Fr. Derek is penning a new series featured in the weekly bulletin explaining what is done at the Altar and why. He hopes this leads to a deeper understanding and intamacy with The Mass.
Forty days after the Nativity of Our Lord, Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple, following the ancient prescription of the Law of Moses in Numbers 18:15. Their trip to the Temple was also the occasion of Mary’s purification, following the Law of Moses in Leviticus 12:6-7. Thus, February 2 is known as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But the day is also known as Candlemas, because it is the day on which the church blesses candles to be used in divine worship throughout the coming year. This custom arises from the testimony of Simeon in the Temple, who, upon seeing the child Jesus, proclaimed Him to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” The faithful are encouraged to take two blessed candles home with them to be used during sick calls or during private prayer. As the prayer of blessing indicates, the meaning of the traditional procession into the church with lit candles to begin the Mass symbolizes our petition “that by treading the path of virtue, we may reach that light which never fails.”
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
“Sursum corda.” “Lift up your hearts.” These words of the preface dialogue seem like they need an exclamation point after them, but that would be inconsistent with the sobriety of the Roman Rite. Saint Thomas Aquinas said that these words are meant “to arouse devotion” among the people in anticipation of the outpouring of supernatural power at the consecration. Benedict XVI preached, “In the early Church there was a custom whereby the Bishop or the priest, after the homily, would cry out to the faithful: Conversi ad Dominumturn now towards the Lord. This meant that they would turn towards the East, towards the rising sun, the sign of Christ returning, whom we go to meet when we celebrate the Eucharist... Linked with this, then, was Sursum corda—high above all our misguided concerns, desires, anxieties and thoughtlessness—Lift up your hearts, your inner selves! In both exclamations we are summoned to a renewal of our Baptism: Conversi ad Dominum. We must always turn away from false paths, onto which we stray so often in our thoughts and actions... And ever anew we must withdraw our hearts from the force of gravity, which pulls them down, and inwardly we must raise them high in truth and love.”
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
The Offertory of the Mass is concerned with unconsecrated bread and wine, which seems like little to get excited about. The point, however, is not about what those things held up by the priest are now, as much as about what they are to become. The bread “will become for us the Bread of Life,” and the wine will “become our spiritual drink,” as the current offertory prayers say.
And, hopefully, those will not be the only elements changed by the Mass. Msgr. Ronald Knox explains, “What the priest is doing at the altar is separating this particular lump of wheat, this particular dose of wine, for a supernatural destiny. And that, of course, is just what is happening to you and me all the time. Sooner or later we shall die, and that moment of death will be, please God, our Consecration — we shall be changed into something different, be given a spiritual body in place of our natural body, and live praising God among the Saints to all eternity. And that is why the pious books will tell you, at the Offertory, to put yourself in imagination on the paten, between the priest’s hands.”
This time in the Mass can be chaotic and loud, with the weekly collection and with the music playing. But above all, it should be the time for us to offer ourselves and our intentions to God on the paten with the host, in hope of transforming what is natural and mortal into what is supernatural and eternal.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
Appendix I of the Roman Missal provides a rubric which says, “On the Epiphany of the Lord, after the singing of the Gospel, a deacon, in keeping with the ancient practice of Holy Church, announces from the ambo the moveable feasts of the current year.” Near the conclusion of the Christmas festivities and on Epiphany Day when Christ is revealed to the whole world, this announcement reminds us again of why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. For this year, the deacon would sing, “Know, dear brethren, that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God’s mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Savior. On the 22nd day of February will fall Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season. On the 9th day of April, you will celebrate with joy Easter Day, the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the 18th day of May will be the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. On the 28th day of May, the feast of Pentecost. On the 11th day of June, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. On the 3rd day of December, the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
Christmas and Easter are celebrated with special vigor for eight days, the octave. The Christian practice of observing high feasts for a full eight days dates back to at least the fourth century. It is unclear whether this custom is adopted from Jewish roots, such as how Jewish boys were circumcised on the eighth day, or if the custom grew organically from Christians' Easter joy spilling over to the following Sunday, especially for the newly baptized at the Easter Vigil. Convincing arguments can be made for both, but for Christmas, the observation of Christ's circumcision provides fine continuity between the Old and the New Covenants.
