Vetus Ordo, Usus Antiquior: The Names of the Latin Mass

Vetus Ordo is Latin for "the old order," short for Vetus Ordo Missae, "the old Order of Mass." It names the traditional rite of Mass of the Roman Church, codified by Pope St Pius V in 1570 and offered today according to the Roman Missal of 1962. The same rite also goes by Usus Antiquior, Extraordinary Form, Tridentine Mass, Traditional Latin Mass, the Mass of St Pius V and several other names. They all mean one Mass. Each name, though, comes from a different moment in the rite's history, and each says something a little different about it.

This glossary takes the names one by one: what each means, where it comes from, who uses it, and the documents of Church law behind it, with their exact dates. For the rite itself, its history and what to expect when you attend, start with Traditional Latin Mass: What It Is and How to Attend.

What does Vetus Ordo mean?

Vetus means "old" and ordo "order." In liturgical Latin the Ordo Missae is the Order of Mass: the fixed framework of prayers and ceremonies, from the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar to the Last Gospel, into which the changing Propers of each day are set. You can read that whole framework in Latin and English in the order of the Mass in Latin.

Vetus Ordo only makes sense next to its opposite, the Novus Ordo, the "new order." The Novus Ordo Missae is the Order of Mass promulgated by Pope Paul VI with the apostolic constitution Missale Romanum of 3 April 1969, in use from the First Sunday of Advent, 30 November 1969. Paul VI himself spoke of "the new rite of the Mass" in his general audiences of 19 and 26 November 1969. Once there was a new Order of Mass, the one it replaced became the old one, and both Latin names stuck in English.

The name is descriptive and carries no judgment of its own: Vetus Ordo means "the older Order of Mass," and it is used by traditional Catholics, by journalists and by liturgists of every school. In Spanish one says misa Vetus Ordo, and the meaning (significado) is the same: the Mass of the Missal of St Pius V.

Usus Antiquior: the "older use"

Usus Antiquior means "the more ancient use" (literally "the older use"). It is the most precise name in the list, and the one the Holy See itself used.

It belongs to the thought of Pope Benedict XVI. In his letter to the bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificum (7 July 2007), he insisted that the two Missals are not "two rites" but "a twofold use of one and the same rite." The instruction Universae Ecclesiae, issued by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and dated 30 April 2011, speaks accordingly of "the Roman Liturgy in the Usus Antiquior," which it calls "a precious treasure to be preserved." The name stresses continuity: the traditional Mass is the Roman rite in its older use, not a foreign or private liturgy.

You will find usus antiquior in Vatican documents of 2007-2021, in scholarly writing, and among priests and faithful who want a name that is both exact and calm.

Extraordinary Form

Extraordinary Form (forma extraordinaria) is the juridical name given by Summorum Pontificum in 2007. Its first article called the Missal of Paul VI the ordinary expression of the Church's lex orandi (law of prayer) and the Missal of St Pius V, as reissued by John XXIII, its extraordinary expression, and allowed priests to offer Mass according to the 1962 Missal "as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church." The reformed Mass became, by contrast, the Ordinary Form.

"Extraordinary" here means "outside the ordinary," the form that is not the usual one in a parish, not "remarkable." For fourteen years the phrase was the standard term in diocesan bulletins and Mass schedules, and many people still say "EF Mass" from habit. It lost its legal footing in 2021, when Traditionis custodes declared the books of Paul VI and John Paul II "the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite." Since then the Holy See has not spoken of two forms, and the name is used less.

Tridentine Mass

Tridentine comes from Tridentum, the Latin name of Trent, the city in northern Italy where the Council of Trent sat from 1545 to 1563. The Council asked the Pope to restore the Missal, and Pope St Pius V carried this out with the bull Quo primum of 14 July 1570, which imposed the corrected Roman Missal on the whole Latin Church, sparing only the rites that could show two hundred years of continuous use.

"Tridentine Mass" is the classic English name, the one used in histories and encyclopedias. Its one weakness is that it can suggest the Mass was invented at Trent. It was not: the Missal of 1570 was the Roman Missal as the Roman Curia had long used it, purged and printed in one authoritative edition. Its Canon was already old when St Gregory the Great reigned. That is why some also call it the Mass of St Pius V, after the pope who codified it rather than composed it.

