After the prayers the faithful saluted each other with the kiss of peace. In the Bible we find that kissing was a sign of affection not only between those related by blood or love, but also between those joined by friendship or service. Thus we read that when Saint Paul was taking farewell of the Church at Ephesus the elders fell on his neck and kissed him.
"And Paul sent from Miletus to Ephesus and called the elders of the Church. And when they were come to him and were together he said: Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia in what manner I have been with you And when he had said these things he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping among them all, and they fell on the neck of Paul and kissed him, being grieved most of all for the word which he had said, that they should see his face no more." (Acts 20)
At the close of many of the Epistles or Letters of Saints Peter and Paul we read the exhortation: "Salute one another with a holy kiss," because this ceremony was in common use among the Christians to show their union and their love. The recitation of the Prayers marked the approach to the celebration of the Eucharist. In the account of the Last Supper we see that at this period our Lord gave His disciples the new commandment of love:
"A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this, shall men know that ye are My disciples if ye have love for one another." (John 13)
It was therefore natural that the faithful should now manifest their love by the "holy kiss." There was a further reason, however, for its use. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is about to begin. The faithful in a few moments will place their gifts for the sacrifice on the altar. But in the Sermon on the Mount our Lord had said:
"Ye have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. If, therefore, thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there thou rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matthew 5)
Therefore the sign of love and reconciliation was most appropriate in this place as a practical expression of obedience to the command of Christ. In this way the faithful saw the fulfillment of the promise made at the Last Supper, "My peace I leave you, My peace I give you," and they called the ceremony itself the "Kiss of Peace," or the "Pax," which is the Latin for "Peace." In the ancient churches the men sat apart on the south side and the women on the north side (No. 67). The clergy gave the kiss of peace to the Bishop, the men to the men and the women to the women.
After the congregation had manifested its love for all men by the Pax the gifts were brought to the altar. Those gifts consisted of bread and wine for the sacrifice, for we must remember that in those days every one who attended the service communicated and communicated under the two species of bread and wine. Moreover, it was the custom during the persecutions for the Christians to bring the Blessed Sacrament to their homes, and to communicate privately. Consequently, it was necessary to provide much more bread and wine than at present. This provision was made by the congregation. Each member thereof brought a portion of bread and a small flask of wine and offered them to the Bishop or Deacons. From these offerings the attendants selected as much as was necessary for the Communion of the people. The remainder was set apart for the support of the clergy. From the fact that the gifts were "offered" by the people to the Bishop this ceremony was known as the "Offertory."
All things being now ready, the Bishop or the officiating priest began the Eucharistic Prayer or solemn Prayer of Thanksgiving. In the Roman Mass this prayer is called the preface, as it is, as it were, an introduction to the main portion of the ceremony, namely, the Consecration. It follows the lines of the great Hallel, and begins with an invitation to the people to lift up their hearts and give thanks. The Bishop then recited, in his own words, often at great length, the reasons for thanksgiving, namely, God's creation and government of the world, his dealings with his chosen people and the Incarnation of our Lord. In the Roman Mass of today the preface is much shortened and the form of words is prescribed.
After the preface the people sang the hymn Isaias heard the angels singing before the throne of God.
"In the year that King Ozias died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and His train filled the temple. Upon it stood the Seraphim; the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered His face and with two they covered His feet and with two they flew and they cried one to another, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of Hosts, all the earth is full of His glory." (Isaias 6)
As the consecration is at hand the real coming of our Saviour among His own the "Sanctus" concluded with the "Benedictus, " or the words of welcome with which our Lord was greeted as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
"And the multitudes that went before and that followed, cried saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest." (Matthew 21)
The Bishop now came to the "words of institution," as they are called: "Who on the day before He suffered," and recites them over the bread and wine. This is called the "Consecration." What was before mere bread and wine becomes some thing "sacred." It is the very Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ ordered His Apostles to do what He had done in Remembrance of Him. Accordingly, after the consecration, they called to mind His passion and death in the following words:
"Wherefore, Lord, calling to mind both the blessed passion as well as the resurrection from the dead, and also the glorious ascension into heaven of the same Christ Thy Son, our Lord, we, Thy servants, as also Thy holy people, offer unto Thine excellent majesty, a victim, the bread of everlasting life and the chalice of eternal salvation."
