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 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