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of our Lord Jesus Christ AND HOLY COMMUNION  COMMONWEALTH CAMBRIDGE, MASS. |
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of our Lord Jesus Christ AND HOLY COMMUNION COMMONWEALTH CAMBRIDGE, MASS. |
THE ANÁMNESIS OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE GATHERING OF THE OFFERTORY AT THE entrance of the church building each Communicant as he enters deposits his money offering in a place there prepared. He receives in return a wafer of bread; and before taking his place within the congregation, he leaves this wafer in an Offertory receptacle conveniently placed at the rear of the church interior.
PREPARATORY DEVOTION When the Priest, having vested, approaches the Altar, he makes the due reverence, and signs himself with the sign of the cross from forehead to breast, and says in a loud voice:
IN THE name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Then with hands joined before his breast he begins the Antiphon:
I will go unto the altar of God.
The Ministers and people respond:
Even unto the God of my joy and gladness.
Then alternately with the Ministers and people he says the following:
Ps. 43 GIVE sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people: O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.
Ministers and people: For thou art the God of my strength, why hast thou put me from thee: and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?
[2] Priest: O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me: and briny me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling.
Ministers and people: And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness: and upon the harp will I give thanks unto thee, O God, my God.
Priest: Why art thou so heavy, O my soul: and why art thou so disquieted within me?
Ministers and people: O put thy trust in God: for I will yet give him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Priest: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Ministers and people: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
In Masses of the Dead, and in Masses of the Season from Passion Sunday to Holy Saturday, exclusive, Glory be to the Father is omitted.
The Priest repeats the Antiphon:
I will go unto the altar of God.
R. Even unto the God of my joy and gladness.
He signs himself, saying:
V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who hath made heaven and earth.
Bowing he proceeds:
V. Wilt thou not turn again, and quicken us, O God?
R. That thy people may rejoice in thee.
V. O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us.
R. And grant us thy salvation.
V. O Lord, hear our prayer.
R. And let our cry came unto thee.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
And extending and joining his hands, he says in a loud voice:
Let us pray, and ascending to the Altar, says:
ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse our thoughts and our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that with reasonable and single minds we may enter thy Holy of Holies: Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Then, with hands joined upon the Altar, he says, bowing:
WE PRAY thee, O Lord, that following our heroic forbears in the Faith (He kisses the Altar in the middle), (especially those whose relics we here venerate), we may be made worthy heirs and fellow citizens in the Kingdom of thy Son. R. Amen.
At a solemn Mass, the Celebrant, before he reads the Introit blesses incense, saying: Be thou bles + sed by him in whose honour thou shalt be burnt, Amen. And receiving the thurible from the Deacon, he censes the Altar, saying nothing. Then the Deacon takes the thurible from the Celebrant, and censes him only. Then the Celebrant, signing himself with the sign of the cross, begins the Introit: which finished, with joined hands he says alternately with the Ministers and people:
Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison. Christe, eleison. Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.Then at the middle of the Altar he extends and joins his hands, and bowing his head a little, begins the Gloria, if it is to be said, and with hands joined continues it together with the Ministers and people. And when they say We worship thee, we give thanks to thee, Jesu Christ, and Receive our prayer, they bow their heads; and at the end, saying With the Holy Ghost, all sign themselves from forehead to breast.
Priest: Glory be to God on high.
Priest, Ministers and people: And in earth peace towards men of good will. We praise thee. We bless thee. We worship thee. We glorify thee. We give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesu Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. That takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou only art Holy. Thou only art the Lord. Thou only, O Jesu Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most High in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Then the Priest kisses the Altar in the midst, and turning to the people, says: V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Then he says: Let us pray, and the Collects, one or more, as the order of the Office demands. Then follow the Lesson, Gradual, Tract, or Alleluia, with the Verse, or Sequence, as the Season or quality of the Mass requires.
When these are finished, if it be a solemn Mass, the Deacon [4/5] places the book of the Gospels on the Altar in the middle, and the Celebrant blesses incense as above: then the Deacon, kneeling before the Altar, says with joined hands:
CLEANSE my heart and my lips, almighty God, who didst cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaiah with a live coal: so of thy gracious mercy vouchsafe to cleanse me, that I may worthily proclaim thy holy Gospel. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Then he receives the book from the Altar, and again kneeling asks a blessing from the Priest, saying: Bid, sir, a blessing.
The Priest answers:
THE Lord be in thy heart and on thy lips: that thou mayest worthily and fitly proclaim his Gospel: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
And having received the blessing, he kisses the hand of the Celebrant: and going with the other Ministers, the incense and the lights, to the place of the Gospel, he stands with joined hands and says: V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. And announcing: A portion of the Holy Gospel according to N., he signs the book with the thumb of his right hand at the beginning of the Gospel which is to be read, then himself on the forehead, the mouth, and the breast: and while the Ministers and people respond, Glory be to thee, O Lord, he censes the book thrice, then he reads the Gospel with joined hands. Which being finished, the Subdeacon carries the book to the Priest, who kisses the Gospel saying: Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out.
Then the Priest is censed by the Deacon.
If, however, the Priest celebrates without Deacon and Sub-deacon, when the book has been carried to the other corner of the Altar, he bows in the midst, and with joined hands says: Cleanse my heart, as above, and Bid, Lord, a blessing. The Lord be in my heart and on my lips: that I may worthily and fitly proclaim his Gospel. Amen.
Then turning to the book, he says with joined hands: V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit.
And announcing: A portion of the Holy Gospel according to [5/6] N. he signs the book, and himself on the forehead, mouth, and breast, and reads the Gospel, as said before. At the end of which the Ministers and people respond: Praise be to thee, O Christ, and the Priest kisses the Gospel, saying: Through the words, as above.
In Masses of the Dead, Cleanse my heart is said, but a blessing is not asked, neither are lights carried, and the Celebrant does not kiss the book.
If there be a homily or sermon, it shall follow here.
Then at the middle of the Altar, extending, raising and joining his hands, the Priest begins the Creed, if it is to be said, and continues it together with the Ministers and people. And when the Priest says God he bows his head to the Cross: which all do likewise when they say Jesus Christ, and together is worshipped. But at the words And was incarnate all genuflect until And was made man has been said. At the end at the words The life of the world to come all sign themselves with the sign of the cross from forehead to breast.
Priest: We believe in one God.
Priest, Ministers and people: The Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Begotten of his Father before all worlds. God from God, light from light, very God from very God. Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father: through whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven. (Here genuflect) And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: And was made man. And was crucified also for us: under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven: and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and the giver of life: who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified: who spake by the Prophets. And we believe one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the world to come. Amen.
[7] Then the Priest kisses the Altar, and turning to the people says: V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Then he says: In the presence of the whole Church, let us confess our sing unto almighty God.
Then the Priest, turning to the Altar, (the Ministers, if it be a solemn Mass, standing on either side), with hands joined, and bowing slightly, in an audible voice, makes his Confession:
I CONFESS to God almighty, to the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to the whole Company of Heaven, to all the Church, and especially to you my brothers here present, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, (He strikes his breast thrice, saying:) by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault: I confess that I have wounded the Body of the Son of God on earth and that these his offerings of bread and wine are marred through my neglect and my wrongdoings.
THEREFORE I beg the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, blessed Michael the Archangel, the whole Company of Heaven, all the Church, and especially you my brothers here present, to pray for me to the Lord our God: that through the atoning action of his Son, he may forgive my sins, and so perfect these offerings, making them worthy of his Holy Sacrifice.
Then the Priest says:
LORD I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only and I shall be healed.
The Ministers and people respond:
ALMIGHTY GOD have mercy upon thee, forgive thee thy sins, and bring thee to everlasting life.
Priest: Amen.
He then stands erect and the Ministers, with hands joined and bowing slightly, together with the people, kneeling, make their Confessions:
WE CONFESS to God almighty, to the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to the whole Company of Heaven, to all the Church, and to thee. Father, that we have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, (They strike their breasts thrice, saying:) by our fault, by our own fault, by our own most [7/8] grievous fault: We confess that we have wounded the Body of the Son of God on earth and that these his offerings of bread and wine are marred through our neglect and our wrong-doings.