Traditional Latin Mass

Traditional Latin Mass, often written TLM, is the name most English-speaking Catholics use today. It is plain and accurate, with one nuance: "Latin Mass" alone is ambiguous, because the reformed Mass of 1969 may also be celebrated in Latin. The word "Traditional" removes the doubt and points to the Missal of 1962. It is the term to use if you want to find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.

Mass of All Ages

Mass of All Ages (or "Mass of the Ages") is a devotional name, not a juridical one. It expresses what traditional Catholics love in the old rite: that its prayers have been said, substantially unchanged, by priests and saints over many centuries, so that one Low Mass joins the worshipper to the whole history of the Church. It is found in sermons, books and films about the traditional Mass, not in Church documents.

Gregorian rite

Gregorian rite is an informal name, heard now and then, that honours Pope St Gregory the Great (590-604). Tradition holds that he gave the Roman Canon its final arrangement and was the last pope to touch it in any notable way before St Joseph's name was inserted in 1962. The name stresses how ancient the core of the rite is. It is not an official title.

Do not confuse it with Gregorian Masses: that phrase names something else entirely, the pious custom of having thirty Masses offered on thirty consecutive days for one soul in Purgatory, a practice that goes back to an account St Gregory gives in his Dialogues (Book IV).

The Missal of 1962

Finally, many simply say the 1962 Missal or "the Mass of 1962." Popes after St Pius V revised the rubrics and calendar while leaving the Ordinary and Canon in place: Clement VIII in 1604, Urban VIII in 1634, St Pius X (whose reform gave the typical edition of 1920), and Pius XII, who restored Holy Week in 1955. John XXIII issued a new Code of Rubrics with the motu proprio Rubricarum instructum of 25 July 1960, and the typical edition of the Missale Romanum that incorporates it was published by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 23 June 1962. Its history and contents are set out in The Roman Missal.

This is the edition that every permission since 1984 has named, which is why "1962" has become a name in itself. Some call it, rarely, the "Mass of John XXIII."

The names at a glance

Name	Language	Origin	Nuance
Vetus Ordo (Missae)	Latin	after 1969, in contrast with the Novus Ordo	"the old Order of Mass"
Usus Antiquior	Latin	Benedict XVI, 2007; Universae Ecclesiae, 2011	one rite, older use
Extraordinary Form	English, from Latin	Summorum Pontificum, 2007	juridical, 2007-2021
Tridentine Mass	English	Council of Trent; Quo primum, 1570	the classic historical name
Mass of St Pius V	English	the pope of Quo primum	names the codifier
Traditional Latin Mass	English	common usage	the most widely used today
Mass of All Ages	English	devotional usage	stresses antiquity
Gregorian rite	English	informal	after St Gregory and the Canon
1962 Missal	English	the edition in use	names the book

The law behind the names: key dates

The names follow the law, so it helps to know the dates.

• 14 July 1570. St Pius V, bull Quo primum: the restored Roman Missal is imposed on the Latin Church.
• 23 June 1962. Typical edition of the Missale Romanum, with the Code of Rubrics of 1960.
• 3 April 1969. Paul VI, apostolic constitution Missale Romanum: the new Order of Mass, in use from 30 November 1969.
• 3 October 1984. Letter Quattuor abhinc annos of the Congregation for Divine Worship: bishops may grant an indult for Mass according to the 1962 Missal.
• 2 July 1988. John Paul II, motu proprio Ecclesia Dei: bishops are asked to apply that indult widely and generously.
• 7 July 2007. Benedict XVI, motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in force from 14 September 2007: the 1962 Missal was never abrogated; any Latin-rite priest may use it; it is the "extraordinary form."
• 30 April 2011. Instruction Universae Ecclesiae, applying Summorum Pontificum and speaking of the Usus Antiquior.
• 16 July 2021. Francis, motu proprio Traditionis custodes: the use of the 1962 Missal is placed under the diocesan bishop, with certain permissions later reserved to the Holy See by the responses of December 2021 and the rescript of February 2023.

