HM Chapel Royal

HAMPTON COURT PALACE

A Celebration of the Eucharist in Latin

According to the Use of Salisbury
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ELCOME to Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, Hampton Court

W Palace for this service, and to a continuous tradition of worship
that has been practised on this site for at least 800 years. This is one of
the Queen’s Chapels. The original chapel was founded by the Knights
Hospitaller long before Cardinal Wolsey began rebuilding it in 1528. The
fine vaulted ceiling, dating from 1535, was the major addition by Henry
VIII. Most of the chapel furnishings date from the late 17th and early
18th century and were designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

The Chapel Royal was not originally a building but a body of

priests and singers that traditionally accompanied the monarch wherever
he or she went. Only later did the buildings this body used become
known by that name. Today, as well as Hampton Court, there are
Chapels Royal at The Tower of London, The Queen’s Chapel of the
Savoy, and St James’s Palace, which is the headquarters of the Chapel
Royal. The Chapel Royal has an unrivalled continued tradition of choral
music. Many of the greatest English composers have worked and
composed pieces in and for this place, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd,
Orlando Gibbons, and Henry Purcell among them.

The service you are going to witness in a moment will break new
ground. We are going to imagine for the next hour or so, that we are
back in the reign of Mary Tudor (1553—1558). Following the reign of
her Protestant brother Edward VI, England is once again Catholic, and
the Chapel Royal has been restored as the setting for court worship,
following the liturgy of the Catholic Church. This Eucharist, or Mass,
will be celebrated as it was in Mary’s reign, in Latin according to the
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complex ritual of the Pre-Reformation Use of Salisbury, or Sarum. What

is more the music you will hear during the Mass, notably Thomas Tallis’
Missa Puer natus est nobis, was composed for the choir of the Chapel Royal
and may well have been performed on Christmas Day in this place with
the Queen in attendance. Today is without question the first time since
the 1550s this music has been heard in this chapel within the original
liturgical context it was designed to serve and enhance.

This Mass has been organised in order to coincide with the launch of the
choir’s new recording: ‘Thomas Tallis: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal’.
This recording, the first by the choir in twenty years, is to be released
under the Resonus Classics label and will include a recording of Missa
Puer natus est nobis.
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A Complex Tapestry – The Tudor Mass

F or the next hour and a half, I want you to imagine that you are in
the Chapel Royal here in Hampton Court Palace on a Christmas
morning during the reign of Mary Tudor. You are going to witness a
Mass, a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, offered with all the musical,
aesthetic and ceremonial enrichments of the 1550s.
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The Mass offered today is celebrated according to the Use of

Salisbury or Sarum, a derivative of the Roman Rite. In the late Medieval
period western Europe was under the supremacy of the papacy, but that
supremacy did not extend to the imposition of a uniformity in the way
the worship of the church was conducted. As the Middle Ages
progressed, the liturgy of the church began to diversify and provinces
and dioceses developed their own distinctive liturgical flavour. By the
early fourteenth-century the texts, music and ceremonial customs
associated with the celebration of the Mass, could vary greatly from place
to place. We know that in England & Wales the cathedral churches of
Salisbury, St Paul’s, Lincoln, York, Hereford & Bangor, all developed
their own particular variations of the Roman Rite. These localised sets of
customs have come to be known as liturgical ‘Uses’.

The Norman diocese of Old Sarum founded in 1075 with its

cathedral set within the outer bailey of a Norman castle, had begun to
develop its own distinctive style in the early twelfth century. The
construction of a new cathedral for the diocese down the road at
Salisbury in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth-century, presented an
opportunity to develop and to codify the music and ceremonial further.
What emerged there, the Salisbury Use (or Sarum Use as it most
commonly known), was a particularly elaborate variation of the Roman
Rite and as the Middle Ages progressed, its liturgy and its music became
increasingly complex. By the beginning of the fifteenth-century for
reasons that are not fully understood, the Sarum Use had become the
dominant Use in southern England and it began to supplant all the
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others. By that time it had also become the standard liturgical Use of the
English royal court and its customs were governing the worship in the
Chapel Royal. The invention of printing at the end of the fifteenth-
century saw an explosion of new liturgical books coming on to the
market in the 1480s and 1490s and that development ensured that the
Sarum Use became the ubiquitous Use of the southern province by the
reign of Henry VIII. When the liturgy of the Catholic Church was re-
introduced during the reign of Mary Tudor, it was naturally the Sarum
Use, the royal court Use, that was revived in the Chapel Royal.

On Christmas morning in the Sarum Use, there were always three

celebrations of the Mass to welcome the birth of Christ. The first was
called the Missa in gallicantu, the ‘mass of the cockcrow’ and was
celebrated at midnight. The second the Missa in aurora was celebrated at
dawn, as the sun rose. The third Mass of Christmas morning, the
principal Mass of the day, was known as the Missa Puer natus est, taking its
name from the opening words that were sung in the Introit of the Mass.
Like her father before here, Mary would have attended the third mass of
Christmas in state and sat in the holyday closet to witness it.

The Mass we will celebrate today is a High Mass and the priest
celebrating is assisted by two other clerics: a deacon and subdeacon.
They are all assisted in turn by a number of servers: an acolyte (who
carries the processional cross), taperers (who carry processional lights), a
thurifer (who bears the incense) and the verger or chapel clerk, who
leads the ministers and servers in procession, carrying his verge or wand
of office. Today the music of the Mass will be sung by a schola who sing
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the plainsong and the Gentlemen of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal who
sing the polyphony.