It is a cause of great sorrow to many, even as it was to Saint Pope Paul VI (who unwittingly abrogated the Octave of Pentecost), that octaves of the Epiphany of the Lord and of Pentecost are no longer observed in the Roman calendar. Still, octaves provide us the opportunity to celebrate and contemplate the great feasts of our redemption more fully, over and against the secular commercialist tendency to move on to the next opportunity for profit. In the Holy Mass, the octave is emphasized with a proper form of the Communicantes in the Roman Canon (the First Eucharistic Prayer) used for all eight days. For the Octave of Christmas, this means that the priest says: "Celebrating the most sacred day on which blessed Mary the immaculate Virgin brought forth the Savior for this world, and in communion with those whose memory we venerate..."
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
The Roman Martyrology is the official catalog of the martyrs of the Roman Church, arranged according to the liturgical calendar. The Martyrology also announces the major feasts of the year as they come up. It is the custom in many religious houses to read or chant the Martyrology in daily communal prayer. To make this custom more accessible to the faithful for the special occasion of Christmas, the announcement of the Nativity of our Lord may be chanted or recited before the beginning of Christmas Mass during the Night. The rubrics explain, “The announcement of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord from the Roman Martyrology draws upon Sacred Scripture to declare in a formal way the birth of Christ. It begins with creation and relates the birth of the Lord to the major events and personages of sacred and secular history. The particular events contained in the announcement help pastorally to situate the birth of Jesus in the context of salvation history.”
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
The priest washes his hands before the Preface is prayed, saying in the low voice, "Wash me, O Lord, of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." Saint Thomas Aquinas says that this is done for two reasons (Summa Theologiae III, 83, 5). First, the priest should not dare touch the Eucharist with unclean hands, out of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. This is a practical matter, as the priest may need to wash off residue of burnt incense or charcoal that may have stuck to his hands from the thurible at the incensation. Second, Saint Thomas notes that before Jesus offered Himself at the Last Supper, he washed the feet of the Apostles to indicate the purity needed for the Holy Sacrifice: "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed." (John 13:10).
The hands are substituted for the feet because "this can be done more readily, and suffices for denoting perfect cleansing, for... all works are attributed to the hands." This is consistent with the ancient Hebrew meaning of hand washing as an indication of interior purification, as we see in Exodus 30:17-20: "The LORD told Moses: For ablutions you shall make a bronze basin with a bronze stand. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons shall use it in washing their hands and feet. When they are about to enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water, lest they die."
- Fr. Mobilio
Today the Church enters the second half of Advent, and as a quick reprieve from the penitential exercises of the season, the liturgy focuses on joy, for Christ’s coming is now nearer than before. This is traditionally symbolized in the liturgy by returned use of the organ, decoration of the sanctuary with flowers, and wearing of the dalmatic by the deacon, just for one day. (The dalmatic itself is a symbol of joy, as the deacon prays, “Endow me, O Lord, with the garment of salvation, the vestment of joy...” as he puts it on.) But the most obvious symbol of the joy of the day is the color rose of the third candle of the Advent wreath and of the sacred vestments. Besides being a delightful color in itself, rose is one of the last colors seen in the sky before the sun rises. Thus, as we come closer to the great Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord and the dawning of our salvation, rose is a most appropriate sign and expression of our joy at His Advent.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
Fr. Francis X. Weiser, S.J. explains in his book, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, "The traditional symbolism of the Advent wreath reminds the faithful of the Old Testament, when humanity was 'sitting in the darkness and in the shadow of death' (Luke 2:79); when the prophets, illumined by God, announced the Redeemer; and when the hearts of men glowed with the desire for the Messiah. The wreath -- an ancient symbol of victory and glory -- symbolizes the 'fulfillment of time' in the coming of Christ and the glory of His birth." The Advent wreath is a devotional, which is to say that it provides, much like the Rosary, an opportunity for the faithful to encounter the living Christ according to their own particular needs and desires, (as opposed to liturgical prayer, which is the formal common expression of prayer for the faithful as one body.)
