Now they still, this last morning, lift the third part of the Mass, the Holy Communion, the meal with which this beautiful celebration ends, where our Lord himself is the one who serves at our table. Not only that, he himself is also our food. This third part of the Mass of the Faithful, the communion meal, is introduced first with what we may call the prayer, the meal prayer, the Our Father, which Gregory the Great really put at this place, letting it follow immediately after the canon because he wanted that this prayer should be said while the Holy Host was at the altar.

[01:11]

Now, that in some way may darken a little the continuity of things, because if you take out the Our Father here, then you see how immediately at the end of the canon then follows the breaking of the host and the mingling of the host and the blood. So that right after in the canon the holy sacrifice has been offered, then immediately food is being prepared, and this preparation of the food then includes what we may call the union, the union again of the blood and the body of Christ, which was always considered in the antiquity as a sign indicating the glory of the resurrection.

[02:29]

The deacon would ask the priest before, O Father, give fullness to the chalice, and then the priest would drop the piece of the Holy Host into the chalice, give fullness to the chalice. And this reunion of the separated species, they're separated and consecrated in that way during the Canon of the Mass, and as you know, also in the East St John Chrysostom considered the separate consecration of the body and the blood of Christ, as the words of the priest, the words of consecration really, as the sword to which the mystical death of Christ would be performed, so that the reunion of the two species is, in connection with that, then indicates the glory of the resurrection.

[03:34]

And then this, the, say, fullness of the meal, that means the glory of the risen Saviour, that then constitutes our food. So our Father in some way may interfere a little with the continuity of, to see the continuity of that canon and the fractio panis, the breaking of the bread, that and the commingling of the two species, which immediately follow and which are also accompanied, again, by the greeting of the priest Pax Domini, sit semper obiscum, the peace of the Lord, of the risen Saviour, be always with you.

[04:37]

Again, this word here, the peace of the risen Saviour be always with you, in connection with the breaking and the union of the species, reminds us again of the mystery of the resurrection. It is the risen Lord who is really our peace, so that here, the two species reunited are our peace, pax dominis et semper obiscus, and they then really become our peace in a real way, sacramental way, in the Holy Communion. But, as I say, the Our Father has been put there by Gregory, the great at the beginning of this whole meal ceremony which leads us to the communion, because evidently this prayer corresponds so well to this part of the Mass,

[05:50]

because it contains at the decisive place, in its very centre, the petition, panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, give us today our daily bread. And as you know, this daily bread was epiusios, or very often translated not as daily bread but as super substantial bread, so having an immediate sacramental character. Now, it is really in this way we leave and we explain the rite of the Mass as it is now, then certainly the Our Father, right after the canon of the Mass, has a true and beautiful place.

[06:55]

We introduce this prayer with the words, Recepti salutari bus moniti et divina institutione formati, audemus dicere, the precepti salutari, precepta salutaria, the saving precepts, and the divine institution which admonish and instruct us. That can be referred to the Mass of the Catechumens and to the canon we just perceived. And the canon, especially the sacramental celebration, of the Holy Sacrifice, gives us the audemus dicta, the boldness to say. The sacramental renewal of Christ's sacrifice for us opens, as it were, the way to the Father.

[08:03]

He proves to be the new and living way as saint paul explains it in the epistle to the hebrews he through him the new and living way through his blood we enter into the holy of holies we have access to the throne of grace so the participation in the sacramental renewal of Christ's sacrifice on Golgotha, which has taken place during the Canon of the Mass, gives us the paresia, as Saint Paul calls it, the boldness which is proper to beloved children. who know that they are heirs of the Father, through, especially in our case, what the Son has done for us.

[09:08]

The Son has become one of us, he died for us, and through his death he tore down the wall of separation between us and the Father, so through his death we are truly children. and we enter into the Holy of Holies in that inner assurance that children have who know that they are really and truly loved by their father. So in this boldness and parousia which is so characteristic of the piety and devotion of the early Christians, and which here happily lives on in the very rite of the Mass, we say then Pater Noster. That is the expression, the title, or the name of confidence, our Father, through whom we approach the Creator of heaven and earth, through Christ and with Christ and in Christ.

