Previous parts in this series:
Part 3: The incensations, Kyrie, Gloria, and collects
Part 4: The Epistle, Gospel, and what occurs in between
Part 5: The Nicene Creed
Part 6: The OffertoryPart 4: The Epistle, Gospel, and what occurs in between
Part 5: The Nicene Creed
Part 7: The Preface, Sanctus, and beginning of the Canon
Part 8: The rest of the Canon
Although
the Canon of the Mass has been completed, the missal contains the
running head “Canon Missæ” for the remainder of the Mass. Canon
means “rule,” and the Canon is the rule by which the Sacrifice of
the New Covenant is offered. There is an important distinction, noted
more clearly in medieval missals, between the sacrifice and the
sacrament. In all things, the sacrifice and destruction of the victim
must precede the sacrament. Animals must be slaughtered and plants
harvested—the sacrifice—before they become food—the sacrament.
In the Canon, the sacrifice was made, and now it has become the
sacrament of our Lord's Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Likewise,
the Jews were commanded in their Passover celebration to eat the
Passover lamb after it had been sacrificed, making the lamb their
sacrament (Exodus 12:8).
The
Canon having just been completed, we await the destruction of the
Victim, which will occur shortly. First, however, we are united with
Christ again in the prayer he said to the Father and gave us to do
the same (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4).
Orémus.
Præcéptis salutáribus móniti, et divína institutione formati
audemus dicere:
Pater
noster, qui es in caelis, Sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat
regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo et in terra. Panem
nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie. Et dimitte nobis debita
nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos
inducas in tentationem.
Sed
libera nos a malo.
Amen.
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Let us
pray. Instructed by thy saving precepts, and following thy divine
institution, we dare to say:
Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done on 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.
Amen.
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The
Pater Noster, or Our Father, is a
familiar prayer to all Christians. It is the perfect prayer that
Jesus gave us, said here at a crucial time within the Holy Mass. No
better response could be made to the awe of this sacrifice than the
Lord's Prayer. This has been part of the Mass since the time of the
apostles.
The
priest sings, “Oremus,” as he would to begin any other prayer,
but this time he elaborates. It is only because of God's institution
and command, occurring out of his love for us, that we speak to him
the petitions of the Our Father. Thus, the priest says, “We dare to
say.” The Our Father has a similar form to the Ten Commandments,
which were also given directly by God to men, with the first few
petitions regarding God and the remainder regarding men. It begins by
addressing God, “Our Father.” Only in Christianity do we have
such intimacy with God as to call him our own father: intimacy
allowed to us by Jesus Christ and ultimately by God's infinite love
for us.
The
first three petitions are in adoration of God, first mentioning the
holiness of his name, then our wishes for the coming of his kingdom
and the fulfillment of his will. Before we make our supplication to
God, adoration of God is fitting. We also begin with adoration in the
collects and secrets, in the Preface before the Canon, and even in
the whole Mass, which begins with prayerful and scriptural
preparation in the Mass of the Catechumens. Such is the structure
given by our Lord in this prayer. To wish for the coming of his
kingdom and the fulfillment of his will is an expression of our love
for God. A small participation in this kingdom can be found in the
Mass.
Next
is our own supplication to God. First, we ask for what is needed to
sustain both our spiritual and temporal lives: our “daily bread,”
including the Blessed Sacrament. In the Douay-Rheims Bible, this is
translated as “supersubstantial bread.” We also pray for
forgiveness for ourselves and for the grace to forgive others. In the
last two petitions, we pray for protection from temptation and for
deliverance from evil, from Satan and the other demons seeking the
ruin of souls. The last three petitions ask for grace, which is given
in abundant amounts during the Mass.
The
Our Father can also be seen in reverse as a path to Easter. As Fr.
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., S.T.D., wrote, “We begin in the desert
with the temptation, we return to Egypt, then we travel the path of
the Exodus, through the stations of forgiveness and God's manna, and
by God's will we attain the promised land, the kingdom of God, where
he communicates to us the mystery of his name: 'Our Father.'”