THEREFORE we beg the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, blessed Michael the Archangel, the whole Company of Heaven, all the Church, and thee. Father, to pray for us to the Lord our God: that through the atoning action of his Son, he may forgive our sins, and so perfect these offerings, making them worthy of his Holy Sacrifice.
Then is said:
LORD, we are not worthy that thou shouldest come under our roof, but speak the word only and we shall be healed.
The Priest, with joined hands and without turning from the Altar, begins the Absolution, saying:
ALMIGHTY GOD have mercy upon you, forgive you your sins, and bring you to everlasting life. R. Amen.
Then, turning to the people, he continues:
THE ALMIGHTY and merciful Lord grant unto you pardon, absolution + and remission of your sins. R. Amen.
Then turning to the Altar, he says the Offertory.
The Oblations of bread are now brought to the Altar by a duly appointed representative of the Congregation from the place where they have been deposited by the people. If it be a solemn Mass, the Bearer of the Offertory is preceded by a Cross, lights and incense. He is not vested, but comes forth from the Congregation in ordinary attire. During the Offertory procession a hymn may be sung.
The Priest receives the people's Offertory by the hands of a Server (by the hands of the Deacon, if it be a solemn Mass), standing facing the people in the midst of the Altar. He then turns to the Altar and offers the people's breads, together with his own, upon the Paten, the people's Oblations being placed, if convenient, in a Pyx, while all say together:
RECEIVE, O Holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, this bread of our lives, now made spotless by thy Son's atoning power, and [8/9] which we offer unto thee, our living and true God; and may this offering here be lifted up to thine eternal Kingdom within the resurrection and ascension of the same thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Then, making a cross with the Paten itself, the Priest places the Oblations of bread upon the Corporal. The Deacon ministers the wine, the Subdeacon the water, in the Chalice; or if it be a low Mass, the Priest pours both, and blesses with the sign of the cross the water to be mixed in the Chalice, saying nothing.
Then the Priest offers the Chalice, the Ministers and people together with him, saying:
WE OFFER unto thee, O Lord, this wine of our lives, humbly beseeching thy mercy: that thou make this offering to have its portion in the eternal humanity of thine Incarnate Son at thy right hand in glory. Amen.
Then he makes the sign of the cross with the Chalice, and places it upon the Corporal, and covers it with the Pall. Then the Priest, standing erect, extends his hands, raises than and joins them, and lifting his eyes to heaven and straightway lowering them, says in an audible voice:
SEND DOWN, almighty God, thy Holy and Enabling Spirit: He blesses the Oblations, To bl + ess both us thy people and our lives within this sacrifice: He extends his hands. And as by his power thou didst open the way for the creation of the world, for the Incarnation of the Word, and for the New Creation of thy Church; so open here the eternal way of the crucial death and mighty resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that this thy Son, our Saviour, may move our present gifts and creatures of bread and wine into the glory of his ascended Body and Blood. He joins his hands, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God world without end. R. Amen.
Then, if it be a solemn Mass, the Priest blesses incense, saying:
THROUGH the intercession of blessed Michael the Archangel, standing at the right hand of the altar of incense, may the Lord vouchsafe to bl + ess this incense, and to receive it for a sweet-smelling savour. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
[10] And receiving the thurible from the Deacon, he censes the Oblations, in the manner prescribed in the general Rubrics, saying:
MAY this incense, which thou hast blessed ascend unto thee, O Lord: and let thy mercy descend upon us.
Then he censes the Altar, saying:
LET my prayer, O Lord, be set forth in thy sight as the incense. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips: O let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing, let me not be occupied in ungodly works.
While he returns the thurible to the Deacon, he says:
THE Lord kindle in us the fire of his love, and the never-failing flame of charity. Amen.
Then the Priest is censed by the Deacon, and afterwards the others in order. Meanwhile the Priest washes his hands, saying in a low voice:
Ps. 26 I WILL wash my hands in innocency, O Lord: and so will I go to thine altar:
That I may shew the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
O shut not up my soul with the sinners, nor my life with the blood-thirsty:
In whose hands is wickedness: and their right hand is full of gifts.
But as for me, I will walk innocently: O deliver me, and be merciful unto me.
My foot standeth right: I will praise the Lord in the congregations.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
In Masses of the Dead, and during Passion Tide in Masses of the Season, Glory be to the Father is omitted.
[11] Then bowing slightly in the middle of the Altar, with hands joined upon it, he says, together with all the people:
O GOD, who didst wonderfully create, and yet more wonderfully renew the dignity of human nature; grant that in and through this sacrifice we may be made partakers of his divinity, who emptied himself to share our humanity, Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord: who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God: world without end. Amen.
Then the Priest kisses the Altar, and turning to the people, he extends and joins his hands, and says:
PRAY brethren, that this our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the Father almighty.
The Ministers and people respond:
THE LORD receive our sacrifice at thy hands, to the praise and glory of his name, and both to our benefit and to that of all his holy Church.
The Priest says audibly:
Amen.
Then with hands extended, immediately without Let us pray, he adds the Secret Prayers, which ended, when he comes to the conclusion, he says in a loud voice: Throughout all ages, world without end. R. Amen.
THE CANON OF THE MASS The Priest begins the Canon with both hands placed apart on the Altar: and he raises them a little, when he says Lift up your hearts. He joins them before his breast and bows his head when he says Let us give thanks. Then he separates his hands, and holds them separated till the end of the Preface: which being finished, he again joins them and says, bowing his head, Holy, Holy, Holy.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God.
And here shall follow the Proper Preface, if there be any specially appointed; or else immediately this conclusion:
Through Christ our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers fear thy majesty. The Heavens and the heavenly Virtues and the blessed Seraphim together sing thy praise with exultation. With whom, we beseech thee, bid that our voices also be admitted, with suppliant thanksgiving saying:
And the Ministers and people, together with the Priest, shall say:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Then the Priest, extending, slightly raising, and joining his hands, raising his eyes to heaven, and at once lowering them, bowing profoundly before the Altar, with hands placed upon it, says:
[13] THEREFORE most merciful Father, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, in this our Eucharist and praise, we humbly pray and beseech thee, He kisses the Altar and with hands joined before his breast, says: that thou accept and bless He signs thrice over the bread and Chalice together, saying: These + gifts, these + offerings, these + holy and unspotted sacrifices, With extended hands he proceeds: which, first, we offer unto thee for thy holy catholic Church: that thou vouchsafe to keep it in peace, to guard, unite, and govern it throughout the whole world: together with thy servant our Chief Bishop N, our Bishop N, and all the orthodox, and those who profess the catholic and apostolic faith.
Commemoration for the Living.
REMEMBER, O Lord, thy servants and handmaids, N. and N. He joins his hands and prays awhile for those for whom he intends to pray: then with extended hands proceeds: and all here gathered round, whose faith and devotion unto thee are known and manifest: who offer unto thee this sacrifice of praise, for themselves, and for all their brethren: for the hope of their well-being and salvation: and who therefore render their devoted offerings to thee, the eternal, living, and true God.
Here follows the proper variant of the Canon, if there be any specially appointed.* Otherwise:
JOINING in communion, and reverencing the memory, chiefly, of the glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our God and Lord Jesus Christ:
* On the Nativity of the Lord, and through the Octave is said:
Joining in communion, and celebrating the most sacred day (most sacred night), whereon blessed Mary brought forth the Saviour to this world: and reverencing moreover the memory, chiefly, of the some glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ:
* On the Epiphany of the Lord and through the Octave is said:
[15] Joining in communion, and celebrating the most sacred, day whereon thine only-begotten Son, co-eternal with thee in thy glory, visibly appeared in the body in the true substance of our flesh: and reverencing moreover the memory, chiefly, of the glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ:
* From Holy Saturday to the following Saturday is said:
Joining in communion, and celebrating the most sacred day (night) of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh: and reverencing moreover the memory, chiefly, of the glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ:
* On the Ascension of the Lord and through the Octave is said:
Joining in communion, and celebrating the most sacred day whereon our Lord, thine only-begotten Son, set at the right hand of thy glory the substance of our frailty united to himself: and reverencing moreover the memory, chiefly, of the glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ:
* From the Vigil of Pentecost to the following Saturday inclusive is said:
Joining in communion, and celebrating the most sacred day of Pentecost, whereon the Holy Ghost appeared to the Apostles in tongues innumerable: and reverencing moreover the memory, chiefly, of the glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our God and Lord Jesus Christ:
as also of the holy Patriarchs and Prophets of Israel, of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs of our fulfilling Faith, and of all the Saints: by whose prayers grant that in all the work which thou hast given us to do in earth, we may ever be defended by the help of thy protection. He joins his hands, Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.
