‘STAND PAST IN THE FAITH’

New Zealand Tablet, 12 June 1913, Page 3

‘STAND PAST IN THE FAITH’

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by ‘ Ghimel.’)

THE SACRIFICE OF HIE MASS EXPLAINED IX. THE PREFACE AND CANON The Preface ( prcie-fatio , Exordium or foreword) forms the transition between the Offering of the elements of bread and wine and their consecration, and is therefore the solemn introduction to the most' - sacred portion of the Mass, the Canon, It is a hymn of. praise and thanksgiving to God for all his mercies, a song of adoration and love which priest, people, and angels joyfully in the communion of saints to the glory of God. There are in all eleven Prefaces Common or ordinary Preface, for days to which no other, is appropriated,, and the special Prefaces for the used during the octave of Christmas (except on St. John s octave), for the feasts of the Holy Name, of the Purification, of Corpus Christi, and of the Transfiguration ;' for the Epiphany; for Lent; for Passiontide, used on the feasts of the Invention and Exaltation of the Cross, of the Passion of our Lord, on the Fridays of Lent and for the Sacred Heart; for Easter; the Ascension; Whit Sunday, the Preface for Trinity, used on all Sundays in the year which have no Preface of their own; the Preface for the Apostles, said also on the feasts of St. Peter’s Chair at Rome and at Antioch. The Preface for our Lady was fixed by Urban 11., at the close of the eleventh century, 1088-1099 ’ (Gavin, p. 107). - V The Preface concludes with the Sanctua : 1 Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts. Full are the heavens and the earth of Thy glory. .Blessed is He Who,cometh in the name of the Lord. - Hosanna in the highest.’ The first verse is the joyful hymn of praise which Isaias in vision heard the Seraphim singing before the Lord’s throne; the second verse is the cry of joy that burst from the lips of the people as our Lord entered Jerusalem in triumph on Palm Sunday, and in our case is a suitable welcome of love to the God Who is about to come into, our midst. The Canon. The word Canon signifies in Greek a straight rod, thence a measuring rule, direction, order. The Canon of the Mass means the fixed standard to which all must conform in the consecration of the elements. ‘ Other portions vary with the feast and the season, while the Canon (if you except slight additions in the prayers, “Communicantes” and “Hanc Igitur”) always remains the same. As the Sacrifice in itself never varies, there is a special fitness that the prayer which accompanies it, and as it were enshrines it, should be unchangeable.’ This part of the Mass has at times gone by other names. Thus it was once called ‘ the prayer by excellence,’ because by it is asked the supreme gift, Jesus Christ Himself; and ‘the action,’ from agere, to sacrifice.

The groundwork of the Canonwhich extends from the ‘ Te Igitur ’ to the words immediately before the Pater Noster ’- formed of our Lord’s own words, and of certain prayers received from Apostolic traditions ; to this some of the early Popes have made additions. The last Pope to make any change was Gregory the Great (590-604), so that this unparalleled prayer or series of prayers is of venerable antiquity. Silence now reigns at the altar. In the Old Law the High Priest entered alone into the holy of holies. Like Moses, he spoke alone with God, and the Lord answered him (Exodus xix, 19). Thus, too, the priest recites in silence the wonderful prayers of the Canon, and renews the mysterious Sacrifice of Christ’s infinite love. The ceremony proceeds in absolute silence; the priest’s voice no longer alternates in prayer-with that of the people, for he alone is ordained to offer the Sacrifice in the name of the Church, he alone can come into close contact with his Lord and his '.God ! Silence envelops like a mysterious veil, the ‘ enclosed garden ’ (Canticles iv., 12), the ‘sealed source’ of the divine mysteries. For we are truly in presence of the mysteries of

religion. It is the prayer of prayers, which we are saying, a secret 'holy action which we are performing. Silence becomes the representative of the divine High Priest when celebrating the divine mystery. Truly, ‘the Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him’ (Habacuc ii., 20) (Nieuwbarn, p. 59). _ i The celebrant begins by raising his hands and eyes to heaven, for he is going to speak to God the Father, but he immediately lowers them and bows in humble supplication. He then kisses the altar, as a fresh sign of respect and love. These actions accompany the opening words of the ‘ Te Igitur,’ in which the celebrant prays that God will sanctify the gifts offered and will protect, unite, govern, and give peace to the Church.' Mention is specially made of the Supreme Pontiff, because as Ruler of the Church he stands in urgent need of help from the Mass, and of the Bishop of the diocese, as the centre of unity for his flock. This prayer for the whole Church gives all the faithful who are in the state of grace a share in the general fruit attached to every offering of the Sacrifice. The Memento for the Living. The celebrant now proceeds to make a remembrance of those living persons for- whose benefit the Mass is being specially offered, of those sopls who are dear to him, apd of those who are now assisting at the Sacrifice, for their very presence gives them a special claim to its fruits.. For all these he begs redemption, salvation, and even bodily health. What a privilege it is indeed to be mentioned or thought of by a priest when he is about to accomplish the most awe-inspiring and the most sacred of possible acts. Ah, if only more faith were ours ! . . . We shall learn one day, perhaps too late, what one more Mass, heard with faith and devotionwhich are the two conditions named in the Memento—would have been worth with regard to eternity.’