In Catholic liturgy, what is the difference between "liturgy", "rite", "order", "form", "mass", and "missal"?

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Liturgy: via Latin liturgia from the Greek word λειτουργία (leitourgia) literally means "the public work done for the benefit of the people." It generally refers to the ceremonies and related details of public acts of worship. By extension it can refer to an individual particular act of public worship; e.g "This week the cathedral hosted 3 solemn liturgies"

Mass: from the Latin missa is the name of the primary act of liturgical worship in the west. The east doesn't use the term "Mass"; various other names are used but one common name in the East is "Divine Liturgy." The Mass is the liturgical act consisting of readings, hymns, chants, often preaching, and the Eucharistic sacrifice/sacrament and communion. A Mass might be described as "High" or "Solemn" (more typically when referring to the traditional or Tridentine Rite) which indicates the degree of ceremony attached to it. Only Mass is called "High" but "Solemn" is occasionally attached to other rites like Vespers. The difference between a Solemn or High Mass and Mass in general has to do with the amount of singing, the number and variety of ministers and other secondary characteristics like number of candles on the altar. The actual texts involved are not different.

Missal: the book containing the principal texts of the Mass, both the parts that are the same for all Masses (the "Ordinary of the Mass") and the parts that vary according to the feast or other occasion (the "Propers" or "Commons"). The term follows a convention that "-al" indicates a book related to the root term. Hence, a missal contains texts related to Missae (Masses); a hymnal contains hymns, a vesperale contains texts related to Vespers, and a Rituale contains texts related to other rituals (rites).

Rite: This term is used in 2 main ways

  • The "family" or particular tradition of the ceremonies and texts used in liturgical worship; e.g Roman vs Byzantine. Sometimes this term is used for a smaller variation otherwise called a "Use" for example, the "Dominican Rite" is a variation of the Roman Rite as used historically by the Dominican Order.
  • The order of liturgy of a particular ceremony; e.g. "the rite of baptism"

By extension, "rite" can also refer to a jurisdiction. If someone says they are a Byzantine (Rite) Catholic or a Catholic belonging to the Byzantine Rite, this usually means they are under the jurisdiction of a bishop who celebrates that rite and whose ministry is for those Catholics, not Catholics of other rites.

Form: a term coined by Pope Benedict XVI to indicate the reformed liturgy (as promulgated by Paul VI) and the traditional liturgy belonged to one Rite.

Order: an institute of men or women who live according to some rule or constitution usually under vows and a superior. Some of the older Orders have their own variants of liturgical rites (e.g. the Dominicans have the Dominican Rite, the Carmelites had the Carmelite Rite)

Order can also be used similar to rite meaning the way particular pieces are sequenced, so the "New Order of the Mass" (Novus Ordo) means effectively "New (liturgical) rite of the Mass" would.

In sum, Christian liturgy consists of various liturgical rites (families of customs and texts) with many rites (individual acts of worship), the primary of which is the Mass. These rites are contained within books such as the Missal.

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