Short Explanation of the Prayers of Mass.
Mass is rightly divided into six parts. The first part is the preparation for the sacrifice; and this is made at the foot of the altar. The second part extends from the Introit to the Credo, inclusively—and was formerly called the Mass of the Catechumens, who had to leave the church after the Credo. The third part contains the Offertory and the Preface. The fourth part comprises the Canon with the Pater Noster; for the Canon in olden times finished with the Pater Noster, as a learned author concludes from a passage in the writings of St. Gregory the Great.[1] The fifth part begins with the prayer Libera nos, quæsumus, Domine ("Deliver us, O Lord, we beseech Thee"), which is a preparation for Communion, and includes Communion. The sixth and last part comprises under the form of thanksgiving the rest of the Mass.
FIRST PART.
The Preparation that is made at the Foot of the Altar.
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen ("In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen").
In order to sacrifice a victim one must have the power over its life and death; but as God only has the power over the life of his incarnate Son, who is the victim of the Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest needs divine authority in order to be able to offer Jesus Christ to his heavenly Father. Yet as he is invested with the authority that
- ↑ Epist. l. 7, ind. 2, ep. 63.