A celebration of the Mass in Tudor England was a complex

tapestry, a multi-layered and interwoven combination of spoken word,
plainsong, polyphonic music & carefully choreographed movement and
action. All of that is further enhanced and heightened by art,
architecture, the glint of gold and the shimmer of silk vestments & the
smoke and scent of incense. What they experienced and what you will
witness today, is a form of worship that is intended above all things to
engage and charge the senses and you will notice that a lot of the action
takes place simultaneously. We have provided a programme to give you
a sense of what is going on when, but to remain focused on that text
while the Mass progresses would be to miss the point of the exercise.
The textual guide might be better used as a way of understanding and
processing what you have seen afterwards. To the Tudor worshipper,
the Mass was something to be sensed, experienced and felt and we invite
you to do the same.

The Mass itself is divided into two main parts, the Ordinary and
the Canon. The Ordinary of the Mass is its prelude, it includes solemn
prayers: the Gloria, a hymn of praise; readings from scripture sung by the
deacon and subdeacon; and the Creed, a declaration of faith. In three
stages during the Ordinary, the offerings of bread and wine and the
chalice and paten that will contain them, are prepared; they are first
brought into the chapel; then at a later stage put into the chalice and
onto the paten and then at the Offertory are ceremoniously carried to
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the altar. The Canon is the most solemn and central part of the offering
and in it, bread and wine are offered to God as a sacrifice and are
consecrated. The words of consecration, accompanied by long and
complex liturgical actions, are said privately by the priest at the altar. The
high point of the Mass comes as the priest repeats Christ’s words of
institution from the Last Supper; as the words ‘this is my body’ and ‘this
is my blood’ are said over the offerings of bread and of wine, they
transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of
Christ. Tudor Catholics would have called the bread of the offering the
Hostia, the Host, the Victim – the Mass in Catholic understanding is a
making present in the here and now of Christ’s once and only sacrifice
on Calvary; it is not simply a memorial of the Last Supper. The liturgical
high point of the Mass comes when the priest elevates above his head the
Host, the body of Christ and the chalice containing the precious blood.
In the Tudor Catholic mind, to see the Host elevated was to see Christ
himself lifted up. The aim of the elaborate ceremonial and music was to
create a numinous experience, in which the presence of God could be
felt and into which Christ himself could enter & where his presence
could be seen, felt and engaged with.

Textually the Mass has both fixed and variable elements

throughout it. The variable elements are what set the tone, theme &
purpose of the particular offering. These variable texts include those
sung to plainsong by the priest: the Collect, Proper Preface, and
Postcommunion. Other variable texts throughout the Mass are called the
Propers, these are said by the priest, but are repeated then by a schola of
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singers, who sing them to plainsong settings. These include the Introit,
Gradual, Alleluya, Sequence, Offertory and Communion. These settings
were particularly complex in the Use of Sarum and were developed in
length and complexity as a means of covering long ceremonial actions
that would otherwise take place in silence.

The Gloria in Excelsis, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus

Dei, fixed elements of the Mass and are said by the priest but are then
also sung by the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal. Often these fixed
texts were sung to plainsong, but in the Tudor period in a court context,
they would have been sung to polyphonic or ‘pricke song’ settings for
three or more voices. Today, with the exception of the Credo, they will
be sung by the Gentlemen of the choir to a polyphonic setting
composed by Thomas Tallis, entitled Missa Puer natus est nobis. This
setting was composed by Tallis in the reign of Mary Tudor for the
Chapel Royal and is based on the introit from the third Mass of
Christmas Day. The Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei are of such a
length as to cover the priest’s actions as he says the Canon, receives
communion and undertakes the final ablutions. Another of the
invariable elements of the Mass, the Kyrie, is also sung. One of the
particular features of the Sarum Use is the elaboration of the Kyrie with
additional texts called ‘tropes’. The troped Kyrie ‘Deus Creator
Omnium’ is here sung by the schola to the Sarum chant.

The chapel interior forms the backdrop against which the Mass
is played out. The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace was begun in
1528 by Cardinal Wolsey and completed in the mid 1530s by Henry
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VIII. Cardinal Wolsey’s chapel plan, follows that of many Oxford

colleges and consists of a wide ante-chapel leading to a narrower chapel
proper. Above the ante-chapel is the holyday closet, the royal pew, and it
is from here that Mary Tudor would have sat in state, to witness the third
Mass of Christmas. Since her reign of course, the chapel has been altered
considerably and a lot of what she would have seen in the 1550s, have
been swept away by alterations in the late seventeenth and early
eighteenth-century. The windows of the chapel were originally filled with
stained glass produced by the Flemish glazier James Nicholson, who was
working the latest Renaissance style, some of his remaining output can be
seen in King’s College Cambridge. The windows produced for Hampton
Court were installed in the 1520s by Cardinal Wolsey and later
augmented and altered by Henry VIII in the 1530s. The cartoon for the
east window survives and it is known to have contained figures of St
Katherine, St Henry and St George and kneeling images of Henry VIII,
Katherine of Aragon and Mary Tudor. Set directly above the high altar,
these would have provided a helpful visual aid to the priest as he prayed
for his benefactors during the Canon of the Mass. Below this window,
now blocked by the present reredos by Sir Christopher Wren, was the
high altar. This would have been hung with rich textiles and dressed with
gold and silver plate when in use, the plate moving with the court from
chapel to chapel. Above the altar, hanging from an iron bracket, was a
vessel called a pyx covered with a canopy and this contained the Blessed
Sacrament – Christ was therefore perpetually present in the royal chapel.
The internal stalls and wooden fittings by the carvers Richard Ridge and
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Henry Corrant do not survive, but the extraordinary ceiling completed

by them in 1535 does. The only surviving element of the Tudor
decorative scheme, it was then the crowning glory of what would have
been an intense space crammed with religious and royal iconography.

