XIX

During the Eucharistic prayer the congregation was on its knees. Why

By kneeling, we’re completely surrendering ourselves to God and humbling our spirits before Him. It’s incredibly profound. We believe that Jesus becomes really present in the Eucharistic elements once the priest prays the Eucharistic Prayers which Christ taught us during the last supper.

At consecration the bells are rung which is an ancient practice, alerting the congregation that Jesus is really here in those elements.

Once we’re kneeling we only rise again for two things which happen back to back: The Lord’s Prayer and the Sign of Peace.

Our Father:

The priest raises his hands to heaven just as Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ hands while he prayed for Israel’s triumph over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:12).

Before the revised version of the mass came out congregation in some places used to hold hands. There is no prescribed posture for the hands during the Our Father and that, so far at least, neither the Holy See nor the U.S. bishops' conference has officially addressed it. 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal is completely silent about it, indicating only that “all the faithful say the prayer with” the priest. “No position is prescribed in the Roman Missal for an assembly gesture during the Lord’s Prayer.”

However, the General Instruction also encourages “a common bodily posture” as “a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community.” 

And in this diocese the bishop directed that practice of holding hands be discontinued; may be to bring a uniformity throughout the diocese. When the flu season is around people are hesitant to hold hands any way. 

XVIII

Eucharistic prayer continued:

After the proclamation of the faith the remainder of the prayer has three sections, which appear in all Eucharistic prayers but in differing order; a prayer for the Church, a prayer for unity with the saints, and a prayer for the dead.

During the Eucharistic prayer the whole church is remembered: the triumphant (those saints in heaven beginning with Bl.Virgin Mary and St.Joseph). We ask intercession from them saints, the apostles and patron of the day or the patron of the parish.  Then we pray for the militant church: the church here on earth, starting with pope, local bishop and clergy, people all over the world and particularly those present. Then the Church prays for those dead and particularly if the mass is said for any deceased person. The offering of the mass for the repose of the souls departed is believed to be very established practice since the early time. Peter says that Jesus went down to Sheol or hell and freed those who were detained there, Remember the word hell is not the hell we generally understand. It is the place all the dead go. It is not the place of torture.  

The Eucharistic prayer ends with the doxology: Through him, with him…etc.

It is a short hymn of praises to God the trinity.

These words at the same time encapsulate the prayer of the church: honor and glory to the triune God through, with, and in Christ. Although the words are directed to the Father, all glorification of the Father is at the same time glorification of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

All praise of God is through, with, and in Christ.

Through him, because only through Christ does humanity have access to the Father and because his existence as God-man and his work of salvation are the fullest glorification of the Father; with him, because all authentic prayer is the fruit of union with Christ, and because in honoring the Son one honors the Father and vice versa; in him, because the praying church is Christ himself, with every individual praying member as a part of his Mystical Body, and because the Father is in the Son and the Son the reflection of the Father, who makes his majesty visible.

The dual meanings of through, with, and in clearly express the God-man’s mediation.

The prayer of the church is the prayer of the ever-living Christ. Its prototype is Christ’s prayer during his human life. 

XVII

Continuing on the Eucharistic prayer:

Structure of the Eucharistic prayers:

Although the Eucharistic prayers are different in emphasis and each includes unique elements, their topics are the same. Each begins with praise to the Father, to whom the whole prayer is addressed. The length varies from two lines to most of a page.

In the Eucharistic prayer Thanksgiving is done for all the wonderful things God has done to all the people. We trace the whole history of his relationship to the human race through creation, through Israel, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, through the church.

All except the first prayer invoke the Holy Spirit’s blessing on the gifts; all the prayers request that the gifts become “the body and blood” of Jesus Christ.

One of the most striking notes in the comparison of the Eucharistic prayers is that the first three mention Jesus’ betrayal, suffering and death. The fourth speaks only of Jesus’ glorification- exactly as does the fourth gospel. In John, the passion and the glorification were just two views of one single act in which Jesus was shown to be the redeemer, the Son of God, the Lord we love.

It is at Consecration we believe that transubstantiation takes place, the changing of the substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. At consecration Jesus said take this is my blood which is poured out for you and for many. We may wonder why “many” rather than “all” as Jesus died for all, not just a few. The reason is that the word ‘all’ in Semitic language is the same as many.  (Mk.10:45)

As with all the Sacraments, Jesus is the primary act-er of the Eucharist. They are His hands (through the ordained minister) which grasp the bread and the chalice filled with wine.  They are His words spoken in the first person through the priest.  He is both the priest and the victim.  The sacrifice of the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the Cross — it culminates in God being glorified and humanity being sanctified. 

