Divine Worship | Form One of The Offertory

Divine Worship: the Missal, the Missal of the Personal Ordinariates, retains the older set of offertory prayers (in the vernacular) and also includes in a separate section the shorter offertory prayers (Form II) found in the Novus Ordo Missal of Pope Saint Paul VI.

The longer offertory prayers capture the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Our sacrifice - offerings of bread and wine that represent us - our hopes, our needs, our lives - is joined to the prayer of Jesus to the Father in the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine are accepted by Jesus and become by the power of the Holy Ghost the very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

See article: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/transubstantiation-for-beginners

The one sacrifice of Christ on Calvary is made present in every valid Mass. Time and eternity meet. The congregation becomes present to the banquet of Jesus and the Apostles when Jesus established the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and we are also present to Jesus' Sacrifice on Calvary.

The form of language used in the Missal is of an elevated kind, referred to as Prayer Book English, the flavour of English inherited from the Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer, as readers might recall, constructed by Thomas Cranmer, and the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Version of the Bible, employ an hieratic or sacred vernacular. Readers are encouraged to click on the following text which links to an essay by the esteemed Clinton Allen Brand, Ph.D., K.S.G, concerning the language of Divine Worship: Very Members Incorporate: Reflections on the Sacral Language of Divine Worship.

The Offertory | Form I

Divine Worship: the Missal

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.

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, one God, world without end.  Amen.

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. He makes the Sign of the Cross with the chalice and places it upon the corporal, and covers it with the pall.

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.

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, thou O sanctifier, almighty, everlasting God, and ✠ bless this sacrifice, made ready for thy holy Name.

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.

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.

Then bowing in the middle of the altar, with hands joined upon it, he 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.

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 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.