The vesture of those involved in the celebration of the Mass is

also an integral part of the visual experience, adding richness to the
liturgical offering. We have aimed in this reconstruction to use vestments
that resemble as closely as possible the form and aesthetic of those worn
in the 1550s. You will notice that all the ministers and servers wear the
same basic attire, over which are placed other vestments that indicate the
status and the role of the wearer. Over the cassock, the basic daily
garment of the clergy is placed a long white undergarment called the alb,
which is held in place by a rope girdle. The alb is apparelled, it has
panels of decorative coloured fabric, attached to the front and back hem,
and at the cuffs of the sleeves. At the neck is worn the amice - a square
of linen that protects the richer vestments from dirt. Its stiff collar is the
fifth apparel.

Over the alb, the priest wears a stole, a long scarf-like strip of
fabric that is placed around his neck, crossed in front and secured with a
girdle. A shorter strip of fabric, the maniple, is placed over his wrist.
During Mass, he wears a poncho-like garment, the chasuble or
eucharistic vestment over all these items. The deacon and subdeacon
wear the same basic undergarments as the priest, but the deacon wears a
dalmatic instead of the chasuble, and the subdeacon a tunicle. These two
vestments are identical in form, although the tunicle of the subdeacon is
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often somewhat less elaborate. Both deacon and subdeacon wear the
maniple, but only the deacon wears a stole which he wears over one
shoulder and tied at the waist. The vestments worn by the priest, deacon
and subdeacon, form a ‘suit’ and are designed to coordinate. The
vestments we are using today are made of blue Cloth of Gold with gold
and silk embroidery. They were made in the 1920s following late
medieval precedents, for St Mary’s, Primrose Hill.

As the procession enters the chapel the priest, deacon and

subdeacon are preceded by a group of servers who assist them. Heading
the procession is the verger or chapel clerk, who is wearing a cassock and
surplice and holds a wand or verge. He also carries a small hand bell,
which he rings during the elevation of the host. Next comes the acolyte,
who is the principal assistant to the ministers and directs the ceremonial
of the Mass. He wears a tunicle but without a maniple, the tunicle he
wears today of red silk damask with gold embroidery dates from the
1890s and also comes from St Mary’s, Primrose Hill. The acolyte carries
the processional cross. The cross we are using today belongs to St
Mary’s, Primrose Hill and is silvered latten and was probably made in
London around 1480. The acolyte also brings to the altar the ceremonial
pax board - that is used for the kiss of peace: a gilt wooden frame
containing a representation of the crucifixion. When the acolyte moves
the sacred vessels from the side altar to the high altar during the
offertory, he wraps his hands in the offertory veil or sudary. The taperers
follow the clerk in the procession carrying processional candles, or lights
and they wear apparelled albs and amices. Next in the procession and
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directly preceding the subdeacon is the thurifer. He wears an apparelled

alb and amice and swings a thurible or censer, a vessel suspended on
chains, which contains glowing charcoal on which incense is burnt to
release its scent. The thurible used today is a Dutch neo-Gothic silver
example of the nineteenth century, and the incense burned is the purest
frankincense offered on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen at the Chapel
Royal in St James’s Palace at Epiphany. The Gentlemen of the Choir
and the Schola wear cassocks and surplices. The Rulers of the Choir
who intone the plainsong and the Director of Music who directs the
choir, wear in addition cloak-like garments called copes.

Text, movement, plainsong and polyphony, smell, colour and

decoration - all these elements play their part and work together to create
an intense and rich offering of worship to almighty God. We do hope
that you will enjoy what you see, hear and feel in this ground-breaking
reconstruction in this extraordinary setting.

The Rev’d Dr Allan Barton FSA

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Thomas Tallis: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal

T homas Tallis became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in the early

1540s and remained in the Royal Household until his death. He
served, therefore, under four consecutive monarchs: King Henry VIII,
King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and finally Queen Elizabeth I. His
responsibilities to the Chapel Royal were primarily as a singer and an
organist, but he was also a highly respected and prolific composer.
During his long life (c.1505–1585), Tallis demonstrated a remarkable
ability to adapt his compositional style to those many aspects of the
sixteenth century’s political and religious turbulence that impacted on
liturgy and music.
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The Chapel Royal was and is a body of priests and singers that
serves the spiritual needs of the Sovereign, popularly having been known
as ‘the cradle of English church music’. The Chapel Royal used to travel
with the court as it resided at various royal palaces, including Hampton
Court. For two centuries from the baptism of King Edward VI there in
1537, many of the finest musicians of the itinerant Chapel Royal served at
Hampton Court Palace. Tallis’s younger contemporary, William Byrd
(c.1540–1623) lived a few miles away in Harlington, while Thomas Morley
(1557/8–1602) was sworn and admitted a Gentlemen in the Vestry at
Hampton Court. Pelham Humfrey (1647/8–1674) and John Blow
(1648/9–1708) both lived nearby in Hampton.
Tallis wrote his Missa Puer natus est nobis for the unusual scoring
of seven lower voices (two alto, two tenor, one baritone, and two bass),
without a treble part. This scoring, along with the fact that the mass is
based on the plainchant Introit at third Mass on Christmas Day (A boy is
born unto us), has led scholars to suggest that the mass was composed
for and performed at a service held at St Paul’s Cathedral in December
1554, following the marriage of the catholic Queen Mary I of England to
Philip of Spain earlier that year. The Chapel Royal choir’s Spanish
counterpart, King Philip’s Capilla Flamenca was resident in England at
the time and they, along with the choir of St Paul’s, joined the Chapel
Royal musicians to sing the service. The story goes that since the Capilla
Flamenca did not use treble voices, Tallis was set the unusual task of
writing a festal mass setting for a lower-voice ensemble. And what a
success he made of it: Tallis took the celebration of a Spanish-English
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alliance to heart, literally combining continental stylistic practices with