The
last petition, “Deliver us from evil,” describes a crucial part
of the Christian life. We must always seek to oppose evil and pray
for God's help in doing so. This petition's deep meaning and
implications are further described in the prayer “Libera nos,”
known as the “embolism” or elaboration on the end of the Our
Father, which the priest says silently.
Líbera
nos, quaesumus, Dómine, ab ómnibus malis, prætéritis,
præséntibus et futúris: et intercedénte beáta et gloriósa
semper Vírgine Dei Genetríce María, cum beátis Apóstolis tuis
Petro et Paulo, atque Andréa, et ómnibus Sanctis, da propítius
pacem in diébus nostris: ut, ope misericórdiæ tuæ adiúti, et
a peccáto simus semper líberi et ab omni perturbatióne secúri.
Per eúndem Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum. Qui
tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus.
Per omnia
saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
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Deliver us,
we beseech thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present, and to
come; and by the intercession of the Blessed and glorious ever
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and of the holy Apostles, Peter and
Paul, and of Andrew, and of all the saints, mercifully grant peace
in our days, that through the assistance of thy mercy we may be
always free from sin, and secure from all disturbance. Through the
same Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Who with thee in the unity
of the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, God.
World
without end.
Amen.
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He
prays against every evil, “past, present, and yet to come.” We
have been weakened by our past evils, and now pray for strength and
deliverance. Though our sins have been forgiven in the sacrament of
Penance, we now pray for the actual grace of deliverance. Of course,
we also pray for deliverance from present evils and temptations
presented constantly by the world around us. Finally, we pray for
deliverance from future evils and the grace to stay in God's good
favor, which is strengthened by reception of Holy Communion. We wish
to be completely free, throughout our entire existence, from any and
all evils.
To
this effect, we ask the intercession of our Blessed Mother, who is
ever watchful and caring for us. Ss. Peter and Paul are also
mentioned, followed only by St. Andrew. St. Andrew was the brother of
St. Peter and one of the early disciples of St. John the Baptist. The
early Church in Rome had a special devotion to St. Andrew, hence his
mention here.
Making
the Sign of the Cross on himself with the paten, which he has
received from the subdeacon, the priest prays for peace in our day,
God's actual grace in this temporal life. He uses the first person
plural, praying for all those present. By his Passion, Christ won for
us perfect, divine peace, which we will enjoy most fully in Heaven,
but we ask here to have some share in it on earth. The priest kisses
the paten, expressing our participation in the Body and Blood of
Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16), and places it under the Host.
Previously, when the Host was a victim for sacrifice, it was more
dignified for it to be on the corporal alone, but now that it is the
sacrament, it is placed on the paten.
As
the priest says, “Per eundem Dominum...,” toward the end of the
prayer, the deacon uncovers the Chalice, over which the priest breaks
the Host in half as Jesus did. Doing this over the Chalice represents
the Precious Blood being shed as a result of the destruction of the
Victim, his Body. There is also the practical purpose that any crumbs
will fall into the Chalice instead of onto the corporal.
The
Gospel mentions four acts in the Last Supper, all symbolized within
the Mass of the Faithful (Luke 22:19). He took bread, represented by
the Offertory; he gave thanks, represented by the Canon; he broke the
bread, which is thus logically done here; and he gave it to his
disciples, the distribution of Communion following shortly. After
breaking the Host, he breaks off a particle and holds it over the
Chalice, with the two halves of the Host lying on the paten, as he
concludes the prayer singing aloud (just as with the end of the
Canon), “Per omnia sæcula sæculorum,” to which the choir
responds, “Amen.”
The
priest then makes three Signs of the Cross with the particle over the
Chalice while singing the following greeting.
Pax ☩
Domini sit ☩ semper vobis ☩ cum.
Et cum
spiritu tuo.
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The peace ☩
of the Lord be ☩ always with ☩ you.
And with
thy spirit.
