¹ Liturgy and Doctrine (London 1960), especially ch. 4.

² It it easy to come upon discouraging reports of people who will not or cannot sing even if you let them during mass. There are obviously those who want to be left alone to say their prayers but there are others who probably feel that it is not quite right to sing during mass (you are supposed to be quiet in church). Still others may feel acutely self-conscious about breaking into song widi no practise, no certainty of moral support and a feeling of grave uncertainty about the tune. Much of this reluctance would probably disappear if such singing were carefully nurtured and properly organized rather than expected to happen. It is noticeable that whether people are able to dialogue successfully seems to relate not to literacy or knowledge of Latin so much as felt enthusiasm and intelligent help and encouragement.

³ This may be easier said than done but is certainly not impossible. With the right kind of teaching a lot more people could learn Latin and nearly everyone could learn, with encouragement, the prayers of at least the Canon by heart. This is a task which would be perhaps even easier for the illiterate than the literate. If we concentrated attention on learning these prayers then the variations in the proper would matter much less, since even if die vernacular were not used these could be read before mass and the main meaning would be recollected at the right place. These are only some of the obviously numerous possibilities Which would be practical if we really felt this to be of central importance. Though it is a matter of dispute I think that these methods would be better than providing prayer books with ‘short versions’ of the mass prayers for those who cannot read fast enough to keep up with the priest, because though they arc Wore trouble to start with they give rise to no invidious distinctions within congregation.