[10:22]

It would be beautiful, but it may lead us too far in this connection, in this last conference, to meditate a little upon the Our Father as said specifically in the presence of the Lamb of God which is laid upon the altar during the Canon of the Mass. and we see how then the petitions of the Our Father receive a certain new and more striking actuality. Sanctificetur normantum, hallowed be thy name. The name of the Father is hallowed by the sacrifice of the Son. because Christ's death on the cross is, as he, our Lord himself, has explained it in the Gospel of Saint John, the glorification of the Father.

[11:27]

Adveniat regnum tu, thy kingdom come. Again we say that in the presence of the Lamb of God, of God's servant. who in complete surrender to the Father's will has really established his kingdom among us through his death for us. And the altar is the realization of the kingdom of God. There it is. Fiat voluntas tua, secut in sciolo et in terra, your will be done. as it was in heaven, so also on earth. Again, this is present here among us, again in the sacrifice of the Son, into which we have entered and with whom we have offered our own will in the same complete, absolute obedience of the Servant.

[12:31]

Panem nostrum quotidianum danobis hodie, give us today our daily bread, or this super-substantial bread, which again is there on the altar. Et imitino vis debita nostra, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And there again this prayer receives again such a beautiful fullness in the presence of that sacrifice that forgives all sins. Our Lord himself saying, as it were, at this moment where he is present upon the altar, forgive them, Father, because they do not know what they are doing. Again, this mutual and promise of mutual forgiveness which we have here also has this function in the context of the celebration of Holy Mass that it represents again a solemn absolution.

[13:42]

And there may also be a reason why Gregory the Great wanted the Our Father to be said here at the beginning of the Communion. We cannot receive Christ's love and Christ's peace without forgiving those who have trespassed against us. So it is a mutual forgiveness, and that also has probably led in the Roman rite to the giving of the kiss of peace here at this moment, at the beginning of the meal, and not at the beginning of the offertory as it is done in the Eastern churches. because here is the kiss of peace again, as I mentioned already before, is a mutual absolution. So it corresponds exactly with the idea of the Our Father. We are always in the monastery, always reminded of this meaning of the Our Father as really a formula of absolution

[14:53]

when our Holy Father, Saint Benedict, admonishes us that the abbot, the father of the community, should sing the Our Father solemnly at the beginning of the day at Lourdes and at the end of the day at Vespers, with the avowed purpose that, as the Holy Father says, are the thorns which necessarily arise in every human community life that they may be forgiven and eliminated. So, therefore, the Our Father, in that way also St. Augustine understands the Our Father, really is in absolution, the metanobis debita nostra, And the old church was very strong in emphasising that if somebody in the right attitude of mind would take upon his own lips these words which were put upon them, as it were, by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and that really could not fail to be heard

[16:16]

by our Heavenly Father, so that this our Father also is considered as a real absolution from venial sins. That means from sins we are not obliged to confess in the sacrament of penance. Sometimes it is good to remember these things because evidently later on in the development of the Middle Ages the function, you know, the liturgical function, for example, of a prayer like the Our Father has been forgotten so that then again immediately before Holy Communion, the whole Confitio and everything has to be repeated all over again, which really is superfluous if one would teach the people to assist at the Mass and at the prayers of the Mass in the way in which they are meant.

[17:26]

We have this dimittino vis debita nostra. We have the solemn declaration, pax domini sit semper obiscum, which again also is an absolution. Then we have the singing of the Agnus Dei, Lamb of God, carry the sin of the world, have mercy on us. This prayer also was considered as an absolution, so we really have one absolution here after the other before we dare to approach the Holy Table to receive Holy Communion. So the Our Father, therefore, receives a special, beautiful meaning if it is said, as Gregory the Great points out, in the presence of the Lamb of God, which is there like slain upon the, as if slain upon the altar.

