A Look at the Mass: Lavabo Me

Immediately following his incensation by the deacon, the priest will perform an action, the symbolism of which goes not only back to the Old Testament, but is found even in the Pagan rituals, and this is the ritual washing with water, albeit much simplified from that of the Old Law or the Pagans. We see examples of washing in preparation for sacred ritual or simply in appearing before the Lord, such as Exodus 19:10-11, Leviticus 17:15, and especially Exodus 30:17-21, in regards to the ritual washing of the priests of the Old Covenant.  

Now before we delve into the exploration of this ceremony, we must understand that here the practical and symbolical nature of this ritual are interwoven in almost all cultures and religions in which it is found. The practical nature, is of course, to make one’s body clean for sacred ritual, since holy things will be touched, and they should not be infected or desecrated by things such as dirt. Already within this, however, we can see the interweaving with the symbolic, since the items are holy, not through physical features, but through spiritual ones.

Faith, then, is required for the spiritual washing to have any effect, for without faith in the sanctifying power of God, a person cannot be sanctified. The washing of the hands becomes then, not simply another begging for mercy, as the Penitential rite was (though it certainly includes this, and primarily), but is a very act of faith in what is about to take place and an intercession that God may grant the grace to worthily complete the work of prayer.

The prayer of the Ordinary Form, which the priest prays silently while washing his hands, is: 

“Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.”

In contrast, the Extraordinary Form uses Psalm 26, Verse 6 onwards, likely chosen both for its beauty and correspondence to the rite, as well as for the time it would take in previous centuries to thoroughly cleanse the hands, since dirt would be much more profuse, especially from the thurible. The text used by the Extraordinary Form is:

“I will wash my hands among the innocent, and I will go around Thine altar, O Lord, that I may hear the voice of praise: and tell of all Thy wondrous deeds. I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house and the place where dwells Thy glory. Take not my soul, O God, with the wicked, nor my life with bloodthirsty men. In whose hands are iniquities, their right hand is full of gifts. But I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me. My foot stands on level ground; in the churches I will bless Thee, O Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”  

Let us once again consider both of these prayers, as there is much we can derive from both. We will begin with the prayer of the Ordinary Form, which clearly stresses the desire for God’s mercy and interior sanctification through the outward acts of exterior sanctification. This is really a beautiful principle, which Blessed John Henry Newman referred to as the Sacramental Principle, which underlies the entire Christian Faith, especially the Sacraments themselves. This principle essentially states that material things can be means to spiritual realities and, consequently, sanctification.

We may agree with this principle on account of the Incarnation of Christ. As St. Paul says, “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:5-7).” God the Son, completely spiritual, deigned to take on a human nature, and by the Paschal Mystery, He has sanctified our nature raising it to behold invisible realities.

To behold these Mysteries, however, we need faith, which as we saw above was partly what this washing of the hands asked for! For faith to be living and active in a soul, i.e. for it to see the invisible realities through the physical and sanctify us, it must not be clouded by the darkness of sin. The prayer of the priest here, to be washed of iniquity carries with it then a deep meaning. We may think of the prayer as one worded by Gueranger to be used by the Faithful at this portion of the Mass:

"I, too, would wash my hands, O Lord, and become like unto those who are innocent, that so I may be worthy to come near Thy Altar, and hear Thy sacred Canticles, and then go and proclaim to the world the wonders of Thy goodness (Gueranger's Prayers on the Ordinary of the Mass found in The Holy Mass)."

Let us remember the words of our Lord here, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8)." Through purity of heart we are able to go beyond the veil of the physical and enter into the Mystery of our Salvation about to be made present! As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

"Faith makes us taste in advance the light of the beatific vision, the goal of our journey here below. Then we shall see God "face to face", "as he is." So faith is already the beginning of eternal life: When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy (163)."

The prayer of Psalm 26, used in the Extraordinary Form is, then, a further elaboration and meditation upon these sentiments. We beg the Lord, through the silent prayer of the priest, to wash us and cleanse us of our sins so that we may not be hindered in our acts of faith, hope, and charity. Just as the body functions better and is less prone to illness, the cleaner and healthier it is, so likewise the soul, when cleansed by the grace of God is more prone to remain within "His courts," and to avoid the wicked and unrighteousness.

Let us always pray, then, at this point in the Holy Mass, when we stand on the threshold of the Holy of Holies, that as the priest's hands and soul is purified, so may our souls be purified, especially our eyes of Faith so that we may see the Sacrifice of the Lamb clearly and that, "we may bless the Lord in the churches!"

All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume 2. Part IV: The Washing of the Hands, 76-82. Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).