The priest invites us to “proclaim the mystery of faith” the acclamation that responds to the consecration.

The mystery of the faith,” or “the deep truths of the faith”  in the New Testament is something that had at one time been hidden but is now revealed to God’s people.

The consecration has made a tremendous change in the celebration. We stop soon after the consecration to speak to Jesus. Because He is now present on the altar. We pause to greet him by means of the acclamation. It actually emphasizes the importance of the consecration. The presence of the Lord on the altar provokes a response.

That is why it is natural that the acclamation that was perhaps the most popular in use has been eliminated in the new translation: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. The three phrases are declarations, not prayers. They are in the third person, not the second. Therefore they were discarded.

The new translations are as follows:

“We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.”

“When we eat this Bread and Drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.”

“Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.”

These can be unpacked theologically and merit our meditation. Each one is spoken to Jesus and recapitulates the deep mystery of our redemption by means of our Savior’s cross and resurrection.

We will continue from here next Sunday.

XVI (Continuing on the  explanation of the mass from where we left off from before the Easter).

Eucharistic prayers

There are 4 main ones of which 3 are mostly used. Eucharist prayer 1 is the most solemn one which has the prayers proper for Easter and Christmas and other major feasts with invocations to several saints.

II is the shortest of all and is usually used on week days and the 3^rd one is mostly used on Sundays. All the Eucharistic prayers have the mention of Mary the Mother of God but the second and the third did not have the name of St.Joseph mentioned and Pope Benedict added the invocation of st.Joseph in both the Eucharistic prayers. 4^th is also used on Sundays once in a while. In addition there are two for reconciliation and 4 others for special occasions.  What you hear mostly is 2, 3 and 1.

All of them invariably contain Epiclesis or prayer to the Holy Spirit to come down on the gifts and sanctify them. (that is the time when the server rings the bells for the first time). In the Oriental Churches the epiclesis prayer is after the consecration prayer and in the Latin rite it is before the consecration.

The celebrant lays hands on the gifts in the form a cross to bless them and makes the sign of the cross on them. In the O.T. we see that Jacob had 11 sons and there are 12 tribes. How is that?. Jacob had accepted the two sons of Joseph as his own and blessed them. So there is no tribe of Joseph but instead two of Joseph’s sons are included in the tribes of Jacob. When Joseph brought his two sons Manasseh the older one and Ephrem, the younger one to be blessed by his Father Jacob, he stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh who was standing on the right, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). (Gen.48:14). Usually the older child gets more of a parent’s share and blessing. Joseph wanted Jacob to bless his older son Manasseh to be blessed more with his right hand and so he was placed on the right side of Jacob. Blessing in the form of a cross is foreshadowed even in the O.T.

XIV: After the prayer over the gifts we have the EP

The Eucharistic Prayer: Begins with the Preface proper to each occasion. It begins with a prayerful dialogue between the priest and the people. Then the preface follows that gives us the reason for giving thanksgiving to God. The preface concludes with the Holy, Holy… an acclamation that we sing.

The word “eucharist” comes to us from the Greek word <<eukharistia>> which means thanksgiving or gratitude. When we celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday or throughout the week, it is a time when the holy people of God come together in prayer to give thanks to God for giving us food that will last forever.

The high point of our banquet celebration at Holy Mass comes as the priest, united to his people, prays the great prayer of thanksgiving – the Eucharistic Prayer. In the Sacred Liturgy, the Eucharistic Prayer begins with the Preface Dialogue. Through the priest’s greeting of “The Lord be with you” and the people’s response, “And with your spirit” the community gathered in prayer is reminded that Christ is present in their midst – for the “spirit” that the people are referring to in their response is not the spirit of the man who stands before them at the altar, but the spirit of God who has made him an <<alter Christus>> (another Christ) in his ordination. It is also a reminder that in this great prayer of thanksgiving to the Father in Heaven, it is really the Son who offers His sacred body and blood (not the priest himself) for the redemption and salvation of our souls and that of the whole world. In this initial dialogue the priest and the people are united and drawn into the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and too the eternal dialogue of love that exists between the Father and the Son.