[15] ¶ Holding his hands spread over the Oblations, he says;
THIS oblation, therefore, of our bounden duty and service, as also of thy whole family, we beseech thee, O Lord, graciously to accept; and order all our days in thy peace, deliver us from eternal dereliction and keep us in the flock of those who do thy will. He joins his hands. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
UPON which oblation vouchsafe to look with favourable and gracious countenance: and to receive it even as thou didst vouchsafe to receive the gifts of thy Chosen People within the covenant of our Patriarch Abraham: the sacrifices of thine ancient Priesthood Israel. And do thou, O God, we beseech thee, vouchsafe to render it in every way He signs thrice over the Oblations, bles + sed, appro + ved, rati + fied, reasonable, and acceptable: He signs once over the bread, that unto us it may in turn become the Bo + dy and once over the Chalice, and Blo + od of thy most dearly beloved Son, He joins his hands, our Lord Jesus Christ.
¶ From Holy Saturday until Saturday in Easter Week inclusive, and from the Vigil of Pentecost until the following Saturday inclusive, is said:
This oblation, therefore, of our bounden duty and service, as also of thy whole family, which we offer unto thee on behalf of these also, whom thou hast vouchsafed to regenerate by water and the Holy Ghost, granting unto them remission of all their sins, we beseech thee, O Lord, graciously to accept: and do thou order all our days in thy peace, deliver us from eternal dereliction, and keep us in the flock of those who do thy will. He joins his hands. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Upon which oblation etc.
[16] WHO the day before he suffered. He takes the Host, took bread into his holy and venerable hands. He lifts up his eyes to heaven, and lifting up his eyes to heaven unto thee, O God, his almighty Father, He bows his head. Giving thanks to thee. He signs over the Host, he bles+ sed, brake and gave to his disciples, saying: Take and eat all ye of this.
Holding the Host with both hands between the thumbs and forefingers, he utters the words of consecration secretly, distinctly, and attentively over the Host, and at the same time over all, if more are to be consecrated.
FOR THIS IS MY BODY Having uttered these words, he immediately genuflects and adores the consecrated Host: rises, shews it to the people, replaces it upon the Corporal, and again genuflects and adores: and does not disjoin his forefingers and thumbs henceforth, except when the Host is to be handled, till after the ablution of his fingers. Then, having uncovered the Chalice, he says:
LIKEWISE after supper. He takes the Chalice in both hands, taking also this excellent Chalice into his holy and venerable hands: and He bows his head, giving thanks to thee. Holding the Chalice in his left hand, he signs over it with his right, he bles + sed, and gave to his disciples, saying: Take and drink all ye of it.
He utters the words of consecration over the Chalice, attentively, continuously and secretly, holding it slightly raised
FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT: THE MYSTERY OF FAITH: WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS.
Having uttered these words, he sets down the Chalice upon the Corporal, saying secretly.
As oft as ye do these things, ye shall do them as Anámnesis of me.
He genuflects and adores: rises, shews it to the people, sets it down, covers it, and genuflecting again adores. Then with hands extended he says:
WHEREFORE, O Lord and heavenly Father, we also thy servants, [16/17] joined together as an holy people, a royal priesthood, according to the institution of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, making Anámnesis of his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, do offer unto thy divine majesty of thine own gifts and bounty, He joins his hands and signs thrice over the Host and Chalice together, saying: a pure + host, a holy + host, a spotless + host. He signs once over the Bread, saying: the holy Bread of eternal life, and once over the Chalice, saying: and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
Bowing profoundly, he says with hands joined and placed upon the Altar:
AND WE humbly beseech thee, almighty God; command that these gifts now be brought by the hands of thine own Angel of mighty counsel, the High Priest of our profession, to thine altar on high: that, as many of us He kisses the Altar, as by this partaking of the altar shall receive the most sacred He joins his hands, and signs once over the Host, and once over the Chalice, Bo + dy and Blo + od of thy Son, He signs himself, saying: may be fulfilled with all heavenly benediction and grace. He joins his hands. Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Commemoration for the Departed. REMEMBER also, O Lord, thy servants and handmaids N. and N., who have gone before us with the sign of faith.
He joins his hands, and prays awhile for those departed for whom he intends to pray, then with extended hands proceeds:
To them, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, we beseech thee to grant thy mercy, light and peace, both now and at the day of resurrection. He joins his hands and bows his head, saying: Through the same Christ, our Lord. Amen.
He strikes his breast with his right hand, saying in a slightly louder voice:
AND TO us also, thy suppliant servants, With hands extended as before, he proceeds secretly: trusting in the multitude of thy mercies, vouchsafe to grant some part and fellowship with thy holy Apostles and Martyrs, (if it be a Feast-day of any Saint or Saints, here shall be added: together with blessed N., or NN., thy Martyr(s), or Confessor, etc., according to the designation of the Saint), and with all thy Saints: within whose company we [17/18] beseech thee to admit us, weighing but the merits of thine only Son, and pardoning our offenses. He joins his hands. Through the same Christ, our Lord:
THROUGH whom, O Lord, all these good things thou dost ever create. He signs thrice over the Host and Chalice together saying: dost sanc + tify, quick + en, ble + ss, and bestow them upon us.
He uncovers the Chalice, genuflects, and takes the Host between the thumb and first finger of his right hand: and holding the Chalice with his left, he signs with the Host thrice from lip to lip of the Chalice, saying:
Through + whom, and with + whom, and in + whom, He signs twice with the Host itself between himself and the Chalice, saying: are unto thee, O God the Father + Almighty, in the unity of the Holy + Ghost, Elevating the Chalice a little with the Host, he says: all honour, and glory.
He replaces the Host, covers the Chalice with the Pall, genuflects, rises and says in an audible voice or sings:
Throughout all ages, world without end. R. Amen.
He joins his hands and, without Let us pray, says:
Commanded by saving precepts, and taught by divine institution, we are bold to say: Our Father.
And together with the Priest, the Ministers and people continue the Lord's Prayer:
Who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, In earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
Then the Priest takes the Paten between the fore and middle fingers of his right hand, and holding it upright upon the Altar, continues in an audible voice:
DELIVER us, we beseech thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present, and to come: and at the intercession of all the Saints, He signs himself with the Paten from forehead to breast, favourably grant peace in our days: He kisses the Paten, that by the [18/19] help of thine availing mercy we may ever both be free from sin and safe from all disquietude.
He puts the Paten under the Host, uncovers the Chalice, genuflects, rises, takes the Host, and holding it with both hands over the Chalice, breaks it in the middle, saying:
Through the sane Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord.
He places the half which he holds in his right hand on the Paten. Then from the part which remains in his left hand, he breaks a particle, saying:
Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God.
He joins the other half, which he holds in his left hand, to the half laid upon the Paten, and retaining the small particle in his right hand over the Chalice, which he holds in his left by the knob below the cup, he says in an audible voice, or sings:
Throughout all ages, world without end. R. Amen.
With the particle itself he signs thrice over the Chalice, saying:
The peace + of the Lord be + alway with + you. R. And with thy spirit.
He puts the particle into the Chalice, saying:
MAY THIS commixture and consecration of the Body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be to us who receive it, the means of his redeeming work. R. Amen.
He covers the Chalice, genuflects, rises, and bowing to the Sacrament, joins his hands, and beating his breast thrice, says in an audible voice:
O LAMB of God, that takest away the sins of the world: have mercy upon us.
O LAMB of God, that takest away the sins of the world: have mercy upon us.
O LAMB of God, that takest away the sins of the world: grant us peace.
[20] In Masses of the Dead have mercy upon us is not said, but in its place grant them rest, and the third time is added eternal.
Then bowing, with hands joined upon the Altar, he says, in an audible voice, the following Prayers:
O LORD Jesu Christ, who saidst to thine jostles: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; and didst pray to God the Father that all thy members should be one in thee: by this Holy Communion of thy Body and Blood, create anew among us in thy Church, true peace and unity according to thy will: who livest and reignest God, world without end. R. Amen.
