In 1570 when Pius V laid down a clear set of rubrics they set out two forms of Mass, Low and Solemn. The Low Mass codified what was needed for a single priest saying Mass alone or with one assistant, theoretically an acolyte but in normal practice a boy possibly intending to become a cleric. Most priests for the previous 600 years or more had said such a Mass daily, often in a chantry or otherwise offering Mass for a departed soul and receiving a stipend, but sometimes simply as a matter of personal devotion. Burchard/Burkhardt the Papal Master of Ceremonies had codified an Ordo Missae and Ritus Servandus for the form to be used in the Roman Curia. Since this was essentially a private Mass said in a public place in which several others might be engaged in the same activity (for example at a side altar in a basilica) the rubrics set out conduct and tones of voice so that they did not disturb each other.
With a few adjustments to the rubrics this was still the form of Mass most familiar in the UK and Ireland when I was a teenager in the 1950s. Even when it was used in English speaking countries for the majority of Sunday Masses it remained in the form of a private Mass. This was the Mass which impressed Waugh, and sustained most pious souls. And of course it left members of the congregation free to engage intellectually (participate) or not.
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