March 11, 2006

The Introductory Rites of Mass (5)

Posted in The Mass at 5:21 pm by fisherofmen

Collect or Opening Prayer

The priest prays as the spokesperson of the congregation and summons them to prayer. Sometimes called the Collect, (a name borrowed from the Gallican liturgy), it was implemented in the ancient Roman liturgy as a specification for the gathered assembly. It came also to designate the “collecting” of petitions. Having done this, the priest presents them to God. “The ceremony of entry reaches a peak in the oration of the priest, in the same way that the presentation of the offerings and the reception of Communion come to a fitting conclusion with an oration” (Jungmann, p. 240). Because the priest is the spokesperson for the people, they themselves are first called to prayer.
 
Following the invitation to prayer, priest and people alike observe a brief silence, “so that they may become aware they are standing in God’s presence, and may formulate their petitions in their hearts” (General Instruction, no. 32). According to the new Missal, this pause for silent prayer is no longer optional, but obligatory.
 
For a long time in the early Church, the priest was allowed to liberally extemporize or to read a prayer text composed by himself or another. This did not always work well, not all are gifted at such things, and Saint Augustine in his work, The First Catechetical Instruction, urges candidates for the catechumenate (who are well educated) not to mock them. Indeed, Saint Augustine would suggest that only approved texts should be permitted.
 
These prayers are to the point and are petitionary in character. Although the closing signature of this prayer usually invokes the Trinity, it is most common for the intercession of a saint to come at the beginning if there is a sanctoral memorial. Unless there is, a particular solemnity, -the content of the prayer must necessarily be general. It represents our approach to God.  Rev. Jungmann writes beautifully regarding this matter:  “Many formulas do not mention any specified object, but merely ask to be heard – for all the desires in the hearts of the assembled petitioners. Or perhaps one or the other constant and ever-recuring desire is mentioned: Help of divine power, overthrow of error and overcoming of danger, inclination to good, forgiveness of sin, attainment of salvation.  At the same time, however, these prayers often mirror the powers that stand opposed to each other in the spiritual combat, especially in the form of pairs of contrasting ideas, a literary device which matched the notorious fondness for antithetical phrasing: Corporeal and spiritual, thinking and doing” burden of one’s own effort and the heavenly intercession of the saints, abstaining from nourishment and fasting from sin, freedom from oppression and devotion to good works, profession and imitation, faith and reality, earthly life and eternal blessedness” (Jungmann, p. ,251).
 
Although the Roman liturgy never renounced Christ’s divinity, until about 1000 AD, it retained the rule set at the Council of Hippo that prayers directed to the Father should not be transferred to Christ. Even today, most of the Collects are addressed to the Father. (Of course, in personal piety and corporate devotions outside of Mass, as well as in the Scriptures, there were many examples of prayers and petitions addressed directly to Jesus, i.e. Romans 1 :8; 16:27; 2 Corinthians 1 :20; Hebrews 12: 15; 1 Peter 2:5; 4:11; Jude 25.) However, the name of Christ does appear in the closing formula of the Collect. Showing something of the economy of salvation, our prayer is offered “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is through Christ our Mediator that we come to the Father (Hebrews 7:25). We make our petitions through our eternal high priest. In olden times, figures of influence or importance might send a message (more so memorized than written) through a runner. When he reached the designated person, the messenger would recite the message in the person of the sender. To some degree, this is the case with Christ as our “pontifex” or bridge-builder to the Father. Through Christ, communications are fully restored and with them, our relationship to God.

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March 10, 2006

The Introductory Rites of Mass (4)

Posted in The Mass at 3:22 am by fisherofmen

Absolution Prayer

Both the Misereatur and the Absolution followed the Confiteor and manifested something of the increased expressions of sorrow. However, the latter prayer has been eliminated from the current Missal. The rationale for this might not have merely been the reduction of a second absolution, but an attempt to avoid confusion with sacramental absolution. To add to this concern, at the time of their shift into the Mass, the Absolutionem was the same used in sacramental confession. The absolution retained, the Misereatur, was probably largely established in some form as early as the ninth and tenth centuries. The addition of various saints as intercessors would be rejected in the Missal of Pope Pius V and in the present ritual.
 