If the pax is to be given, the Priest kisses the Altar, and giving the pax, says:
Peace be with thee. R. And with thy spirit.
In Masses of the Dead the pax is not given, nor is the preceding Prayer said:
O LORD Jesu Christ, who through this sacrifice hast graciously received the bread and wine of our humanity here offered, into thine Incarnate Life, risen and glorified: return now, we beseech thee, thyself to us within this Holy Communion of thy Body and Blood; and with thyself, entrust into our hands our own lives again, here consecrated, and made one with thee: Who with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest, God, world without end. R. Amen.
LET the partaking of thy Body and Blood, O Lord Jesu Christ, to which, by the enabling action of the Holy Ghost, we now draw near, fill us with that power which belongs alone to thee; that going forth in the eternal virtue of these Holy Gifts, to garner more of human life within the blessed order of thy Kingdom here in earth, we may return a richer and a more perfected offering when next we bring our bread and wine to thine Anámnesis: Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
The Priest genuflects, rises, and says secretly:
I WILL receive the bread of heaven, and call upon the name of the Lord. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
[21] Then, taking both parts of the Host between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, he signs himself with the Host over the Paten and says:
THE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And bowing himself, he reverently takes both parts of the Host: which having been consumed, he puts the Paten down upon the Corporal, and raising himself, joins his hands, and is still for a little space in meditation on the Most Holy Sacrament. Then he uncovers the Chalice and genuflects, saying meanwhile:
WHAT reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me? I will receive the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will call upon the Lord which is worthy to be praised, so shall I be safe from mine enemies.
He takes the Chalice in his right hand and signing himself with it, says:
THE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holding the Paten under the Chalice with his left hand, he reverently receives the Blood with the particle.
While the Celebrant is receiving Holy Communion the other Communicants kneel at the Altar. Then the Priest takes the Paten or Pyx with the people's Hosts in his left hand; and taking a particle with his thumb and forefinger, holds it slightly raised. He then turns himself towards the people in the midst of the Altar and says in a clear voice:
BEHOLD the Lamb of God, behold him that taketh away the sins of the world.
The Communicants, signing themselves, respond:
BLESSED is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
The Priest proceeds to communicate the Ministers and people, beginning at the Epistle side of the Altar.
The Priest in delivering the Sacrament of Christ's Body to anyone, makes the sign of the cross with the raised particle and says:
[22] THE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Minister in delivering the Sacrament of Christ's Blood to anyone says
THE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
After all have received Holy Communion, the Priest returns to the Altar and says secretly:
GRANT, O Lord, that what we have taken with our mouths we may receive with singleness of mind and heart: and in this temporal gift may we partake of thine eternal power.
Meanwhile he collects the fragments of the consecrated Bread, if there be any, and cleanses the Paten over the Chalice. He then presents the Chalice to the Minister, who pours into it a little wine, wherewith he purifies it; then he continues:
LET thy Body, O Lord, which we have taken, and thy Blood which we have drunk, cleave to our members: and grant; that no stain of sin may again find place in us, whom thou hast refreshed with this pure and holy sacrament: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
He washes and wipes his fingers, and takes the ablution: he wipes his mouth and the Chalice, which, having folded the Corporal, he covers and places on the Altar as before.
Then he says the Communion Sentence, standing at the Epistle comer of the Altar; after which he returns to the midst of the Altar, and having kissed it, and turning to the people, says: V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Then he says: Let us pray. And the Postcommunion Collects, one or more, as the order of the Office demands. Then, having kissed the Altar in the midst, and turning to the people, he says:
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
V. Ite, Missa est.
V. Deo gratias.
In Masses of the Dead, instead of Ite, Missa est, he says:
V. Requiescant in pace.
R. Amen.
CONCLUDING DEVOTION The Mass being thus ended, the Priest bows himself before the midst of the Altar, and with hands joined thereon, in an audible voice, says:
LET this our bounden duty and service be pleasing unto thee, O Holy Trinity: and grant; that this sacrifice, which by thy grace we have here offered, may be acceptable to thee, and through thy mercy obtain thy gracious favour both for us and all for whom it has been made. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
He kisses the Altar, and proceeding to the Gospel corner, and without signing the Altar, the book, or himself, says with joined hands:
The beginning of the Holy Gospel according to John.
He proceeds with joined hands:
John i. 1-14 IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was not anything made that was made: in him was life, and the life was the light of men: and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. He genuflects, saying: And the Word was made flesh. And rising he proceeds: and dwelt among us: and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Gospel of Saint John being ended, he says for a thanksgiving as he goes from the Altar the Antiphon Let us sing, with the rest, as is set out at the beginning of the Missal.
PROPER PREFACES PREFACE OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD The following Preface is said: (1) in Masses of the Nativity of our Lord, of the Sunday in the Octave, although it is resumed after January 1, of a day within the Octave of the Nativity, and of the Vigil of the Epiphany, also in Masses of the Circumcision, of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, of the Transfiguration, and of the Purification B. V. M.; (2) also, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses which are celebrated during the Octave of the Nativity, including those which would otherwise have a proper Preface, provided that a commemoration is made of the Octave or of the Sunday in the Octave, and that the Mass itself or the Commemoration already made do not require another Preface of the Divine Mysteries or Persons; (3) also, according to the Rubrics in all Masses in which a commemoration is made of any of the aforesaid Mysteries of Christ or the Blessed Virgin Mary, provided again that the Mass itself or the Commemoration already made do not require another Preface; and it is said, according to the same rule, and apart from its own Commemoration, within the Common Octave of any of the aforesaid Mysteries of Christ and B. V. M, also from the 2nd to the 4th day of January, inclusive, provided in addition that if these be sung and conventual Masses, another Mass, conventual or sung, of the Season or its Octave or with Commemoration thereof, is not said, and that the Preface of the Octave or of the Season for those same three days of January is not permissible in one of the sung or conventual Masses.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee: O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
[28] BECAUSE, by the mystery of the Incarnate Word the new light of thy glory hath shone upon the eyes of our mind: that while vie visibly acknowledge God, we may through him be caught up to the love of things invisible. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Within the Canon. Joining in communion proper, as in the Canon.
But in the first Mass of the Nativity of the Lord is said: and celebrating the most sacred night, wherein, etc.; thereafter is always said: celebrating the most sacred day whereon, etc., until the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord inclusive, in all Masses which are celebrated of the Octave or of the Sunday within the Octave, or which have a Commemoration of either or both.
PREFACE OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD The following Preface is said: (1) in Masses of the Epiphany of the Lord and the Sunday within its Octave, and of its Octave day; (2) also, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses which are celebrated within the Octave of the Epiphany, if a Commemoration is made of the Octave or of the Sunday in the Octave, and if the Mass itself or the Commemoration already made do not demand another Preface.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
[29] BECAUSE that when thine only-begotten Son manifestly appeared in substance of our flesh, he restored us by the new light of his immortality.
AND therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Within the Canon. Joining in communion proper, as in the Canon. This is said throughout the Octave in all Masses of the Octave or of the Sunday in the Octave, or with a Commemoration of either or both.
PREFACE OF LENT The following Preface is said: (1) in all Masses of the Season of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Passion Sunday, inclusive; (2) it is also said, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses which are celebrated in that Season, not referring to any Mystery or Feast of the Lord, provided both that the Season be commemorated, and that the Mass itself or a Commemoration previously made does not require another preface.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
WHO by bodily fasting dost overcome faults, dost raise the mind, and dost bestow on us virtue and its rewards: through Christ, our Lord.
[30] THROUGH whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers fear thy Majesty. The Heavens and the heavenly Virtues, and the blessed Seraphim together sing thy praise with exultation. With whom, we beseech thee, bid that our voices also be admitted, with suppliant thanksgiving saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
PREFACE OF THE HOLY CROSS (1) The following Preface is said in all Masses of the Season, from Passion Sunday up to Maundy Thursday inclusive, and in Masses of the Holy Cross and of the Passion; (2) it is said also, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses in which a Commemoration is made of that season or of any aforesaid Mystery, provided that the Mass itself or the Commemoration already made do not demand another Preface; and it is said according to the same rule, and apart from its own Commemoration, during a common Octave of any of the aforesaid Mysteries, wherever celebrated, provided also that if the Mass be sung or conventual, another Mass either conventual or sung of the Octave, or with commemoration thereof, be not celebrated, and that the Preface of the Octave has not been said in one of the sung or conventual Masses.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift than up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
WHO by the tree of the Cross didst give salvation unto mankind: that whence death arose, thence life might rise again: and that he who by a tree overcame might also by a tree be overcome: through Christ, our Lord.
