Would an 12th century Roman Catholic mass be recognizable to Catholics today?

by cobras89
suggestshistorybooks

Some of it, but not all of it. Before 1570 (and the Council of Trent), what we now might call the Pre-Tridentine Mass occurred in many variants depending upon the missals and liturgical books that the church in question owned. More basically, unless the Catholics in question were alive before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), they wouldn't be used to hearing Mass in Latin.

Individual items, however, would certainly be recognizable, such as the Gloria, Ave, Kyrie, Agnus Dei, and Pater Noster.

Here are some sources for further explanation:

  1. Geoffrey Wainwright, et al. The Oxford history of Christian worship (Oxford, 2006).

  2. Eric Palazzo. A history of liturgical books from the beginning to the thirteenth century (1998).

  3. E. Rose. Ritual memory : the apocryphal Acts and liturgical commemoration in the early medieval West (c. 500-1215) (Brill, 2009).

Hope this helps a little. Happy reading!