A Brief Meditation on the beginning of The Offertory Form One of Divine Worship: Part III

And receiving the thurible, he censes the offerings, the cross, and the altar in the customary manner. A Deacon or other Minister then censes the Priest, the Ministers, and the People.

The Priest, standing at the side of the altar, washes his hands, saying in a low voice:

Psalm 26:6-12

I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord; and so will I go to thine altar: that I may show the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth. O shut not up my soul with the sinners, nor my life with the blood-thirsty: in whose hands is wickedness, and their right hand is full of gifts. But as for me, I will walk innocently: O deliver me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth right; I will praise the Lord in the congregations. (Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)

The Mass is saturated with Holy Scripture. Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate, is richly blessed with an abundance of Scripture placed upon the lips of the priest and people. Those who have migrated from Evangelical Protestant circles, upon encountering the Mass, are often surprised and impressed by the amount of Scripture every Mass presents. The Liturgy of the Word is a feast for hearts and minds in preparation for the supper of the Lamb.

"I will wash my hands... ."

Psalm 26 provides the priest with the words of a faithful son who joyfully clings to his Father, the Lord, with the serenity of an innocent child, a child whose trust is complete and enduring.

Saint Matthew 18:2-4

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

"...in a low voice."

The priest-celebrant quietly acknowledges his reliance on God and his desire to please our Almighty Father. Quietly, not silently. We are reminded by the rubric that there are distinctions in how the voice is used in order to configure our understanding to the nuances of God's grace and how He speaks to us in ways unique to our calling and our needs in every moment. The gesture here reminds us that God knows our hearts and already knows our desires. There is an intimacy at this moment between God and the priest. The priest loves God and seeks to be ever closer to Him.

The profundity of the sacrificial aspect of the Mass inspires (or should inspire!) awe, and so the priest also acknowledges his utter dependence upon God and, though unworthy to celebrate the Mass, is enabled by God's grace to do just that (St. Luke 22:19). The priest chooses God for his ally because God is the Author and Sustainer of his vocation. Through his priest, God will bring about the most glorious miracle this side of heaven!

Then bowing in the middle of the altar, with hands joined upon it, the Priest says in a low voice:

Receive, O Holy Trinity, this oblation which we offer unto thee in memory of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ; in honour of blessed Mary ever-Virgin, of blessed John the Baptist, of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, that it may be to their honour, and for our salvation; and that like as we remember them on earth, so in heaven they may plead for us. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

At first blush it seems as though the priest is commanding the Holy Trinity to accept our sacrifices (offerings, oblations). There is a confidence born of the previous prayer that contextualizes the priest's request. The petition is not baked in false humility or sinful pride. Rather, the priest is true to his role as alter Christus, acting in the Person of Christ (in persona Christi) by virtue of the anointing he received in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

CCC 1539-1546

CCC 1590-1591

This sacrament was prefigured in the Old Covenant in the service of the Levites, in the priesthood of Aaron, and in the institution of the seventy “Elders” (Numbers 11:25). These prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus who by the sacrifice of the cross is the “one mediator between God and man” (1 Timothy 2:5), the “High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:10). The one priesthood of Christ is made present in the ministerial priesthood. “Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers.” (Saint Thomas Aquinas)

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated upon an altar that typically includes relics of the saints embedded in it. Our collective memory is exercised, i.e., engaged, by the recollection of the saints - the Mother of God, the apostles, martyrs, doctors, exemplars of the Faith - with whom we stand before the throne of the living God as heaven and earth meet upon the altar.

The Priest kisses the altar and, turning towards the People, extending and then joining his hands, says aloud:

Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable unto God, the Father Almighty.

The priest kisses the altar. The altar is a symbol of Christ. It is vested with linens that remind us of the linens in which Christ was wrapped while in the tomb.

The Altar Cloths (Ritual Notes 11th ed.)

The fair linen cloth is the uppermost of the three cloths which must cover the altar in time of Mass. It should be of the same width as the table, and of sufficient length to hang down nearly to the ground at the ends. It may have, as is the general custom, five crosses worked with the needle upon t; one in the centre, and one at each part corresponding to the four top corners of the table; the ends may be embroidered in white or red thread and edged with fringe or lace, as richly as taste and means dictate; but the plainer cloth is, the better.

The two separate under-cloths (or one folded in two), quite plain in character, should not exceed the length and width of the table, but fit the top exactly. From one of these the superfrontal will hang; and the other would hold the lace, if that were used.

On Good Friday one altar-cloth only is used; it should be only slightly larger than the top of the table and it is put on during the Solemn Liturgy and removed afterwards.

A waxed cloth (known as the cere cloth) is required to cover the altar top at its consecration, but its continued use is not of obligation.

- - -

Altar-Protector. A cover made of cloth, baize or velvet which is placed on the table of the altar, during the time in which the sacred functions do not take place. Its purpose is to prevent the altar-cloth from being stained or soiled. It should be a little wider than the table and some what longer than the latter, so that it may hang down several inches on each side and in front. It may be of any colour (green or red would seem to be the preferred colours), and its front and side edges are usually scalloped, embroidered, or ornamented with fringes. During the divine services it is removed (Cong. Sac. Rit., 2 June, 1883), except at Vespers, when, during the incensing of the altar at the Magnificat, only the front part of the table need be uncovered, and it is then simply turned back on the table of the altar. It is called the vesperale, the stragulum or altar-cover. It need not be blessed (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913).

The altar may also be clothed with additional reminders of the truth, goodness and beauty of the Lord.

An antependium is a decorative piece of cloth, metal or stone, which hangs or is placed in front of the altar, lectern or pulpit in a Christian church, and which is used by various Christian denominations. The cloth versions may be made of a decorative textile, such as brocade and damask, and it may be embroidered.

The colours used for the antependium mostly follow those of the liturgical calendar. The term antependium derives from the Latin words ante- and pendere, meaning 'to hang in front of'. Sometimes, the word parament (from Latin parare, 'to make ready') is used for this and other liturgical items made of cloth.

"The Priest kisses the altar... ."

The kiss or osculation is a beautiful, intimate gesture that, unlike the kiss of Judas, a kiss of betrayal, is a kiss of veneration made by a faithful disciple. This gesture should remind us to make our offerings with pure hearts. Having made the kiss, the priest immediately turns toward the people to rally us to unite our oblations (intentions, gifts of money, and the bread and wine, symbols of our very selves) to the action happening at his hands.

So important is charity toward neighbour, to which we are called by Jesus and reminded of in the Lord's Prayer, that the Lord commands us to observe the following teaching.

Saint Matthew 5:23-24

So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

"... extending and then joining his hands... ."

This gesture of extending (enveloping) and joining (drawing together) speaks for itself. We are invited to graft our intentions to those of the priest who is offering the Mass on our behalf.

The People stand and respond:

May the Lord accept the sacrifice at thy hands, for the praise and glory of his Name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.

THE PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS

Then the Priest, with hands extended, sings or says the Prayer over the Offerings, at the end of which the People acclaim: Amen.

Amen, indeed!

Part II: https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2022/04/a-brief-meditation-on-beginning-of.html

Part I: https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-brief-meditation-on-beginning-of.html