The Ceremonies of the Mass

Oramus te.

E pray thee, O Lord, by the merits of thy Saints (He extends his hands, placing the extremities of the longer fingers on either side of the corporal, and kisses the cross on the corporal, saying): whose relics are here (joining his hands before the breast, and standing erect, he continues): and of all thy saints, that it may please thee to forgive me all my sins. Amen."

If there are no relics in the altar, he omits the words, "of thy Saints whose relics are here, and," and kisses the altar either at the beginning of the prayer, or at the words, "that it may please thee."10

CHAPTER III.

FROM THE LORD'S PRAYER TO THE OFFERTORY.

(Missa Catechumenorum.)

1. The Table, at the Communion-time having a fair white linen cloth1 upon it, shall stand in the body of the Church, or in the Chancel. And the Minister, standing at the right side of the Table, or where Morning and Evening Prayer are appointed to be said, shall say the Lord's

This prayer is found with but slight verbal differences in the Mass of Illyricus, in a Sacramentary of the monastery of Saint Denys in France, a MS. of the ninth century, (Martene, De Ant. Eccl. Rit., t. i. pp. 502), and in a missal of Utrecht belonging to the same period. (Le Brun, Explication, etc., in loc.)

10 Romsée, Sensus Litteralis, etc., cap. ii. Art. V. 6. Gavantus, Thesaurus, etc., t. i. p. ii. tit. iv. I. Bauldry, Manuale, etc., p. iii. tit. iv. I. Le Brun, in loc. Claude de Vert, Explication, I. 153.

1 This "fair white linen cloth," is, by common acceptance, taken to be the uppermost of the three cloths with which the top of the altar is covered.

2 See Notes on the Mass, ii, p. 2.

This permission to say the first part of the than at the altar is not without ritual analogy.

Mass in a place other
In a pontifical Mass,

Prayer and the Collect following, the People kneeling; but the Lord's Prayer may be omitted, if Morning Prayer hath been said immediately before.

The Priest having said, "We pray thee, O Lord," etc., as above, without making any further reverence to the cross, turns by his right, and goes to the Epistle side of the altar. Then, standing turned to the book, he signs himself with the sign of the cross; but in Requiem Masses instead of signing himself, he makes the sign of the cross over the book with his open right hand, his left hand resting on the altar, or on the book. Then immediately extending his hands, and raising them, but so that the extremities of the fingers will not be higher than the shoulders, the palm of one hand being turned towards the other, he says "the Lord's Prayer and the Collect following." As he says, "through Christ our Lord," he joins his hands before the breast, but does not bow his head, as the sacred name is not mentioned.

UR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And the Bishop who celebrates, having censed the altar, goes to his seat, where he says the rest of the service as far as the Offertory (Caremoniale Episcoporum, lib. ii. cap. viii. 35 et seq). And Pelliccia tells us that "this custom, which at the present day is kept up by Bishops only, was in the middle ages in some churches observed by Presbyters also when they celebrated." (Polity of the Christian Church, Eng. trans. p. 228.) It is, however, very undesirable that at an ordinary Mass the Priest should ever say any part of the service away from the altar; it is very much better to leave the observance of this peculiar custom to the Bishops. This rubrical provision is not in the English Prayer Book; nor is the concluding clause, "but the Lord's Prayer," etc.

Anciently the Priest made the sign of the cross before the Introit, as marking the beginning of the Mass proper. The Lord's Prayer and Collect for purity in our rite occupy the same relative position as the Introit, and, therefore, the sign of the cross is very fittingly made at this place. (Romsée, Sensus Litteralis, etc., cap. ii. art. vi. ii.) In Requiems the sign of the cross is made over the book, as if over the dead for whom the Mass is offered. (Gavantus, Thesaurus, t. i. p. ii. tit. xiii. 1.)

forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who tres

pass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Collect.

LMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all

desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2. Then with hands joined before the breast, the Priest (if the Commandments are to be said) turns by his left, and goes to the midst," bows slightly to the cross, and turns by his right towards the people.

¶ Then shall the Minister, turning to the People, rehearse distinctly The Ten Commandments; and the People, still kneeling, shall, after every Commandment, ask God mercy for their transgressions for the time past, and grace to keep the law for the time to come.

¶ The Decalogue may be omitted, provided it be said once on each Sunday. But Note, That whenever it is omitted, the Minister shall say the Summary of the Law, beginning, Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith.

Minister.

OD spake these words, and said: I am the Lord thy God; Thou shalt have none other gods but me. People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Minister. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven

With regard to the place for saying the Decalogue, the ritual analogy of the Kyries, of which our present arrangement is evidently an expan sion, has been followed. At a High Mass or Missa Cantata, the Kyries are said by the Priest standing at the Epistle side, but at a Low Mass they are said in the midst; hence the above direction to say the Decalogue in the latter place.

image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and show mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my commandments.