English. He used a code in order to achieve a precise relationship
between the notes of the plainsong theme and the temporal structure of
his music. Whether or not there exists a connection between the
plainchant text and Queen Mary’s rumoured pregnancy, the result is a
devotional work of art of great power, beauty, and integrity.
It could be said that Tallis took the celebration of a Spanish-
English alliance to heart, literally combining continental stylistic practices
with English. He certainly used a code in order to achieve a precise
relationship between the notes of the plainsong theme and the temporal
structure of his music, a fact which has led David Humphreys to suggest
that the mass was composed as an academic demonstration of technical
mastery rather than as a liturgical commission.

Dr Christian Goursaud

The Altar Party

Celebrant: The Rev’d Canon Anthony Howe - Chaplain
Deacon: The Rev’d Dr Allan Barton FSA
Subdeacon: The Rev’d Max Bayliss
Thurifer: Rev’d Dr Evan McWilliams
Acolyte: Mr John Hawes
Taperers: The Rev’d Tristan Chapman

The Musicians
The Director of Music: Mr Carl Jackson MVO
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The Gentleman of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, Hampton Court:

Alto: Edward Button, Karl Gietzmann
Tenor: Jack Granby, Martin Hindmarsh
Baritone: Christian Goursaud
Bass: Gavin Cranmer-Moralee, Edmund Dano
The Rulers of the Choir: Rufus Frowde, Organist of Her Majesty’s
Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace and the Rev’d Dr Daniel
Trott.
The chant Schola: Matthew Pochin, Calum Zuckert, Daniel Turner,
Ben Munden

Acknowledgements
This service has only been made possible through the dedicated
assistance of the following people, who have generously given both their
time and their skill to this project. The Rev’d Dr Allan Barton FSA has
acted as the historical and liturgical advisor for this project & he has
edited the liturgical texts & produced & designed this booklet. Dr
Christian Goursaud, alongside the Director of Music Mr Carl Jackson,
has overseen the musical elements of this service and has coordinated the
chant Schola. The plainsong settings used today have been very
generously provided by Dr Matthew Cheung Salisbury of University
College, Oxford. Sophie Baylis, the Music Administrator here at
Hampton Court, has provided invaluable administrative support to the
planning group. I am also most grateful to the Vicar and
Churchwardens of St Mary the Virgin, Primose Hill, for the generous
loan of vestments and other items necessary for this service. Lastly
thanks must go to the Choral Foundation and to Historic Royal Palaces,
for their support in staging this ground-breaking event.
Canon Anthony Howe, Chaplain
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THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

Office or Introit

The choir, schola & the rulers of the choir enter the chapel led by the
chapel clerk, who then returns to the vestry. The vestry bell then rings &
the ministers enter the chapel led by the chapel clerk as the schola sing:

P uer natus est nobis et Fílius

datus est nobis: cujus imperium
super húmerum ejus, et vocábitur
nomen ejus magni consílii ángelus.
Cantate Domino canticum novum:
quia mirabilia fecit.
Puer natus est nobis et Fílius datus
est nobis: cujus imperium super
húmerum ejus, et vocábitur nomen
ejus magni consílii ángelus.
Glória Pátri, et Fílio, et Spirítui
Sáncto. Sicut erat in princípio, et
nunc, et semper, et in saécula
saeculórum. Amen
Puer natus est nobis et Fílius datus
est nobis: cujus imperium super
húmerum ejus, et vocábitur nomen
ejus magni consílii ángelus.
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given : and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called
the angel of great counsel.
O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he
hath done marvellous things.
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given : and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called
the angel of great counsel.
Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Ghost. As it was in the
beginning, is now and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given : and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called
the angel of great counsel.

Arriving at the sanctuary step the ministers bow to the altar and then
they say the confession privately. Once completed, the priest goes up to
the altar, kisses it and then proceeds to honour it with incense. The
priest is then censed by the deacon and the subdeacon offers him the
gospel book to kiss.
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The three ministers, the priest with the deacon on his right and
subdeacon on his left, read the text of the Introit and Kyrie from the
missal.

Kyrie

Directly after the Introit the schola sing:

D eus Creator omnium tu Theos

ymon nostri pie, eleyson.
Tibi laudes conjubilantes, regum rex
Christe, oramus te, eleyson.
Laus, virtus, pax, et imperium, cui
est semper sine fine, eleyson.
Christe, rex unice, Patris almi Nate
coæterne, eleyson.
Qui perditum hominem salvasti, de
morte reddens vitæ, eleyson.
Ne pereant pascuæ oves tuæ, Jesu,
pastor bone, eleyson.
Consolator Spiritus, supplices ymas
te exoramus, eleyson.
Virtus nostra, Domine, atque salus
nostra in æternum, eleyson.
Summe Deus et une, vitæ dona
nobis tribue misertus, eleyson.
O God, creator of all things, thou our merciful
God, have mercy.
Singing your praises, O Christ, king of kings, we
pray to thee, have mercy.
Praise, power, peace, and dominion to him who is
forever without end: have mercy.
O Christ, sole king, born coeternal with the
forgiving father, have mercy.
Thou who saved lost humanity, giving
life for death, have mercy.
Lest your pastured sheep should perish,
O Jesus, good shepherd, have mercy.
Consoler of suppliant spirits below, we beseech
thee, have mercy.
Our strength, O Lord, and our salvation in
eternity, have mercy.
Highest and only God, grant us life, the gift of
compassion to those whom you favour: have mercy.

