A Final Thought on the Liturgies of All Souls

The other day, I attended two Masses for All Souls. I served at the first, an Ordinary Form (English language) school Mass at Holy Rosary at nine o’clock in the morning.

The second was an Extraordinary Form Missa Cantata at Saint Joseph in the evening.

In each form of the rite, the priest is allowed to celebrate three Masses for All Souls, and the Missals give three different Masses for the day with unique prayers. In the Ordinary Form, the actual readings are the same for all three Masses, where in the Extraordinary Form there are different readings for each of the three Masses.

The similarities were obvious: it was, after all, the Mass, regardless of form or language. The Lord was present in His Eucharistic face. There were other, more superficial similarities as well. Both priests wore black vestments (though white and violet are also permitted in the Ordinary Form) and the biretta. Both homilies were on Purgatory and praying for the dead.

But it was the differences that fascinated me. Let’s leave aside that one was squarely aimed at schoolchildren, and indeed that the two forms of the Mass have deep structural differences.

Let’s instead concentrate on the intention of the Mass.

In the Ordinary Form, this is essentially a regular Mass for a feast or a solemnity. There are two readings, responsorial psalm, and a Gospel reading:

First Reading:	Wisdom 3:1-9 (The souls of the just are in the hand of God, / and no torment shall touch them. …)
Responsorial Psalm:	Psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd…)
Second Reading:	Romans 5:5-11 (Hope does not disappoint…), or
	Romans 6:3-9 (Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus / were baptized into his death? …)
Gospel:	John 6:37-40 (Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, / and I will not reject anyone who comes to me…)

The readings are primarily about hope. Even the reading from Romans chapter 6 turns quickly from that opening line into untempered hope.

Let us contrast this with the Extraordinary Form.

First of all, this is not a regular Mass in any sense of the word. It is very clearly a Requiem Mass – a funeral. Everything is draped in black. There’s even an empty catafalque, which at the end the priest incenses and sprinkles with holy water.

Right away, this changes the mood and focus of the Mass.

Secondly, the readings are radically different. As I mentioned above, in the Extraordinary Form there are three different sets of readings. I will give you the readings for the first (or primary) Mass of the day, since that’s what I actually experienced.

Epistle:	1 Corinthians, 15:51-57. (Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed …)
Gradual:	4 Esdras 2:34-35 / Psalm 12:7 (Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord… / He shall not fear an ill report; his heart is steadfast, trusting the LORD.)
Gospel:	John 5:25-29 (Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. …)

In addition to the readings, there is a long sequence, sung before the Gospel (Dies Irae – “Day of Wrath”). It’s an absolutely beautiful and haunting chant. When the choir at St. Joseph sang it, I unashamedly wept.

(In fact, at Mass I heard all three of the chants I posted yesterday. Sublime.)

This Mass has a very different feel. While there is still a clear message of hope here, the readings (and the sequence and even the prayers) are meatier, a little more somber, and they contain within them the idea of God the just judge and the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice in obtaining God’s mercy.

For me at least, the Ordinary Form in this case provides unalloyed hope, while the Extraordinary Form additionally provides admonition and somber reflection.

I left these two Masses with very different feelings, and very different matters weighing in my heart.