Kyrie Eleison
 
This prayer which is most particularly the people’s, has been reduced from nine to six petitions. However, there is nothing in the General Instruction which prevents additional invocations or even expanding the texts. The Kyrie came into Western Europe from the Greek liturgy. “The Kyrie did not get to Rome earlier than the fifth century. And when it was taken over, it was part of the litany which is traceable in the Orient since the fourth century and which has continued in use even today in the liturgies of the Orient as the so-called ektenes” (Jungmann, p. 222). However, it goes back further. The word” eleison” was probably even familiar to the pre-Christian religions. The Scriptures give us models of this prayer as in Psalm 6:3, “…have mercy on me, O Lord.” It is recorded that about 360 AD, a deacon in Jerusalem would complete Vespers with petitions, to which boys would respond, “Kyrie eleison.” About the same time, petitions prior to the dismissal of catechumens at Mass in Alexandria (like our general intercessions) were affirmed in a like manner. The response also became connected to the Litany of the Saints. The Milanese liturgy, like our own, placed the Kyrie eleison between the introit and oration. In chants that accompanied papal processions at the beginning of Mass, each utterance of the chant, according to the first Roman Ordo, was repeated three times. “Custom had thus consecrated the number three” (Jungmann, p. 228).
 
Both of the titles “Kyrie” and “Christus” are directed to Jesus. The tropes which are used with some versions of the Kyrie detail some attribute of Christ’s, particularly in terms of his saving action for us. With the development of various Gregorian melodies for the Kyrie, the trope materialized in the ninth century and flourished into the sixteenth. The Missal of Pius V eradicated the tropes as an “over-growth.” However, the Missal of Paul VI has restored them. “Originally the celebrating priest took no part in the Kyrie. For that reason it is not mentioned in most Ordinaries, not even in those that contain all the texts of the prayers at the foot of the altar, or the offertory” (Jungmann, p. 231).
 
Gloria
 
Like the Kyrie, the Gloria was not initially created for the Mass. It is a remnant of the ancient hymns which were treasured by the early Church. They were composed to mimic biblical passages, especially the psalms.

“The line begun in the New Testament with the Magnificat and Zachary’s song of praise and the canticle of aged Simeon, is continued in these works.  Few, however, have remained in use to the present. . . . This last, [Gloria] often called the Greater Doxology, was already so highly esteemed even in the ancient Church that it outlived the fate that overtook so many songs which perished as a result of an adverse attitude towards church hymns created merely humano studio” (Jungmann, pp. 231-232).

The text of the Gloria can be traced back to three ancient sources, the most notable being the Codex Alexandrinus of the New Testament. It is from this that the Greek liturgy gets its rendition. The other two sources include a later expansion of it in the Syrian version (used in the Nestorian liturgy) and a much edited version in the Apostolic Constitutions.  This latter version existed as early as 380 AD, however, it subordinated Christ to the Father and did not address Jesus at all in the second part. Obviously, an Arian editor (denying Christ’s full divinity) altered the text to fit his theology.
 
As for its translation, an interesting note is made by Johannes H. Emminghaus in his book, The Eucharist:

“The English text implicitly keeps the optative form of the verb ‘to be’: ‘Glory [be] to God…’  This is not the sole possible interpretation of the original text; the indicative could just as well be used in translation (‘Glory is to God. . .’), since all forms of praise of God from the Jewish period emphasize the fact that God is being glorified; they are not just wishes that God may be glorified in heaven and on earth” (Emminghaus, p. 124).

The Gloria can be delineated readily into three sections: the song of the angels on the first Christmas night (Luke 2:14); the praise of God; and the invocation of Christ. It was common for these hymns to begin with a verse from Scripture. The second element, praise of God, assembles a series of assertions about our activity toward God and his names (in the godhead). It addresses all three persons of the Trinity. The Christological segment posits Christ and God as one and on the same level. The Holy Spirit is included, but almost as an afterthought.