As soon as the Kyrie begins, the candlebearers, chapel clerk and the
acolyte go to the vestry. Led by the chapel clerk, the first candlebearer
brings in the bread, wine and water for the mass and the second brings in
the basin, water and towel for the ablutions and the pax board. The
acolyte brings in the chalice and paten. These are all placed on the altar
of preparation to the left of the high altar.
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Gloria in Excelsis

At the end of the Kyrie the priest goes to the centre of the altar and
intones the beginning of the Gloria, the choir continuing it.

G lória in excélsis Deo, et in

terra pax homínibus bonæ
voluntátis. Laudámus te.
Benedícimus te. Adorámus te.
Glorificámus te. Grátias ágimus tibi
propter magnam glóriam tuam.
Dómine Deus, rex coeléstis, Deus,
Pater omnípotens. Dómine Fili
unigénite, Jesu Christe, Dómine
Deus, Agnus Dei, Fílius Patris, Qui
tollis peccáta mundi, miserére nobis.
Qui tollis peccáta mundi, súscipe
deprecatiónem nostrum. Qui sedes
ad déxteram Patris, miserére nobis.
Quóniam tu solus sanctus, Tu solus
Dóminus, Tu solus altíssimus, Jesu
Christe cum Sancto Spíritu in glória
Dei Patris. Amen.
Glory be to God on High, and in earth
peace, goodwill towards men, we praise thee,
we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify
thee, we give thanks to thee, for thy great
glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God
the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-
begotten Son, Jesu Christ; O Lord God,
Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that
takest away the sins of the world, have mer-
cy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins
of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that
sittest at the right hand of God the Father,
have mercy upon us. For thou only art holy;
thou only art the Lord; thou only, O
Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Having intoned the Gloria, the priest goes to the south side of the altar
and he and the deacon and subdeacon read the Gloria from the Missal.

Collect

Having read the Gloria, the deacon and subdeacon stand behind he
priest. When the choir has finished singing the priest turns to the people
and sings:

Dominus Vobiscum. The lord be with you.

