribed biblical readings may not be replaced on one's own initiative; the Gospel at Mass is reserved to an ordained minister. Vatican text.
  6. GIRM no. 136. The priest gives the homily at the chair, at the ambo, or, when appropriate, in another suitable place. Vatican GIRM.
  7. Sacrosanctum Concilium, nos. 36, 54, 116. Latin is to be preserved in the Latin rites; the faithful should be able to say or sing together the parts of the Ordinary pertaining to them in Latin; Gregorian chant is to have pride of place, other things being equal. Vatican text.
  8. GIRM nos. 45 and 56. Sacred silence is part of the celebration and is commended even before Mass; brief periods of silence foster meditation during the Liturgy of the Word. USCCB — GIRM Chapter II.
  9. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Response, Prot. No. 2036/00/L (25 Sept. 2000). Asked whether GIRM 299 excludes the priest facing the apse, the Congregation answered in the negative and explained that celebration facing the people is not an obligation excluding the other possibility. English text of the response. See also GIRM no. 299.
  10. GIRM no. 365(a). “Eucharistic Prayer I, or the Roman Canon, which may always be used,” is especially suited to the specified celebrations and “likewise... especially suited for use on Sundays,” unless Eucharistic Prayer III is pastorally preferred. USCCB — GIRM Chapter VII.
  11. Redemptionis Sacramentum, nos. 90–92; U.S. GIRM no. 160. The U.S. norm is standing, but Communion is not to be denied solely because a communicant wishes to kneel; the faithful have the right to receive on the tongue, while reception in the hand is permitted where authorized. Vatican text; USCCB GIRM.
  12. Redemptionis Sacramentum, nos. 151 and 158. Extraordinary ministry is supplementary and based on true necessity; extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion assist when ordinary ministers are lacking, impeded, or when the number of communicants would otherwise unduly prolong Mass. Vatican text.
  13. GIRM nos. 314–315. The place of reservation of the Blessed Sacrament must be noble, prominent, conspicuous, worthily decorated, and suitable for prayer; the current GIRM gives options for the tabernacle's location. USCCB — GIRM Chapter V.
  14. Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum (1969). The promulgation describes major revisions to the Missal, including additional Eucharistic Prayers and the relocation of Mysterium fidei to introduce the memorial acclamation. Vatican text.
  15. A Brief Critical Study of the Novus Ordo Missae (1969), commonly called the Ottaviani Intervention. A historical critical study submitted with a covering letter signed by Cardinals Alfredo Ottaviani and Antonio Bacci; it is not itself a magisterial document. Fordham Internet History Sourcebook.
  16. Current approved Communion invitation. A recent Vatican liturgical booklet prints the English formula: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” Vatican liturgical booklet.
  17. Sacred Congregation of Rites, Inter Oecumenici (1964), no. 91. The postconciliar implementing instruction said the main altar should preferably be freestanding so that it could be walked around and Mass could be celebrated facing the people. This was an implementing instruction, not a sentence found in Vatican II's Constitution itself. English text.
  18. Roman Missal rubric at the Institution Narrative; GIRM nos. 150, 274, and 275. The Roman Missal text for Eucharistic Prayer II directs the Priest to take the bread and hold it slightly raised above the altar, then to bow slightly for the words of consecration; afterward he shows the consecrated Host to the people, places it on the paten, and genuflects in adoration. Roman Missal extract — Eucharistic Prayer II, priest rubrics. The GIRM independently confirms the slight bow during the words of the Lord, the showing after the Consecration, and the genuflections after the elevations. USCCB — GIRM Chapter IV.
  19. USCCB, Guidelines for the Publication of Liturgical Books — Appendix II. Under the Penitential Act, the USCCB states that all three forms — A, B, and C — are part of the Roman Missal; Form C uses the Kyrie responses with variable tropes. USCCB text.
  20. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 365(b). The GIRM states that Eucharistic Prayer II, because of its particular features, is more appropriately used on weekdays or in special circumstances; it may use its own Preface or certain other Prefaces. USCCB — GIRM Chapter VII.
  21. Daily TV Mass, Saturday May 9, 2026. The public Daily TV Mass page and corresponding published transcript identify a daily Novus Ordo celebration in which the celebrant says, “You are indeed holy, O Lord, the font of all holiness,” the opening of Eucharistic Prayer II. Daily TV Mass page; published transcript.
  22. New Testament witnesses and Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. Matthew records Jesus saying, “This is my body” and “this is my blood of the covenant”; Luke records “Do this in memory of me.” St. Paul preserves the received tradition of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 and describes participation in Christ's Body and Blood in 1 Corinthians 10:16–17. The Catechism explains that by consecration the whole substance of bread and wine is changed into Christ's Body and Blood while the Eucharistic species remain—the change the Church calls transubstantiation. Acts 2:42 and Acts 20:7 witness to the earliest Christians' breaking of bread and Sunday gathering. USCCB — Matthew 26; Luke 22; 1 Corinthians 10; 1 Corinthians 11; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1375–1377; Acts 2; Acts 20.