Thus, families are free to use the wreath in their homes as they wish to foster expectant love for Christ. Fr. Weiser explains one possible use of the wreath thus: "In the evening, the family gathers for a short religious exercise. Every Sunday of Advent one more candle is lit, until all four candles shed their cheerful light to announce the approaching birthday of the Lord. All other lights are extinguished in the room, and only the gentle glow of the live candles illuminates the darkness. After some prayers, which are recited for the grace of a good and holy preparation for Christmas, the family sings one of the traditional Advent hymns or a song in honor of Mary."
- Fr. Mobilio
In ages past, liturgical law required that unbleached (inon-white) candles be used during requiem Masses, Advent, Lent, and Holy Week. This liturgical law is no longer in force, but the use of unbleached candles during these times is still allowed in continuity with the venerable traditions of our Catholic faith. As Fr. Edwin Ryan wrote in his book Candles in the Roman Rite, unbleached candles are fitting to express sorrow or anticipation, "since the somber tones of unbleached wax harmonize with a mournful ceremony, while bleached wax, being far higher in the tone scale, would intrude a note of joy." Thus, unbleached candles add to the symbolic expression of Advent as a time of sober preparation for the joyful solemnities of Christmas. Unbleached candles also remind us of our need for penitential expectation for Christ's second coming at the end of time or at the end of our lives.
- Fr. Mobilio
After offering the bread and the wine, the priest bows low with his hands joined on the altar and says in a low voice, "With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God." This prayer is taken from Daniel 3:39-40, in which Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael pray to God from within the fiery furnace. The prayer reminds the priest that we have not deserved Christ's sacrifice for us, but yet, we are able to offer ourselves with Christ within the furnace of our own trials and sufferings.
Saint Robert Bellarmine commented on this prayer, "The priest does not doubt whether the sacrifice of the Mass will be pleasing to God in itself, or insofar as it was instituted by Christ, but he doubts his own interior dispositions. For this reason, he asks for humility and contrition, that he may so continue the sacrifice which he has begun that it may also please God insofar as he is offering it."
- Fr. Mobilio
When the priest or deacon adds a drop of water to the wine in the chalice, he prays in a low voice, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” Water represents our humanity, and wine represent Christ’s divinity. Just as the water can no longer be separated from the wine, so too should our sacrifice be joined inseparably to Christ’s in the Mass. And just as the water takes on the color, taste, and flavor of the wine without ceasing to be water, so too should we become more like Christ while retaining our unique identities. From early on, this drop of water has been required for the Holy Sacrifice. Saint Cyprian, writing in the third century against Gnostic liturgical practices, affirmed, “When someone offers only wine, then Christ begins to exist without us. When he offers only water, then we begin to exist without Christ.” Traditionally, if any small drops of water end up on the wall of the chalice unmixed with the wine, then the priest or deacon should wipe those drops away with the purificator as a symbol of what happens to those who are baptized but refuse to advance in the spiritual life and union with the Lord.
- Fr. Mobilio
There is an old story about Abba Apollo, one of the great hermit monks known as the Desert Fathers. God forced Satan to show himself to Abba Apollo. "He looked ugly, with frighteningly thin limbs, but most strikingly, he had no knees." That is, the inability to kneel is the essence of the Devil, he who said once and for all time, "I will not serve." Thus, in kneeling during our prayer or during the Holy Mass, we do what Satan cannot: we humble ourselves before God. According to Saint Basil the Great, "Every time we fall upon our knees and rise from off them, we show by very deed that by our sin we fell down to earth, and by the loving kindness of our Creator were called back to heaven."
- Fr. Mobilio
To genuflect literally means "to bend the knee." A proper genuflection upon entering a church is done toward the Tabernacle without haste. The right knee should touch the ground and the adorer should maintain an upright
posture from the waist up. Traditionally, genuflections with the left knee were used to pay homage to emperors and kings. Thus, the right knee is reserved for God alone. Because the practice of genuflecting was not formally introduced to the liturgy until probably the sixteenth century, it is peculiar to the Roman Rite, as almost every other rite of Catholicism uses a profound bow of head and body as the supreme act of liturgical reverence.
Nevertheless, genuflections were gestures of popular piety before this time. Saint Thomas Aquinas, writing in the thirteenth century, said, "When we genuflect, we signify our weakness in comparison with God." He also wrote that such exterior acts of adoration are very important because in performing them with care, "we exhibit signs of humility in our bodies in order to incite our affections to submit to God."
- Fr. Mobilio
"A reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy." ... "The Word of the Lord." At first glance, these statements might appear to be contradictory. But we can properly speak of both Paul and God as authors of Second Timothy because of inspiration, which means that "to compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while He employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever He wanted written, and no more." (Dei Verbum 11)
The liturgical custom of the Church to name both the human and Divine authors in the Mass thus corresponds with and reaffirms our belief in inspiration. We should note that we use inspiration in a more strict sense than how we might say that a great artist or musical composer "was inspired" on a natural level to complete a work. God's inspiration of the sacred author worked supernaturally in three ways: by illuminating the author's intellect and reasoning, by moving the author's will, and by guiding the author's natural faculties such as imagination, memory, and literary judgment.
- Fr. Mobilio
Five crosses are carved on the surface of every altar to represent the five wounds of Christ. As Isaiah prophesied centuries before Christ, "He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed." (Isaiah 53:5) When an altar is consecrated, the bishop anoints the altar in five places with Sacred Chrism for the same reason. Some liturgical commentators also note that the five crosses represent the five feelings of pity that are necessary for the faithful: (1) pity for Christ as we contemplate the Passion, (2) pity for our neighbors when we see their sufferings, (3) pity for our sins of commission, (4) pity for our sins of omission, and (5) pity for our good deeds done with less pure motives.
- Fr. Mobilio
Candles used in divine worship should be at least 51% beeswax. Beeswax has been used from ancient times not only for its pleasant smell, but also because it is produced by working bees who do not reproduce and who are thus symbols of virginity and purity. This tradition is celebrated in the Exultet of the Easter Vigil, in which is sung, "On this, your night of grace, O holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands..." The pure wax produced by virgin bees thus symbolizes the Body of Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.
The wick symbolizes the Soul of Jesus and the flame represents His Divinity, which absorbs and dominates both His Body and Soul. If the Easter Candle represents Christ the true Light most completely, then wax candles at the altar stand for individual Christians whose goal is to imitate Christ unto others. Even though beeswax candles are more expensive than refillable oil candles, in principle, we ought to offer what is best to God in our worship. Also, more than any refillable cartridge can, the wax candle represents that Christ had to suffer and die in the flesh in order "to break the bonds of death and manifest the Resurrection."
- Fr. Mobilio
At his ordination, deacons are instructed by the bishop: "Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” Before proceeding to the ambo to read the Gospel, the deacon makes a profound bow before the priest and asks for this blessing, saying in a low voice: "Your blessing, Father." The priest blesses him in a low voice: "May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips, that you may proclaim His Gospel worthily and well, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The deacon signs himself with the sign of the cross and responds: "Amen."
Why does this happen? Primarily, this blessing is one of the many marks which sets the Gospel apart from the rest of the Liturgy of the Word. The Gospel is the climax of the Liturgy of the Word and in which Our Lord speaks directly to us as Bridegroom to His bride. Thus, the cleric who reads it must be prepared to do so with the help of God's blessing. We should note that the prayer the priest prays over the deacon is just about the same prayer he would pray for himself before reading the Gospel in the absence of the deacon. The prayer finds its Scriptural foundation in Isaiah 6, where the prophet acknowledges that he is "a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips..." In response to Isaiah, "one of the seraphim flew to [him], holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar and touched [his] mouth with it, saying, 'See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.'"