[18:28]

So then after this, our father, which is still a little elaborated upon in the appendix which follows, libera nos quesamus, which Gregory the Great again has put in there, therefore he also put his preferred saint, St. Andrew, into it. This... continuation or this enlargement of the Our Father, which owes its origin to the special catastrophic circumstances and the constant war and the invasions of the Lombards and the needs of the Holy City in the time of Gregory the Great, and can therefore be said also in our days in view of the special and constantly mounting degree of insecurity and of danger in which we move at the present time where an enormous power is given into the hands of men through the new and destructive arms

[19:50]

and we simply live in a situation where we absolutely do not know who will be the first to push the button for these weapons which may really cause a tremendous catastrophe for all mankind. So that we really should think about that, and we are, our situation today is very similar, if not more critical, and the time with St Gregory, put this prayer here into the Mass, which culminates or centers around the petition, Da propitius pacem in liebus nostris, give peace in these our days. And by this petition then also the bridge is made from the Our Father to the following, the breaking of the host which is accompanied by the priest's blessing, the peace of the Lord be always with you.

[21:06]

The breaking of the host naturally also was again considered by the Christians of old and in the liturgy again as a manifestation of that selfless love which is really the characteristic and dominant note of the Mass. The fact, the breaking of the hosts is another manifestation of the divine agape. The one loaf is divided in order to become the food of every one of us, of every individual. And just that wonderful mystery which is really the privilege, the unique divine privilege of Christianity, I mean that in one way

[22:08]

At the beginning, they say, all, as I told you before, all the various grains are collected together and they are thrown into the mill of repentance and penance. They are bound through the Holy Spirit and they are made our food by being baked, as it were, in the fullness of the divine fire in confirmation. So the individuality that separates one from the other is being broken by the power of the divine agape so that we all grow into one loaf, as St Paul puts it. But then again this oneness is something which is completely different in its purpose and in its spirit from the, let us say, totalitarian regime.

[23:16]

It simply is our, in Christianity, the giving up and the breaking down of the individual shell which separates one from the other, does not end in this that the individual would be absorbed into a totalitarian system, but this very unity which is reached in the power of the divine agape, by the breaking down of the individual shell, is, in last analysis, really food for everyone. So that this loaf, which represents the unity of the church, also again is broken again, so that every individual receives its own part of it. So that is such a beautiful and solemn recognition, from the part of our Heavenly Father, that each one of his children, with his own needs, is irreplaceable and precious, infinitely precious,

[24:40]

image of God, and that's the love of the Father, drawing certainly every one of the children out of the old age of divisions and of strife. nevertheless does that in order to fill every individual with the fullness of the Godhead, so that for each one there is a special peace. Each one becomes his own fullness then from God, so that this loathe is put on the family table and is divided so that everyone receives from it. So with this, again, I repeat, with this breaking of the host, which is accompanied by the song, the Anus Dei, the Lamb of God, who carries the sins of the world, have mercy on us, also accompanied then with the

[25:47]

the union, the mingling of the body and the blood of our Saviour, which, as I said, again represents now the fullness of the risen Christ. I still remember that evening when for the first time, I think it was in the year 1921, as a student in the University of Göttingen, went to the first liturgical conference or talk that I ever heard and was given by Father Albert Hammenstede, who at the time was prior of Maria D'Arc, and he explained to us the liturgy as the manifestation of Christ's glory, of the glorified Christ, of the Kyrios. And then later on coming home, I heard behind me two students, you know, one saying to the other and referring to the conference that they had just heard and saying, it's true, I never realized that in Holy Communion we receive the body of the glorified Christ.

[27:09]

So that really should be, again, you know, should be a living part, you know, of our experience also in Holy Communion, that it is the risen Savior. It is really the food of life that we receive. And therefore, St. Thomas emphasizes it so much that one of the actual and specific graces of receiving Holy Communion is the joy, the gladness of the heart. You can see that If you read the descriptions of the life of the early Christians, the first Christian community in Jerusalem, they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles and in their community life, and they took their meal in their homes in gladness and simplicity of heart.

