Indian Mass

{{refimprove|date=January 2009}} {{Catholic Church in Canada sidebar}} '''Indian Mass''' is a partially vernacularized variation of the [[Tridentine Mass]] of the [[Catholic Church]], used in the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous North American]] [[Mission (Christian)|missions]] of Canada and the United States. The priest's portion of the Mass was kept in Latin, but the chants assigned to the [[schola]] were sung in the vernacular.

The Indian Masses date to the mid-17th century, and permission for them was apparently granted by an [[indult]] by Rome, although record of the indult itself has not been found. Nonetheless, these partially vernacularized Masses flourished in the missions with episcopal approval for several hundred years until the time of the [[Second Vatican Council]].

==Structure of the Indian mass== The Indian Mass differed from the [[Tridentine Mass]] in its use of vernacular language ordinaries and [[propers]]. The ordinaries were straightforward translations of the Mass texts. However, the propers often differed significantly from their Roman counterparts. Typically, a handful of [[Introit]]s rotated duty throughout the liturgical year. [[Gradual]]s sometimes occur, though hymns are often sung in their place. The Offertory and Communion verses are almost always dropped in favor of vernacular hymns.<ref>Salvucci, Claudio R. 2008. ''The Roman Rite in the Algonquian and Iroquoian Missions.'' Merchantville, NJ:Evolution Publishing.</ref>

==See also== *[[Latin liturgical rites]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Catholic liturgical rites]] [[Category:History of Catholicism in Canada]] [[Category:History of Catholicism in the United States]] [[Category:History of Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]