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo. And with thy spirit.
Oremus. Let us pray.
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Then he sings the collect, the special prayer for the day:
C oncéde, quǽsumus, omnípotens
Deus, ut nos Unigéniti tui nova
per carnem natívitas líberet: quos sub
peccáti jugo vetústa sérvitus tenet.
Per eundem Dominum nostrum
Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui
Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate
Spiritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia
saecula saeculorum.
℟. Amen
The priest and deacon sit and the subdeacon standing facing the altar at
the south side sings the Epistle (Hebrews 1, 1-12).
Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli
ad Hebraeos:
F ratres, Multifárie multísque
modis olim Deus loquens
pátribus in prophétis, novíssime
diébus istis locútus est nobis in Fílio,
quem constítuit herédem
universórum, per quem fecit et
sǽcula: qui cum sit splendour glóriæ,
et figúra substántiæ ejus, portánsque
ómnia verbo virtutis suæ,
purgatiónem peccatórum fáciens,
sedet ad déxteram majestátis in
excélsis: tanto mélior angelis efféctus,
quanto differéntius præ illis nomen
hæreditávit. Cui enim dixit aliquándo
ángelórum. Fílius meus es tu, ego
Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God,
that we who are held in bondage by the old
yoke of sin may be set free by the new
birth in the flesh of thy only begotten Son.
Through the same Lord Jesus Christ your
Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in
the unity of the Holy Ghost, God,
throughout all ages world without end.
Amen
The Epistle
A reading from the Epistle of blessed Paul the
Apostle to the Hebrews.
God, who at sundry times and in divers man-
ners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had
by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high. Being made
so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. For unto which of the angels said
he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to
him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
And again, when he bringeth in the first begot-
ten into the world, he saith, And let all the
 22
hódie génui te? Et rursum, Ego ero
illi in patrem, et ipse erit mihi in
fílium? Et cum íterum introdúcit
primogénitum in orbem terræ, dicit,
Et adórent eum omnes Angeli Dei.
Et ad Angelos quidem dicit, Qui
facit Angelos suos spíritus, et
minístros suos flammam ignis. Ad
Fílium autem, Thronus tuus, Deus,
in sǽculum sǽculi: virga æquitátis,
virga regni tui. Dilexísti justítiam, et
odísti iniquitátem: proptérea unxit te
Deus, Deus tuus, óleo exultatiónis
præ particípibus tuis. Et, Tu in
princípio, Dómine, terram fundásti,
et ópera mánuum tuárum sunt coeli.
Ipsi períbunt, tu autem permanébis,
et omnes ut vestiméntum
veteráscent: et velut amíctum
mutábis eos, et mutabúntur: tu
autem idem ipse es, et anni tui non
defícient.
The epistle completed, the priest, deacon and subdeacon go to the south
side of the altar and they read the Gradual, Alleluya & Sequence.
Meanwhile, the schola begin to sing these texts:
V idérunt omnes fines terræ:
salutáre Dei nostri: jubiláte
Deo omnis terra.
℣. Notum fecit Dóminus salutáre
suum: ante conspéctum géntium
revelávit justítiam suam.
Allelúya.
℣. Dies sanctificátus illúxit nobis:
angels of God worship him. And of the angels
he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and
his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the scep-
tre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved right-
eousness, and hated iniquity; therefore
God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And,
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the
foundation of the earth; and the heavens are
the works of thine hands: They shall perish;
but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old
as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt
thou fold them up, and they shall be changed:
but thou art the same, and thy years shall not
fail.
Gradual, Alleluya & Sequence
All the ends of the world have seen the salva-
tion of our God: shew yourselves joyful unto
the Lord, all ye lands.
℣. The Lord declared his salvation : his
righteousness hath
he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
Alleluya.
℣. The hallowed day hath shone upon us:
come ye nations, and adore the Lord, for to-
 23
veníte, gentes, et adoráte Dóminum,
quia hódie descéndit lux magna
super terram.
C oeleste organum hodie sonuit
in terra. Ad partum virginis
superum cecinit caterva. Quid facis,
humana turba, cur non gaudes cum
supera? Vigilat pastorum cura, vox
auditur angelica, Cantabant inclyta
carmina, plena pace et gloria. Ad
Christum referunt propria, nobis
canunt ex gratia. Nec cunctorum
sunt hæc dona; sed mens quorum
erit bona. Nec sunt absolute data,
sed decenter sunt prolata. Affectus
deserant vitia, et sic nobis pax est
illa, quia bonis est promissa.
Junguntur superis terrea, ob hoc
quidem laus est juncta, sed decenter
fit divisa. Gaude homo cum
perpendis talia, Gaude caro facta
Verbi socia. Iste versus ter dicatur.
Nunciant ejus ortum sidera lucis per
indicia. Ineunt duces gregum lumina
Bethlehem usque prævia. Invenitur
Rex coelorum inter animalia. Arcto
jacet in præsepe Rex qui cingit
omnia. Stella maris, quem tu paris,
colit hunc Ecclesia. Ipsi nostra per te
pia placeant servitia. Resonent
cuncta redempta.
When the Gradual, Alleluya & Sequence have been said privately by the
priest, the priest and deacon sit down. The subdeacon then goes
immediately to the altar of preparation and prepares the oblations that
will be offered in the mass. He takes the water and brings it to the priest
day a great light hath descended on the
earth.
This day celestial melody Resounded o'er the
earth, What time the virgin bare a Son, Ser-
aphs proclaimed his birth. What aileth thee,
thou world below ? Haste thee with them to
sing; In pastoral charge the shepherds watch,
Hark ! angel voices ring, Chanting their
strains of holy joy. With glory fraught and
peace. To Christ they render ho age due, To us
they sing of grace. Not unto all such gifts are
given, But to the good of heart. Not irrespective
ly bestowed, But measured by desert. Affections
must be weaned from sin, So shall we gain that
peace within Reserved for pure in heart; Lo !
earth is join'd with things d vine, In this respect
their lays co bine. But fitly fall apart. O man,
rejoice, and ponder this accord; O flesh, rejoice,
associate with the Word. His rising by the
stars is told With indicating light; Lo ! star-lit
chiefs to Bethlehem Follow that planet bright.
The King of heaven is cradled found Amid the
beasts he made. In a rude manger's narrow bed
The Lord of all is laid. Star of the sea ! thy
blessed Son The holy Church adores. That he
our service will accept Devoutly she implores.
Let each redeemed thing the Redeemer's praises
sing.
 24

for him to exorcise, then he returns and places wine and water in the
chalice and a host on the paten, assisted by the acolyte. The acolyte gives
him a folded corporal from the burse to place on top of the paten. The
acolyte then takes the burse & the pax board to the altar and hands to
the deacon. The deacon goes and lays a corporal out in the centre of the
altar. He then censes the corporal.

The deacon takes the gospel book from the altar and goes to receive a
blessing from the priest. He carries the gospel book to the gospel lectern
on the north side of the altar, preceded by the acolyte carrying the cross,
the subdeacon, thurifer and candlebearers.

The Gospel

The deacon announces the Gospel reading singing:

Dominus Vobiscum The Lord be with you.