- Fr. Mobilio
When the priest prays the collect with hands extended, he assumes what is known as the orans position. Orans means "praying" in Latin. The orans posture is symbolic of the priest praying on behalf of the people as he stands in the person of Christ. Thus, it is a gesture that is reserved to the priest in the Holy Mass, as he "collects" the intentions of the people and presents them to the Father. The gesture is not original to Christianity, as it is seen in pagan rituals of old. For Christians, the gesture originally might have evoked the image of Christ's extended hands on the Cross, as we pray in one of the prefaces, "He stretched out his hands so as to break the bonds of death and manifest the Resurrection."
Over time, the characteristic sobriety of the Roman Rite prescribed that the priest's hands be extended without exceeding the height or width of the shoulders and with palms facing inward, although this is not strictly demanded of the priest today. The Ambrosian Rite and the Dominican Rite still preserve the tradition of extending the hands widely in the form of the crucifixion. In Scripture, we find the gesture in Exodus 17 as Moses extends and raises his hands during the battle against Amalek. The Psalms, Isaiah 1:15, and 1 Timothy 2:8 also mention extended or raised hands in prayer. The gesture is also depicted in paintings in the catacombs of the third century, which show the gesture being used outside the Mass by lay-persons.
- Fr. Mobilio
What’s the good of saying “Let us pray” when we are already praying? The Mass began a few minutes ago, so what is the priest doing when he invites the people to pray? Well, firstly, to speak directly to the assembled people is an act of graciousness that the Church demands of the priest, so that he remembers that he is praying on behalf of the gathered people. This was perhaps a more obvious need when the priest faced the same direction as the people (ad Deum, “toward God”) for most of the Mass, (which, we should note, was not outlawed by the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.) Nevertheless, since the priest’s eyes might still be downcast so that he is not distracted during prayer by looking out directly at the people during the Confiteor and the Gloria, this is certainly still a good reminder for him that with the Collect, he is about to offer a priestly prayer as a mediator between the people and God.
Secondly, if we are honest with ourselves, “Let us pray” is also for those whose minds might have wandered during the Gloria, perhaps because we found the melody too meandering or the tempo too slow, or perhaps because we too were looking at the people around us a bit too much. If we find ourselves liable to distraction at Mass, then “Let us pray” is the wake-up call to tell us the Collect is coming — a very important prayer which can set the tone for the entire
Mass, indicating how we are to listen to the Word of God and how we are to direct our personal prayers the rest of the way.
- Fr. Mobilio
After all the groveling we have done in asking God’s mercy in the Confiteor and in the repetition of Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy), it is fitting that we lighten the mood, so to speak, with the great doxology, the Gloria (Glory to God). This hymn begins with the words of the angels announcing the birth of Jesus Christ to the shepherds in the fields, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to people of good will.” As Blessed Hyacinth Cormier, O.P. wrote, the rest of this hymn is not a “logical progression of ideas” but rather, “an impulsive succession of acclamations and words of praise that spring forth from the soul.”
When we recite or sing the Gloria, we ought to recall that our human nature has been raised to something altogether higher ever since Our Lord took our human nature upon Himself. Thus, when we unite our prayers to His, despite all of our weakness, our prayers can come worthily before God the Father. This leaves us in a good posture before the Collect, in which the collective prayer of the people is offered to God by the priest.
- Fr. Mobilio
The Book of Proverbs says, “The just is the first accuser of himself.” (18:17) Thus, we begin the Holy Mass with the Confiteor, (“I confess…”) as an acknowledgment of our sins so that we celebrate the sacred mysteries from a posture of humility. The prayer’s essential structure and placement in the Holy Mass dates back to at least the 11th century. The prayer itself dates to at least the 7th century, as forms of it appear in preparations for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and as a prayer for the priest to pray in the sacristy before offering the Holy Sacrifice.