“No, God and Christ are the pillars of the Christian order of the universe: God, the beginning and the end of all things, towards whom all religious seeking is bent and all prayer eventually is turned; but in the Christian order also Christ, the way, the road on which all our God-seeking must be directed” (Jungmann, p. 234).

The peace that is proclaimed for God’s people on earth is properly from God. It is the gift given to those who, having received the Good News, are now receptive to his grace and favor. God has decreed that all should come to his kingdom (Ephesians 1:5). The glory made fully manifest during the events toward the end of his life begins now with his incarnation among us.

“Every day that the Church lives, every time the Church gathers her children in prayer, and particularly when she assembles them for the Eucharist, a new light flashes across the world and the Church beholds, with mingled joy and longing, the approach of the Kingdom of God, the advent, in spite of every obstacle, of the consummation of the great plan: that glory will come to God, and to men of God’s choice, peace and salvation” (Jungmann, p. 235).

We thank God for his wondrous glory.  God’s kingdom is erupting into the world and we are rewarded beyond imagining, beginning with the gift of his Son (Romans 8:32). Nevertheless, we praise God’s glory for what it is in itself and only secondarily for what it brings us. We acclaim him by his various titles and then move our attention particularly to Christ. “In this christological section we can distinguish the following framework:  (1) the laudatory salutation; (2) the litany-like invocations; (3) the triple predication, To Solus; and (4) the trinitarian conclusion” (Jungmann, p. 236). The most important of the titles used here for Jesus is “Lord” or “Kurios.”  As Saint Paul would emphasize, Christ alone is Lord. The phrase, “Only [-begotten] Son” of the Father was used in some ancient documents as a name for Jesus. The title “Lord” is repeated in a second series of three titles for him, giving it additional emphasis. Christ became one of us; however, since he shares in the light of his Father’s splendor, he is unfathomable as well (Hebrews 1:3). His redemptive labor is recalled with the name “Lamb of God.” In words similar to the Kyrie, we know at what great price he “take(s) away the sin of the world.” He will indeed “have mercy on us.” We make our prayers through Christ and he lives to intercede for us. Toward the end of the hymn, our acclaim of Christ logically blooms into an accolade of the triune God. However, even here, Christ’s name loses none of its splendor; for what is claimed of one must be acknowledged of all.  Before the world began, Christ lived in glory with the Father (John 17:5). He is the holy one who comes to make us holy. The phrase, “you alone are the Most High,” is taken from Psalm 82: 19.
 
Although not initially intended for the Mass, it was a festival song of thanksgiving. As such, Pope Telesphorus (d. 136 AD), commanded that it be sung for the evening Christmas Mass. Pope Symmachus (d. 514 AD) permitted it in episcopal Masses for Sundays and for the feasts of martyrs.   “According to the Ordo of St. Armand, the priest was allowed to intone it during Easter night, and also on the day of his ordination if he was installed in his titular church and there celebrated his first Mass” (Jungmann, p. 238). By the end of the eleventh century, the present rule went into effect throughout the universal Church. It may be used at any Mass of festive character. Although it would be transferred to the clergy (who intoned it), the Gloria was at first a song of the congregation, not of a special choir.