In His farewell address our Lord had told His disciples that He would send the Holy Ghost to teach them all truth. Then they could not understand fully what He had done and said, but after He had risen from the dead He would come to them again. Up to this He had spoken to them in parables and proverbs because they could not bear the full truth. But soon He would speak to them plainly, and the Holy Ghost would give them grace and strength to understand and to remember. The office of the Holy Ghost was therefore to manifest the truth of Christ's teaching to the hearts of the disciples. As the doctrine of the Eucharist was a "hard saying" the Christians invoked the Holy Ghost immediately after the Remembrance to come down and bear witness to the passion of Christ and to make the faithful know that the bread and wine were the Body and Blood of the Lord.
In the same address at the Last Supper our Lord prayed for the Apostles, and for all those whom they should bring into the Church. In accordance with this example the Apostles offered up a similar prayer, after the consecration, for the Church and for the various classes therein. Now, the Church consists of three parts, namely, the Church militant or the Church on earth, the Church suffering or the Church in Purgatory, and the Church Triumphant or the Church in Heaven. Hence the Great Intercessions fall under three heads. First. The prayer for the Church on earth and for the welfare of its head and members. Second. The "Memento," or Remembrance of the saints in heaven.
"Memento" is a Latin word which means "Remember," and, as the prayers formerly began with the phrase, "Remember, Lord," the name Memento is also given to the Great Intercessions. In His prayer for the Apostles our Lord made intercession first for the Church on earth, "not for them [the Apostles] only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in Me, that they all may be one; as Thou Father in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." Then He passed to the reward which would await them, or to the Church in heaven: "Father, I will that, where I am they also whom Thou hast given Me, may be with Me, that they may see My glory, which Thou hast given Me." In like manner, the Christians passed from the commemoration of the Church on earth to the commemoration of the saints in heaven. This transition was made the more easy by the fact that the Liturgy was celebrated over the tombs of the martyrs (No. 63). Third. The commemoration of the saints naturally brings us to the Memento for the rest of the faithful departed. In the Liturgy prayer was made not for all the dead indiscriminately, but for them that "slept in Christ." The Epistle to the Hebrews makes special mention of the commemoration for the departed rulers of the Church. "Remember your prelates, who have spoken the word of God to you: and, considering the end of their life, imitate their faith." But not for these alone was commemoration made, but for all the servants of Christ who had gone before under the banner of the faith and were sleeping the sleep of peace. The Great Intercessions, therefore, brought the branches of the Church together before the altar. The disciples of Christ were one united family, united among themselves and united with God. "For them also do I pray, that they may be as one Thou Father in Me and I in Thee; that they may be one; as We also are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as also Thou hast loved Me."
This part of the Mass concluded with the Lord's Prayer, followed by the "doxology" and "elevation." "Doxology" means a prayer giving glory to God, such as the "Glory be to the Father" or the "Gloria in Excelsis. " We find it at the conclusion of the Great Hallel:
"Give glory to the God of heaven,
For His mercy endureth forever;
Give glory to the Lord of lords,
For His mercy endureth forever."
Then Body and Blood were lifted up together for the adoration of the people, while the priest says, referring to our Lord: "Through Him and with Him and in Him Thou hast, God, the Father Almighty, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory world without end. Amen."
We have already seen that the Mass was often called the Breaking of the Bread. In the beginning the bread was consecrated in the form of loaves, and in order to give Communion to the people the loaves had to be broken for them. It was a long ceremony, which has disappeared now, inasmuch as the bread for the people is consecrated in the form of small wafers. When our Lord instituted the Eucharist, He prayed that His disciples might be one, as He and the Father were one. He left the Eucharist to be not only the sign of unity, but the means by which it was attained. When His disciples had eaten His flesh and drunk His blood, He dwelt in them, and they were one with him. Hence the taking of our Lord's body is called the "Communion," which signifies union of the closest kind. When the Bishop and the clergy had communicated the lay folks came to the altar. The Bishop placed the Blessed Sacrament in the bare hands of the men, saying, "The Body of Christ." They answered, "Amen," and conveyed the Sacrament to their mouths. The women usually had their hands covered with a linen cloth, but they also communicated themselves. The Deacon followed the Bishop with a large chalice and held it so that the people could drink it. He also said, "The Blood of Christ," and the people answered, "Amen." As this ceremony usually took a considerable time, the choir sang a hymn or psalm while it was going on.
After the reception of the Blessed Sacrament, the people thanked God for the favor which was bestowed on them. The prayers then recited are known as the "Post Communion." Immediately afterward the people were blessed by the Bishop or priest, and, having heard the signal, "Go; it is the dismissal," they went their way.
We now expand the programs as given in No. 143 into what is still, with a few additions and transpositions, the main order of the Sacrificial portion of the Mass.
- taken from The Mass, by Father Peter Christopher Yorke