Graduation Year
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Religious Studies
Major Professor
Michael DeJonge, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Tori Lockler, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Garrett Potts, Ph.D.
Keywords
Catholicism, Liturgy, Mass, McLuhan
Abstract
The liturgical changes of Vatican II sought to bring a period of renewal to the Catholic laity by encouraging active participation and making the Mass more simple to understand. However, the time after the Council was characterized by confusion and disengagement by the laity. I will be discussing three significant changes to the liturgy at this time, The change from Latin to the vernacular, the change in the orientation of the altar and priest, and the change in acoustics, sound, and music. I will be examining all of these changes through the media theory of Marshall McLuhan, famous for coining the phrase, “the medium is the message”. By doing this, I will argue that the liturgical changes of Vatican II had the unintended consequence of undermining the sacredness of the Mass. I will begin by giving a brief overview of Vatican II and the proposed liturgical change and then give an introduction to Marshall McLuhan’s media theory. After this I will write about Latin as a medium, the position of the altar and priest as a medium, and acoustics, sound, and music as a medium. By doing this, my aim is to show how changing these traditions of Catholic liturgy had a desacralizing effect on the laity.
Scholar Commons Citation
Manohar, Ashil D., "The Mass is the Medium: Marshall McLuhan and Roman Catholic Liturgical Change" (2021). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/8817
