This morning, participants in the Clergy Conference attended Mass celebrated by the Holy Father for the feast of the Epiphany. A number of things stood out in comparison to the past papal Mass that I attended. There were no concelebrants (though there were two Cardinal Deacons and two other Deacons); there were the seven acolytes that others have noticed. A bell was rung at the usual times during the Mass; something that has been recently reintroduced. All of the music was, of course, liturgical music: either plainsong or polyphony. There was also very little of the clapping and shouting that used to characterise papal Masses (just a modest amount at the entrance and the recessional.) the atmosphere throughout the Mass was reverent, including some extended periods of silent prayer. In our section everyone knelt down for the consecration: again something that I do not remember from previous Masses. Pope Benedict has certainly made a significant mark on the celebration of the papal Mass.fonte:the hermeneutic of continuity