Continuing the dialogue, the priest asks the people to, “Lift up your hearts” to which they respond, “We lift them up to the Lord.” Here again we see that the priest and the people are drawn into the dialogue that exists between the Most Holy Trinity, in that we express our longing for God by using His own words found in the Book of Lamentations, “Let us reach out our hearts towards God in heaven!” (Lam 3:41) In this portion of the Preface Dialogue we come to recognize our spiritual hunger – St. Augustine reminds us in the first few lines of his <<Confessions>> that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. We desire peace and freedom from the anxieties of the world and so we give our hearts to God, we focus on the Lord with a mind of gratitude and thanksgiving for the many blessings he has bestowed upon us in this life. We seek to live in such a way that our hearts will conform to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Finally, the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” And the people respond: “It is right and just.” The priest’s use of the word “thanks” is a reminder that we are entering into the Eucharist. The people’s response is the echo of an ancient Greek civic phrase, which is meant to express a communal assent. It is a great yes of the corporate body which is the Church. It is a reminder that we do not come to the Lord just as individuals, but as members of the one Body of Christ, the Church united to Her Head – Jesus Christ.

Most of the preface prayers end by saying: Through him the Angels praise your majesty, Dominions adore and powers tremble before you. Heaven and the Virtues of heaven and the blessed Seraphim worship together with exultation. May our voices we pray, join with theirs in humble praise, as we acclaim: Who are these categories of names mentioned here:

These names refer to categories of angels, those pure spirits who adore God and serve as His messengers. Since the fourth century, nine choirs or types of angels were identified in the Bible and popularized in the Middle Ages by various theologians and writers. Together, they form the “hosts of heaven,” i.e., God’s army of angels. Almighty God is called “Lord of Hosts” (in Hebrew, “Yahweh Sabaoth”) over three hundred times in the Old Testament (particularly in the books of the prophets) and twice in the New Testament (Rom 9:29 and Jas 5:4).  These are the nine groups of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Archangels, Principalities, Angels

For example, in Isaiah 6:1-2, the prophet has a vision of the heavenly liturgy: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: With two He covered His face, and with two He covered his feet, and with two He flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy (is the) Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.” A similar account is found in the Book of Revelation, which likewise described how the angels surround the throne of God and sing praises (cf. Rev 5:1, 7:11). For good reason, at Mass, we pray in the Sanctus: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of host ….” or in Latin, “Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth …”

The nine choirs of angels also are categorized into three groups: The first three choirs see and adore God directly. As mentioned in the citation from Isaiah, the seraphim, meaning “the burning or fiery ones,” have the most intense “flaming” love for God and comprehend Him with the greatest clarity. In Isaiah 6:6, a seraphim took a burning ember from the altar and touched the lips of Isaiah, purging him of sin so he could prophesy in the name of the Lord. (Interestingly, Lucifer, which means “light bearer,” was one of the seraphim whose beautiful light was changed into darkness because of his sinfulness.)

The second choir is the cherubim, which means “fullness of wisdom.” They contemplate God’s divine providence and plan for His creatures. The prophet Ezekiel described them as follows: “Their form was human, but each had four faces and four wings, and their legs went straight down; the soles of their feet were round. They sparkled with a gleam like burnished bronze. … Each of the four had the face of a man, but on the right side was the face of a lion, and on the left side the face of an ox, and finally each had the face of an eagle. Their faces and their wings looked out on all their four sides; they did not turn when they moved, but each went straight forward. … Human hands were under their wings, and the wings of one touched those of another. Each had two wings spread out above so they touched one another’s, while the other two wings of each covered his body. … They seemed like torches, moving to and fro. … The fire gleamed, and from it came forth flashes of lightning” (Ez 1:4-14). Remember that when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He “stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen 3:34). To signify the presence of God in the holy of holies of the temple (or earlier, the tent dwelling), the veil covering the entrance was woven of blue, purple and scarlet yarns embroidered with cherubim, and atop the Ark of the Covenant was the propitiatory (the mercy seat, or throne of God) that had two gold cherubim at each end with their wings extended over it.

Lastly, the thrones, symbolizing divine justice and judicial power, contemplate God’s power and justice. Reference to “thrones” is found in Colossians 1:16, and in Jewish apocryphal literature, the Book of Enoch and the Testament of Levi.