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo. And with thy spirit.
Initium sancti Evangelii: The beginning of the gospel
secundum Johannem. according to John.
℟. Gloria tibi domine. Glory be to thee O Lord.
 25
He sings the gospel facing north:
I n princípio erat Verbum, et
Verbum erat apud Deum, et
Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in
princípio apud Deum. Omnia per
ipsum facta sunt: et sine ipso factum
est nihil. Quod factum est in ipso
vita erat, et vita erat lux hóminum.
Et lux in tenébris lucet, et ténebræ
eam non comprehendérunt. Fuit
homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat
Johánnes. Hic venit in testimónium,
ut testimónium perhibéret de
lúmine: ut omnes créderent per
illum. Non erat ille lux, sed ut
testimónium perhibéret de lúmine.
Erat lux vera, quæ illúminat omnem
hóminem veniéntem in hunc
mundum. In mundo erat, et mundus
per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum
non cognóvit. In própria venit, et
sui eum non recepérunt. Quotquot
autem recepérunt eum, dedit eis
potestátem fílios Dei fíeri, his, qui
credunt in nómine ejus: qui non ex
sanguínibus, neque ex voluntáte
carnis, neque ex voluntáte viri, sed
ex Deo nati sunt. Et Verbum caro
factum est, et habitávit in nobis: et
vídimus glóriam ejus, glóriam quasi
unigéniti a Patre, plenum grátiæ et
veritátis.
When the gospel has been read, the deacon kisses the gospel book and
then carries it to the altar and offers it to the priest to kiss.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by him; and without him was
not any thing made that was made. In him
was life; and the life was the light of men. And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not. There was a man sent
from God, whose name was John. The same
came for a witness, to bear witness of the
Light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear
witness of that Light. That was the true
Light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came unto his own, and his own
received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
 26
The priest goes to the centre of the altar and intones the beginning of the
Gloria, the choir continuing it:
C redo in unum Deum, Patrem
omnipotentem, factorem caeli et
terrae, visibilium omnium, et
invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum
Jesum Christum, Filium Dei
unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante
omnia saecula. Deum de Deo,
Lumen de lumine, Deum verum de
Deo vero. Genitum, non factum,
consubstantialem Patri: per quem
omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos
homines, et propter nostram salutem
descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est
de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine:
Et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam
pro nobis: sub Pontio Pilato passus,
et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die,
secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in
caelum: sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et
iterum venturus est cum gloria,
judicare vivos et mortuos: cuius regni
non erit finis. Et in Spiritum
Sanctum, Dominum, et vivificantem:
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui
cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur, et
conglorificatur: qui locutus est per
Prophetas. Et unam sanctam
catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma in
remissionem peccatorum. Et
exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum.
Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
Credo
I believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, And of all
things visible and invisible: And in one
Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of
God, Begotten of his Father before all
worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very
God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being
of one substance with the Father, By whom
all things were made; Who for us men, and
for our salvation came down from heaven,
And was inca nate by the Holy Ghost of
the Virgin Mary, And was made man,
And was crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate. He suffered and was buried, And
the third day he rose again according to the
Scriptures, And ascended into heaven, And
sitteth on the right hand of the Father.
And he shall come again with glory to judge
both the quick and the dead: Whose king-
dom shall have no end. And I believe in the
Holy Ghost, The Lord and giver of life,
Who proceedeth from the Father and the
Son, Who with the Father and the Son
together is worshipped and glorified, Who
spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one
Catholick and Apostolick Church. I
acknowledge one Baptism for the remission
of sins. And I look for the Resurrection of
the dead, And the life of the world to come.
Amen.
 27

The Offertory

The priest turns to the people and sings:

Dóminus vobíscum The Lord be with you

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo. And with thy Spirit.
Orémus. Let us pray.

The priest says and the schola sing the offertory proper:

T ui sunt coeli et tua est terra:

orbem terrárum et
plenitúdinem ejus tu fundásti; justítia
et judícium præparátio sedis tuæ.
The heavens are thine, the earth also is
thine : thou hast laid
the foundation of the round world, and all
that therein is.

The altar and the oblations are prepared. Led by the chapel clerk, the
acolyte brings the chalice & paten from the altar of preparation to the
high altar in the offertory veil. He passes them to the subdeacon, who in
turn hands them to the deacon, who presents them to the priest who
places them on the altar. The priest censes the oblations and is then
censed by the deacon & the subdeacon offers him the gospel book to
kiss. The priest washes his hands and as he is doing so the deacon
censes the north side of the altar. Handing the censer to the acolyte, he
then censes the deacon and subdeacon and the rulers of the choir. After
each censing those censed are offered the gospel book to kiss by the
subdeacon. When the censing is over he turns to the people and says:

Oráte, fratres et soróres pro me, ut Pray for me, brothers and sisters, that this sacri-
meum paritérque vestrum accéptum fice which is equally mine and yours be acceptable
sit Dómino Deo nostro sacrifícium. to the Lord our God.

The ministers respond privately. The priest then says the Secret for the
day, which ends with him singing:
Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Throughout all ages of ages.
℟. Amen Amen

The deacon takes the paten from the altar and hands it to the subdeacon,
who hands it to the acolyte who then holds it until the Lord’s Prayer.
28
 29

Sursum Corda

The priest sings the Sursum Corda:

Dominus vobiscum The Lord be with you,

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.
Sursum corda
℟. Habemus ad Dominum
Gratias agamus Domino Deo
nostro.
℟. Dignum et justum est.
And with thy spirit.
Lift up your hearts,
We lift them up unto the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord
our God.
It is meet and right so to do.

Proper Preface and Sanctus

Then he sings the Proper Preface, which changes according to the

season and ends with the choir singing:

S anctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,

Dóminus Deus Sábaoth; pleni
sunt coeli et terra glória tua; Osánna
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts;
heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory; Ho-
sanna in Excelsis
in excelsis.

THE CANON OF THE MASS

H aving said the Sanctus privately with the deacon and subdeacon,
the priest immediately begins the Canon of the Mass, the central
and most solemn action of the offering. This is said privately by the
priest and the polyphonic setting of the Sanctus is intended to cover the
first part of the Canon and all the liturgical gestures within it. The first
part of the Canon is made up of a series of prayers addressed to God the
Father, offering to him the oblations of bread and wine as a sacrifice on
behalf of the church and as a continuation of Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross. Prayers are said by the priest for the monarch, for his own family
& for his benefactors. The company of the apostles and martyrs are also
recalled.
 30

During this time the priest makes gestures, notably the sign of the cross,
over the oblations to affect God’s blessing. The climax of the first part
of the Canon are Christ’s words of institution from the Last Supper, by
the uttering of those words the host and the wine are then consecrated
and become the body and blood of Christ.

The Elevations

T he high point of the mass comes directly after the words of

consecration. The priest elevates the host and the chalice above his
head, so that the people can see them and adore them, a ceremony first
introduced in the early thirteenth century. As this occurs the chapel clerk
rings a bell. The elevation happens in a silent pause directly after the
Sanctus and before the choir sing the Benedictus.

