Further Reflection On The Offertory Prayers (Form 1) of Divine Worship (Part IV)

DIVINE WORSHIP | THE OFFERTORY (FORM I)

Form One restores to the Mass the longer prayers one would encounter, though not hear (unless one is a Deacon or server near to the action), in the older Mass, the 1962 Missal, commonly called the Tridentine Mass or Usus Antiquior. Latin enthusiasts would probably recognize much of the hieratic English translation of the Latin found in their pew missals. The text of Divine Worship, though, presents some particularly beautiful and legitimate adjustments to the language of the Offertory prayers retained in and received from the Anglican Patrimony.

+ + +

Standing at the altar, the Priest takes the paten with the bread and holds it slightly raised above the altar with both hands, saying in a low voice:

Receive, O holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, this spotless host, which I, thine unworthy servant, now offer unto thee, my living and true God, for my numberless sins, offences, and negligences; for all here present; as also for the faithful in Christ, both the quick and the dead, that it may avail for their salvation and mine, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Thus begins anew a journey toward heaven in the Mass of the Ordinariate. The priest-celebrant, acting in the Person of Christ, the Lord Jesus Who is the true actor in the Mass, raises up the host to God as a symbol of himself, his intentions, and the intentions of everyone present, and! - mindful of those undergoing purification, the souls in Purgatory - the prayer reassures us that what is offered is pure, free of egotism (spotless host), uncorrupt, fit for Christ to transform the oblation into Himself.

offertory (n.)

mid-14c., offertorie, "antiphon said or sung after the Credo during the part of a Mass at which offerings are made," from Medieval Latin offertorium "place where offerings are brought," from Vulgar Latin offertus, corresponding to Latin oblatus, past participle of offerre. Meaning "part of a religious service beginning with an offering" is first recorded 1530s; sense of "the collection of money received as offerings" is from 1862.

+ + +

Then making a cross with the paten, he places the paten with the bread upon the corporal. The Deacon pours wine and a little water into the chalice, the Priest first blessing with the Sign of the Cross the water to be mixed in the chalice, saying in a low voice:

O God, who didst wondrously create, and yet more wondrously renew the dignity of man’s nature: grant that by the mystery of this water and wine we may be made partakers of his divinity, as he vouchsafed to become partaker of our humanity, even Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The rubrics capture the actions of the Deacon in a solemn high Mass. There is an intentional progression from the altar servers offering the water and wine cruets to the Deacon, then the blessing of the water to be added to the chalice, to the delivery of the chalice to the Celebrant. A hierarchy in summary is represented in this brief progression, with God at the apex of the action.

As we witness these actions, partially hidden by the priest's body and subdued voice, we sense an emerging counterpoint between what is visible and what is invisible, the mystery of Christ's sacrifice symbolized in gestures combining and reinforcing one another:

• the priest elevating the paten to the Father (our oblation reaching up to the Father Who awaits our supplication);
• a cross made with the paten (we are drawn into the mystery of the Cross);
• then the paten with the bread laid upon the corporal (Christ in burial shroud laid in the tomb, soon to rise).

Divine Worship preserves a full range of human communication - verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal - to embody the fullest range of expression of the joy of man's desire for eternal life and redemption in Christ.

Jesus spoke and acted directly and through parables: he wrote in the sand in a way that exposed hypocrisy and effected mercy and compassion; he remained silent when asked by Pontius Pilate to define truth, a silence affirming Jesus as the Truth present among men; he spoke in varying tones of voice or levels of volume (as does the priest in the Mass) to draw men into communion with the Him and the Father; he knelt; and, upon his death, he bowed his head and gave up His spirit.

At a Mass for the Dead, the Sign of the Cross is omitted.

Then he takes the chalice, and offers it, slightly elevating it and saying in a low voice:

We offer unto thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching thy mercy, that it may ascend in the sight of thy divine majesty as a sweet smelling savour for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen.

The congregation cannot see the minor elevation of the chalice containing the wine. The priest is offering the chalice to God, not the congregation. One of the unfortunate aspects of versus populum worship - i.e., Mass facing the people - is the temptation to think that the chalice is being offered to us, instead of God, the One Who transforms the wine contained therein into the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. The advantage of ad orientem worship is that the focus of the prayers and gestures (non-verbal prayer) is clearly oriented to God.

"... for our salvation, and for that of the whole world." Here, too, we intercede for all mankind. Christ's outstretched arms as he hung upon the cross embrace the whole of the universe.

He makes the Sign of the Cross with the chalice and places it upon the corporal, and covers it with the pall. Then with hands joined upon the altar, bowing he says in a low voice:

In a humble spirit, and with a contrite heart, may we be accepted of thee, O Lord, and so let our sacrifice be offered in thy sight this day, that it may be pleasing unto thee, O Lord our God.

This prayer is not mere virtue signaling. As creatures standing in the Presence of the living God, we can do no less than acknowledge our utter dependence upon the Lord. He sustains our being, and gives us the grace to be able to approach Him with trust and confidence in His generosity.

Standing upright, he extends his hands, raises them and joins them, and lifting his eyes to heaven and then lowering them, says in a low voice:

Come, O thou Sanctifier, Almighty, Everlasting God, and bless this sacrifice, made ready for thy holy Name.

