Low Mass
1
9.2
- noun
:
Misa baja
- Our church holds Low Mass every weekday morning, providing a peaceful start to the day.
Examples
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On Sunday mornings when both High and Low Mass were celebrated, he rang one additional time; then again for Sunday Vespers.
Fiction book (1999) -
I do not understand the notion that by speaking with our mouths we can no longer speak with our hearts, as some defenders of silent Low Mass seem to suggest.
Blog text (20) -
I love Low Mass above all.
Blog text (20) -
I find Low Mass a very intense prayer.
Blog text (20) -
"The Low Mass is not normative."
Blog text (20) -
Low Mass just flows, and on weekdays when there is no sermon, there is nothing to disturb the flow.
Blog text (20) -
Firstly, I believe that High Mass should function as a model for Low Mass, and that the faithful should say together the parts they would sing together in a High Mass—and I would regard joining in at the Sanctus as considerably more significant than joining in at the Psalm Judica.
Blog text (20) -
Many parishioners appreciate the tranquility of Low Mass for its simplicity and devotion.
-
During Low Mass, the priest recites prayers without elaborate music or ceremonies.
How Solemn
1
8.9
1
9.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a Mass with little or no music and fewer ceremonial features' follows directly from combining 'low' (reduced/quiet or of lesser intensity) with 'Mass' (the Eucharistic ceremony). The adjective signals a diminished or quieter form of the ceremony — a pattern learners can infer from the constituents and paralleled in other languages (e.g. Spanish 'misa baja'), so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to understand it.
Etymology
Low Mass comes from comparing a simple church service with the grand High Mass: a Low Mass had little singing and few ceremonies, so it was thought of as 'lower' in style. So Low Mass means a quiet, simple Catholic service.