At this point it was usual for the laity to greet the sacramental presence
of the Lord Jesus with a vernacular prayer such as the following:
 31

Jesu Lord, welcome thou be,

In form of bread as I thee see;
Jesu for thy holy name,
Shield me to day from sin and shame.
Shrift and housel, Lord, thou grant me both,
Before that I shall hence go,
And very contrition of my sin,
That I Lord never die within;
And thou were of a maiden born,
Suffer me never to be forlorn,
But when that I shall hence wend,
Grant me the bliss without end.
Amen

Benedictus

After the elevation of the chalice, the choir continue directly with the
Benedictus, which covers the remainder of the Canon.

B enedíctus qui venit in nómine

Dómini;
Osánna in excélsis.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the
Lord,
Hosanna in Excelsis.

The priest continues with the Canon. The mass is a sacrificial offering
that recalls the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and so the priest begins
the second part of the Canon with his arms stretched out in the manner
of the cross. He asks that the sacrifice might be lifted to God in heaven.
He prays for the faithful departed, remembers the martyr saints and asks
that all who are present and all faithful people, might have a place in
Christ’s heavenly kingdom. He concludes the Canon by asking once
again for God to bless the oblations and he offers them to the Father in
unity with the Son and the Holy Spirit. The signal for the conclusion of
the Canon is the priest singing:

Per omnia saecula saeculorum Throughout all ages of ages.

℟. Amen Amen.
 32

The Lord’s Prayer

The priest the raises his hands and says:

Oremus. Praeceptis salutaribus mo- Let us pray. Commanded by saving pre-

niti et divina institutione formati, cepts and taught by divine institution, let
audemus dicere. us boldy say:

He sings the Lord’s Prayer.

P ater noster qui es in coelis sanc-

tificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat
regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua
sicut in coelo et in terra. Panem nos-
trum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et
dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et
nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem,
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hal-
lowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heav-
en. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive
them that trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation;

The choir say:

℟. Sed líbera nos a malo. But deliver us from evil.

As the priest begins the Lord’s Prayer, the deacon receives the paten
from the acolyte and then stands beside the priest holding it above his
head. The reason for this piece of ceremonial is obscure.

The priest says a private prayer and then the deacon hands him the paten.
The priest kisses the paten and in another piece of obscure ceremonial,
he places it before his left eye, and then before his right eye and then
makes the sign of the cross with it. He then slides it underneath the host.

The Fraction

He then takes the host and holding it over the chalice breaks it into three
pieces. Holding them there he sings:

Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Throughout all ages of ages.

℟. Amen
 33

He places a third part of the host

into the chalice and sings:

Pax Domini sit The peace of the Lord be

semper vobiscum. always with you.
℟. Et cum spíritu tuo. And with thy spirit.

Agnus Dei

The choir then sing and the priest, deacon and subdeacon say:

A gnus Dei, qui tollis peccata

mundi: miserére nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi:
miserére nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccáta mundi:
dona nobis pacem.
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of
the world, have mercy upon us. O Lamb of
God, that takest away the sins of the
world, have mercy upon us. O Lamb of
God, that takest away the sins of the world,
grant us thy peace.

The polyphonic Agnus Dei is long and it is intended to cover a signifi-

cant amount of liturgical action.

The Pax

Firstly we have the pax ceremony. Having kissed the corporal and the
chalice on which and in which the sacramental body and blood of Christ
are contained, the priest then offers the deacon the kiss of peace. The
deacon then offers to the priest an object called the pax board. This ob-
ject with a handle on the back and an image of Christ crucified on the
front is taken by the subdeacon and is used to transmit the kiss of peace.
It is taken around the sanctuary and is offered to the members of the
schola and the choir.
 34

The Communion

The priest says a long series of private devotional prayers before he re-
ceives communion. In the late 1550s, only the priest would have re-
ceived communion at mass, but today there will be a general commun-
ion. After the priest has received, a bell rings and the ministers then re-
ceive communion kneeling. If you wish to come up and receive com-
munion yourself you are welcome to do so. Please follow the directions
of the verger and stewards who will direct you to the altar rail.

After the Agnus Dei is sung, the schola sing the Communion proper:

Vidérunt omnes fines All the ends of the world have seen
terræ salutáre Dei nostri. the salvation of our God.

The proper will be followed by some organ music as communion contin-

ues and the ablutions take place.
 35

Ablutions

Following communion, all remains of the sacrament are consumed and

the chalice and paten are carefully cleansed. The priest ceremoniously
and rinses his fingers, assisted by the deacon and the subdeacon.

Postcommunion

Then making the sign of the cross on his face, he shall turn to the peo-
ple, and slightly raising his arms, and joining his hands, he shall say :

Dóminus vobíscum. The Lord be with you.

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo. And with thy spirit.
Orémus. Let us pray.

Then he shall sings the Postcommunion prayer:

P ræsta, quǽsumus, omnípotens

Deus, ut natus hódie Salvátor
mundi, sicut divínæ nobis gener-
Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that as
the Saviour of the world, who was born today,
bestoweth upon us a heavenly birth, so he may
atiónis est auctor, ita et immor- also himself bestow on us the gift of immortali-
talitátis sit ipse largítor. Qui Tecum ty. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the
vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus unity of the Holy Spirit, God, throughout all
ages of ages. Amen.
Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula
saeculorum.
℟. Amen

The Dismissal

When he has finished the Postcommunion, and has made the sign of the
cross upon his forehead, the priest shall turn again to the people and
sings:

Dóminus vobíscum. The Lord be with you.

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo. And with thy spirit.
Then the deacon shall sing:
Ite missa est Go the mass is ended.
℟. Deo gratias. Thanks be to God.
36