The Lay Folks Mass Book

After spending more than a year working with the university library's well-loved (read: decrepit and dog-eared) copy of the Lay Folks [no, there is no apostrophe] Mass Book, I finally have my own new and beautiful edition, in celebration of having finished my thesis:

 

The Lay Folks Mass Book, usually abbreviated to LFMB, is probably the most well-known of the medieval treatises on the Mass. Several of these treatises were produced in order to help the lay congregation follow the progression of the rite.

The LFMB was most likely translated into English from French in the latter half of the twelfth century. The text is important not only for what it reveals about the devotions of lay people at Mass but because it may have a local connection with York. Thomas Simmons, the original 1879 editor of the LFMB, decided that the text was originally translated into a northern English dialect (then, later, into Midland and Southern forms) and that the "Dan Jeremy" mentioned as author in two of the manuscripts may be the Jeremy who was Archdeacon of Cleveland (in the York diocese) by 1171. Unfortunately this theory can never be proved, but it is not unreasonable.

Unlike modern missals, the LFMB is not a translation or explanation of the Mass prayers and rubrics. Instead it is a set of vernacular prayers which encourage the reader to meditate on the benefits of the Mass and the Crucifixion. The basic structure of the Mass is traceable - I was quite easily able to follow a modern-day Tridentine Mass (the form in which the Mass was celebrated throughout the Middle Ages) using the LFMB as people today use a missal. The Confiteor, Gloria, Creed and Pater Noster are given in the text as (slightly corrupted) translations of their Latin versions, but the other prayers, though their intentions do roughly match those offered by the priest, are not translations of the Latin Mass prayers. Much of the book is taken up with identifying the priest’s actions, which function as cues either for private meditation (usually on the Crucifixion) or for the saying of private prayers, conveniently provided. 

The LFMB tends to become rather repetitive, as it reduces the continuous action of the Mass to specific, easily identifiable points in the liturgy. These serve as triggers for recalling the congregation to contemplation of Christ’s Passion, and as reminders for the people to say the appropriate prayer - nothing more. It does not encourage the people to progress beyond this basic level of response to the liturgy. 

However, that the book exists at all suggests that there was some expectation to involve the congregation with the Mass - to give them a role, or, at the very least, a set of signals through which they could follow what was happening at the altar. It indicates a medieval concern over how to include the congregation - or audience - and how to shape their experience. As these are issues that also concern a playwright, these cues, which do function rather in the manner of stage directions, are what gave me the idea that the Mass rite can be examined from a dramatic viewpoint, and therefore compared and contrasted with conventional drama. Since the Passion plays of the York mystery cycle are very closely aligned (in form, structure and language) with the liturgy and with the Mass, I started to look more closely at where and how the two are linked, and where and how they differ. This was the starting point of my thesis.

Some of the important 'cues' pin-pointed in the LFMB are:

• the movement of the priest (or deacon) to the left-hand side of the altar for the reading of the Gospel, a signal for the congregation to “speke... noght/bot thenk on him that dere the boght” [speak not,/But think on Him (Christ) that thee dearly bought]

• the Elevation of the Host, signalled by "a litel belle men oyse to ryng" [a little bell men use to ring]. The correct response to this signal was to "knelande holde vp both þi handes, /And so þo leuacioun þou be-halde" [kneeling, hold up both thy hands,/And so behold the elevation]

• The priest's "spred[ing] of his arms on brade" [in the form of a cross], recalled not only the Crucifixion but also signified the “tyme to praye for the dede” [the time to pray for the dead]

• The Pater Noster said by the priest, indicating that the Kiss of Peace was approaching, when the congregation kissed the pax (a little plaque of ivory or metal) handed round to them at the altar rails. [The medieval Kiss of Peace has an interesting and somewhat chequered history, but this shall be saved for another post!] 

One final note: for those of you who use the Father Lasance missal, the LFMB is mentioned in the introduction. See if you can find it!