The final part of the explanation of the Sacrificial nature of the Eucharist and the pleading the Priest has been doing for acceptance now takes on a more serious tone. For now the Priest is to formally beg that the sacrifices and prayers of the Church in Her Faithful may be joined to the Offering of the Divine Victim on the Altar of the Cross.
In order to emphasize the humility with which the Priest is making this request, he joins his hands and bows, as do any Concelebrants, and says the following:
"In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God:
command that these gifts be borne
by the hands of your holy Angel
to your altar on high
in the sight of your divine majesty,
so that all of us, who through this participation at the altar
receive the most holy Body and Blood of your Son,
We must interpret this posture to speak of the humility present, but also the urgency of the request. It is common practice, even today, to assume a bow or bended knee before a royal, especially when making a request of them. For this shows the subservience of the one making the request to their master, but the posture also shows how much they desire to have what they ask. It is for this reason the Church, in the Rite of Ordination, has the Ordinandi prostrate themselves. By putting their very faces to the ground as they plead with God to pour forth His grace upon them, they show they are completely His servants, but they also show this is the greatest thing they can currently ask of God and for which they stand in most need, i.e. His mercy, as well as the intercession of all the Saints.
Obviously it is not possible for the Priest to prostrate himself and still speak. To even kneel would be impractical, for this would put him below the altar and out of sight of the Missal from which he reads, so the Church has adopted the practice of a bowed posture. Additionally, once again the hands are joined, as the Priest is making it clear that this prayer is being directed and ascending towards God the Father in Heaven, as the prayer itself expressly says.
The Priest is acknowledging his inability to convey the Sacrifice all the way to the throne of God, He can only offer it upon earth. Thus, he assumes this humble position, and begs of God to be pleased to accept the Sacrifice and to receive It into His court, nay to the very altar in Heaven. Jungmann notes and explains well the connection borne with the Book of Revelation:
"The Apocalypse, 8:3-5, tells of an altar in heaven on which the angel deposits incense and the prayers of the saints: 'And there was given to him (the angel) much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all the saints, upon the golden altar which is before the throne of God.' This is but a figure of spiritual activity, just as it is only a figure to speak of the throne of God (231)."
What the Priest is asking for, then, is not that an angel actually convey the prayers physically to an altar, since neither of angels nor prayers are physical things, but the Priest is begging these prayers be pleasing to God and that He may grant them hearing.
One portion of this prayer which stands out, however, is the capitalization of the word "Angel," and this has given rise to many interpretations over the centuries.The prevailing idea, though, is that this term refers not to any member of the nine choirs of angels, but to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Gueranger gives us this explanation:
"Observe the meaning of the word Angel: it signifies sent, and the Son of God was the One Sent, by the Father; He came down upon earth among men . . . . He is the Angel by excellence, He is, as the Scripture expresses it, the Angel of the Great Counsel . . . . So then, the Priest begs of God that the Angel may bear away haec (What is upon the Altar), and may place It upon the Altar of Heaven; he makes this petition in order to show the identity of the Sacrifice of Heaven, with the Sacrifice of earth (The Holy Mass, Section: Supplices Te Rogamus, emphases in original)."
It is worth noting, since we primarily use both liturgists, that Jungmann highly disagrees with this interpretation, but this is not the place for such a discussion. Rather, we shall take up this most popular position, with some further elaboration perhaps.
We noted that the entire Paschal Mystery is made present on our altars, and it is evident how the Death and Resurrection of Christ is made present, as through the Consecration the Death of our Lord was made present, but it is Christ in His Risen Body which we adore in the Eucharist. In this prayer, however, we may say the Ascension is that portion of the Mystery which takes central place. For an exposition of this, let us refer to the Letter to the Hebrews, that great letter we so often consider for an understanding of the Mass:
"When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. . . . Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, . . . . Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly . . . (Hebrews 9:11-12, 15, 24-25)."
It is only through Jesus' ultimate Ascension into Heaven that the Priest is able to make present the Sacrifice, for as we continually note, Heaven and earth are brought together in the Liturgy. If Christ is not in Heaven, the Mass, which makes Christ truly present to us, cannot make Heaven present to us, for it would be bound by the limits of space and time. Even more, if Jesus did not ascend into Heaven, we are still barred from entering into Heaven's gates, for through His Ascension Christ has so dignified our nature and made it worthy to enter the Heavenly Realms. Where He has gone before us, we hope to follow!
Furthermore, in this prayer, the reception of Holy Communion is being anticipated. Why is it so necessary that this Sacrifice find acceptance before the Throne of God? Because it is through this Sacrifice and Sacrament the recipients will be conformed to Jesus Christ and thus divinized! Heaven is the realm for those united to the Divine Nature through the Beatific Vision. Thus, if those who are being presented are not pleasing to God, they cannot be conformed to God, for in so doing divine things would be barred from the realm of the Divine, a nonsensical idea!
Thus, the prayers and sacrifices of the people are formally presented so that God the Father may send forth the Spirit, through His Divine Son, to open our hearts in preparation for the reception of Holy Communion, so that the Sacrament may bear fruit in our souls. But it is on account of the Cross that this may occur, for the Cross is the source of all blessings in the world. With this thought in mind, the Priest shall now sign himself with the Sign of the Cross as he returns to an upright position saying:
"may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing."
The humble petition is ended, and the Priest is confident that God the Father will not refuse the prayers which have been united with the Sacrifice of Christ and which is presented by Jesus Himself, for these prayers and petitions were joined to Him on the Cross and now go with Him to Heaven through His Ascension. To signify this idea even further, the Priest may end the prayer, and really all three of these preceding prayers for acceptance, with:
"Through Christ our Lord. Amen."
Before we conclude, however, let us consider the Sign of the Cross made by the Priest at this portion. He is, in a sense, giving himself a blessing, and in so doing he is bestowing it upon all the people. And this blessing is so that all may now unite themselves to the Offering of the Cross here present and be found acceptable to the Divine Majesty, and may thus enjoy a fruitful Communion. Yet it also emphasizes the power of the Cross, and that all blessings come through it. Consequently, as the Mass makes the Cross present, all blessings come to us through the Mass. And even further, as authentic Liturgy is always an extension of the Mass, so all blessings come to us and to the world through the Liturgy.
This is why it is so important for us to participate in the Liturgy, especially the Holy Mass! It is through this font that Christ has ordained to pour forth His Spirit upon us and to fill us with blessings. Therefore, we must never think to offer ourselves to God apart from it. And why would we? As we have noted, by uniting ourselves to the Liturgy, we unite ourselves to the offering of Christ, and in doing so we are taken up to Heaven already with Him, where the blessings of the Divine Life are already given to us, through participation at the Heavenly Altar, even though we still dwell here below!
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: Supra Quae and Supplices, 226-237.
Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics:
Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).
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