Indian Mass

rdf:langString Indian Mass

rdf:langString Indian Mass is a partially vernacularized variation of the traditional Roman Catholic Mass, used in the American Indian missions of Canada and the United States. The priest's portion of the Mass was kept in Latin, but the chants assigned to the schola were sung in the vernacular. The Indian Masses date to the mid-17th century, and permission for them was apparently granted by an indult by Rome, although record of the indult itself has not been found. Nonetheless, these partially vernacularized Masses flourished in the missions with episcopal approval for several hundred years until the time of the Second Vatican Council.