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March 5, 2006

The Introductory Rites of Mass (3)

Posted in The Mass at 3:54 am by fisherofmen

Kissing the Altar (continued)

In time, the association of the altar with Christ would be a bit reshuffled by the placement of a small reliquary (altar stone) with the remains of some popular martyr. Consequently, the kissing of the altar was transformed into a greeting of the Church triumphant through the martyr. “Innocent III therefore explains the bishop’s kissing of the altar as representing Christ saluting his spouse”  (Jungmann, p. 211). The deletion of the words which accompanied this kissing of the altar in the previous rite (making it penitential) was to restore something of its otherwise innate meaning. The number of times that the altar is kissed have been (currently) reduced to that which was traditional in 1240 (and earlier), at the beginning and at the conclusion of the liturgy. To be honest, there was another such kiss mentioned at that time as well, however, its placement was not specified. If it is desired to create an aura of greater solemnity, the altar may be further honored by incensing. In the early days of the Church there was some hesitance to use incense at all because of its wide use in pagan cults.  With the disappearance of the old religions, this reservation was also dismissed. Along with the rising of the smoke, Christian hearts were also upraised to God. By the ninth century incense was definitely used at the liturgy. “A formal incensation of the altar is mentioned as early as the eleventh century”  (Jungmann, p. 213). Rev. Jungmann notes:

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March 4, 2006

The Introductory Rites of Mass (2)

Posted in The Mass at 10:48 pm by fisherofmen

Entrance Song & Procession

The act of prayer is introduced by an entrance song and a procession into the church. It is an approach to the majesty of God. As early as the year 800 AD, the Ordo of St. Amand (Roman), detailed how the schola would intone the introit antiphon. While the psalm was sung, the pope and his deacons would proceed through the church to the altar. At the end of this, with a signal from the pope, the schola would sing the Gloria. Arriving at the altar, he would bow, say a silent prayer, and kiss the altar. After the repetition of the antiphon, the pope would speak the greeting. Then, the Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you) and oration would be performed. The only thing missing was the Kyrie. (It must be said that the particular opening service narrated here was peculiar. According to this Ordo, everyone was to subsequently leave the church and set out in a penitential procession.) “But it is significant that the scribe felt called upon to make a special note regarding the missing part: ‘When the antiphon at the close of the introit has been sung to the end, the schola does not sing the Kyrie.’ The Kyrie therefore normally belonged to this rite” (Jungmann, pp. 192-193). Obviously, in such cases it was intoned at the beginning of the penitential procession.

As for hymns that might be used today in place of the short antiphons, some are likewise taken from the psalms. In a day gone by, these would have been the only ones allowed at the Mass. “The new hymnody, composed on the principles of meter and strophe, which was introduced about the time of St. Ambrose, was not admitted to the Roman Mass for over five hundred years. At Rome a strict rule was observed in the face of the wild and crafty song-propaganda of Manichean and Gnostic groups: We use only the songs dictated by the Spirit of God himself” (Jungmann, p. 214). The chants which came to be used were sung antiphonally with two choruses, verse by verse. With the early prohibition against musical instruments, a prefatory antiphon was used for the proper intonation. Eventually, this antiphon would be all that would remain. However, a tradition was starting that would profoundly affect the entire Mass. In the middle of the fourth century, monks who opposed the Arian heresy (in the East) would gather people and chant the psalms. Within a fairly short time, this way of singing became widespread. The cathedrals in the cities established scholas to chant their prayers. In Rome, it is traditionally claimed that antiphony was introduced by Pope Celestine I (died 432) and precisely as an introit no less. However, there is no historical data to backup this claim. In most other churches there was insufficient room for such a procession that would mandate an extended psalm. Consequently, it was reduced to a single antiphon.Tropes were used by some to enlarge this part of the liturgy. However, the Missal of Pius V eliminated this while tolerating a triple repetition of the antiphon. This was practiced by the Norbertines and Carmelites all the way from the eleventh century. Nevertheless, except for very rare occasions (as in the coronation Mass of Pope Pius XI in 1922), the entire psalm was not sung. As in our hymns today, the original intent was to use the psalms befitting the theme or feast of the day.

