Now after speaking about the offertory as the preparatory part of the Mass, now really we come to the heart and centre of it, and it's certainly terrifying to see that it's already the end of this hour-little retreat where really the important things start, but we do what we can in these days, and As I said before, the offertory marks, as it were, our ascending from the material to the spiritual realm, because now the canon of the Mass, it is called, Also in the antiquity they speak of, the Fathers speak of, simply call it prex, that means the prayer. Here really is the fullness of the Spirit in the presence of the gloriously reigning Christ.

[01:10]

with his ecclesia, the canon. The sacrifice of the canon is the very heart of the Mass. Now, therefore, the invitation comes, and that also is so beautiful right away, that this essence, the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, is not something which is open only to one, to the priest, the clergy, but that this Holy of Holies is right away in the first words thrown wide open to the whole of the Christian people. That is, of course, as we know, the great difference between worship in the Old Testament and also pagan worship and worship in the New Testament.

[02:14]

In pagan worship we have a temple which contains as its centre what they call a cella, But that cella is simply a small room in which the statue of the god is contained. And this cella, in this cella, the god, as it were, dwells alone, while the people are kept outside, pagan cults, especially those that we know from Rome, also from Greece, the people really does not take an active part, but it is a matter of the priests, a ritual, exclusive ritual, reserved to certain state officials to perform them.

[03:22]

but the assistance of the people is not an integral part of that kind of worship. In the Old Testament, of course, we have the temple, and this temple is built also as a dwelling place, of God's presence, not, of course, as in pagan cults, of any kind of material presence, but of the spiritual presence. The presence of God among his people in the Old Testament is through and in his Word. Therefore the Holy of Holies, which contains the law and the mercy throne, the ark with the mercy throne, is called the oracle, or the place of the word, in order to indicate that the worship of the God creator of heaven and earth is a spiritual one.

[04:41]

and that God's presence is the presence of his word among his people. Outside the people is kept in a distance. The Holy of Holies is entered upon only once a year by the high priest on the day of reconciliation. And then we have the holy, and that is the place where the priests fulfill their functions, the altar of incense and the showbread and the seven-branched candlestick. And then we have again an outside, outer court, in which we find the altar of holocaust, as they are also in this outer court, also the men of Israel are admitted at certain times, while the women and the children again are kept outside.

[05:58]

And for them there really is no, let us say, official and legitimate place in the temple. While as soon as we enter into the new covenant, then the doors of the Holy of Holies are open to everyone, to men and to women and to children, because the Holy Ghost is poured out, as St. Peter says on Pentecost, over the old and the young, over the slaves and the free. So all are admitted into the Holy of Holies. And the worship, the center of Christian worship, the canon, is not in any way a thing which would be reserved for the people, for the priests, and from which other people are excluded.

[07:03]

Certainly there is a difference of authority and of charism, of divine gifts and of grace, but the grace that the priest receives and which makes him alone the one who is empowered to consecrate the gifts in the act of consecration, that certainly is given to him as a service and for the people, and whatever he does, the canon of the Mass, is done with the assistance of the people. And even one can say, in a certain way, the participation of the people is intensified in the canon of the Mass. There is, for example, first of all, it's clear, in the inviting greetings, salutations, which precede it, while in other prayers we just have the dominus obiscum of the priest and the et cum spiritu of the people in order to constitute and establish the contact between priest and people.

[08:26]

Here we have a whole series. of mutual greetings. