A Look at the Mass: The Gloria

I've always said the most pathetic thing I hear in the Church is the Gloria being spoken instead of sung. It's not particularly because the words themselves can't be spoken in a joyful manner, rather I think it's because we always seem to end up reciting them in a monotone voice. And let's face the cold hard truth, saying, "We praise you, we bless you, we adore you..." in a monotone voice is neither inspiring nor joyful sounding.

Nevertheless, in an effort to save time, this hymn is often simply said. I suppose another reason for this is that the celebrant judges it would be too difficult for the people to sing this hymn without accompaniment, which is an especially interesting claim, since it was written as a hymn for the people, to be sung without any special musical ability or musical instruments.

The Gloria was a hymn developed not even precisely to be sung at Mass, but instead simply for festive occasions. The other famous hymn which developed around the same time and for the same reasons is the Te Deum. Due to its being created, mostly by the laity it seems, for festive occasions it was often used at festive Masses in Rome and, at least by the fifth century, was ordered by the pope to be used at the Masses of bishops on Sundays and the feasts of martyrs. This exclusion of the hymn to the Mass of a bishop seems to have fallen out in the eleventh century when it found its way into all Masses, both those celebrated by a bishop or a priest. However, it retained its original use of only being used on festive days.

The oldest melodies of the hymn we have are very simple, since they were likely designed not for trained musicians but for the entire congregation. In an Extraordinary Form Sung Mass, the hymn is intoned by the celebrant, emphasizing the importance of it in a sense, as the choir and celebrant meet at this point to recite the text "together."

Obviously, the Gloria is developed from the hymn of the angels sung at the Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). The text is:

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen."

As stated previously, the first lines are directly taken from the hymn of the angels in Holy Scripture as a praise of God. God is praised as above all, i.e. the highest. On Christmas, the angels sang this as a tribute to the Infant Jesus, for though he had taken upon Himself "the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7)," He remained God, above all creation, Who came to bring peace to the human race. We are now able to sing these words at Mass because there we encounter Jesus, Who, though He is a man with Whom we can relate and is our brother, is also highest God. And it is through His being perfect God and perfect man that He is able to bring peace to our human race, for He redeemed us and continues to sanctify us, through His Cross and Resurrection and through the Holy Spirit.

The next lines continue this praise of God. However, I believe the very next line, "We praise you," is clearer in the Latin, which is "Laudamus te." Laudamus is a form of laudo, which is where we get the English word, laud. While "laud" and "praise" are synonyms, "laud" seems to have a higher character about it. When we laud something or someone, we really "sing their praises," and it is continuous. We truly put our heart into it. This is what this line of the Gloria is about. We praise God with all our being - body and soul.

Now, obviously we can't bless God in the sense of how He blesses us, since it is from Him we receive all blessings. Instead this line of "we bless you," is explained by Gueranger as, "We bless Thee; that is to say, we offer Thee thanksgiving, in return for Thy benefits (The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria In Excelsis)."

When we say "we adore you," we express our full submission to God in His awesome power. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

"Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the 'King of Glory,' respectful silence in the presence of the 'ever greater' God. Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications (2628)."

May our thoughts and actions always be given to the adoration of God, for then we will be able to fully sing, "we glorify you." Then, we will become mirrors who reflect the glory of God. We will acknowledge that all we have received is a gift from God. Therefore, He will be glorified in us.

We close this litany of praises with, "we give you thanks for your great glory." Here, as both Jungmann (352) and Gueranger (The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria in excelsis) note, what we are ultimately thanking God for are the benefits which He has bestowed upon us. All of His works rebound to His greater glory. Therefore, the blessings and graces He has granted to us throughout all our days are, as mentioned above, directly meant for His glorification. Within this line, then, we offer Him our thanksgiving for the manner in which He has deigned to manifest His glory, namely through Jesus Christ and His Church.

The Gloria now shifts from a praise of the Triune God and directly addresses each of the Divine Persons, beginning with God the Father, "The Principle and source of the other Two [Persons] (Gueranger, The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria in excelsis)." Within the lines "Lord God, heavenly King, / O God, almighty Father," we begin by finishing our praise of God in His unity as our Lord and King. We have praised and adored Him with all our being and given ourselves fully to Him. By these acts we show Him to be our Lord and King, but the fact we give our entire being, and not just a part, shows that He is also God. Thus, "Lord God, heavenly King," but this dedication of ourselves to the One God, extends consequently to each of the Three Persons, Who of course are the One God. Therefore, we begin by acknowledging this with the words, "O God." Having acknowledged the Father's divinity, we name Him, "almighty Father."

Within this single line is summed up all of our adoration and consecration to God the Father! How simple are the words, yet how deep their meaning! The Father is God; He is almighty. He is the source of all the graces we have received. We implore Him to continue to shower us with blessings for His glorification. He is the highest God and our Lord. We give ourselves fully to Him, with the love the Son has for Him in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

This then moves us into the praise of God the Son, which is done in the Person of Jesus Christ. This is a common shift which takes place in these hymns of the time. The first part of the hymn sings the praises of God in His unity, and then moves to praise God through the Person of Jesus Christ and His works as perfect God and perfect man. This form is present within the Te Deum and is even present in the Creed (which was not developed as a hymn).

Christ's praises begin with an acknowledgment of His divinity, which He has possessed from eternity. as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The very first word used is, "Lord." Here we acknowledge, "The Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord (From the Athanasian Creed)." But the next words do acknowledge that the Son of God, though existing from all eternity as God, also came to exist in time as man, in the Person of, "Jesus Christ." He is, therefore, man, but He is not a human person. He is a Divine Person, the, "Only Begotten Son."

Now, it is on account of His being both God and man that Christ is our mediator in Heaven. St. Paul says:

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men . . . . This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:1-6)."

These words of St. Paul explain the next lines of the Gloria. We begin our intercessions to God through Jesus Christ, with the the line, "Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, / you take away the sins of the world, / have mercy on us." This first line repeats what we have already said above, about Jesus being the Son of God, but it includes the addition of the title given Him by St. John the Baptist of, "Lamb of God (John 1:29)." This recalls, as St. Paul said, how He gave Himself as a ransom for us. It is especially significant that His title of "Lamb of God" falls in between the two titles of His divinity, for it is account of His divine nature that He is able to be our ransom, acknowledged by the words, "you take away the sins of the world."

As man, he is able to die, and redeem the nature He possessed, but only an infinite being could make the infinite sacrifice required to expiate sin. Therefore, it is as God he is able to pay the price, and the thought of this divinity again possesses us to cry out for mercy. We tremble in awe at the thought of God dying for us, on account of our sins. Thus, we sue Him for mercy.

With confidence in His mercy, we are able to then make our next supplication, after reminding ourselves that He has taken away our sins. We say, "You take away the sins of the world, / receive our prayer." We are here acknowledging Christ's role of mediator between God and men. We make our supplications and prayers to Christ, so that He might present them to His eternal Father. It is to the Sacrifice about to made present at Mass that we unite our prayers, and it is in union with this Sacrifice of Calvary that Christ presents our prayers to God as the mediator, Who is, "seated at the right hand of the Father."

This may function as a reminder for us that Jesus did not simply die as man, but, as God, raised Himself from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father to intercede for us (Romans 8:34). Once again, this reminder of Christ's divinity calls us to cry for mercy in the words, "have mercy on us."

Jesus is not the highest of God's creation, as the Arian heresy taught. Rather, He Himself is God. He alone is the Holy One, He alone is the Lord, He alone is the Most High. These are profound statements we sing, for when we say that Jesus alone is these things, this does not exclude the other two Persons, but instead emphasizes their Unity as the One God. Nevertheless, we may say that these are addressed specifically to Christ, since it is the Person of Jesus Christ we are praising, true God and true man. This cannot be said of the other two Persons. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit do not have a human nature. This is possessed alone by God the Son.

However, so as not to give the idea that Christ is somehow higher than the other two Persons, especially after the words, "For you alone are the Holy One, / you alone are the Lord, / you alone are the Most High," we close with, "Jesus Christ, / with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father." This simple mention of the Holy Spirit should not in any way be taken as considering Him as less important than the other two Persons. Instead, like the reference made to God the Father above, the same applies to the Holy Spirit. All of the praises we sang of God within this hymn are given to Him as well, including the submission and gift of ourselves, for He Himself is also God.

God is One in a Trinity of Persons as acknowledged throughout the Gloria and especially at the end with the mention of the Three Persons. This is a common theme to our Liturgy. We make threefold petitions. We sing glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We begin the Mass and end it in the Name of the Three Persons. So it is in this simple yet profound hymn. The Gloria is a prayer in itself which has been assumed into the entire prayer of the Mass, elevating its dignity beyond that of a song of the angels, to the Prayer of Christ to His Father in the Holy Spirit. Thus, we close it with the word, "Amen," i.e. "Let it be so."

May what we have sung, acknowledged and promised always hold true in our lives and in our hearts!

As a final note, I should mention what was said towards the beginning of this post. The Gloria was originally only used on festive occasions, both outside of and within the Mass, and this has held throughout the ages to our present day. Currently, within the Ordinary Form, it is used only on Feasts and Solemnities, with the exception of Sundays of Advent and Lent and Masses for the Dead, and within festive Masses, such as Ordinations and Weddings.

Its exclusion from everyday use speaks of its dignity. Its use elevates the celebration to something higher. While it is true that the Mass cannot in and of itself be higher, for it is the highest prayer afforded to man, its externals do have gradations. The use of the Gloria basically screams, "Rejoice!" Its singing is often accompanied with the ringing of bells, which are mandated on Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil. I close with the words of Gueranger, which sum up this joy so well:

"In this magnificent Canticle, everything is, at once, grand and simple. Holy Church is in admiration at the thought of her Divine Spouse. She began with the Kyrie; then, the Hymn of the Angels followed; she took up their song, and continued it; and the same Spirit that spoke, through the Angels, to the Shepherds, taught the Church how to worthily close the Canticle (The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria in excelsis; emphasis in original)."

All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume 1. Part III: Gloria in excelsis, 346-359. Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).

Hail, Holy Queen and Our Mother!

In regards to the Assumption of Mary, I've always felt the composers of the reformed calendar for the Ordinary Form intended to give it an octave and just forgot to put it in. I say this because today's memorial, the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, occurs eight days after the Assumption and celebrates the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. This, of course, is the completion of the mystery of the Assumption. Thus, my claim that there's an unpromulgated octave here.

The truth of this being the completion of the mystery of the Assumption is even shown in the feast's history. While the Assumption (or under the title of the Dormition of Mary) is one of the oldest feasts to for our Lady, the Queenship is relatively new. It wasn't until 1954, that the feast was established by Pope Venerable Pius XII in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam. It is important to note, as he does, that the establishment of the feast is really a completion of the dogma of the Assumption which he proclaimed four years previously (Ad Caeli Reginam, 3).

However, although the feast wasn't established until 1954, Pius notes that its truth, namely that Mary is Queen of Heaven and Earth, had been present within the Sacred Liturgy since the establishment of the Church. He says, "The sacred liturgy, which acts as a faithful reflection of traditional doctrine believed by the Christian people through the course of all the ages both in the East and in the West, has sung the praises of the heavenly Queen and continues to sing them (26)." As I have said before, the Liturgy may be said to be the "arena" in which our beliefs are played out. As the old saying of the Church goes, "Lex orandi, lex credendi," - "The law of worship is the law of belief." The Church, and thus the Faithful will worship as they believe. Thus, the feasts which the Holy Church celebrates are an expression of the Faith which She holds. 

We can even see this in the personal lives of people, both within and without the Church. For those of us who hold the Faith, certain feasts hold a special significance to us to the extent that the doctrine or saint is dearer to our hearts. This is not to say personal devotion is elevated above the public Liturgy of the Church, for the Liturgy is so established by the Church to show which doctrines are most important. For example, while a person may have a special devotion to St. Anthony, his feast for the Universal Church remains a memorial, while the Paschal Triduum is always the highest of the Church's feasts, for its mysteries are central to the Faith. People need to celebrate those feasts as higher than their personal favorites, liturgically. 

Even outside of the Church, we can see that people "worship" as they believe. People give money to causes they believe in. They perform acts they believe are meritorious. While this is not worship in the literal sense, it carries enough similarity that I believe it can be used. Worship involves a certain submission to something higher. When people donate to a certain charity, they, in a sense, submit themselves to it. They give of themselves, to a greater or lesser extent depending on how much they believe in the cause. While it is not religious worship or belief (normally), it holds an analogous principle. 

This brings us to the importance of today's feast. Lex orandi, lex credendi. We praise Mary's Queenship because we believe her to be our Mother and our Queen. Eight days ago I discussed the importance of entrusting ourselves to Mary. This holds great merit in light of today's feast. The subjects of royalty entrust themselves to their king and queen. They depend on them to ultimately provide for their needs. It is to them that they bring their petitions and needs. So must it be for us in the ultimate order of things. 

Everything in our lives ultimately depends on God. It is through Him ultimately that all our needs and wants are provided. Therefore, it makes sense to entrust ourselves ultimately and fully to Christ, our King, and Mary, our Queen. It is on account of her Divine Motherhood that Mary is Queen and because of her role in our eternal salvation (Ad Caeli Reginam, 34-35). As Mother of Christ she is also our Mother, for Christ is the Head, and the Church is His Body. Therefore, Mary must also be Mother of the Church. When in need it is natural to run to our mothers for support and aid. A child naturally entrusts itself to its mother for its needs. 

Through Mary, Christ deigned to take on His humanity to redeem us. Therefore, it may be said that through Mary eternal redemption was wrought. She is not our Savior, but she had a necessary role in our salvation. "Mary is the Queen of all things, because she restores each to its original dignity through the grace which she merited (Ad Caeli Reginam, 36)." 

It is proper then to give ourselves to Mary as our Queen and Mother. She will intercede for us to Christ so that we may receive the grace necessary to not only be restored to our original dignity, but to be elevated beyond it. Not only that, but to the extent that we allow Mary to be our Mother, we will grow as brothers and sisters with all mankind (Ad Caeli Reginam, 49).

For these reasons, then, we must give ourselves wholeheartedly to the Queen of Heaven and Earth. She will sustain us and, "by her intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children (Collect for the Mass of the Queenship of Mary)." Then, we may enjoy with her the vision of the Holy Trinity for all eternity, and share the glory of Christ, in which she participates most perfectly. 

O Mary, conceived without sin, assumed into Heaven, and crowned as Queen, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the enemies of Holy Church and the souls entrusted to you. 

Living the Liturgy: Part 3

I'm starting to really feel the fact that summer is coming to an end. In just 15 days, I'm heading overseas from America to study in Rome. Don't worry, though, I plan to keep this blog going while over there, even with the added burden (and joy, I suppose) of classes and studies. While there is always a certain sadness at the end of summer, one may say there is a great joy liturgically speaking.

The summer months of July until the Assumption of Mary on August 15 are somewhat devoid of liturgical celebrations. While there are a number of saints and feasts, there are no solemnities during the time, and the Liturgy moves through the long season of Ordinary Time. While this is a blessed and beautiful season, it can develop a certain monotony to it. One of the beauties of the coming months, however, is that there will be numerous feasts, solemnities, and occasions for us to focus our thoughts on and keep our spirits up as the summer ends and the winter comes. And if all else fails, we can just remember that there are only 126 more Shopping Days. After all, who doesn't love Christmas...

The point is that the Liturgy invites us to look ahead. If we are truly "living the Liturgy," we are always looking ahead. The liturgical season of Advent invites us to look ahead to Christmas. In Lent we are called to look ahead to Easter. The Christmas season constantly looks ahead to the coming Passion of the Lord. Easter looks ahead to the life of the Church. And lastly, this season of Ordinary Time looks ahead to what every season of the Church looks towards, which is the Four Last Things - Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven.

This doesn't mean we don't commemorate the current seasons and/or feasts. Rather, we certainly need to do that. It would be foolish and wrong to rejoice and feast during Lent while attempting to use the excuse, "I'm anticipating Easter." Instead, the fasting of Lent is appropriate and necessary, but it only has its meaning when it is done with Easter in mind. Fasting for the sake of fasting is really just dieting. Fasting during Lent to prepare your soul for Easter means you are looking ahead. You are disciplining yourself now so that you are better prepared and disposed for Easter. When we fast for an intention, we are looking ahead to the Last Judgment and crying out for mercy on our souls or the souls of others.

Most souls, then, probably have at least a sense of living the Liturgy, for many are familiar with the concept of giving up something for Lent. However, to truly be steeped in the practice takes some effort and foresight. While it is not particularly difficult it does require one to do more than simply show up for Mass on Sundays. Come Sunday, September 14, there will be many people who are completely unaware that the Feast of the Holy Cross will be celebrated that day instead of the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time. I'd be willing to bet a lot of people barely notice the priest is wearing red instead of green, and many who do will have no idea why.

Those who live the Liturgy, however, will not only know this Feast is coming, they will commemorate it with a special joy since it falls on Sunday this year. They will prepare their hearts for it, and then enter into the mystery it offers. This idea of course applies to all the feasts of the Church's liturgical year. But a simple question remains, how do we prepare for these feasts?

There are, of course, many ways to do so. I will, however, in union with the Church propose some of the more common ways to prepare for a feast day. The first, and surest way, is naturally prayer. There are many forms this can take. For example, novenas of preparation are very common ways to prepare for a feast day, and most of the feast days have at least some sort of novena associated with them. Those who follow the Facebook page (here) may have noticed that I try to post novenas in preparation for many of the feast days.

Another method one may find useful to pray in preparation for feast days are meditations of some of the saints or learned writers. Especially among the Fathers, there are sermons on the various feast days, which can be a way of gaining knowledge of the feast, so that when it arrives it can be celebrated with genuine piety and joy.

The last method in regards to prayer I will recommend is fasting. The example often used is that of preparing for a big supper. You don't eat a huge lunch when you're going to have another huge meal later. Fasting is a source of disciplining the soul and also makes the meal on the feast truly a "feast," in the more literal sense!

The next way I recommend preparing for a feast day is to look at the liturgical texts ahead of time. It has been my experience that the first time I hear a prayer, it doesn't necessarily sink in. Instead, I'm able to better meditate upon it, and experience it, when I've seen it before and have sense of what's coming. Plus, the benefit to this manner is that after reading all of the texts you can get an overall feel for the entire theme for the day. Thus, while praying them in the actual liturgy connections may be brought about that wouldn't have appeared if you didn't have "the big picture."

The final way of preparing for a feast day I will recommend is to plan it ahead of time. As human beings, we were created for order; therefore, having some sense of order to and structure to a feast day will help it go smoothly and prayerfully. Know when you are going to go to Mass. Know when you plan to say any extra prayers or what special things you want to do. It doesn't have to be mapped out to the minute, but just as having a schedule for the day makes the day go smoothly, so having a plan for the spiritual life can help it to go smoothly.

Of course there are always surprises and bumps along the road, but when there is a general plan in place, these can be dealt with rather than making the entire structure fall apart.

In order to "live the Liturgy," then, it must be treated as another aspect of life. Just as there are many things we need to prepare for, train for, and anticipate in life, so it works with the liturgical life. Without some preparation the Liturgy, like life, will simply pass on by without being lived.

A Look at the Mass: The Kyrie

There was a time not so long ago, in which some priests and deacons were infamous for the verses they would create in order to introduce the Kyrie at Mass. My favorite is still, "You are the air beneath my wings, Lord have mercy." Thankfully, with the new translation of the Roman Missal and a return to faithful adherence to liturgical rubrics and principles, these "innovations" seem to be dying out.

Unfortunately, what is not dying out in many places, is a desire to rush through the Kyrie at light speed. While this is not particularly surprising, considering the mentality that Mass must end within a set time frame and a desire to please people with short Masses, it is still problematic. Now, as always, I'll preface myself by saying I agree with having a general Mass time frame, for example 30 minutes for a daily Mass, I don't like when it becomes restrictive (with the exception of medical reasons or a worker's Mass). The latter reason, of trying to please people with short Masses, is a fairly bad idea for reasons that hopefully speak for themselves, but in case they don't I'll elaborate.

I believe that most priests are not haters of the Liturgy. Rather, they love the Sacred Liturgy. Additionally, they love their people. The problem, by my estimation, seems to have arisen somewhere with the idea that these two ideas need to be opposed to each other. There is an ever-growing desire in our culture for convenience, and with this comes a hatred for waiting. Waiting means we don't get what we want exactly when we want it; our gratification is delayed. 

Convenience in and of itself is a good thing, and there are things which we shouldn't have to wait for. As an example, it is reasonable to expect to be paid on time for one's labor. A person is obligated to receive that, "A laborer deserves his wages (1 Timothy 5:18)." Convenience, however, does not extend to things we are not obligated to. The powers that be can decide for themselves how convenient they wish to make obtaining their goods. I think of tickets to a Nebraska Cornhusker football game. Anyone who has tried to get those knows they aren't particularly convenient to get; it generally requires a great deal of money and/or contribution on one's part. However, no one really expects that they will be convenient, and no one I've met really seems to have a problem with it.

The same concept applies to the things of God. God is not obligated to us; it works vice-versa. Therefore, God is perfectly in His right to make us wait, and when He does, because He is a loving Father, it is always for our good.

Now to bring this full circle. As I said, we have obligations to God and part of that is fulfilling our Mass obligation. Nevertheless, the Church imposes the obligation on us because it is for our good. We need to spend time worshiping God, for if we fail to do so, our spiritual lives will undoubtedly fall apart. Priests, then, need to see that their love for the Liturgy is not incompatible with people's desire for convenience. Ultimately, it would be more convenient for people to see a reverent celebration of the Eucharist so that they will realize the importance of what is happening.

There should be no rush, then, to "get through" the Kyrie, for it is a moment of great importance in the Liturgy. It is the final part of the Penitential Rite where we beg mercy for our souls, but it is also a moment in which we place intercessions before God. The Kyrie came into this part of the Liturgy as intercessory prayer. Before beginning though, we must call to mind that the Kyrie is a litany, albeit a short one.

Now, litanies within the Church are a form of intercession. Whether the cry be for mercy, as in the Litany of the Sacred Heart, or for prayers, as in the Litany of the Saints, or for specific intercessions, litanies are asking for something. Within the early Mass liturgies, intercessions were done in the spot where we currently have the Prayers of the Faithful in the Ordinary Form of the Mass, but instead of the form "Lord, hear our prayer," which we commonly use, they used the form, "Lord have mercy." I should note this is still an optional response for the Intercessions. By the fifth century, it is clear that instead of the spot after the readings, which the litany occupied, it instead moved to the beginning of Mass, right after the Introit (in the Roman liturgies).

This litany, which prayed for the entire Church using various petitions, would also be done in the various Offices of the Day, especially Lauds and Vespers. However, it was shortened in the other, shorter, Offices so that only, "Kyrie eleison" is used. It also seems to have formed the basis for other litanies, especially penitential ones, which were prayed throughout the West. Interestingly though, Pope St. Gregory the Great seems to have greatly modified this litany; he included a response of, "Christe eleison," and limited the intercession formula, such as, "For the Church of God...," to only be done on feasts and in solemn celebrations. On ordinary days, it was limited to simply, "Kyrie eleison," and, "Christe eleison." On these occasions, the Kyrie would be intoned by the schola and then repeated by the people. However, when a litany would be done before or follow in the Mass, such as ordinations, the Kyrie would be omitted. Jungmann notes this as, "In all these instances there is a survival of the original form of the Kyrie as part of a larger, more complete form of prayer (339)."

Eventually, in order to combat the continuing struggle against Arianism, the West developed the idea of invoking God the Father three times with, "Kyrie eleison," God the Son three times with, "Christe eleison," and God the Holy Spirit three times with, "Kyrie eleison," although this had been done in many other places already, especially in papal liturgies. The importance of the standardization was the theology behind it. 

All the foregoing bears upon our understanding of the significance of the Kyrie because we need to see it as not only a plea for mercy, but also as a transitional prayer. Last week I discussed the first two options of the Penitential Rite (here). Well, after we have admitted we are sinners in need of God's mercy, we do not only continue to beg God for mercy with the Kyrie, but we also are petitioning God to have mercy on the entire Church, since the Mass is a public prayer. We pray for ourselves, but we also pray for the needs of all Christians and for the whole world. Our petitions, which we include within the Kyrie in the silence of our hearts, prepare us to pray in union with the celebrant the petitions of the Collect, which sum up all the prayers of the Mass liturgy. 

There are also two other points which I must point out. The first is the third option for the Penitential Rite, which I feel we must view slightly differently than the other two, since the Kyrie is combined with the confession of one's faults. The general text is:

Priest/Deacon: "You were sent to heal the contrite of heart: Lord, have mercy."
People: "Lord, have mercy."
Priest/Deacon: "You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy."
People: "Christ, have mercy."
Priest/Deacon: "You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us: Lord, have mercy."
People: "Lord, have mercy."
Priest: "May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life."
People: "Amen."

This form seems to be based off a more Medieval form of the Kyrie, which used, for musical purposes, phrases preceding the Kyrie, such as, "Light and origin of light, highest God, have mercy; Lord have mercy (Jungmann, 344. Translation mine.)." The invocations may also be preceded by many other options, found within the Roman Missal.

Our thoughts during this, must be of our sinfulness, for it is preceded by the same invitation to call to mind our sins as the other two options. However, the Kyrie itself functions as the confession of faults as well as maintaining its intercessory nature. Although there is no explicit confession of faults, though, instead we are invited to recall the redemption wrought by Jesus' becoming man and dieing for our sins. We acknowledge our sinfulness in the fact that we recall how Jesus became man in order to redeem us and in acknowledging our need for His mercy. The absolution which then follows holds the same significance as discussed in the previous post on the Penitential Rite.

The second point is the reduction of the Kyrie to a sixfold petition in the Ordinary Form from the nine-fold petition of the Extraordinary Form. While the nine-fold petition perhaps emphasized the Trinity more clearly, this has certainly not been lost in the reduction. We may say that we petition God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for mercy with each set of the invocations. The difference, by my judgment, is that now our "litany" is led by the sacred minister, whereas in the Extraordinary Form, there was a Kyrie litany prayed by the celebrant and ministers alone and another sung by the schola. The emphasis that our prays are being publicly collected now, is perhaps clearer in the people's inclusion with the sacred ministers.

Finally, the Kyrie should also be considered a preparation not only for the Collect, but also for the Gloria on feasts and solemnities. We must also consider the Kyrie a prayer of praise and adoration. God is merciful. He has no need of us, yet He created us and bestows unending blessings upon us in His infinite mercy. We should view the Kyrie, then, with the thought of Gueranger:

"The three invocations, each repeated thrice over [remember he wrote during the time when the Extraordinary Form was the only form in the Latin Rite] . . . are like a telling us of our union, here below, with the nine choirs of Angels, who sing, in Heaven, the glory of the Most High. This union prepares us to join them in the Hymn which is now to follow, and which these blessed Spirits brought down to this our earth (Dom Prosper Gueranger, The Holy Mass, Section: Kyrie. Emphases in original.)."

All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume 1. Part III: Kyrie Eleison, 333-346. Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).

Our Life, Sweetness, and Hope

"After we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." - Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 44.

With the above words, Pope Venerable Pius XII solemnly defined the dogma of the Assumption of Mary as an article of the Faith, in the year 1950. His act showcased again the truth that the Church is truly organic, and like a tree grows and develops with the passage of time. The truth that Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven has been believed since the beginning of the Church, but it was not ready, by judgment of the Magisterium, for solemn definition until the previous century. 

This fact holds great significance within the Faith, for while it is true that the Church can teach nothing not found within the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition from the beginning, this is not to say that everything within the Church's doctrine was fully developed on the day of Pentecost. The Church, as the Body of Christ, must remain a living thing. We would say any human body which no longer developed, functioned, or changed is dead. The same is true for the Church. Just as a baby contains within its cells, DNA, and mind the potential for all it will accomplish throughout life, the Church from the beginning contained all the truths She would solemnly proclaim and define throughout Her earthly sojourn.

We may say that the Liturgy is a root of this tree, for, as Pius XII says in Munificentissimus Deus when defining this dogma:

"This belief [the Assumption] of the sacred pastors and of Christ's faithful is universally manifested still more splendidly by the fact that, since ancient times, there have been both in the East and in the West solemn liturgical offices commemorating this privilege. The holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church have never failed to draw enlightenment from this fact since, as everyone knows, the sacred liturgy, 'because it is the profession, subject to the supreme teaching authority within the Church, of heavenly truths, can supply proofs and testimonies of no small value for deciding a particular point of Christian doctrine (16).'"

The Sacred Liturgy is one of the schools wherein the doctrines of the Church are developed and find their nourishment. Over almost two millennia the Church commemorated the Assumption of Mary with solemn liturgical services. Over time, the solemnity was added to until it became one of the four highest feasts of our Lady, along with her Nativity, her Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation. I might take the liberty to add to this list the feast of her Motherhood on January 1, although it was called the Circumcision of the Lord until recently. It was, however, always celebrated primarily as a Marian feast. 

Pius XII notes above that it has been in union with the Sacred Liturgy that the Fathers and Doctors of the Church drew their thoughts and expositions in defense of the doctrine of the Assumption. While the Liturgy is not a source of truth in itself, that is relegated to the Scriptures, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, it draws its form from these three sources as well. For this reason then, it might be called the source of our nourishment in Faith. 

The Solemnity of Mary's Assumption offers us one of the greatest sources of nourishment in devotion to her, and consequently union with Christ, for she always leads us to Him. The Assumption is the natural end of her Immaculate Conception, for having never been subjected to sin herself, it is fitting that she not undergo the decay of body which is a result of sin. What she has been privileged to share in before the Resurrection of the Dead, we will also share in at the end of time. As the Preface for today's Mass states, "Today the Virgin Mother of God was assumed into heaven as the beginning and image of your Church's coming to perfection and a sign of sure hope and comfort to your pilgrim people...." The first source of nourishment we may derive from the feast, then, is hope for our eternal inheritance and glory. 

We cannot fail to take note, though, of what this exaltation of Mary by her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, means. By granting her glory as Queen of Heaven and Earth, He has given us a preeminent example to follow. In the words of Pius XII in the Apostolic Constitution:

"We may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father's will and to bringing good to others. Thus, while the illusory teachings of materialism and the corruption of morals that follows from these teachings threaten to extinguish the light of virtue and to ruin the lives of men by exciting discord among them, in this magnificent way all may see clearly to what a lofty goal our bodies and souls are destined (42)."

I wish to now recommend a sure means whereby we may not fail to live out our imitation of Mary's complete devotion and service of God, and that is through Consecration to her. There are numerous formulas for this, however, the two most famous are the one by St. Louis de Montfort and the one by St. Maximilian Kolbe. Consecration to our Lady is a means of giving ourselves to her so that she may guide take us under her maternal mantle, and then, when the course of our earthly life is run, present us to Jesus Christ. By allowing her to guide us, in union with the Divine Will of God, of Whom is a sure representative, we need not fear from falling away from the Faith or of failing to reach the glory of which she already shares.   

Another method, which follows off this, is entrustment of ourselves to her through use of the Brown Scapular and/or the Miraculous Medal. The Brown Scapular, used by laity, is a small imitation of the Scapular used by Carmelites, though through it one may share in all the privileges afforded to a Carmelite. The Miraculous Medal is a means  of reminding ourselves of our consecration to Mary, and it is a reminder of her great love for us. Both of these religious articles should always be an external manifestation of the disposition of our heart, namely that we have placed ourselves under the protection of our Blessed Mother so as to appear before Jesus under her maternal mantle. 

The last thing I want to discuss, which we may draw from the Sacred Liturgy, is a deepening in the Faith. The Mystery of the Assumption of our Lady celebrates her glorification by our Lord. Is it not fitting that she, who was so perfectly united with our Lord on earth, should not also be united with Him in Heaven. There was not a moment of her existence where she was separated from unity with the Divine Love of God, therefore, it is most fitting that her earthly pilgrimage should conclude with her being united with Him in Heaven body and soul. 

The Assumption has long been the fourth Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary, long before the official definition of the dogma by the Church. It inspired numerous homilies through the centuries. The liturgical pieces of in its honor are overflowing with doctrinal beauty. Let us not pass by the mystery. Let us meditate upon it with devotion, and grow to an ever deeper love for our Blessed Mother. May we, this day, bring flowers to her; may we place ourselves under her mantle. Most importantly, let us, like her, keep all these things in our heart (Luke 2:51), so that we may never be distant from our Lord, either in this life or in the life to come. Rather, we will then be able to sing with the Angels and Saints, led by the Queen of Heaven and earth in exalting Him, Who has done such great things for her (Luke 1:49).

A Look at the Mass: The Penitential Act

Many are familiar with the old mnemonic, ACTS, in order to remember the four ends of the Mass. The first is adoration of God, the second is contrition for our sins, the third, thanksgiving, and the fourth and final end is supplication, or asking for stuff. Most of the rites of the Mass involve a number of these four, but it is fairly evident that the Penitential Act is given to contrition for our sins and begging God for mercy.

For the purpose of organization I will consider the first two options of the Penitential Rite - the Confiteor and the "Have mercy on us, O Lord..." - in this post, and then next week consider the Kyrie in the next, along with the third Penitential Rite option, since the Kyrie is included in it. 

This rite always seems to have been a basic part of the preparation for the Mass, which makes sense. Obviously, when approaching the Sacred Mysteries, we remember the words of our Lord, "Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6)," and, "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over (John 13:10)," before the Last Supper. In the first quote, Jesus reminds us that holy things should only be given to holy people. In the second, Jesus emphasizes the need to remember that purity is required before approaching the Banquet Table of the Eucharist, as the Apostles were about to share in the Eucharistic Meal for the first time.

Additionally, St. Paul says, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup (1 Corinthians 11:27-28)." The insistence is that one must remember that he is an unworthy sinner and cannot worthily approach the Eucharist without our Lord having first made us worthy. And that which holds us back from a worthy Communion is of course our sins. For this reason, the first thing the priest and ministers did before approaching the altar was confess their sins.

And it is for this same reason that the priest invites the people to recall their sins with the following formula:

"Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries." 

We do not recall our sins and failings simply to remind ourselves of our unworthiness, however. We know that the Lord can give us the grace to overcome them, and this is one of the reasons for our coming to Mass and receiving Holy Communion. It is also necessary to look specifically at the words, "prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries." This cannot be done without God's grace, for everything we do requires God's grace. Therefore, we also recall our sins in order to allow God to give us grace to participate in the Holy Mass itself.

Next follows, the confession of our sins. Historically speaking, this has taken on many different forms. While we do not actually confess our specific sins and failings here as we do in the Sacrament of Confession, the early Church may have actually done that here. They would perform the Sacrament of Confession before beginning Mass, so that those who participated would be free of sin. This is still the case with some religious orders to this day, and has been throughout history. It is necessary to note that in the early Church the Sacrament of Confession was celebrated publicly, instead of the private confessions we are familiar with (and probably quite thankful for). 

Once public Confession was no longer the norm, this part of the Mass truly began its development. There was a tendency to relate this part of the Mass to Confession in that there is truly a forgiveness of sins which takes place. The obvious difference in the Penitential Rite, led by a priest, and the Sacrament of Penance is the extent to which sins can be forgiven. The Penitential Rite, as noted by Dom Prosper Gueranger, is that it is only a sacramental (The Holy Mass, Section: Confiteor). Thus, it can forgive venial sins to the extent we are contrite for them. The Sacrament is an all or nothing in its elimination of sin, both mortal and venial.  

Moving on, within the Extraordinary Form of the Mass we find elements which are common to both of the two options of the Penitential Rite encompassed within this post. The text for the first option of the Penitential Rite, of the Ordinary Form, is known as the Confiteor: 

"I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned, 
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints, 
and you, my brothers and sisters, 
to pray for me to the Lord our God."

Compare the above to a translation of the Confiteor of the Extraordinary Form:

"I confess to Almighty God, 
to Blessed Mary ever Virgin, 
to Blessed Michael the Archangel, 
to Blessed John the Baptist, 
to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
to all the Saints, 
and to you, brethren, (or and to you, Father,)
that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed:
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault.
Therefore I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin,
Blessed Michael the Archangel,
Blessed John the Baptist,
the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
all the Saints, 
and you, brethren, (or and you, Father,)
to pray for me to the Lord our God."

The most striking things one will likely notice between the two is the lack of the saints in the current form, and the addition of the mention of sins of omission. By tradition, there were many forms used for the Confiteor, and it was common practice in the early Church to ask others to pray for you, especially the Saints. The unity between the Church Triumphant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Militant is thus beautifully expressed in this penitential text. The current text is a bit older in basic form, as the original Confiteor seems to have primarily addressed the first half of the confession of faults to the Church on earth, hence, "to you my brothers and sisters." The second half was then addressed to the Church Triumphant, with the request that all the Angels and Saints may intercede before the throne of God for the souls gathered at the Mass. While the Mother of God quickly found her way into the Confiteor, the development of the other saints was more varied and subject to the locations at which it was used. 

We can see, then, that the revision of the Confiteor still contains the same idea, in that when we use it, after calling to mind our sins, we are acknowledging before all gathered with us that we are unworthy sinners in need of God's mercy. Without His mercy and grace we would be left in the depths of depravity, the beginning of which is seen by the sins we just called to mind, for we see that they really are "grievous faults," when compared to the ultimate Goodness of God. This, then leads us, as Gueranger says, to strike our breasts, an ancient sign of repentance and sorrow for sin (The Holy Mass, Section: Confiteor). While this sign is seen repeatedly throughout Scripture, perhaps the most famous is from the Gospel of Luke after the Death of Jesus, "And all the multitudes who assembled to see the sight, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts (23:48)." 

After this external display of sorrow for our sins, we move on in hope, because the message of the Gospel is one of hope, not of despair. Our Lord said, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32)." We can trust, then, that he will forgive us our sins, but like the tax collector in the Gospel, we know how unworthy of it we are (Luke 18:9-14). For this reason we call on the Blessed Mother, to whom the Lord grants petitions with such love, and to all the Angels and Saints, who are now purified of their sins, to intercede for us. However, we cannot forget that the Mass is a communal prayer, which is why we also ask our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for us to God. We journey on the pilgrimage to Heaven together. 

Now, the second option for the Penitential Rite is:

Priest: "Have mercy on us, O Lord."
People: "For we have sinned against you." 
Priest: "Show us, O Lord, your mercy. 
People: "And grant us your salvation."

This option is likely based off of the versicles of the Extraordinary Form used immediately before the priest ascends the altar. They are, translated:

Priest: "Thou will turn again, O God, and quicken us."
Minister: "And Thy people will rejoice in Thee."
Priest: "Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy."
Minister: "And grant us Thy salvation."
Priest: "O Lord, hear my prayer."
Minister: "And let my cry come unto Thee." 

We can here see that the second versicle has been retained as half of the second option of the Ordinary Form's Penitential Rite. Within this option, after calling to mind our sins, we make our humble plea for mercy, acknowledging before the Lord and all we are gathered with that we are unworthy sinners in need of God's grace and mercy. We acknowledge that it is only through His mercy that we can be brought to salvation. 

This is not to say that our works are useless in our salvation, but that they all depend upon God's grace to have any merit for our souls. Within the Penitential Rite then, we do a work which, through faith, may provide for the remission of our sins so that we can, by grace, participate in the Sacred Mysteries about to take place.

The following absolution by the priest then follows any of the options for the admission of sins and plea for God's mercy:

"May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen."  

As stated above this absolution has the power to forgive venial sins if we are contrite for them. However, it is not the traditional form for the absolution. Instead it was more commonly used as a prayer that God would have mercy on the soul. My suspicions, without being able to do the research into the mind of those who changed it in the Ordinary Form, is to clear up any relation it may have to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so as to differentiate clearly between the Sacrament and sacramentals.  

The prayer, used by the priest, in which he does not even exclude himself, for he perhaps needs mercy the most due to the work he is about to undertake, is fairly clear in what it asks for. We need the mercy of God to participate worthily in the Mass. We desire the forgiveness of our sins so that we might grow closer to God. Finally, we hope for our last end, and ultimate reason for all our acts, especially that of participation in the Holy Mass - our salvation.

All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume 1. Part III: Confiteor, 298-311, Kyrie Eleison, 333-346. Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).

New Logo!!!

You may have noticed that "Sancta Sapientia Liturgiae" has a new picture on the right side of the page. This is the new logo for the page. As much as I like the Angus Dei, it is an ecclesiastical image, which means that I can't claim it as my own personal logo. This image on the other hand, is the unique and personal logo of "Sancta Sapientia Liturgiae." 

First, I need to thank JB GUARDIAN GRAPHICS for creating the logo. They did a fantastic job with it every step of the way. For those interested in what they have to offer, you can check out their website at jbguardiangraphics.com or use the link on the left hand side of this blog.

Now, I'd like to discuss the logo and explain the ideas behind it. I'll start by reminding you that the name of the blog is "Sancta Sapientia Liturgiae," which is Latin for "Holy Wisdom of the Liturgy." While this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Christian Faith, and publishes in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church, it is specifically dedicated to the Catholic Liturgy (with an emphasis on the Latin Rite). The main goal is to help people pray and live through the wisdom and treasures of the Church's Liturgy.

This emphasis on the Liturgy, then, is the reason for the altar being the main part of the logo. It is at "the altar of God (Psalm 43:4)," that the Mass is celebrated, and it is therefore around the altar that the Liturgy and all prayers associated with it center.

The color red for the altar cloth was chosen, not because that can actually be used for the main altar cloth (it is has to be white; although an antependium cloth on the altar could be red), but because the color red is the color of the Holy Spirit, within the Liturgy. The intent behind this color choice was to remind us of the necessity of the Holy Spirit in our lives when we pray within and through the Liturgy. It is only through His power and grace that we can authentically pray. Plus, red and black are my favorite colors...

On top of the altar you'll see the seven candles. Traditionally, seven candles have symbolized the seven Sacraments of the Church. Obviously, the Liturgy focuses around these seven Sacraments, with the Eucharist being the central one, as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, from which all the Sacraments flow, which is why the center candle is taller than the others.

The last part of the logo you may notice is the incense/smoke arising around the altar. This is in representation of our prayers which ascend as incense before the Lord (Psalm 141:2, Revelation 5:8). The ultimate purpose of the blog is to help people grow closer to God, and this can only be done, in the end, through prayer.

I feel the need to here remind readers that all posts on this site are published without an imprimatur or nihil obstat and that I do not represent the official Magisterium of the Church at any level. However, all posts are intended to be published in accord with Church teaching and subject to ecclesiastical authority. Any error should be reported immediately. 

Living the Liturgy: Part 2

"This is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." - Matthew 17:5

These feast days of our Lord always make me somewhat sad, not because of the mystery celebrated, for that inspires my love, and not because of the liturgy of the day, because that makes me giddy, but because they often pass by without really being noticed. The Liturgy of this day, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, contains a second reading and its own preface, along with all of the other parts proper to Feasts. In spite of all this, in most places it will be celebrated as if it is just another day of the week, perhaps with brief mention made of its importance.

The problem, as I see it, is that mention may be made of its importance, but if that importance is not shown people will take little notice of it. This is where the importance of "living the Liturgy," as I have phrased it, comes in. Unless two things are done, my experience has shown that the Feast will pass by without the Faithful taking any real notice. The first, and more important, part is that the Liturgy will be celebrated with due solemnity. This means that it cannot be celebrated as simply another daily Mass. The Liturgy has inserted more solemnity, and these parts should be respected.

Obviously extenuating circumstances must be taken into account, such as the need for people to get to their jobs and an already full schedule for the priest. For these reasons, I will admit that great prudence and foresight should be exercised in regards to the Liturgical Year. Our society places little importance on the exercise of one's religion or the necessity of making sure one's spiritual needs are met. As Christians, however, part of our call to evangelize is to express the importance of these things. This is why I say, prudence and foresight need to be taken into account. We cannot simply refuse to work, for this will have extreme consequences on our life situation. However, if plans are made in advance it should be possible to schedule a special feast day Mass.

I'm not suggesting every parish needs to have one, however, in more populated areas, the local parishes could work together to try and create a schedule for such occasions to ensure that a solemn Mass will be offered for the faithful to commemorate the solemn occasion. In less populated areas, the peoples' schedules tend to be a bit more aligned with each other, so it is possible that an extra Mass could be offered on this day, if a priest is available and if the normal Mass time doesn't allow for more solemnity in the celebration.

The main thing to remember is that the Liturgy has already provided the means to highlight the importance of the Transfiguration, but unless the effort is made to actualize those means, the day will pass by like any other.

The second thing which needs to be done to live the Liturgy rests completely within our own power. We need to make the personal effort to make feast days different from other days. Many people only do this with Christmas and Easter. Obviously those days are the two centers of the Liturgical Year, and deserve the highest attention, but all feast days should be given some form of celebration.

Now, don't read what I'm not saying. We don't need to put the same amount of effort into celebrating the Transfiguration as we do Easter. We'd become tired out quickly, Easter and Christmas would lose their splendor and uniqueness, and we'd come to despise feast days for the amount of work involved (in addition to our daily work)! However, a little goes a long way; simple things make certain days special. For example, I always celebrate the Immaculate Conception by watching my favorite version of A Christmas Carol (the George C. Scott version). While I was in the seminary, the Immaculate Conception was also the day we decorated for Christmas (with the exception of the chapel of course). These two simple things made the day extremely special for me, and they required minimal effort. I also try to schedule dinners out with friends on feast days. This allows me to celebrate the day with others.

Small traditions are what make days special for individuals. I fear that we sometimes get the idea that we need to put a lot of effort into our traditions for them to have value. This is not the case at all. While some things do require a lot of effort, and we may value the end result for that effort, we need to remember the reason for the tradition, which should always be Christ. And this brings me to the most important part of living the Liturgy - prayer.

If we want to truly and authentically live the Liturgy in our daily lives, our prayer lives must do what the Father said in the Transfiguration, i.e. listen to Christ (Matthew 17:5). Part of this requires us to pray with the Church, which is His Body, and the public prayers of the Church are the Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours, which follow the Liturgical Year.

We should ultimately make sure that our celebration of any feast day, whether it be the Transfiguration or Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord itself, is marked by prayer. Obviously, there are many legitimate and distinct forms of prayer, and many of them can work for celebrating the feasts days, while still maintaining one's normal spirituality. For example, if one is especially accustomed to the Rosary, one should still take account of the liturgical day. The Directory on Popular Piety says:

"Those who recite a third [now a fourth] of the Rosary sometimes assign the various mysteries to particular days....Where this system is rigidly adhered to, conflict can arise between the content of the mysteries and that of the Liturgy of the day....In cases such as this it can be reckoned that 'the liturgical character of a given day takes precedence over the usual assignment of a mystery of the Rosary to a given day; the Rosary is such that, on particular days, it can appropriately substitute meditation on a mystery so as to harmonize this pious practice with the liturgical season' (200)."

Thus, while the Glorious Mysteries are normally prayed on Wednesdays, as today is the Transfiguration, it would be most appropriate to pray the Luminous Mysteries. Those accustomed to praying litanies, may choose a litany best associated with the given saint's day, or a person might choose take a break from their current spiritual reading to read a meditation suited to the feast day. Through this we can effectively encounter Christ, Whom the Father bid us listen to, and truly live the Liturgy in our daily lives.

