The Evolution of the Utraquist Mass, 1420-1620

The description of the evolution of the Mass is based on liturgical documents of the period whose authenticity as witnesses of the Utraquist Mass is guaranteed by their former use in worshiping communities. The Utraquists retained the (Latin) Prague use of the Roman Catholic Church, but with Czech readings, until 1538. Thereafter, the use of Czech and the diversity of liturgical practice from church to church increased. There is no sign of Lutheran influence on the Utraquist Mass, unless one argues that Luther influenced the increased use of the vernacular after 1538. Language apart, later Utraquist books are direct descendants of the original fourteenth-century Prague Use. The promulgation of the new Roman Missal in 1570 had no discernible effect on later Utraquist books.