[31] THROUGH whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers fear thy Majesty. The Heavens and the heavenly Virtues, and the blessed Seraphim together sing thy praise with exultation. With whom, we beseech thee, bid that our voices also be admitted, with suppliant thanksgiving saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
PREFACE OF EASTER The following preface is said: (1) in all Masses of the Season from Holy Saturday to the Vigil of the Ascension inclusive, and in Masses of the greater and lesser Litanies; (2) it is also said, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses celebrated at that Season, unless the Mass itself or the Commemoration previously made requires another Preface.
In the Mass of Holy Saturday is said: chiefly on this night; on Easter Day and up to the Saturday following inclusive, chiefly on this day: otherwise, even in the Mass of the greater Litanies, which is celebrated within the Octave of Easter with a commemoration thereof, chiefly at this time.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should indeed at all times glorify thee, O Lord, but chiefly on this day (or chiefly at this time) when Christ our Passover is sacrificed, for he is the very Lamb which hath taken away the sins of the world. Who by his death hath destroyed death, and by his rising again hath restored to us life. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying.
Holy, Holy, Holy, lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
[32] Within the Canon. Joining in communion, and This Oblation, proper as in the Canon.
So it is said from Holy Saturday up to Saturday after Easter inclusive. But in the Mass of Holy Saturday Within the Canon is said and celebrating the most sacred night.
PREFACE OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD The following Preface is said: (1) in Masses of the Ascension, and of the Sunday within its Octave, and on the Friday after the Octave; (2) it is said also, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses which are celebrated during the Octave with a Commemoration of the Octave or of the Sunday in the Octave, unless the Mass itself or a commemoration previously made requires another Preface.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
THROUGH Christ, our Lord. Who after his Resurrection manifestly appeared to all his disciples, and in their sight ascended up into heaven, that he might make us partakers of his Godhead. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Within the Canon. Joining in communion, proper, as in the Canon.
[33] This is said throughout the Octave in all Masses of the Octave or of the Sunday in the Octave, or with a Commemoration of either or both.
PREFACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING The following Preface is said: (1) in all Masses of our Lord Jesus Christ the King; (2) also in all Masses in which Jesus Christ the King is commemorated, unless the Mass itself or a Commemoration already made demand another Preface.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
WHO didst anoint thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the oil of gladness, to be a Priest for ever and the King of all the world: that, offering himself an unspotted sacrifice of peace upon the altar of the cross, he might accomplish the sacrament of the redemption of mankind: and making all creatures subject to his governance, might deliver up to thine infinite Majesty an eternal and universal kingdom. A kingdom of truth and life: a kingdom of sanctity and grace: a kingdom of justice, love and peace.
AND therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
[34] PREFACE OF THE HOLY GHOST The following preface is said: (1) in Masses of the Season from the Vigil of Pentecost up to the following Saturday inclusive, and in Votive Masses of the Holy Ghost, but omitting this day; (2) it is said also, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses in which a Commemoration is made of the sane Holy Ghost, or of the octave of Pentecost, unless another Preface is required.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
THROUGH Christ, our Lord, who, ascending above all heavens and sitting at thy right hand, poured forth (this day) the promised Holy Ghost upon the sons of adoption. Wherefore with exceeding joy the whole round world exulteth. The heavenly Virtues also, and the Angelic Powers, together sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
PREFACE OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY The following Preface is said: (1) in Masses of the Most Holy Trinity, although celebrated within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord, of the Greater Sundays of Advent, of Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, and of the lesser Sundays, even if anticipated on Saturday, after the octave of Epiphany and Pentecost; excluding Masses of any of the fore-named Sundays resumed on a weekday, in which, if another proper Preface of the Mass or Office, even if commemorated, is wanting, the common Preface is used: and excluding likewise the Mass of [34/35] the 1st Sunday after Trinity, in which, if the Commemoration of the Octave of Corpus Christi is not to be omitted, the Preface of the Nativity of the Lord is used; (2) it is said also, according to the Rubrics, in Masses in which a Commemoration is made of the Most Holy Trinity, or of the above-mentioned Sundays occurring, or anticipated on Saturday, provided that the Mass itself or the Commemoration does not require another Preface: also in Masses which are celebrated within the Octave of the Most Holy Trinity in any place.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
WHO with thine only-begotten Son and the Holy Ghost art one God, one Lord; not one only person, but three persons in one substance. For that which by thy revelation we believe of thy glory, the same we understand of thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost without any difference of inequality. That in the confession of the true and everlasting Godhead distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
PREFACE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY The following Preface, outside of the Nativity of the Lord, if a Commemoration of the Octave itself or of the Sunday within the Octave is not to be omitted, and outside the Feast and Octave of the Purification B.V.M. celebrated anywhere, in which cases the Preface of the Nativity itself is used, also outside vigils of the same B.V.M, and outside Ferial Masses of Advent, [35/36] in which if a proper Preface of another Mass or Office, although it is commemorated, or of a camion Octave, or for Vigils, even of the Season, is wanting, the Gammon Preface is used: (1) is said in Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary; (2) it is also said, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses which are celebrated with a Commemoration of the B.V.M. herself, and which is not of any Feast or Mystery of the Lord, provided the Mass itself or a Commemoration already made do not demand another Preface: and it is said according to the same rule, and apart also from its own Commemoration, within a common Octave of the same B.V.M, provided in addition, that if sung and conventual Masses are concerned, another conventual or sung Mass of an Octave or with a Commemoration of it, be not celebrated, and that the Preface of the Octave has not been used in one of the sung or conventual Masses.
Moreover either the Annunciation, or the Visitation, or the Assumption, or the Nativity, or the Presentation is said, according to the title of the Feast. In Masses of the Immaculate Conception is said: the Immaculate Conception. In all other Feasts: the Festivity. In Votives in which a special Mystery is not to be expressed, and in the Mass of St. Mary on Saturdays: the Veneration.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
AND that in the * * * of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, we should praise, bless, and magnify thee. In that by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost she conceived thine only-begotten Son: and shed forth upon the world the light eternal, Jesus Christ our Lord.
[37] THROUGH whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers fear thy majesty. The Heavens and the heavenly Virtues and the blessed Seraphim together sing thy praise with exultation. With whom, we beseech thee, bid that our voices also be admitted, with suppliant thanksgiving saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
PREFACE OF THE APOSTLES The following Preface, outside the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord, in which, if a Commemoration of the same Octave or of the Sunday within the Octave is not to be omitted, the Preface of the Nativity itself is used, also outside Vigils of the Apostles or Evangelists, in which if the proper Preface of another Mass or Office even if commemorated, or of a common Octave or of the Season be wanting, the common Preface is used: (1) is said in Masses of the Apostles or Evangelists; (2) it is said also, according to the Rubrics, in all Masses which are celebrated with a Commemoration of the Apostles or Evangelists themselves, and which are not of any Feast or Mystery of the Lord, provided that the Mass itself, or a Commemoration already made, do not demand another Preface.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty: That we, O Lord, should humbly entreat thee, that thou, the everlasting Shepherd, wouldst not forsake thy flock: but through thy blessed Apostles keep it by thy continual protection. That it may be governed by those same rulers whom, in thy stead, thou hast appointed for thy work as shepherds of thy people.
AND therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
[38] Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
THE COMMON PREFACE The following Preface is said, according to the Rubrics. (1) in all Masses which have no proper Preface, and in which a proper Preface is not to be said of any Mass or Office which is commemorated or any common Octave or occurring season: (2) in Masses of the Dedication of a Church, and of any other Feast or Mystery of our Lord celebrated in any place, which has no proper Preface, in which the Preface of Lent is never used, nor of a Mass or Office commemorated or of an Octave, which are not of our Lord himself; (3) in Masses of the Ferias of Advent and of the Vigil of the Nativity occurring outside Sunday, in which a Commemoration of B.V.M. is made, and a proper Preface is wanting.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
THROUGH Christ, our Lord. Through whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers fear thy majesty. The Heavens and the heavenly Virtues and the blessed Seraphim together sing thy praise with exultation. With whom, we beseech thee, bid that our voices also be admitted, with suppliant thanksgiving, saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
PREFACE OF THE DEAD The following Preface is said in all Masses of the Dead.