January 3rd: The Most Holy Name of Jesus

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:17

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. - 1 John 3:23

There has been a resurgence, of late, of the Holy Name devotion. The month of January is traditionally dedicated to Jesus’ Holy Name (Fr. Landry).

We live in a secularist age that seeks to separate faith from life and ghettoize expressions of faith to private homes and houses of worship. Even within the Church, there is sometimes a powerful push for assimilation with cultural elites and conformism with prevailing ideas, such that we lose our distinctiveness, speak of Jesus less explicitly, and begin to behave and speak like a charitable association calling people to goodness rather than to God.

We see this when Catholic educational institutions speak of “values” and “traditions” instead of authentically Christian faith and morals. We find it when preachers barely touch on the Scriptures, fail to mention the name of Jesus or God at all, and focus rather about political, social or psychological issues. We lament it when, somewhat scandalously, certain Church documents and major initiatives lack any clear connection to the Gospel and to the words, actions and person of Jesus. - Fr. Roger J. Landry

If incense is used, the Priest places some in the thurible, saying in a low voice:

Through the intercession of blessed Michael the Archangel standing at the right hand of the altar of incense, and of all his elect, may the Lord vouchsafe to bless this incense, and to receive it for a sweet smelling savour; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

This powerful request is a summons to all gathered to remember that we are surrounded by innumerable angels assembled before the throne of God. Saint Michael, General of God's army, Defender of the Church and Israel - his intercession is requested in this dialogue between earth and heaven.

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.)

Joy. Praise. Thanksgiving. The beauty of holiness.

My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:1

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior. 2 Samuel 22:3

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. St Luke 1:46

The Last Supper celebrated in the upper room is both a Passover and a todah meal. The Passover has all the same elements found in the todah: bread, wine, and sacrifice of a lamb, along with hymns and prayers. Indeed, the Hallel psalms (113-118), that were sung during the Passover meal were all todah psalms! The Exodus narrative itself has the basic contours of a todah hymn, with Israel in distress and lament calling out to the Lord (cf. Ex. 2:23-25), while the Lord in turn hears their cry and delivers them (cf. Ex. 6:5-7). The Passover has both the form and content of the todah, because it is a concrete example of a todah sacrifice. - From Jewish Passover to Christian Eucharist: The Story of the Todah, by Tim Gray

...

When Jesus takes the bread, breaks it, and declares thanksgiving (eucharistia), He is performing the key function of both the todah and Passover — giving thanks for deliverance. But here Jesus is not simply looking back at Israel's history of salvation, but forward to His death and Resurrection. In other words, Jesus is giving thanks to the Father for His love and for the new life to be granted in the Resurrection. Note that Jesus' words over the bread, His thanksgiving, is what the Christian tradition has focused upon — so that they could call every re-enactment of the Last Supper "Eucharist." 

As water is poured over his hands, the priest expresses the joy of his service to the Lord and His Church, and his rejection of all that is opposed to the Lord. The grime of self-centeredness slips away. A ritual washing happens again later. The first time, the washing is a sign of his desire to serve without distraction, without the stain of impure thoughts clouding his mind and skewing his heart. The priest is set apart from the wickedness that, if embraced, blinds a person the goodness and generosity of the Lord. The brief ritual recalls the Jewish practice, the netilat yadayim, the washing of the hands with a cup. The priest relies on the Lord to purify his intentions. The second time his hands are washed is after he, the celebrant, has purified the paten over the chalice and has consumed the contents of the chalice to ensure the Precious Blood and any particle of the Precious Body have been consumed and none remains, to avoid permitting a sacrilege.

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.

This prayer to the Holy Trinity is a recollection of things past, and an expression of faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Later, God makes present those same events, so that we can say truly we are present to the Passion of Jesus Christ in its totality. We can each say, then, that "I was gathered into the offering of the Son to the Father."

And all the saints. Catholics this side of heaven, if they are regular Mass-goers and attend a tradition-minded parish, are acutely aware that they are members of the Communion of the Saints. On earth, we are the Church Militant. The holy souls being purified in Purgatory are the Church Expectant. Those souls in heaven are the Church Triumphant. We can direct to the martyred Apostles, for example, our gratitude and respect for their part in faithfully handing on the saving message of Jesus Christ.

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.

At the invitation of the celebrant, the People of God gathered before the Holy Altar of God exercise their privilege of service, of intercession. We ask God to accept our offering made in the spirit in conformity with the truth. With God's help, we are constantly striving to purify our intentions. In humility, we are aware that we are utterly dependent upon God in this life. We can do no less than to acknowledge our need and our willingness to accept the will of God in all things.

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.

Fully aware of the import of the action taking place, the gathered assembly stands and prays that the oblation may be accepted by God. This affirmation of the action of the Celebrant acknowledges the priestly character of the congregation as People of God. The laity are called to intentional participation in the sacred Liturgy. And... we are called to offer our gifts - time and talents and resources - to Christ Whom we meet in everyone we may encounter. Our witness to the most glorious action of the sacred Liturgy finds expression in our daily lives as we bear faith in the Resurrection to the wider world in the hope that souls may be saved by God speaking and acting in and through us. We are, when we allow ourselves to be conformed to Christ, icons of Christ.

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. - Deuteronomy 7:6

READ ALSO

• https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-brief-meditation-on-beginning-of.html
• https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2022/04/a-brief-meditation-on-beginning-of.html
• https://atreasuretobeshared.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-brief-meditation-on-beginning-of.html