The next three choirs fulfill God’s providential plan for the universe: The dominations or dominions, whose name evokes authority, govern the lesser choirs of angels. The virtues, whose name originally suggested power or strength, implement the orders from the dominations and govern the heavenly bodies. Lastly, the powers confront and fight against any evil forces opposed to God’s providential plan. (Again reference is made to these choirs in Colossians 1:16.)

The last three choirs are involved directly in human affairs: The principalities care for earthly principalities, such as nations or cities. The archangels deliver God’s most important messages to mankind, and Scripture identifies three by name — Sts. Michael, Raphael and Gabriel. St. Michael, whose name means, “one who is like God,” led the army of angels who cast Satan and the rebellious angels into hell; at the end of time, he will wield the sword of justice to separate the righteous from the evil (cf. Rev 12:7-9). St. Gabriel, whose name means “strength of God,” announced to Mary that she had been chosen as the mother of the Savior (cf. Lk 1:26-38). Finally, St. Raphael, whose name means “remedy of God,” cured the blind man Tobit (cf. Tb 5).

Finally, we have the angels, who appear throughout the Old and the New Testament, leading and guarding the people, like during the Exodus or freeing St. Peter from prison. Here we must remember our guardian angels. Jesus said, “See that you never despise one of these little ones. I assure you, their angels in heaven constantly behold my heavenly Father’s face” (Mt 18:10), indicating that each of us has a guardian angel. The catechism states, “From infancy to death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession” (No. 336). Most of us at an early age learned the little prayer to our guardian angel: “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and to guide.” Some of the saints were blessed to see their guardian angel, like St. Pio (Padre Pio), St. Frances of Rome and St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

Now we know who are these hosts of angels.

XIII.

SETTING THE ALTAR:

Before the collection is brought forward, the altar servers assist the deacon or acolyte in preparing the altar for Mass. The deacon or acolyte brings over the priest’s chalice and paten (a flat dish for holding the priest’s host), and unfolds a special cloth called a corporal where the chalice and paten are placed. Sometimes, the chalice will be covered with a pall, a stiff piece of fabric designed to keep particulates or insects from flying into the chalice. The servers bring the ciboria (vessels containing unconsecrated hosts) and cups for the precious blood. All of the vessels to be consecrated are placed on a corporal. The corporal is folded in a special way so that any particle of the host that falls from a host can be folded up and not brushed to the ground. Whenever a vessel containing the Body or Blood of Christ is placed on the altar, it must be on a corporal.

Offering of Gifts:

The preparation of the gifts serves a twofold purpose. First, the gifts of bread and wine are prepared for their consecration at the Eucharistic prayer. Second, through the prayers during this time, the priest and the people are prepared to take part in the Eucharistic prayer.

At Mass, the gifts of bread and wine are offered..and it can be said “we offer them” if each of us does join our self to these gifts to offer all to God.  Bread and wine recall last supper Jesus shared with his disciples.  They ate bread and wine because it was everyday fare. The gifts are food, nourishment necessary for living. So our bread and wine at Mass represent our everyday lives, our every day selves, the essence of our lives.  They express our own self at the deepest level.  Whether the gifts are proffered in silence or in song, the ritual will have meaning for us only insofar as we are offering our own selves., along with the gifts.

The prayer said over the bread and the wine comes from the Jewish tradition of the Berakah prayer (“Blessed are you, O Lord”), prayers that give thanks for the bread and wine that are still said as part of the Jewish Friday night Sabbath meal blessing. In this prayer, the priest gives thanks for the gifts of bread and wine, acknowledging that only because of God’s generosity do we have these gifts to offer and  recalling that these gifts will soon become the Body and Blood of Christ. To each of these prayers, the people respond “Blessed be God forever” when there is no music, joining our thanksgiving to that of the priest.

Before the prayer over the wine, the deacon or priest mixes a little bit of water into the wine. This was a very common practice in the early times to dilute a very strong wine that otherwise might be too strong to drink. Today, this gesture has a spiritual significance. The deacon says, “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ (wine), who humbled himself to share in our humanity (water).” We pray that just as the water and wine become one, that we also become one with Christ.

The water symbolizes our ordinary human nature and the wine symbolizes the divine nature. A little of the water mixes with the wine, gets lost in the wine, participates in the wine. Just so, the prayer says: “May we come to share in the divinity of Christ. Wine, though everyday fare, has always symbolized divinity as well. It has the color of blood (life).