Kissing the Altar

The priest makes a simple bow to the altar or he genuflects if the tabernacle is there. The solenm (papal) liturgies of the seventh century began with the celebrant kissing the Book of the Gospels and the altar, both which represented Christ. Although the book will be kissed today after its proclamation, only the altar is so treated at the beginning of Mass. For a time, a cross would also be kissed; however, this was reduced to a kiss on a symbol of the cross in the liturgical book (as in the beginning of the canon). Three cardinal priests would give the kiss of peace to the Pope. The French had a similar practice, but after the Confiteor. The Missal of Paul VI reserves the sign of peace until just prior to communion. (Although a bishop’s initial greeting substitutes “Peace be with you,” for “The Lord be with you.”) There is a real similarity in regard to the present command to extend Christ’s peace. At that time in history, it was bluntly stated: “Receive the kiss of peace.” Borrowed from antiquity, the practice of kissing the altar finds precedence in the custom of honoring the temple by kissing the threshold. For the pagans, it was also common practice “to greet the images of the gods by means of a kiss or to throw them a kiss from a distance…” (Jungmann, p. 210). Even the family dining table was so honored, especially at the start of a meal. This civic custom became readily introduced into Christian practice. Indeed, the routine of kissing the altar extends at least as far back as the fourth century. By kissing Christ’s altar, we were honoring Christ himself.

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The Introductory Rites of Mass (1)

Posted in The Mass at 10:07 pm by fisherofmen

The following notes are derived from a thorough reading of Rev. Josef A. Jungmann, S.J.’s classic work, The Mass of the Roman Rite. Several years ago, Fr. Charles Pope used the book almost exclusively for a series of classes he gave at Mount Calvary. It may be the best text on this most important mystery of our faith.

Division of the Mass

In the revised liturgy, the names for the two principal parts of the Mass have been changed. Formerly, they were called the “Mass of the Catechumens” and the “Mass of the Faithful,” terms which reached popularity in the eleventh century and which Florus used in his De actione missarum of the ninth. Today, they are called the “Liturgy of the Word” and the “Liturgy of the Eucharist,” distinctions made clear as early as the mid-second century (Justin Martyr’s account) and maybe as far back as the late apostolic age. The use of introductory readings would create an aura of faith for the great mystery of faith which would come later. Just as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults now (optionally) recommends, the catechumens in early days would be asked to leave prior to the second part of the liturgy. Indeed, in sixth century Rome, they would be required to leave even before the Gospel.

The Church has returned to the use of petitions after the readings, or what we commonly call the Prayer of the Faithful or General Intercessions. Also, similar to the practice of early times, the Liturgy of the Word begins rather abruptly, with a few introductory prayers. In reference to a story from the year 426 AD about Saint Augustine, Rev. Jungmann writes: “But what is of real interest to us is that when the tumult had gradually died down, the bishop ,greeted the people and then without further ado began the reading of the lessons”  (Jungmann, p. 188). 

A Schema of the Introductory Rites

(1)  Introit/Entrance Antiphon & Procession

(2)  Sign of the Cross

(3)  Greeting

(4)  Penitential Rite: Confiteor & Absolution

(5)  Penitential Rite: Kyrie Eleison

(6)  Gloria

(7)  Collect (Opening Prayer)

Unity of the Introductory Rites

The opening and closing rites of the Mass provide the framework in which is sandwiched the two principal parts of the Mass, the Word and Eucharist. Our current introductory rites are actually shortened versions of the more extensive ritual of the Tridentine Missal. Although some have complained about the lack of preparation this new brevity allows, liturgists like Johannes H. Emminghaus contend, “The recent reform did not entirely eliminate the impression of accumulation, but the structure has on the whole been rendered more logical and easier to put into practice, especially when use is made of various options offered” (The Eucharist, p. 104). Obviously, penitential rites were necessarily added from very early on, and even today, these rites can help the community to focus on their liturgical prayer. 

Originally, the collect was after the first reading. However, owing perhaps to the magnetism of the introit, it shifted to its present position. Others have suggested that its roots were really in some now forgotten ceremony of assembly prior to Mass, as appeared to have been the Roman custom. This particular oration was transferred to the processional litany, which exists today in its much reduced form, the Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy). Fr. Jungmann himself admits that the oration and the Kyrie belong together (Jungmann, p. 190).