When we strike our breasts thrice during the prayer, we do so in imitation of the publican who stood before the Temple saying, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” in Luke 18:13. We strike our breasts thrice for the three types of sins we commit: in thought, word, and deed, (with sins of omission included as sins of deed.) Even thought we do not often think about where our eyes look during Mass, traditionally, the eyes are downcast during the Confiteor. This is to symbolize that we should not presume the mercy of God and to acknowledge, as we are reminded every Ash Wednesday, that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
- Fr. Mobilio
"Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel." (Revelation 8:3-4) The Church takes this passage from John's vision of the heavenly liturgy in the Book of Revelation as the Scriptural foundation for the use of incense in the Holy Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration. The incense principally represents the prayers of the faithful gathered at the Holy Sacrifice rising up to God, as King David prayed in Psalm 141: "Lord, I call to you... Let my prayer be as incense before you..."
This notion is echoed in the prayer traditionally prayed by the priest as he incenses the offerings during the Mass: "May this incense blessed by You, arise before You, O Lord, and may Your mercy come down upon us." The word "incense" is from the Latin "incendere," which means "to set on fire" as in a sacrifice. That is, burning incense is sacrificial, because incense is not cheap. Remember that incense (frankincense) was one of the precious gifts offered to the Infant Jesus by the Magi. We offer it to God as a sweet-smelling oblation in His presence, recognizing that we should always offer our best things to God, and that we should not merely give to God from our excess, but from a posture of true sacrifice.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
The priest's stole is the preeminent sign of the priest's authority to administer the sacraments in the person of Christ, which is a pure gift from God given to him at his ordination. When he puts the stole on, he prays, "Lord, restore the stole of immortality, which I lost through the collusion of our first parents, and, unworthy as I am to approach Thy sacred mysteries, may I yet gain eternal joy." Although the practice of crossing the stole over the priest's chest so that it makes the shape of Saint Andrew's Cross has fallen out of widespread practice in recent times, the priest may still choose to vest in this way. The priest who wears his stole this way is reminded that he must carry his cross and the many intentions and needs of those souls under his priestly care to the Altar of God and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
As the priest puts on the chasuble, he prays, "O Lord, who has said, ‘My yoke is sweet and My burden light,’ grant that I may so carry it as to merit Thy grace." Thus, lest the priest think he must carry all these intentions of so many people to the altar on his own, he is reminded that he does all things by the grace and charity of God as he puts on the chasuble, which is the symbol of priestly charity. The chasuble is two-sided, representing the two sides of perfect charity, love of God and love of neighbor. It is
worth noting that, even with some styles of vestments made this way in the last half-century, the stole is never to be worn over the chasuble, since the priest should never cover his charity with authority, but quite the opposite. The chasuble is worn over all other vestments because charity is the highest virtue.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
The cincture is the cord worn around the waist by the priest. Its practical purpose is to gather in the loose-fitting alb, so that the alb does not impede the movements of the priest. The cincture's symbolic meaning is more significant, however, as it represents the virtue of chastity. When the priest ties the cincture about his waist, he prays, "Lord, gird me with the cincture of purity and extinguish my fleshly desires, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide within me." Chastity is a virtue for all people in all states of life, of course, but for the celibate priest, this virtue takes on a special character.
According to the Rite of Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate, chaste celibacy is “at the same time a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and a special source of spiritual fecundity in the world." Priests thus “adhere to Christ more easily with an undivided heart, dedicate themselves more freely in him and through him to the service of God and men, and more expeditiously minister to his Kingdom and the work of heavenly regeneration, and thus they are apt to accept, in a broad sense, paternity in Christ.” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 16).
Thus, the call to celibate priesthood is a grace to live out spiritual fatherhood with the entirety of one’s being, such that the priest shares in the generative power of Christ in the order of grace. In forgoing the use of their physical generative powers, priests channel the whole of their virility into spiritual generation in union with Christ as his instrument in time. The cincture is thus both a sign of this commitment to spiritual paternity and a means for the priest to beg daily for the renewal of the grace to be chaste.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
When the Roman tribune Pompey visited Solomon's Temple in the first century before Christ, he pulled aside sanctuary, which was an act of great scandal to the Levites. Upon seeing nothing behind the veil, Pompey reacted with a great sense of triumph, thinking that he had debunked the Jewish faith with one swipe of his arm. But he had not accomplished that, of course, for everyone knew that there was nothing really to see behind the veil of the Temple. The veil to the Temple did not hide anything. Instead, it revealed the sanctity of the sanctuary.
