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I have several questions I have that I was hoping to get an answer for. Thanks!

1. Why are readings different for Novus Ordo Masses and Tridentine Masses? Are the old testament readings to be found in the Hours of the Church as with the east? Was the reason the old testament was inserted into the novus ordo mass was because people no longer attend the hours of the church and that is their only participation in liturgy?

2.I've only been to one parish that serves the latin mass, and they read the readings in latin during the mass, and then again in english just before the homily. Is this common across the US? Is this historical practice or a reaction to the Novus ordo?

Thank you kindly!

Have you tried asking that question on the Catholic Answers forum?

http://forums.catholic.com/

You might get a more complete response there since this is an Eastern Christian forum.

Thanks. I am going to. I didn't originally since their server was down for a bit. Or at least i could not connect to them for a while. Thanks again!

LBL, I believe the re-reading of the Gospel and Epistle in the vernacular developed as Latin became less and less used in everyday life and Roman Catholicism spread to countries that has never touched Latin, ever. It was sort of a compromise so the people can at least understand the readings since unlike the Mass prayers, it changes daily. It has been done long before the Pauline Mass (I frankly hate using the term Novus Ordo since that term is commonly used by those who are against it).

1)The readings are different because it's a whole 'nother thing. The Novus Ordo includes a four year cycle of readings instead of the previous single year, and the calendar has been almost completely reworked. Also, there have been quite a number of saints made since 1962. Pope John Paul II canonized something like 500 people.

The hours, according to the older form, include psalms but little else from the old testament excepting canticles and such.

2) No. It is and has been common.

The 1970 Missal and Lectionary use a THREE year cycle of readings. There is almost no continuity with the former one-year Lectionary.

As an aside, there are some smaller Western liturgical bodies which use the historic one year lectionary; including the Reformed Episcopal Church and some Missouri Synod Lutherans. For the latter the continued use of the same Lectionary that had been used in the 16th Century by Martin Luther is very important.

CAF would be appropriate. Likely, however, to get some answers mixed in with plenty of rhetoric on this topic there.

I strongly encourage reading The Spirit of the Liturgy [amazon.com] by HH Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger. I don't think there is a better resource. Also worth reading is the document of the Second Vatican Council Sacrosanctum Concilium [tinyurl.com], the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

Christ is in our midst!!

1. The Vatican Council (II) called for a broader, richer sharing of the Word of God in Liturgy. that's why there was a new, three-year lectionary cycle developed for use at the Liturgy. The Old Testament readings were inserted to mirror the Gospel so as to show how the two testaments were related and how the Old Testament was related to Christ and His work on earth. These new portions of Scripture have nothing to do with the Hours per se.

2. The reading of the Epistle and Gospel in the Extraordinary form came about in the Middle Ages so that people would hear the Scriptures in their own language. Together with the sermon, they did, in earlier times, form a separate service inserted in the middle of the Mass called "Prone." This service formed the basis of many later Protestant worship services because it included prayers in the vernacular and the popular hymns that developed at that time. People could relate to Prone because it was in the vernacular and included much popular devotion. It was scrubbed in the Latin Church after the Reformation and reduced to just reading the Scriptures in the vernacular. This practice has nothing to do with the Mass of Pope Paul VI.

Bob