What this means for attending Mass today, including developments since 2025, is set out in our guide to the Traditional Latin Mass.

Vetus Ordo vs Novus Ordo

The two names point to two Orders of Mass. In the Vetus Ordo the priest faces the altar throughout, the Mass is in Latin, the Roman Canon is the only Eucharistic Prayer, the Offertory prayers speak openly of the "spotless host" offered for sins, and Mass ends with the Last Gospel. The Novus Ordo is usually celebrated in the vernacular and facing the people, offers several Eucharistic Prayers, replaced the old Offertory with new prayers, follows a three-year cycle of readings and a revised calendar. (Spanish searches put it the same way: novus ordo y vetus ordo.)

Point by point, with a full comparison table, the differences are set out in The Tridentine Mass vs the Novus Ordo.

The Vetus Ordo calendar

The Vetus Ordo has its own calendar: the 1962 calendar, with its Septuagesima season, its Ember and Rogation Days, its Octave of Pentecost and its feasts ranked in four classes. It is explained in the traditional Roman Catholic calendar, and you can see the feast of any day on our 1962 liturgical calendar or read today's Latin Mass readings.

Vetus Ordo Missae: app and PDF

There is no separate PDF to download. This page is plain text and prints as it stands, with the table and the dates, and the full Latin-English text of the Ordinary is set out in the order of the Mass in Latin, which prints the same way. For the Vetus Ordo Missae of every day, rather than a printed sheet, we suggest Join early access here.: the Ordinary and the day's Propers of the 1962 Missal in Latin and English, the traditional calendar, a daily reminder, and everything available offline. Its Latin Mass missal follows the Vetus Ordo throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Vetus Ordo?

Vetus Ordo is the traditional Roman rite of Mass, the Order of Mass of the Missal of St Pius V (1570) in its 1962 edition. The name means "old order" and is used in contrast with the Novus Ordo, the Order of Mass of Paul VI introduced in 1969.

How do you translate Vetus Ordo?

Vetus Ordo translates as "old order," and Vetus Ordo Missae as "the old Order of Mass." Novus Ordo Missae is "the new Order of Mass."

Is Usus Antiquior the same as the Tridentine Mass?

Yes. Usus Antiquior, Tridentine Mass, Vetus Ordo, Traditional Latin Mass and Extraordinary Form all name the same rite. Usus Antiquior simply stresses that it is the older use of the one Roman rite.

Does Vetus Ordo include the Mass of 1965?

No. Between the Council and 1969 the old Mass went through interim changes (more vernacular, a shortened beginning and end), but these transitional forms are not what the name means. Vetus Ordo, like every permission since 1984, refers to the Missal of 1962 as it stood before them.

Is a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin a Vetus Ordo Mass?

No. The language does not decide the rite. A Mass of the 1969 Missal said in Latin, even facing the altar, is still the Novus Ordo; the Vetus Ordo is defined by the 1962 Missal, with its own prayers, readings and calendar.

Why do people say "Novus Ordo" and "Vetus Ordo" in Latin?

Because the official books are in Latin: the Ordo Missae is the title of the Order of Mass in the Roman Missal, and Paul VI's reform was presented as a new Ordo. The Latin names became a convenient shorthand in every language.

Where can I attend a Vetus Ordo Mass?

The Vetus Ordo is offered, with the bishop's permission, in diocesan churches and chapels, by priestly institutes and in some monasteries. Our directory of Latin Masses lists them by country and city.

The Iter Fidei app carries the Vetus Ordo Mass of every day according to the 1962 Missal, in Latin and English, with the traditional calendar and the Divine Office. Join early access here.

Sources. St Pius V, bull Quo primum (1570); John XXIII, motu proprio Rubricarum instructum (1960); Missale Romanum, editio typica 1962; Paul VI, apostolic constitution Missale Romanum (1969) and general audiences of 19 and 26 November 1969; Congregation for Divine Worship, letter Quattuor abhinc annos (1984); John Paul II, motu proprio Ecclesia Dei (1988); Benedict XVI, motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and letter to the bishops (2007); Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, instruction Universae Ecclesiae (2011); Francis, motu proprio Traditionis custodes (2021); St Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book IV.