THROUGHOUT all ages, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up unto the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
R. It is meet and right so to do.
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God:
THROUGH Christ, our Lord. In whom hath shone forth unto us the hope of a blessed resurrection: that they who bewail the certain condition of their mortality may be consoled by the promise of immortality to come. For to thy faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away: and at the dissolution of the tabernacle of this earthly sojourning, a dwelling-place eternal is made ready in the heavens.
AND therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of thy glory, evermore saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
This revision of the Western Liturgy follows in both structure and general content the old Latin Liturgy of the Anglican Church. However, the Liturgical Theology of the Christian Sacrifice as central to the life and work of the incarnational Community, is made considerably more explicit and exact than it is in the unmodified rite.
The aim of the Society of the Catholic Commonwealth in the development of its Liturgical expression has been primarily fourfold:
I. To set forth the Liturgies of the offertory. Consecration, and Holy Communion as separate stages in the entire Liturgical Action, each of them having its own peculiar work and [39/40] function. Care has been taken to eliminate the overlapping too often found in all our Western rites, whether Latin or English, so that expressions and implied attitudes proper to one stage will not appear out of their appropriate contexts and in some other stage. For example, Confession and acts of deprecation and repentance are confined to the Liturgy of the Offertory.
2. To set forth the Christian Anámnesis as a functional living movement in the Body of the Incarnate Lord. The corporate character of the Liturgy is therefore stressed, and formulations and phraseology catering to subjective or individualistic piety are minimized. In this connection the exaggerated emphasis upon the intercession of the Saints which had crept into the medieval rite has been greatly reduced; although the truths which inhere in the Creedal doctrine of the Communion of Saints are guarded.
3. To emphasize the Incarnational truth that the redemption of man as a spiritual being must wait equally upon his redemption as a necessarily material being.
4. To emphasize anew that Christianity is a religion of objective, material Sacrifice, completing and fulfilling the material sacrificial system of the Old Covenant of Israel. The Society of the Catholic Commonwealth believes that the almost total loss on the one hand, and perversion on the other, of an understanding of the concept of Christian Sacrifice is fundamentally responsible for the tragic fact that Christianity has ceased to have either a world-redeeming power, or even such an aim. Until our religion abjures its present idealistic and "inspirational" presentations, abandons its false next-worldliness, and returns to its ancient Catholic basis of Liturgical Sacrifice, it cannot hope to integrate the world of our approaching future history with itself.
The full theological theory which underlies this Liturgical revision is given in Discerning the Lord's Body, by F. Hastings Smyth, S.C.C, PH.D. (Louisville, 1946). The Liturgical form finds its authority in The Shape of the Liturgy, by Dom Gregory Dix, O. S.B. (London, 1945). Acknowledgment must be made to Mr. Stephen A. Hurlbut, Director of the St. Alban's Press, Washington, D.C, and a leading Liturgical scholar of the American Church, for valuable suggestions herein incorporated, especially in connection with the wording of certain translations from the Latin Liturgy.
[41] Title Page. The Title of the Memorial of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is kept in its Greek form of Anámnesis. The concept of Memorial in English usage has come to be almost exclusively subjective. It is an external ceremonial which causes us by association to remember subjectively a past event. However, in Liturgical usage, "Remembrance"--i.e. Anámnesis--refers to an action which causes a past history (in this case the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ) to emerge objectively into present time. And just as in our Lord's earthly lifetime what He was accomplishing did not depend upon its conscious recognition by the majority of His contemporaries, nor was it made non-operative or non-existent by their positive rejection, so now the re-emergence of the eternalized history of that same life takes place at the Altar, whether those present are subjectively aware of its objectively operational reality or not.
Also, the Greek stress on the second syllable of Anámnesis is retained for the same reason, namely in order to avoid confusion with the subjectivized meaning of the word as now taken over into English. The Altar does not merely "recall" the past in the sense of vividly "remembering" it. Instead, the Action of the Altar is an objective re-calling, a renewed re-presentation, at a contemporary moment, of a series of events involving the redemption of the world, events which apart from the Altar could only be looked back upon (like all the rest of secular history) for edification and inspiration. But at the Altar they are entered into within the immediate present, and are thus enlarged in their historically past content by our contemporary participation and contribution.
Page 1. The Gathering of the offertory: The Offertory is the presentation of the corporate accomplishments of the contemporary members of our Lord's continuing social Incarnation, as these have worked for the Restoration of the world to an order corresponding to the will of its Creator. All such accomplishments are presented by means of, and under the forms of material bread and wine. Bread and wine emerge out of a social history just passed, and are therefore the material bearers or carriers of all the work, thought, practice of virtue, and prayer which have gone into their preparation. They are presented as a Sacrifice [41/42] to God; and they can be so presented because they are received into the earthly humanity of our Lord's Incarnation, and are moved by Him to be received at the Altar by His Father, just as His own individuated unit of humanity (His Offertory) was received on the Cross. The Sacrifice of our lives and accomplishments in His continuing Incarnation is conveyed to the Altar in the movement of the Offertory; for there is a kind of "real presence" of what we do and are under the forms of those material objects which come out of what we do and are. Bread and wine--not the money of their purchase or cost of production--form the material basis of the Church's Sacrifice.
Page 3. The Prayer of Approach: This Prayer closely follows an ancient one found at this place in the English Prayer Book. The original phrase, "thoughts of our hearts," is altered to "thoughts and our hearts," because both our emotions and our reason must be cleansed for the work which now lies ahead. But emotion may not be confused with reason without grave danger, and rational beings do not think with their hearts!
Furthermore, we ought to pray at this point not so much for a capacity of greater love to God and the ability to praise Him (both of which have a strongly subjective reference), as we ought to pray for an ability to take the next objective step in our Liturgical work, an ability to enter the Sanctuary and to approach the Altar of our Sacrifice.
Page 4. Kyrie, eleison: The Mass begins on a note of penitent supplication. The drama of the Mass is rooted in the drama of the history of our redemption. Thus the Church, in union with ancient Israel waiting for the coming of the Messiah and looking forward to the Birth in Bethlehem, cries "Lord, have mercy." And as this same history is set forth in the Liturgical Christian Year, Kyrie, eleison also corresponds to the Season of Advent, looking forward to the Feast of Christmas.
Kyrie, eleison seems also to have been used anciently by crowds gathered to welcome a visiting monarch or local ruler. In such usage it came to be synonymous with the modern "Hurrah." in both references, the words look forward to a joyous entrance of our Lord upon a local scene.
[43] Our developed Christian culture--in so far as we achieve it together--arises from a confluence of three great streams of ancient cultures, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. It is proper that the Liturgy of a local Church should be set forth in the contemporary language of its members. However, it is also fitting to remember the past out of which the present comes. Therefore there are retained in our Liturgy certain "token words" of the languages of our parent cultures: The Greek Kyrie, eleison, the Hebrew Hosanna and Alleluia of the Sanctus and the Liturgical hymns, and the Latin Ite, Missa est of the dismissal at the end of the Mass.
The Gloria: In dramatic transition from the penitential Kyrie, eleison, or in equally enthusiastic continuation of its "Hurrah," the Gloria in excelsis Deo follows immediately. It follows here just as the Angels' Song over Bethlehem followed the "Mourning in Sion" of those who awaited the Messiah; just as Christmas follows Advent.
If this hymn be delayed until the end of Mass, after the Holy Communion, it not only loses its contextual unity with history and the Christian Year, but it also delays, with a superfluous redundance of wordy thanksgiving, the departure of the members of our Lord's body for that renewed work in the out-side world to which they are sped with urgent haste by the terminal Ite, Missa est!
Page 5. The Announcement of the Gospel: In our day, when all those who have part in the Liturgy may hold a Prayer Book, it is not necessary to cumber the announcement of the Gospel by citing the specific Chapter and Verse of the appointed selection.
