Ceremonies Of The Mass
THE Mass is the great sacrifice of the New Law. It was foreshadowed by
all the sacrifices ordained by God in the Old Law. They were shadows; it
is the substance.
We learn from Genesis of the fall of man. Universal tradition, as well
as Scripture, informs us that the creature formerly became guilty in the
eyes of the Creator. All nations, all peoples, endeavored to appease the
anger of Heaven and believed
hat a victim was necessary for this
purpose. Hence sacrifices have been offered from the beginning of the
human race.
Cain and Abel offered victims; the one the first fruits of the earth,
the other the firstlings of the flock. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
Melchisedech worshiped this way, and their worship was acceptable to
God. Everywhere, even among the heathen, you find the altar, the priest,
and the sacrifice. As we learn from Leviticus and other portions of the
Old Testament, God Himself carefully prescribed the quality, manner,
number, and place of the various sacrifices which He was pleased to
accept from the hands of His chosen people. From this fact that
sacrifice has ever formed a prominent feature in the worship of all
people, we conclude that it belongs to the essentials of religion, and
that Christians to-day should have an altar of which, as St. Paul says,
"they can not eat who serve the tabernacle."
The sacrifices of the Old Law were provisional and prefigured the great
sacrifice of the New Law foretold by the prophet Malachy. This glorious
prophecy of Malachy, "From the rising of the sun even to the going down
My name is great among the Gentiles; in every place there is sacrifice,
and there is offered to My name a clean offering; for My name is great
among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts"--this glorious prophecy is
fulfilled only by the great sacrifice of the Catholic Church. We alone
can say with St. Paul, "Habemus altare" "We have an altar" and a true
sacrifice. Of all the blessings bequeathed by Jesus Christ to His
Church, there is none better, none greater, none holier than the holy
sacrifice of the Mass. It is the sacrifice of His own body and blood
offered to the heavenly Father under the appearances of bread and wine.
It was instituted by Our Lord at the Last Supper, when He took bread and
wine in His sacred hands and blessed them, saying, "This is My body. . .
. This is My blood. . . . Do this for a remembrance of Me."
He instituted the holy Mass in order to represent and continue the
sacrifice of Calvary. St Paul says, in his first epistle to the
Corinthians, xi. 26, that it was instituted to show the death of the
Lord until His second coming. After the consecration, which the priest
effects by saying over the bread and wine the same words which Jesus
Christ said at the Last Supper, there is no longer bread and wine, but
the true and living Jesus Christ, God and man, hidden under the
appearances of bread and wine, just as in the manger He was hidden under
the appearance of an infant. The priest offers Him up to His heavenly
Father in the name of the Catholic Church, or rather He offers Himself
up, and we can confidently hope that we will obtain more through prayers
at the holy Mass than through our own unaided prayers. In order to have
part in the holy sacrifice of the Mass a person should follow the
actions and prayers of the priest, especially at the offertory,
consecration, and communion; meditate on the passion of Christ; say the
rosary or the prayers in the prayer-books, at the same time uniting his
intention with the intention of the sacrificing priest.
The sacrifice of the Mass is a true sacrifice, because it is the
oblation of a victim to God to represent by its destruction or change
His supreme dominion over life and death. It is offered to satisfy our
four great debts and wants in adoration to God on account of His
omnipotence, in thanksgiving for His benefits, in atonement for our
sins, and to obtain His assistance in difficulties and temptations. The
holy Mass obtains for us all graces and blessings, temporal and
spiritual.
Since the Mass is the highest act of public worship, it is proper that
it should be celebrated with fitting sacred ceremonies. Every ceremony
which the Church prescribes has its deep significance. All tend to bring
before our minds the mystery of the passion.
The altar, which is reached by means of steps, represents Mount
Calvary, upon which Christ died with His arms extended as if to enfold
all men as brothers. The crucifix recalls Jesus dying on the cross.
The lighted candles are symbols of the faith and devotion which ought
to burn in the hearts of the faithful when present at Mass. The sacred
vestments, embroidered with the sign of the cross, indicate that the
priest is the minister and visible representative of Jesus Christ, the
invisible priest. The sign of the cross made many times by the priest
over the host and chalice reminds us that we offer to God the divine
Victim of the cross, and that we ought to unite ourselves to Him by
loving the cross, by patience and Christian penance. We genuflect
because Our Lord is really present. If we know He is not present on the
altar we bow in honor of the place where He sometimes reposes. Holy
water is used to signify that our souls must be pure if we wish God to
answer our prayers. Incense is used at solemn High Mass and at
Vespers. It is symbolic of prayer, agreeably to the words of the 140th
psalm: "Let my prayer, O Lord, be directed as incense in Thy sight." And
St. John, describing the heavenly Jerusalem in the 8th chapter of the
Apocalypse, says: "Another angel came, and stood before the altar,
having a golden censer; and there was given him much incense, that he
should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which is
before the throne of God."
The sacrifice of the Mass, then, is the sacrifice of Calvary, since the
same Victim is offered up and by the same High Priest, Jesus Christ. The
Emanuel, the God with us, the thought of whom made the prophets tremble
centuries before He came, that divine Teacher who loves to dwell with
the children of men, the Catholic Church beholds dwelling in the midst
of us on our altars. If you have visited some of our ancient cathedrals,
or any of our magnificent modern churches, and admired the varied
ornaments or artistic wonders therein; if you have ever been present at
our religious solemnities and witnessed the gravity of our ceremonies,
the beauty of the chants, the piety of the adorers; if you have
reflected upon the spirit of sacrifice and self-forgetfulness so common
to Catholicism and so unknown elsewhere--that spirit which moves
thousands of the young of both sexes to forsake the world and devote
themselves to the care of the sick, the education of the young, and to
other works of charity--if you have witnessed these things and reflected
upon them, you can not but have asked yourself why are such gorgeous
temples built; why such magnificent works of art as displayed on the
altar, the sacred vessels, paintings, and other things in the church?
