XXII:5, Novello 3,[1] was originally written in 1766, after Haydn was promoted to Kapellmeister at Eszterháza following the death of Gregor Joseph Werner.

[2] The original title as it appears on the only surviving fragment of Haydn's autograph score, that has been discovered around 1970 in Budapest,[3] clearly assigns the mass to the pilgrimage cult of Mariazell, Styria.

Until that discovery, the work was known as Missa Sanctae Caeciliae, or in German Cäcilienmesse, a title probably attributed to the mass in the 19th century.

It is believed that the original manuscript was lost in the Eisenstadt fire of 1768, and that when Haydn rewrote the piece from memory, he may also have expanded it.

[6] The mass is scored for vocal soloists, SATB choir, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets in C, timpani, strings and organ,[7] the latter supplying figured bass for most of the duration.