[28:16]

The meal is always a source of joy and so also is Holy Communion. Holy Communion is in our day so often because the attitude of the majority of people has become so very much subjective so that the whole emphasis is placed by many people on the degree of and perfection, let us say, of actual recollection in which they receive the Holy Communion. so that everything is concentrated on this moment, and am I in the right, it is a spiritual attitude. And then, as it happens so often, people in our, thanks be to God, crowded communion rails, you know, I'm pushed from one side to the other side, maybe just at the moment in which one receives Holy Communion somebody else

[29:25]

stumbles over one's feet or something like that, you know, things happen in that way, and people get on with, oh, I was not recollected at this moment in which I received the body of Christ. I think it would be so good to help the people to get, I want to say, a broader understanding of Holy Communion that Christ, that the decisive point in receiving Holy Communion, is not the actual degree of recollection, which maybe many people complain about it, you know, because their attention has been called so much to the actual devotion in which to receive that very often a kind of psychological blank as a reaction against that. that tenseness and nervosity sets in at the moment of receiving, and then the people have the idea that they were receiving and there was something wrong with their communion.

[30:37]

Now, certainly that is by no means the meaning of receiving of Holy Communion, again, if we follow the lead of the texts of the Mass. The best preparation for Holy Communion is, as we can see clearly, not to fold one's hands, to put it very bluntly, but it is to open one's hands and to embrace one's neighbour, the kiss of peace, the mutual kiss of peace. That is what the Church of old considered and considers again also today as the essential preparation. It is the inner relation to one's neighbour. It's the realisation of fraternal love among us. Therefore, the social attitude, let us say, our being open

[31:38]

to our neighbour, which is the best preparation for Holy Communion, because Holy Communion simply is, necessarily is, a social act. It is not only an act of individual piety, recollection or devotion at that moment. But here we are as members of Christ's mystical body, The glorified Christ, the head of the mystical body, gives himself to us to be our food, not that we just at this moment may be, let's say, in an attitude, psychological attitude of recollection, but he comes to us in order to dwell in us. He comes to us in order to take up his abode in us. So the characteristic thing of Holy Communion just is this, that it is not just a passing moment, but that here food is given which strengthens the faithful for the life and the

[32:57]

knocks and the wear and tear that he undergoes in this day which he now faces. But he faces it in quiet confidence in that parousia. Why? Because in Holy Communion he has been made again, not, let us say, in any proportion or in virtue of his own recollection, but through the power of Christ's resurrection, the glorified Christ who gives himself to the faithful. That is the decisive thing. Therefore, in Holy Communion it becomes true what Saint Paul says. We take part and we have the fellowship of his sufferings, but we also know the power of his resurrection. And while the canon emphasizes more the fellowship on Christ's sufferings, Holy Communion shows us the power of the resurrection.

[34:04]

And that is what should animate also and form the attitude of the Christian, that this year is not only a passing visit, and everything depends on the way in which I personally, with recollection, receive this visitor, this host into my soul, this guest into my soul, but it is really here Christ as the head of the mystical body dwells in me in order to make me in a deeper way the member of that glorious body that he, the risen Saviour, heads. So that what comes into us through Holy Communion is that strength and that gladness and joy and peace which then also enables us to face the tasks of the day.

[35:11]

Now, the Holy Communion is, as you know, again, as every procession, so also the communion procession, is accompanied with a song, the communion versicle, And I think also in that custom that we have in our Roman mass, such a beautiful and valuable thing is presented to us because we can notice very often that, especially in an age like others in which daily Holy Communion plays such an important role, I think it is a very great help for the faithful if they would follow the indications and the help that is being given to them through the communion versicle. It is simply, and we are all human beings and to a certain degree subject to psychological laws,

[36:13]

and to receive Holy Communion every time, let us say, just under the same aspect, this I receive now the divine guest into my soul, may be on the long run or may lose, let us say, some of its vividness and its practical value for the communicant. However, if every communicant, even in a low mass, would go to Holy Communion after he has read the Communion Versicle in his missal, at least then, then that Communion Versicle would give him, every time that he approaches the Holy Table, as I say, a new aspect of what he is doing. As, for example, if you take Pentecost Sunday, There you have the communion versicle, and suddenly a sound was made from heaven, from above, as the coming of a strong wind, where they were all sitting together.