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This
is a variation on the usual “Dominus vobiscum,” and the response
is the same. We now recall the peace we have been praying for, making
the Sign of the Cross with the Body of Christ over his Precious
Blood. Both of these grant us his divine and eternal peace. The
priest wishes for this peace to be always with the faithful,
something attained only in the Kingdom of Heaven. Having in mind this
divine peace, the Church also wishes to fulfill Christ's mandate to
make peace with our brethren before receiving Holy Communion (Matthew
5:23-24). After this versicle and response, the priest drops the
particle into the Chalice, which represents the Resurrection.
Haec
commíxtio, et consecrátio Córporis et Sánguinis Dómini nostri
Iesu Christi, fiat accipiéntibus nobis in vitam ætérnam. Amen.
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May this
mixture and consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ be to us who receive it effectual unto eternal life. Amen.
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In
the action of the sacrifice, the Passion of Christ was represented.
All is completed by the Resurrection of Christ, the mystical reunion
of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. The prayer the
priest whispers describes this act with the Latin word “consecratio.”
Normally, this means “consecration,” but the consecration has
already occured. Instead, it can be translated as “hallowing,”
implying the reunion of sacred things and the perfect, infinite
sanctity of the Blessed Sacrament.
After
the choir has sung the response, “Et cum spiritu tuo,” they begin
singing the Agnus Dei, which the three sacred ministers say
here.
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccáta mundi: miserére nobis.
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccáta mundi: miserére nobis.
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccáta mundi: dona nobis pacem.
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Lamb of
God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of
God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of
God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
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It
has a trinitarian structure. In each of the three petitions, the
priest addresses Jesus, “Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of
the world,” echoing the call of St. John the Baptist (John 1:29).
In the Mass, Holy Mother Church has praised and worshiped God in the
songs of the angels, singing, “Glory to God in the highest!” to
laud our Lord's Incarnation and joining in their perpetual hymn,
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts!” Now, standing before “the
Lamb, which was slain from the beginning of the world,” (Apocalpyse
13:8) she humbles herself, taking up instead the cry of the two blind
men: “Have mercy on us, O Son of David!” (Matthew 9:27). This is
our appeal in the first two lines of the Agnus Dei. All strike their
breasts at the words “Miserére nobis.”
In
the third petition, we address the Lamb of God as before but this
time pray, “Grant us peace.” We pray again for that perfect,
divine peace that God gives us in the Mass. At the Easter Vigil on
Holy Saturday, we are keeping watch with our Lord in the night
preceding his Resurrection, but he is not risen yet. Thus, the Agnus
Dei is omitted, because our Lord is still buried in the tomb, and we
have no peace. Finally, at Masses for the Dead, when we are begging
for mercy, not for ourselves, but for the souls of the deceased,
instead of “Miserere nobis” is said, “Dona eis requiem,” or,
“Grant them rest,” and instead of “Dona nobis pacem” is said,
“Dona eis requiem sempiternam,” or “Grant them everlasting
rest,” as our cry is for them to enjoy eternal divine peace.
All
is now accomplished. As our Lord said before he died on the Cross,
“It is consummated” (John 19:30). The Most Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass commanded by Christ has been offered up to God the Father and
has been graciously accepted. The Victim has been immolated and
destroyed, just as Christ's Body was on the Cross. Finally, the Body,
Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ are reunited as at the
Resurrection, leaving us with the Most Blessed Sacrament. All these
things are done by the priest, deacon, and subdeacon, serving at the
altar of God and offering this most perfect sacrifice, the highest
privilege a man can have on Earth. The movements and actions of the
deacon and subdeacon during this part of the Mass are especially
profound and beautiful. They represent the Trinity with their harmony
in movement and action. Now, it remains only to consume the
sacrament, as Jesus commanded his disciples to do at the Last Supper.
Jesus is the true Paschal lamb who was sacrificed for us (1
Corinthians 5:7). Like the Jews, we must now eat our Passover lamb.
New
terms
-
Pater noster or Our Father – The Lord's Prayer, which Jesus himself gave to us, that begins by addressing God as “Our Father.”
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Agnus Dei – A prayer addressing Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” sung by the choir after the priest has broken the Host.
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