ABSTRACT
The Lady Mass was the form of worship most often attended by the laity in the medieval West, and was experienced by all social groups. Its enactment of the Passion, in the words of the consecration which brought about the miracle of transubstantiation, touched the heart of Christian belief. In the mid-twentieth century, the Anglican monk, Gregory Dix, for example, thought the distinctive character of the western medieval Mass was 'to exclude the people from all active shares in the liturgy'. Such a critique might be expected from a reformed denomination, but, particularly in the wake of the Liturgical Movement and Vatican II, it is equally trenchantly stated by many Catholic liturgists. The priest's contribution to the liturgy of the Mass was scripted, both in terms of the words he chanted and most of the accompanying ceremonial. Of the 3,500 words of the Lady Mass, 72 per cent were chanted by the priest unheard by the laity.
