Wonderstruck: The Roman Canon in Divine Worship

Altar cards by Katherine Quan

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity

in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.

― Albert Einstein

Because philosophy arises from awe,

a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables.

Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder.

― Saint Thomas Aquinas

Venite (1)

Psalm 95

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;

let the whole earth stand in awe of him.

Catholics in the Ordinariates of the English Patrimony are blessed to worship God in a manner many consider to be similar to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). Many prayers and ways of doing things are brought over from the English Patrimony, conserved from pre-Reformation English Catholicism and preserved in Anglicanism for centuries, giving something back to the Church which has always belonged to the Church. Those patrimonial liturgical habits enable us to sink deeply into the prayer of the sacred Liturgy to discover the Person of Christ speaking to us. We enter into the action of Christ and dispose ourselves to His Presence.

The Lord's Prayer - the Our Father - prayed every Mass is rendered in hieratic English. The entire text of Divine Worship is in the same sacred "dialect" of English. The Ordinariate version of the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) is particularly beautiful.

It has always struck me as odd that the Ordinary Form of the Mass has retained the Our Father in elevated English. However, compared to the richness of the Our Father, the rest of the Ordinary Form of the Mass is rendered in a somewhat dull or flat tone.

Upon pivoting into the Ordinariate experience, I quickly discovered the lyricism and majesty of the language of Divine Worship. In Divine Worship, the Ordinariate form of the Mass, prayers commonly known to Catholics - the Nicene Creed, the Sanctus (Holy, Holy), the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) and others - possess a cadence that, for the person at prayer, whether listening or singing, invites the heart and mind to unite in the voice of Christ. Art, if it be true and good and beautiful, converts.

The Roman Canon is the Latin Church's native Eucharistic prayer. The soul who meditates upon its awe-inspiring texts is blessed beyond measure. As an instituted acolyte who regularly functions as master of ceremonies, being close to the act of consecration and immersed in the accompanying words is a massive privilege for which I cannot express enough gratitude.

Take a moment - five or ten minutes - and savour the text of the Roman Canon rendered in traditional English. If 'thee' and 'thou' and words such as 'vouchsafe' and 'dost' and the name Xystus are a little awkward for you - good! Slow down! Drink in the good wine and dine on the finest cuisine.

THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

THE ROMAN CANON

The People kneel. The Priest says:

THEREFORE, most merciful Father, we humbly pray thee, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, and we ask, that thou accept and bless these gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices.

With hands extended, he continues:

WE offer them unto thee, first, for thy holy Catholic Church: that thou vouchsafe to keep her in peace, to guard, unite, and govern her throughout the whole world; together with thy servant N., our Pope, N., our Bishop, (or N., our Ordinary), and all the faithful guardians of the catholic and apostolic faith.

COMMEMORATION OF THE LIVING

REMEMBER, O Lord, thy servants and handmaids (N. and N.) and all who here around us stand, whose faith is known unto thee and their steadfastness manifest, on whose behalf we offer unto thee, or who themselves offer unto thee this sacrifice of praise; for themselves, and for all who are theirs; for the redemption of their souls, for the hope of their health and well-being; and who offer their prayers unto thee, the eternal God, the living and the true.

WITHIN THE ACTION

UNITED in one communion, we venerate the memory, first of the glorious ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of our God and Lord Jesus Christ; of Blessed Joseph her spouse; as also of thy blessed Apostles and Martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus; Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all thy Saints; grant that by their merits and prayers we may in all things be defended with the help of thy protection.

WE beseech thee then, O Lord, graciously to accept this oblation from us thy servants, and from thy whole family; order thou our days in thy peace, and bid us to be delivered from eternal damnation, and to be numbered in the fold of thine elect.

VOUCHSAFE, O God, we beseech thee, in all things to make this oblation blessed, approved, and accepted, a perfect and worthy offering; that it may become for us the Body and Blood of thy dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who the day before he suffered, took bread into his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes lifted up to heaven, unto thee, God, his almighty Father, giving thanks to thee, he blessed, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT:

FOR THIS IS MY BODY,

WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

He genuflects, shows the consecrated Host to the People, places it on the paten, and again genuflects in adoration.

Then he continues:

Likewise, after supper, taking also this goodly chalice into his holy and venerable hands, again giving thanks to thee, he blessed, and gave it to his disciples, saying:

TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT,

FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,

THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT,

WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY

FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

He genuflects, shows the Chalice to the People, places it on the corporal, and again genuflects in adoration. Then he sings or says:

The mystery of faith:

And the People, or Choir, continue, acclaiming:

O Saviour of the world, who by thy Cross and precious Blood hast redeemed us: save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.

Then with hands extended, the Priest says:

THEREFORE, O Lord, we thy servants, and thy holy people also, remembering the blessed Passion of the same Christ thy Son our Lord, as also his Resurrection from the dead, and his glorious Ascension into heaven; do offer unto thine excellent majesty of thine own gifts and bounty, the pure victim, the holy victim, the immaculate victim, the holy Bread of eternal life, and the Chalice of everlasting salvation. Vouchsafe to look upon them with a merciful and pleasant countenance; and to accept them, even as thou didst vouchsafe to accept the gifts of thy servant Abel the righteous, and the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham; and the holy sacrifice, the immaculate victim, which thy high priest Melchisedech offered unto thee.

We humbly beseech thee, Almighty God, command these offerings to be brought by the hands of thy holy Angel to thine altar on high, in sight of thy divine majesty; that all we who at this partaking of the altar shall receive the most sacred Body and Blood of thy Son, may be fulfilled with all heavenly benediction and grace.

COMMEMORATION OF THE DEAD

REMEMBER also, O Lord, thy servants and handmaids, (N. and N.), who have gone before us sealed with the seal of faith, and who sleep the sleep of peace. To them, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, we beseech thee to grant the abode of refreshing, of light, and of peace. O us sinners also, thy servants, who hope in the multitude of thy mercies, vouchsafe to grant some part and fellowship with thy holy Apostles and Martyrs; with John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and with all thy Saints: within whose fellowship, we beseech thee, admit us, not weighing our merit, but granting us forgiveness;

THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom, O Lord, thou dost ever create all these good things; dost sanctify, quicken, bless, and bestow them upon us.

By whom and with whom and in whom, to thee, O Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory throughout all ages, world without end.

The People respond: Amen.

The People stand.

The Priest genuflects, rises, and continues with the Lord’s Prayer.