We need to be aware that we get back only in proportion to what we put in the mass…

What do we offer at Mass, what is our real motivation for it?

Ask yourself if you are fully satisfied with your present level of self-offering. Then ask whether in your deepest heart you honestly want to “participate in the divinity of Christ” in this very life.

The priest invites the congregation then to pray saying: Pray my brothers and sisters that My sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father. The congregation asks God to accept our gifts for “the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his church”. We pray that the outcome of our giving will be God’s glory and goodness in the earth.

We offer bread and wine separate not together symbolizing the sacrifice.

(Priest Melchizedek offered wine and bread …)

At solemn Masses, incense is used during the preparation of the gifts. Remember from our earlier discussions that the church incenses holy objects to signify our prayers rising up to God. The gifts of bread and wine are incensed, then the altar, the crucifix, and the Paschal Candle (during the Easter season or at funerals).

Then, for the first time at the Mass, we incense people! The deacon or acolyte receives the incense from the priest and incenses him and the other clergy present, recognizing Christ’s presence in the priest as our head (in persona Christi capitis). Then the deacon comes to the front of the altar and incenses the people. Why does the deacon incense us? Christ is present in the assembly as the gathered body of Christ. We are holy people through our baptism, and we pray that through this Mass we continue to be made holy. Then the priest washes his hands. While this originally served as a practical cleansing (see last week’s article about the variety of gifts received), the priest also prays silently the words from ps.51, a prayer for spiritual cleanliness, “Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me from my sin.”

After inviting everyone to pray for the offering be acceptable to the Lord, he prays prayers over the gifts and concludes the preparation.

XIII.

OFFERTORY COLLECTION.

After we have sat down following the prayers of the faithful, the collection takes place. The collection is not just a practical need that must take place but has spiritual significance as well. Collections were given even in the Jewish community. Book of Sirach 35:6-12 reads”

Appear not before the LORD empty-handed,
for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the precepts.
The just one's offering enriches the altar
and rises as a sweet odor before the Most High.
In a generous spirit pay homage to the LORD,
be not sparing of freewill gifts.
With each contribution show a cheerful countenance,
and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.
Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
generously, according to your means.
For the LORD is one who always repays,
and he will give back to you sevenfold.
But offer no bribes, these he does not accept!
Trust not in sacrifice of the fruits of extortion.
For he is a God of justice,
who knows no favorites.

The collection has existed at its current place in the Mass since the 2nd century. In the early days of the church, people would bring whatever gift they had for the good of the community: bread and wine for the Mass, but other gifts, too: animals, eggs, produce, cloth, thus the necessity for the Lavabo, the washing of the hands for the priest after handling the offerings. Whatever was their best gift to offer and was needed for the good of the people. In fact, to not bring anything for the community, or to bring something that wasn’t your best was considered an insult to the community! In our modern society, where we work not necessarily for items but for a salary, the monetary gifts we place in the collection represent the gift of our lives, and the gift of living out the faith in the world during the past week. When we bring forward the collection to the altar, it represents our lives also being united with the altar and what is about to take place.

As a side note: These days many of you pay through direct deduction from your bank account. It is a wonderful way of making sure that you don’t forget to give and even if you go out of town for a weekend you don’t fail to pay your share to the parish. It facilitates and makes it easy to deal with the offertory. But this can probably diminish an important aspect of the offertory. The witnessing value is diminished in this mode of giving. Your children don’t see you giving. Even if you mention to them you pay through the bank it does not stick up in their mind always. Imagine, if every family gives through automatic deduction the next generation wouldn’t know about this practice and the need to give to the Church because they don’t see that being done in the Church. Therefore to overcome this pitfall, I would recommend to those giving through automatic deduction, please put just one dollar in your envelop besides your automatic deduction and drop it in the collection basket as a token of your giving. And let that pass from the oldest member of the family to the youngest one and that person may place it in the basket. The earner passes it through every member and symbolically make it everyone’s. Along with the bread and wine the envelops are brought up and they are offered on the altar. The bread and wine and bought by the collection taken and so they are fruit of your labor and they will come back to you as changed and transformed into the body and blood of Christ.  

While the offerings are being taken up, a song is usually sung. This song should express our joy at what is about to take place in the Mass, and often will further reflect on the Gospel of the day.