Just the same, everyone knows what a chalice looks like, and so the point of the chalice veil is not to hide the chalice, but rather, to reveal what the chalice is: the sacred vessel which holds the Precious Blood of Christ and thus acts as a miniature tabernacle. Simply stated, we veil what is holy to reveal its holiness, and not to hide it. The veiled chalice also represents the clothed Christ, and so, the unveiling of the chalice before the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass represents when Christ was stripped of His garments before His Sacrifice on Calvary. When we think along these lines, we discover many more veils. Indeed, even the
Sacred Host is a veil, since by appearance alone it looks like mere bread, and so veils what it really is: a visible sign revealing an invisible beauty.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
"The Lord be with you" is an ancient devout greeting, first seen in the Bible in Ruth 2:4, when Boaz goes out from Bethlehem to greet the reapers. We can also see the greeting in Judges 6:12, 2 Chronicles 15:2, and, very notably, in Gabriel's salutation to Our Lady in Luke 1:28. The liturgical use of this greeting likely dates back to Apostolic times.
It most certainly dates back at least to the sixth century, as mention of it is made by the Council of Braga in 563, and it also appears in the Gelasian Sacramentary of the same era. When the priest says these words to the people, he wishes them every grace that the presence of God brings. In such a short phrase, the prayer powerfully begs divine protection and the possession of all spiritual peace and consolation for the people as they enter into the liturgy, or, as they prepare to receive the priest's blessing. With the response, "And with your spirit," the people implore that the soul of the priest be filled by God so that he can offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass worthily. This response is taken from Saint Paul in 2 Timothy 4:22, Galatians 6:18, and Philippians 4:23.
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
The Mass begins as all of our Christian prayer begins: with the Sign of the Cross. We make the sign so often that we sometimes forget how profound it is. Even a toddler can do it, affirming the deepest truth of the Trinitarian faith of our baptism: God is one divine substance in three persons. Thus, we say “In the name...” not “In the names...”
Beginning Mass in this way is most appropriate, since as the Catechism teaches in paragraph 1082, the liturgy is the work of the Trinity. “In the liturgy, the Father is acknowledged and adored as the source and the end of all the blessings of creation and salvation. In his Word who became incarnate, died, and rose for us, he fills us with his blessings. Through his Word, he pours into our hearts the Gift that contains all gifts, the Holy Spirit.”
- Fr. Derek Mobilio
What is the meaning of incense at Offertory?
With its sweet-smelling perfume and high-ascending smoke, incense both symbolizes and encourages good Christian prayer, which is enkindled in the heart by the fire of God's love and gives off the sweet odor of Christ, rising up as pleasing offering in His sight.
When the priest incenses the gifts during the offertory, he traditionally prays, “May this incense, blessed by You, ascend to You, O Lord, and may Your Mercy descend upon us.”
Fr. Derek Mobilio
When the priest reverences (kisses) the altar as he enters the sanctuary, it is a mark of veneration for the saints, because within every altar relics of the saints (usually martyrs) are reposed. The altar stone, therefore, is a sort of keyhole through which we get a glimpse into the whole of our Christian past, recalling that in the early days, to celebrate Mass, the faithful of Rome gathered in the tombs where they reposed the mangled
bodies of the martyrs.
Thus, the kiss is much more a sign of reverence for Jesus Christ, because the martyrs died for Him, and because the altar, whether it is in the catacombs of Rome in 122 A.D., or here in 2022 A.D., is the place where His perfect sacrifice is to be presented again for the living and the dead. In this moment, the priest may also personally remember that as his lips touch the coldness of the altar, he too, as another Christ, must love even the coldest hearts of his parish with the same love.
Fr. Derek Mobilio