[37:26]

And then all were filled with the Holy Spirit, and then they announce the great deeds of God, alleluia, alleluia. So that, for example, receiving Holy Communion on Pentecost is really receiving the Lord of the Spirit, or the curious Jesus who is Spirit, because his humanity is completely taken over by the divinity. so that receiving him, the risen Christ, the curious, really is a renewal of the mystery of the descent of the Holy Ghost, and we are there in that house altogether, and we are in the place of the apostles, and what happened to them also now happens to us. so that in that way, again, Pentecost is not simply remembrance of the day in which the Holy Spirit descended upon the church, but it becomes an event of which I am now really a part.

[38:40]

If 2,000 years are to separate me from that, it doesn't make no difference at all because... In the eyes of the curious, thousand years are like one day. Then after the communion, and that may be just one thought or two which we could add here, the priest says the post-communion, again closing this whole action of the congregation, going to the altar and receiving, taking part in the sacred meal. Now then comes the post-communion in which, as it were, the priest gathers together all the, let us say, the intentions and what is now in the mind of those who have received. And there also, the beautiful thing there is again, the humility of the church.

[39:44]

Post-communion, the idea of post-communion really is that it is a last blessing upon the people who have received Holy Communion. And that blessing is, as always in the antiquity, done in the form of a petition. But that petition, of course, is one of those petitions which surely the Lord answers, which has, I would say, in itself already the assurance of a fulfilment or of a positive response. So it is so beautiful that this holy meal then ends not in a, perhaps one could put it this way, not in a resolution.

[40:45]

Now I received the body of the Lord. Now I have the strength. Now I have to go out. and now I have to live the day in the, let us say, in the spirit of Christ. That certainly is nothing illegitimate about it, you know, and it's perfectly right, but it is not quite the way in which the church wants the communicant to look forward to his day. It's not a resolution, let us say an act of the will, which is here closes, as it were, the holy meal, but it is a petition. After we have received Christ the Lord, who now has taken up his abode in us in a new and deeper way, the first thing we do is not to say, now I will do this and this and this.

[41:50]

But then the next thing is, again, a prayer addressed to the Father. You help us to do this and this. And there again, you see, you can see that the Church of old is so eager to keep every Christian faithful in that attitude of what we may call the fear of the Lord, the reality of the sacrament. is not of such a kind that it would already make manifest what we are. Even the sacrament that we have received leaves us still as pilgrims on the way, therefore leaves us in the situation of beggars. We always stand before the majesty of God as beggars.

[42:51]

And therefore also, of course, the post-communion prayers emphasise that so much, that Holy Communion certainly is a meal which absolutely and completely satisfies our thirst and our hunger. You just watch the post-communions and all the time it's said that way. really filled, I mean, with the divine gifts, completely satiated with the divine gifts, we, but then comes, we ask you, help us that we may now persevere in... Thanksgiving. So it is at the end of Holy Communion, not so much to say a resolution, now I will, now I can, but another prayer.

[44:05]

Immediately again, help us with your grace. Allow us that we may finish our days in Thanksgiving. So the And therefore, in that way also has to be understood the ete misa es, now go, the dismissal is there, the gathering of the faithful, of the citizens of the city of God, which had officially been called and constituted by the coming of the pontifex to his ecclesia, is now ended, the deacon dismisses. So that the whole thing from this action is called, the whole celebration is called Missa. And Missa in that way only means that this here is an official assembly of all the free citizens of the city of God, called officially and dismissed officially.

[45:14]

so that this word missa just brings out the fact that here we have the heart of the public worship of the church, which is not the result of individual resolutions to come or to go, but which constitutes an objective divine order instituted by Christ himself, who is the president, presides at this church. At this gathering and through the person of his deacon dismisses those who have gathered together that they now may be Christopher or Christ bearers in their daily life.

[45:58]

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