Page 6. The Homily or Sermon: Instruction and exhortation properly follow immediately upon the reading of the Gospel. The Homily is traditionally an exposition either of the Gospel for the day, or of the appointed Scripture Lesson. It concludes the instructional section of the Mass, and can often be of interest to many who are not yet themselves made members of our Lord's social body by Baptism.
There is a transition here in the movement of the Liturgy, and the action which follows the Homily and which begins with [43/44] the united recital of the Nicene Creed, is the business of those only who are baptised members of the Community of the Incarnation. They alone are given the corporate power to effect and set forward the succeeding Consecration and Holy Communion.
The Nicene Creed; This Creed is here restored to the "We believe" form of the original Greek version. This is proper because the Creed is a corporate act of allegiance to the fundamental doctrines and theoretical analysis upon which the cannon life and work of the social body of the Incarnation are based. Only the baptised may properly participate in this confessional act. In this connection, the so-called Apostles Creed is always in the "I believe" form, because this contains the elements of the Faith which must be learned by newcomers as a preparation for Baptism. It is an intellectual affirmation for individuals who are not yet permitted to say "We" in a Christian sense; for they are not yet members of the Christian Community. When this latter Creed is used after Baptism, it still remains primarily an individual recollection of Baptismal vows. Hence, when used in the Church Offices, it is traditionally repeated silently, for the sake of individual devotion at stated points of Common Prayer. It is never properly used in the Liturgy of the Altar.
At the end of the recitation of the Nicene Creed, the typical Christian Sign, the Sign of the Cross, is made. This is a ratification of a corporate solidarity. It is therefore not used in connection with the Apostles--the "I believe"--Creed. The Sign of the Cross, in this respect like many secular group gestures and salutes, when made at the end of the "We believe" Creed, signifies a common allegiance to the work of the organized Incarnational party in its enterprise of the redeeming reorganization of human life in all its aspects and ramifications, both social and correspondingly individual.
Page 7. The Confessions and Absolutions: Cur Lord alone, acting in and through the Community of the Incarnation, can prepare the Offertory of bread and wine for the Christian Sacrifice. In so far as this offertory is acceptable to God, this is the work of the Incarnate Son. We who are the human members of the Incarnation, and who are therefore the appointed agents in our generation for the Gathering of the Offertory, seriously damage the historical structures of all bread and wine which we bring forward. [44/45] We damage them by periods of apathy, tolerated weakness and unnecessary human failure, and all the gamut of human sin. Therefore, our Lord must Himself intervene to apply His atoning power to such imperfect gifts. He must--for He alone can--render our gifts worthy to be moved forward to their Consecration.
In order to invoke our Lord's atoning Absolution, confession of human failures and sins is made on behalf of the Offertory just before its gifts are placed upon the Altar. First the Priest makes his Confession to the people. The people, by the authority of that priesthood which is the possession of the Church as a whole, then give him Absolution. Then the people, in their turn, make a similar Confession and are absolved by the authority of their sacramentally representative Priest. In the mutuality of its human reference this is a completely democratic procedure.
These Absolutions are to be understood as coming from God, through our Incarnate Lord, and mediated within His Church. Their direct application is to the perfecting of the histories structurally carried along by the bread and wine now offered. The past sins, failures and shortcomings of those who have prepared the offertory are covered and reperfected as their material gifts are readied by our Lord for His Sacrifice. The Absolutions, therefore, are applied to the lives and persons of the members of the Community of the Incarnation through the fact that these lives and persons are historically involved in the bread and wine here perfected. Thus, the Liturgical Confessions and Absolutions are not "purely spiritual" transactions; but are instead the means of the application of the Atonement for the perfection of the material offerings which issue from the work of the Community of the Incarnation.
The formulation of "The ever-blessed Virgin Mary" is that of Archbishop Cranmer.
Page 9. The Epiclesis, or Invocation of the Holy Spirit: At the close of the first Prayers of the Offertory we pray that God the Holy Spirit may descend upon the Community of the Incarnation here gathered, in order that the approaching Consecration may go forward. Since the Consecration itself is a creative act, this [45/46] is effected by the power of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, "through whom all things were created." However, all creative acts are enabled by the intervention of the Holy Spirit as in the creation of the world, the conception of our Lord's individual humanity, and the Pentecostal initiation of the Church. But the Holy Spirit is not the creative Agent of the Godhead; and to consider Him so in the Consecration, as is done in the Liturgies of the Eastern Church, and (somewhat equivocally) in the present American Church Liturgy, is neither Creedally nor historically consistent.
Page 10. The Censing of the Altar: Psalm 141, Verse 2, reads: Let my prayer, O Lord, be set forth in thy sight as the incense; and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. The second part of this verse is omitted, because the "lifting up of hands" cannot be a sacrifice. This is merely a figure of speech. In an age in which such figures of speech are interpreted spiritually" as the only genuine realities, while the true and material realities for which they stand are either forgotten or disdained by "spiritual" Christians, it is dangerous to give any opportunity whatever for such misinterpretations in the Liturgy.
Pages 12 to 19. The Canon of the Mass: The prayer of Consecration of the Church's Sacrifice begins with Thanksgiving. This gives to the Liturgy its ancient Greek name of Eucharist. However, Liturgical Thanksgiving, like "Memorial" or Anámnesis, has its peculiar meaning. "To give thanks" is here a transitive expression and in English would be better rendered "to thanksgive." In the Liturgy, "to thanksgive" means to consecrate. It initiates that Action whereby our Lord, present within His assembled social body, and acting through the sacramentally authorized Priest of that body, conveys the offered bread and wine of His Humanity into the level of the Being of His ascended Body and Blood. The consecrated Elements thus become "Thanksgiven" (i.e. Consecrated) Things. Therefore these Objects themselves are often called Eucharist. And when in English we sometimes refer to a "Sacrifice of Thanksgiving," we are referring in Liturgical language to the Sacrifice of the consecrated Bread and Wine of the Altar, to the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Incarnate Lord.
[47] It is fitting that the Consecration should be initiated by words spoken aloud and together by both the people and their Priest. Immediately after the initiation of the Canon in the Eucharist and Sanctus, the voice of the individual Priest is lowered, in order that in what follows the emphasis may be laid upon the corporate Act of Consecration, an Act which is the Priestly function of the whole Christian Community. The individual Priest here leads the people, as their sacramental representative, by prescribed movement and gesture. He may not in the slightest degree replace them by becoming the sole audible speaker of the Words of the central movement of the Consecration. The primary emphasis in the Canon is that of something objectively happening, not of something being talked about or set forth in words.
In addition, the Silence of the Canon, during which all present act together in the consummation of their common Sacrifice, brings home (by this devotional technique) the corporate solidarity in which they are made one in our Lord's humanity. Liturgical Silence has long been recognized as of unequalled value in this connection, a value which has been taken over from Catholic usage even by such extreme and anti-sacramental Protestants as the Quakers.
From ancient times the Church has united with the celebration of her Liturgy her commemorations before God both of the Living and faithful departed; her thanksgivings for the lives and triumphs of her Saints, as well as for blessings continually received within the Divine Community; her prayers for particular objectives and for power to fulfil the incarnational tasks envisaged for the future. All these prayers and thanksgivings have clustered in a most natural manner around the great central Act of the Consecration. Even Archbishop Cranmer did not disturb this arrangement in his first Prayer Book. But when the English Liturgy was given its later form, the particularized petitional elements of the Canon were excised, and were set apart in a long Intercessory Prayer which now precedes the Prayer of Consecration and Sacrifice. More than any other feature, this has given the Anglican Liturgy a sophisticated literary quality utterly foreign to the great democratic Liturgical art which has arisen from the centuries-long usage of the popular Christian mass movement.
[48] For this reason the Church's intercessions and commemorations are now restored to those positions which they originally so naturally assumed. Here they are functionally associated with the objective movement of the Liturgy, where popular instinct correctly placed them, instead of being relegated to a literary region of mellifluous talk and spiritual aspiration.
Page 15. The Commemoration of the Sacrifices of Israel: In the old Latin Canon this Commemoration is placed after the Words of Institution and the climax of the Consecration. However, the Sacrifices under the Old Covenant looked forward to the Sacrifice on Calvary, and therefore have more in common with the present Christian Offertory than with the consecrated Eucharist of the New Covenant. It was the tragic shortcoming of the Sacrifices of Israel that, while they could be offered at the Altar, they did not succeed in overpassing the barrier of sin which separates a fallen world from God's perfection. Our Lord Incarnate alone succeeded in this.