A Look at the Mass: The Greeting of the People: Part 2

Within the last post, I discussed more of the overall concept of the greeting at Mass. Within this post, I wanted to look more at the four specific greetings. Three of these are options for a priest to use, when celebrating Mass. The fourth option is used exclusively by a bishop when he presides over the Mass, or celebrates it.

The first option listed in the Roman Missal is, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all."  All of the options have a unique beauty to them, and the one that I love most about this one is that it is a continuation of the sign of the cross, as it directly recalls the Trinity. There is much we can draw from this simple formula.

We have been brought here by the love of God. God created us in love, He sustains us in love, He redeemed us in love. If we lose sight of this simple truth, especially in the context of the Liturgy, we, and our pious acts, risk becoming "a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1)." As St. Paul said, charity and love is necessary for all acts to have any value in the eyes of God. The Sacraments, while being efficacious without charity, cannot perfect us without charity having first disposed us to their graces. The mystery of grace, however, is that we cannot be open to it, without God having first opened us to it, as elaborated often by St. Augustine. For this reason, then, the priest greets us with the invitation that the grace of Jesus be present in us.

The final part of this greeting refers to the communion of the Holy Spirit. This is a prayer for unity, which we will continue to see throughout the Liturgy. It brings up the prayer of Christ, "that they may all be one (John 17: 21)." Through the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the grace of the Holy Spirit we are made one in the Church of Christ, which is His body. The Mass is so integral for this unity, then, since it is only in unity that charity can properly be carried out, for we must be one with God to will what He wills.

The second option for the greeting is, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." As I mentioned in the previous post, this is the greeting Paul uses at the beginning of all of his letters in the Scriptures. I think this is significant for several reasons. The first is that it asserts the Apostolic Succession within the Mass. The Mass is the same in essence as that celebrated by the Apostles when they gathered together. Although the exterior rites have undergone changes and developments, the essence, i.e. the Sacrament and Sacrifice, are the same as that celebrated by St. Paul.

Additionally, this greeting reminds us that the Mass carries one of the same purposes that Paul's letters carried. They were written to the churches to instruct them and to admonish them, but primarily to remind them of the surpassing love Jesus Christ had for them. Is not this the purpose of the Mass? We are instructed there, we are often admonished, but primarily we encounter the love of Jesus Christ for us. We are brought together as one and all strive for the same ultimate purpose which the Sacrament of the Eucharist can accomplish within us, i.e. to grow in love and be sanctified by Jesus.

As I stated though, the Mass, especially through the liturgical year and many feasts, is the place where we encounter the truths of the Faith in their best setting, in the presence of God. It is only through God's grace we can understand and love these truths, just as it is only through God's grace that we can do anything. I can, therefore, think of no better place to learn than in the church, the house of God. Keep in mind, I'm not speaking of only an intellectual learning, but a learning that penetrates our hearts and souls and leads us to change our lives.

The last option for the priest to use for the greeting at Mass is the simple, "Dominus vobiscum - The Lord be with you." As I stated before, this is the oldest of the greetings and most traditional in the Liturgy. It is used, as Jungmann notes, to signal a change in actions, and to call our attentions specifically to what is about to occur (363-364), and it occurs several times throughout the Liturgy. As it is hard to focus on this greeting historically, since it has undergone so much development, and its location in the Ordinary Form seems to be somewhat unique, I will simply focus on each of the occurrences as they come up.

The Dominus vobiscum at this place requires little further explanation than what I have said above and in the previous posts. This is an invitation for us to gather our thoughts and to remember what is about to occur in our lives and the necessity of the Lord to accompany us by His grace. Instead, what I wish to now comment on, before looking at a bishop's greeting, is our response, "Et cum spiritu tuo. And with your spirit."

This is the response used for all of the possible greetings, and the theology behind it has constantly been stressed to accentuate the sacerdotal nature of the sacred minister. The Lord Jesus is with him in a special way, since whether he is a bishop, priest, or deacon, his soul bears a special seal upon it conforming him to Christ and allowing him to act in persona Christi. For this reason, a special "wish" is made by all that the Lord's grace will support him in the high dignity he is to undertake.

As with the Dominus vobiscum at the various parts of the Mass having both similar and different meanings, I would hold that the Et cum spiritu tuo does as well. The similarity is that the Holy Spirit may be with him in a unique and special way, but the emphasis is on what work he is about to undertake. At this point in the Liturgy, our thoughts should be that the Holy Spirit may be with him throughout the entire Mass, so that he may worthily lead us in prayer. I find it profitable to point out the re-translation of the Mass from 2012, in which "And also with you," was changed to "And with your spirit."

Two things may be deduced from this. The old translation seemed to imply that the Holy Spirit acts both in the priest and in the faithful in the same way. While there are parts that are the same, in the sense that the priest is human and in need of sanctification, within the Mass the priest also acts in a unique way in that it is he who offers the Sacrifice. The exclusion of the word "also," prevents this possible confusion. The second focuses on the word "spirit." The soul of the priest has an "indelible seal" placed upon it which allows him to act in persona Christi, as stated above. It is through this that he is able to confect the Eucharist. This emphasis on his soul, then, helps to remind us of the work he is going to do. He doesn't preside over a meeting in which we bring about the Eucharist, he is the one who brings about the Eucharist and offers the Sacrifice on our behalf. Therefore, while he leads us in prayer, he also prays on our behalf, as both a man, in his own person, and divinely, as the person of Christ.

The final part of the greeting at Mass which I will focus on is the last possible greeting which may be used, but only by a bishop, "Pax vobis. Peace be with you." There is a great deal of mystery surrounding this greeting. While it is a common greeting in the Eastern Rites for both priest and bishop, it is limited to this one spot in the Latin Rite and used only by the bishop. Historically speaking as well, it has been a thing of dispute. It is the greeting give by our Lord to the disciples after his Resurrection (John 20:19, 21, 26). In my opinion, the best explanation for this being reserved to the bishop is that it is he alone who has received the fullness of the priesthood. Therefore, he uses the words of our Lord himself. As a successor of the Apostles, he uses the very words given by our Lord to the Apostles. The Apostles then communicate this message of peace and life to us through their successors, the bishops.

The Pax vobis is the message of the good news of the Resurrection. Christ has conquered sin and death through His glorious Resurrection! This message of hope and love is the primary message of the Apostles. How appropriate it is that their successors continue to proclaim it, and within the Liturgy. Through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Christ reconciled the world back to God and brought peace. This is made present to us in the Mass, when the Pascal Mystery is celebrated. The Pax vobis is, then, an invitation to enter into the Pascal Mystery and offer ourselves to God, in union with the Sacrifice of the Cross, made present by the bishop, who acts most perfectly in persona Christi as the great high priest (Antiphon: Ecce Sacerdos Magnus)!

All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume 1. Part III: The Collect. The Inclusion of the Congregation Assembled, 359-372. Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).