What prompts such sacrifices? And the answer will be, because the church
is the edifice where God in the holy Mass daily renews the prodigies of
His mercy, and it can never be worthy of His love; because God, who
sacrificed Himself for us, is ever with us in the Blessed Sacrament of
the altar, to soothe our cares and answer our prayers. Yes, the grand
feature of the Catholic Church is the holy altar. On the altar is the
tabernacle for the residence of the Lord of Hosts.
There our "hidden God," Jesus in the Eucharist, dwells night and day in
the midst of His people, saying to them with words of love, "Come to me
all you that are burdened and heavy laden, and I will refresh you."
The Mass, independent of its sacrificial aspect, consists of the best
prayers ever uttered. The priest begins by making the sign of the cross,
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This
sign is an epitome of the Christian's belief in the unity and trinity of
God and in the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. After making the
sign of the cross he repeats the 42d psalm, "Judge me, O God," and then
makes an humble confession of his sins to God. He ascends the altar and
nine times asks God to have mercy on him, Kyrie Eleison; then follows
the beautiful hymn the shepherds heard the angels singing at the birth
of the Saviour, Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
The prayer of the feast, the epistle and gospel follow, and then the
sermon in the vernacular is usually preached. After the Nicene Creed,
Credo in Unum Deum, the priest makes the offering of bread and wine.
He then washes the tips of his fingers, saying: "I will wash my hands
among the innocent," by which he is reminded to be free from stain to
offer worthily the Holy Sacrifice.
The preface, canon, and solemn words of consecration follow, during
which the bread and wine are changed by the power of Jesus Christ into
His body and blood. In a short time he comes to the best of all prayers,
the prayer taught us by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Our
Father, Pater Noster. The Agnus Dei follows, then the communion,
when he partakes of the consecrated bread and wine, and afterward gives
holy communion to the faithful. He then continues the Mass, gives his
blessing, and finishes the Mass with the beginning of the Gospel of St.
John. Hence you see that, besides the great sacrifice which makes it an
act worthy of God, the Mass consists of the best of all prayers.
From what has been said it is evident that ceremonies in the worship of
God are reasonable, being sanctioned by God in the Old and New
Testaments; that the holy sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest of all
acts of worship; and that the Catholic Church in using ceremonies is but
following the example of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His
apostles. St. John in the Book of Revelations tells us that before the
throne of God angels stand with golden censers, multitudes from all
nations follow and adore the Lamb, while virgins sing the new song which
they alone can utter. So, too, before the throne of God on earth we
swing our censers, multitudes from all nations prostrate themselves in
adoration, the sweet incense of their praise and prayer ascends to the
throne of grace, their minds are enlightened by God's word, while their
hearts are raised to God by the grandeur of our ceremonies.
The Son of God, after having taught us by His word, shown us by His
example, and merited for us by His grace the virtues necessary for
salvation, wished to institute the holy sacrifice of the Mass, that He
might come Himself in the Holy Sacrament and imprint them upon us. Of
these virtues, the most important are humility, purity, obedience,
patience, and charity.
Let us always ask God when present at the holy Mass for a lively faith
in His Real Presence, an ardent love for Him in the Blessed Sacrament
of the altar, and the grace to imitate His humility, His purity, His
meekness, obedience, patience, and charity here, and enjoy His
presence forever hereafter.
The following beautiful words of Cardinal Newman show that the Mass is
something more than a mere form of words, and that ceremonies are
reasonable as well as necessary in its celebration:
"To me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so
overcoming, as the Mass said as it is among us. I could attend Masses
forever and not be tired. It is not a mere form of words--it is a great
action, the greatest action that can be on earth. It is not the
invocation merely, but, if I dare use the word, the evocation of the
Eternal. He becomes present on the altar in flesh and blood, before Whom
angels bow and devils tremble. This is that awful event which is the
scope and the interpretation of every part of the solemnity. Words are
necessary, but as means, not as ends; they are not mere addresses to the
throne of grace, they are instruments of what is far higher, of
consecration, of sacrifice.
"They hurry on as if impatient to fulfil their mission. Quickly they go,
for they are awful words of sacrifice; they are a work too great to
delay upon, as when it was said in the beginning, 'What thou doest, do
quickly.' Quickly they pass, for the Lord Jesus goes with them, as He
passed along the lake in the days of His flesh, quickly calling first
one and then another; quickly they pass, because as the lightning which
shineth from one part of the heaven unto the other, so is the coming of
the Son of Man.
"Quickly they pass, for they are as the words of Moses, when the Lord
came down in the cloud, calling on the name of the Lord as He passed by,
'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and generous, long suffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth.' And as Moses on the mountain, so we,
too, make haste and bow our heads to the earth and adore.
"So we, all around, each in his place, look for the great Advent
'waiting for the moving of the water,' each in his place, with his own
heart, with his own wants, with his own prayers, separate but
concordant, watching what is going on, watching its progress, uniting in
its consummation; not painfully, and hopelessly following a hard form of
prayer from beginning to end, but like a concert of musical instruments
each different, but concurring in sweet harmony, we take our post with
God's priest, supporting him, yet guided by him. There are little
children there, and old men, and simple laborers, and students in
seminaries, priests preparing for Mass, priests making their
thanksgiving, there are innocent maidens, and there are penitent
sinners; but out of these many minds rises one Eucharistic hymn, and the
great action is the measure and the scope of it."