Therefore, the Commemoration of the Sacrifices of the Chosen people is here placed before the Liturgically central moment of Consecration. They are thus associated with the Oblation of the Offertory, a position which they occupy both historically and theologically.
Page 16. The Words of Consecration: The movement of the Consecration necessarily passes through a point of abrupt transition. This transition from the level of the bread and wine of our Lord's earthly humanity in the offertory, to the level of their termination in the Body and Blood of His now ascended life, is that of a true change of state. In the physical level such changes of state are called "changes of phase," as when the solid phase of water called ice melts into its liquid phase; or when the liquid phase, in turn, changes into the gaseous one of water vapor. Such changes of state are always characterized by their sharp abruptness. There is always a qualitative discontinuity between any two phases of natural matter. There is, for example, no intermediate state of being between solid ice and liquid water. A block of ice may not be gradually softened through various stages of viscosity into a fully liquid condition.
[49] Precisely such an abrupt transition marked that change of our Lord's earthly body, through the crucifixion, the resurrection, and ascension, into His glorified body as this now "sitteth at the right hand of the Father." In the Consecration of the Liturgy this same historical Transit of the Cross emerges into present time, in order that our Offertory may also be included within it. And this present transgression of the wall of partition between our time and God's eternity on behalf of our gifts of offered bread and wine, is effected by the Incarnate Son in sudden breach. The Consecration effects a change in phase, as it were, when our offerings within the natural order are moved into a state proper to a supernatural level of being. Such a movement can be neither gradual, in indistinguishable successive stages, nor can it be diffused over a period of time. It cannot be "reformist." It involves a revolutionary discontinuity in its process. The natural substances of the bread and wine suddenly are the Substances of the Body and Blood of God. The Transit of the Sacrifice is instantaneous.
Therefore, it has become customary for the celebrating Priest to genuflect after the recitation of the Words of Consecration (so-called, although Scripturally they seem rather to be the Words of Distribution), and for him to elevate the Consecrated Species that they may be seen by all present.
This ritual emphasis does not imply what is sometimes dubbed a "consecration by formula." It is, instead, the outward recognition of an inner truth necessarily resident within the Liturgical process. The climactic Transit from nature to super-nature occurs, as all true changes of phase occur, without intermediate stages and at a point in time, it may be objected that it is ritually arbitrary to choose same one Liturgical moment for this emphasis. However, one moment or another must be selected; and to express the truth for which it then stands does not necessarily tie the real point of Consecrational change and Transit to the particular ritual point chosen for this docent purpose. But the genuflection and elevation do insist that a point of qualitative discontinuity in the Consecration does in fact exist at some moment or other. All action which precedes this moment is but a preparation leading up to it. All that follows is but the mediation of the Consecrated Elements back into that social body of our Lord from which, in their initial and unconsecrated state they were originally drawn. The Liturgical [49/50] Action of the Church has a consecrating climax at its center; and this needs to be set forth if we are to avoid the errors of thinking of the actual change effected by the Consecration as diffuse and gradual. Revolution, not Reform, is at the heart of the Liturgy.
Page 17. The Angel of the Sacrifice: The Angel here introduced in the Western Liturgy is our Lord Himself. He it is who, in His acceptance and Consecration, conveys our offerings of bread and wine into the level of His ascended state. Therefore, by the same token, in this Consecration He conveys them to the "Altar on high," that is, into the level of the Godhead.
Some doubt, however, has been evidenced in certain quarters about the identity of this Angel. Cranmer, either through ignorance or hostility to the whole concept of our Lord as a moving sacrificial Agent within the Mass, substituted a plurality of Angels in the Edwardian prayer Book. He thus denied, as he cleverly did in other ways, both the reality of the Liturgical Sacrifice and of our Lord's priestly function within it. The Angel is here given His proper title of High Priest of our profession (Heb. 3,i), and the possibility of ambiguity is removed.
The Self-deprecation: This corresponds to the "And although we be unworthy, "of the Prayer Book, and to the Latin, Nobis quoque peccatoribus, "To us also, thy sinful servants." The latter is here altered to read "suppliant servants." The historical past of all presently assisting has by this time been mercifully covered by the Absolutions, and has been received into the perfection of our Lord's Body and Blood, it is therefore out of place to indulge in self-deprecation, or for the sacrificers to refer to themselves as sinful in an immediate application. And if this reference is meant to cover a possible future, it is here excessive. Experience may well warn us that unfortunately we may sin again; but in this context we ought not, as it were, to take it for granted.
Page 18. The Lord's Prayer: The most inclusive, best balanced, and correctly ordered prayer we possess, concludes the Canon of the Anámnesis. Here the people, with raised voices, join their Priest while they recite it together. Thus the Canon is framed by the Thanksgiving at its initiation and the Lord's Prayer at [50/51] its end. It begins audibly, sinks to reverend silence during its central Action, and it emerges again into the level of the audible, in preparation for the Holy Communion.
All the petitions of the Pater Noster have direct bearing upon the life and work of the Divine Community which now finds its central Liturgical expression and consummation in the Christian Sacrifice; but at the close of the Canon, perhaps the most significant petition is "Give us this day our daily Bread."
Page 20. The Pre-Communion Prayers: These prayers are new compositions, although they follow in some measure traditional forms. The first is a prayer for unity in the Holy Communion. The second asks that we may in very deed receive our Lord in the Holy Communion, together with our own Gifts within the Incarnation, now consecrated and therefore united both to our Lord's ascended humanity and to His Godhead. The third prayer looks forward to our future work and future Sacrifice of it in some succeeding Mass.
Cranmer's "Prayer of Humble Access," which he substituted for the Latin Prayers at this point, is a beautiful literary composition. It is also doctrinally valuable, although it is at least doubtful whether Cranmer gave it quite that Liturgically Catholic interpretation of which it is nevertheless entirely patient. However, the almost abject grovelling which it requires on the part of the Communicants is here out of place. We Communicants, already absolved and enabled by the Holy Spirit, can come forward with "boldness," courage, and thanksgiving for their presently bestowed reperfection. It is a kind of discourteous display of lack of faith in our Lord to continue at this point to wallow, as it were, in self-deprecation.
Page 21. The Benedictus qui venit: This is properly said just before the reception of the Holy Communion. Here it is a cry of welcome to our Lord who comes to bestow Himself upon those who await His ineffable Gift.
This same cry is inappropriate at the beginning of the Canon, where it is now too often used, because within the Canon our Lord is receiving the Offertory of His Church into the level [51/52] of His Godhead. Therefore the direction of the movement of the Consecration is the very reverse of that of the Holy Communion. In the Consecration our Lord--as in His individuated Incarnation--is not "converting the Godhead into flesh," but is "taking the manhood into God." On the other hand, in the Holy Communion He does indeed "come unto His own," and the cry of welcome Benedictus qui venit ought to be spontaneous.
Page 22. The Words of Delivery of the Sacrament: These words are limited to a simple statement of what the Consecrated Gifts actually are. All further theological analysis and devotional thought may safely be left to those who receive the Holy Communion. The wordy and equivocal statements put into the mouths of the distributing Ministers at this point in the Prayer Book are an affront to the intelligence of the Communicants.
The Ite, Missa est: The final spoken Blessing is omitted. This was a late Liturgical introduction in any case. The reception of the Holy Communion is itself the crowning Blessing of the Liturgy. Any humanly mediated Blessing after this great Event is a sorry anticlimax. The proper conclusion of the Anámnesis is the urgent sending forth of the people into the still unredeemed environing world that they again attack its disorders in the Name of the incarnate Lord: Ite, Missa est!
Concluding Devotion: The first Chapter of the Holy Gospel according to John came to be said privately by the celebrating Priest as he retired to the sacristy. Later, it was said at the Altar and in the Latin rite it is now announced as if it were part of the Liturgy itself. It can serve as a useful concluding devotion for both priest and people, because it contains an incomparable summary of the truths of the Incarnation. But the Liturgical versicles and responses, and other ritual honors, are omitted; for when used here the Gospel is not within the framework of the Action of the Anámnesis.