The important works on the Roman mass by Jungmann and Klauser, though still useful, are now dated, and many newer studies need to be taken into account. Also, Jungmann and Klauser were both involved with the Liturgical Movement, and their works paved the way for much of the revision of the mass undertaken by the Second Vatican Council. In this book, Lang brings readers up to date, drawing on a wide range of liturgical and musical studies that shed new light on the origin and evolution of the Roman mass. Readers should be aware, though, that whereas Jungmann and Klauser were critical of the Roman rite which they viewed through the lens of the Liturgical Movement, some of Lang's other writings place him in the ‘Reform of the Reform’ camp, which has its own blind spots and concerns, which occasionally show through in this new study.
Although the focus is the Roman mass, Lang has chosen to begin the study more broadly with the Last Supper, and the ‘words of institution’. He has resisted the temptation to get bogged down in Form Critical method and, using the ‘echo’ methodology, views the Supper in the wider context of theological themes in the New Testament material, such as the Temple context of the Synoptic supper narratives. He concludes that by giving himself as the true lamb, Jesus instituted a new Passover that fulfilled and exceeded the meaning of the old Passover. Lang also explores the implications of Hebrews and Revelation for understanding the eucharist, and the use of Malachi i.11 in the Didache and subsequent early writers, concluding that in the Christian eucharist Jewish concepts of sacrifice were not only superseded, but transformed. He later concludes that ‘Rooted in the Last Supper and formed by “Temple piety”, the sacred meal that emerged at the heart of Christian worship came to be celebrated as a memorial in which the sacrifice of Christ became present.’ Whether the early evidence surveyed actually does imply that the sacrifice of Christ was present is highly debatable, most scholars concluding that although the eucharistic meal was regarded as a sacrifice (as were all cultic meals in antiquity), the ‘how’ and ‘what’ were left unexplored.
In the next section Lang surveys the development of the eucharistic prayer across time and geographical areas. All this seems to be to provide a backdrop to his later discussion of the Roman canon missae. Although Apostolic tradition is no longer regarded as being by Hippolytus and representing Rome c. 215, Lang gives the anaphora in that document considerable attention, and it may perhaps be because it is a witness to the institution narrative being part of the anaphora. Later, when discussing Addai and Mari, Lang acknowledges that most scholars accept that this ancient prayer never contained the narrative, but he himself has argued that it once had a narrative, and he feels that the matter is far from closed. This concern for the narrative may account for why he omits to state that in Apostolic tradition the anaphora is described as being an example of what a bishop might pray at his ordination. Since the bishop was at one time the sole celebrant of the eucharist, might the narrative have served as a proper preface to declare the reason why the bishop presided at the weekly meal celebration, rather than a common regular Sunday component in the eucharistic prayer? Given that the East Syrian rite uses two anaphoras that do have the institution narrative, it is hard to find a convincing reason as to why one should have been removed or fallen out of Addai and Mari. Often, arguments for an unswerving use of the narrative are driven by a dogmatic concern, and one wonders if that is the case here? When Lang does discuss the Roman canon missae, he has missed the argument of Dominic Serra that the comma before the narrative in the earliest manuscripts indicates that the narrative serves as a warrant rather than as a consecratory formula. Lang's book was presumably in the press when Christiaan Kappes's study on the canon missae appeared, where it is convincingly argued that the prayer represents the teaching on religion of Varro as mediated through Lactantius, and, using Roman legal language and idea of gift from the Roman patronage system, derives from imperial court eucharists.
Lang takes us through the Stational Liturgy at Rome (Peter Jefferys's hitherto unpublished work on the Roman Ordines suggest that even Ordo Romanus 1 was compiled and adapted for Frankish readers), through the gradual adoption in the Frankish territories, the ‘Franciscan’ reform, and the gradual adoption throughout the Western Church of what was the use of the Roman Curia. Lang also discusses the importance of chant books in establishing the development of the rite, and that often ‘Roman use’ was about the chant rather than the actual liturgical text. He also notes the development of the allegorical methods of interpreting the rite. A final chapter explains the settlement of the text which the Council of Trent handed over to the pope. Figure 9.2 of San Fedele, Milan, reminds us of how in the Baroque era, liturgy became theatre, contrasting with what Lang identified as the ritual simplicity of the earlier solemn papal liturgy.
This is an excellent survey of the material, and it provides a very useful and readable textbook for scholars and students alike.
