Meanings
- uncountableCatholicismThe version of the Roman Rite of the Mass established in 1969, the Mass of Paul VI, usually celebrated in a vernacular language.
A Catholic may consider the Novus Ordo banal, but he may not proclaim that the new rite is invalid.
2004, Michael Daniel, “What Constitutes a Valid Consecration?”, in CatholicCulture.org2 more examples
[…] the material in the interview indicated to me that he’s celebrating a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin.
2006, The Catholic World Report, volume 16I’ve heard many make the case that the Novus Ordo actually more closely resembles the Mass of the first 1000 years of Church history than the recent practice of the Tridentine (Latin) Masses. Surely Jesus didn’t speak Latin at the Last Supper. But many others point out that what has become of the Novus Ordo Mass was not what was originally intended either.
2019, Matthew Warner, “Which is Better: Latin Mass or Novus Ordo?”, in National Catholic RegisterSynonyms: Bogus Ordo, NO, OF, Ordinary Form
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe version of the Roman Rite of the Mass established in 1969, the Mass of Paul VI, usually celebrated in a vernacular language.
Origin
- Ecclesiastical LatinNovus Ōrdō Missae“New Order of the Mass”
- EnglishNovus Ordo
Ellipsis of Ecclesiastical Latin Novus Ōrdō Missae (“New Order of the Mass”).
More words from Ecclesiastical Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Novus Ordo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Novus%20Ordo
“Novus Ordo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Novus%20Ordo. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Novus Ordo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Novus%20Ordo.
Source: Novus Ordo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.