  23. St. Justin Martyr, First Apology, chapters 65–67, c. mid-second century. Justin describes common prayers, bread and wine mixed with water, lengthy thanksgiving offered by the presider, the people's Amen, Communion distributed by deacons, Sunday readings from the Apostles and Prophets, instruction, and the Christian belief that the Eucharist is not ordinary food but the flesh and blood of Christ. New Advent — First Apology.
  24. Didache, chapter 14. This early Christian text speaks of gathering on the Lord's Day, breaking bread, giving thanks after confession, reconciliation, and a pure sacrifice. New Advent — Didache.
  25. Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum (1969). Paul VI states that the Roman Missal of Pius V served the Latin Church for four centuries, that its prayers and general arrangement go back in essence to St. Gregory the Great, and that the Roman Canon had taken on an unchangeable form during the fourth and fifth centuries. He calls the Eucharistic Prayer the “major innovation” of the revised Missal and describes the addition of three new Eucharistic Prayers, the simplification of rites, changes to the preparation of the gifts, and the expanded lectionary. Vatican text.
  26. Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei (1947), especially nos. 50–62. Pius XII describes gradual liturgical development, distinguishes divine elements from human elements capable of modification, calls the Church a living organism that grows and develops, recognizes the Liturgical Movement, and warns against restoring ancient practices merely because they are ancient. Vatican text.
  27. Council of Trent, Session XXII (17 September 1562), Doctrine on the Sacrifice of the Mass. Trent defends the sacrificial character of the Mass and says the Church had instituted the holy Canon “many centuries ago,” describing it as composed from the words of the Lord, apostolic traditions, and pious regulations of holy pontiffs. EWTN — Session XXII text.
  28. St. Pius V, Apostolic Constitution Quo Primum (1570). Pius V describes the work as revising and re-editing the Roman Missal after Trent. The constitution also preserved certain other liturgical uses with at least two hundred years of continuous custom. Papal Encyclicals — Quo Primum.
  29. Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963), especially arts. 21–23, 36, 50–54, and 116. The Council calls for liturgical reform and fuller participation while also directing that Latin be preserved in the Latin rites, Gregorian chant receive pride of place, no innovations be introduced unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them, and new forms grow organically from forms already existing. Vatican text.
  30. Paul VI, Motu Proprio Sacram Liturgiam (25 January 1964). Paul VI established a special commission whose principal task was to implement the prescriptions of Sacrosanctum Concilium; this became the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Vatican text.
  31. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, decree on the name of St. Joseph in the Eucharistic Prayers (1 May 2013). The decree recalls that Pope John XXIII, during the Second Vatican Council, ordered St. Joseph's name to be added to the ancient Roman Canon. Vatican text.
  32. Early Western liturgical books and the gradual ordering of public worship. Historical studies of the Western sacramentaries describe third- and fourth-century church orders that provided general directions and model texts, followed by the development of books specifically for public liturgy from late antiquity onward. The earliest Roman sacramentaries and other witnesses show both a recognizable common Eucharistic structure and continuing local variation as texts and ceremonial became more settled. Encyclopedia.com — Sacramentaries: Historical; Catholic Encyclopedia — Liturgy; Catholic Encyclopedia — Liturgy of the Mass.
  33. 1962 Roman Missal — Order of Mass and rubrics. The 1962 sources document the varying Secret, the circumstances in which Judica me is omitted, the sequence Pax Domini → Haec commixtio → Agnus Dei → prayer for peace, the priest’s Communion prayers Panem caelestem, Quid retribuam, and the separate formulas for receiving the Host and Precious Blood, as well as the ordinary Last Gospel and its exceptions. Fordham — 1962 Order of Mass; 1962 Ritus servandus — English rubric translation.
  34. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, nos. 152–160 and 83–89. These paragraphs give the current sequence from the Lord’s Prayer through the Rite of Peace, fraction and mingling, Agnus Dei, priest’s private preparation, invitation to Communion, the priest’s quiet formulas before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, distribution to the faithful, and the optional period of quiet prayer after Communion. USCCB — GIRM Chapter IV; USCCB — GIRM Chapter II.
  35. Current Eucharistic Prayer I / Roman Canon — parenthesized optional portions. In the current Missal, the additional names after Peter, Paul, and Andrew in the Communicantes are parenthesized, as are the names after John, Stephen, Matthias, and Barnabas in the Nobis quoque. Several short “Through Christ our Lord. Amen.” conclusions are also parenthesized. This audit marks those differences so optional text is not presented as equally fixed in both forms. St. Meinrad — Order of Mass / Eucharistic Prayer I.