The "Annotated" Mass, continued

III. Liturgy of the Eucharist

A. Preparation of the altar and the gifts--the altar servers or if a deacon is present set the table with the corporal, the chalice, the paten, a purificator, the sacramentary and a cruet of water while ushers are taking up the collection.  Note: it is no mistake that the collection is taken up "after" the homily!  Someone told me that once and it stuck!  One of the commissions of the Second Vatican Council Fathers in the encyclical "Gaudium et spes" (Pastoral Constitution on the church in the modern world) was the faithful have a responsibility to financially support their parish.   When the collection is taken up, it is brought up to the altar by lay people chosen to do so along with the bread and wine.  All of these gifts come out of the congregation as a sign of our unity in our one common faith.

If a choir is present an "offertory song" is sung while the collection is being taken. 

If a song is sung during this time then the following words of the priest are not said aloud.  The rubrics say (I'm paraphrasing) these words of offering by the priest of bread and wine are to be said inaudibly.  But if there is no singing or music, then the congregation would hear the words of the priest offering the gifts as a blessing.  This blessing  is taken from an ancient Jewish Seder blessing said at meal time.

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life.

If the congregation hears these words then they respond: "Blessed be God forever."

If a deacon is present he prepares the wine and the water because he is ordained as a minister of the cup.  When Christ died on the cross a soldier pierced his side with a sword and blood and water flowed from it.  This was done in order to remove the Lord from the cross before the beginning of the Sabbath.  So too does the Lord pour out his Blood and Water for us in this eucharistic celebration.

If no deacon is present then the priest pours the wine and a little water into the chalice and says:

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.

Then the priest takes the chalice, and, holding it slightly raised above the altar says:

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.

Again the congregation responds with: "Blessed be God forever."

And then the priest bows and prays asking God to receive and bless our offering.  This is taken directly from Daniel 3:39-40.  He says inaudibly:

Lord God, we ask you to receive us and be pleased with the
sacrifice we offer you with humble and contrite hearts.

At this time the altar and gifts may be incensed as well as the priest and the people in the congregation.  But this is usually only done on Holy Days, but could be done anytime.

Then the priest goes over to the side of the altar to wash his hands.  This ancient ritual was taken from Psalm 51 and was used in times past when the priest literally would accept gifts from the people for his support and the support of the church.  These gifts were often in the form of grains, pigs, chickens, eggs, flour, etc...  His hands became dirty and before the consecration of the bread and wine his hands had to be purified(an ancient Jewish custom) much the same way that Jewish priests purified their hands before they entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple.   Today that same ritual is used symbolically and now the priest says inaudibly:

Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me from my sin.(Psalm 51)

Then the priest faces the people and asks them to pray with him to God for this offering of bread and wine; i.e., the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Pray my brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice
may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

And you respond by saying: "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church.

B. Prayer over the gifts--at this point the priest prays over the gifts from the prayer of the Church for the day.  And you respond to the prayer with "AMEN", which means "yes or so be it."

C. Preface--the priest always begins the eucharistic prayer with a preface of the mass of the day.   Sometimes they are specific for a particular feast or celebration and sometimes they are choices a priest makes on his own.  This is a time when you are actively praying with me, it's not just my prayer, but ours.  Then he invites everyone to pray in the words we have used for two thousand years:

The Priest says:

The Priest says:

And you respond:

D. Acclamation--at the end of the preface we all give praise to our Lord Jesus Christ and this is taken from the book of Isaiah 6:2-3 by saying or singing:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna
in the highest.   Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

E. Eucharistic Prayer--is chosen by the priest and is prayed out loud by him for all of us.  There are nine prayers to choose from, but most masses are said using I-IV or the two Reconciliation prayers.  The priest extends his hands as a symbol of Christ on the cross and his willingness to be open to the Holy Spirit.  The eucharistic prayer always follows a definite pattern no matter which one is chosen; i.e.

(1) The beginning of the prayer acknowleges that God is holy.

Father, you are holy indeed...

(2)The priest asks God to make these gifts on the altar holy;  then he joins his hands outstretched over the gifts to consecrate the bread and wine and make them the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ with these words:

Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy,
so that they may become for us
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then the priest makes the sign of the cross over the gifts.  This is the absolute highlight of the mass and the most important part of this eucharistic celebration.  What was once bread and wine are now the Body and Blood of Christ just as Jesus told us to do in all four Gospels and in some of Paul's letters.  At this point the priest could drop over dead, pass out or have to leave and the deacon could now take over finishing the rest of the celebration.  Only a priest may consecrate since upon his ordination "his" hands are annointed (following the apostolic tradition) to consecrate bread and wine into the real presence of Christ at the altar.

(3)Then he begins the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which are taken from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

On the night he was betrayed,
he took bread and gave you(God) thanks and praise.
He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
Take this all of you, and eat it:
this is my body which will be given up for you.

Notice the Lord didn't say; "this looks like my body, this could be my body, this represents my body or this is a symbol of my body."  He says very clearly, "This is my body!"  That is the real presence and that is what distinguishes us from most Protestant communion services.   We celebrate the real presence of Christ in our midst every time we celebrate eucharist and have been doing this for two thousand years.  That is what makes us Catholic. A side note: no Protestant communion wafer has ever been known to be stolen by a satanic group in order to desecrate it.  Satanists have purposively schemed to steal ours.  And now you know why!

The priest then elevates the consecrated host in order to present the Lord to the people.  Then he genuflects in reverence.

(4)Next he takes the chalice with wine and again from the Gospels says:

When supper was ended, he took the cup.
Again he gave you (God) thanks and praise,
gave the cup to his disciples, and said:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all
so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.

The priest then elevates the consecrated chalice of the blood of Christ in order to present it to the people.  Then he genuflects in reverence.

(5) Now the people are asked to believe in what we just did by proclaiming your faith.

Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.

(6) Now the gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ are offered back to the Father...

Father, calling to mind etc...

(7) Next there is a petition to be filled with the Holy Spirit...

Grant that we may...be filled with His Holy Spirit...

(8) Next we petition God to make us everlasting gifts to Him along with the Holy Mother, the apostles and saints.

May he make us an everlasting gift...

(9) Then we pray for the whole world, the Holy Father, our Bishops, all clergy and all of the faithful that may be re-united one day in Christian love and peace.

Lord, may this sacrifice, which has made our peace with you,
advance the peace and salvation of all the world...

(10) And we end this eucharistic prayer with hope that we will enjoy the glory of God one day...

We hope to enjoy forever the vision of your glory,
through Christ our Lord, from whom all good things come.

F. Doxology--then the priest takes the chalice and the host and lifts them up to sing God's praises.

Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever.

And we all sing the great AMEN!

Next -- Communion Rite