a clandestine mass for desperado times in diaspora

when singing God's magnificent polyphony
in hostile liturgical territories

it is not a recipe for long life as a Catholic to compose extensive, elaborate masses as Palestrina did in Rome

the longer the eucharist mass lasts
the higher the probability

to be detected, detained
and burnt at the stake by the Anglican Church

consequently, William Byrd composed it as a haiku: succinct dense and full of scrumptious, dovetailed movements