First published in 1912, Fr. Fortescue’s liturgical-archaeological classic, The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy, remains one of the most erudite
works ever written in English on the subject of the historical development of the ancient Roman Mass up to its present “Tridentine” form. As an authority on the liturgies of the various Eastern
Rites as well as the Latin,Fortescue had a unique expertise in comparing the few historical liturgical fragments available from the
New Testament, Apostolic and Patristic times to the learned opinions of his contemporaries, thereby skillfully outlining how
the Roman Mass perhaps developed over the centuries. He especially focused on how the Mass organically developed from Our Lord's First Mass,
and definitively demonstrated that the traditional Roman Mass is the most ancient and venerable rite existing in the entire Church.

428pp.,sewn hardcover, dust jacket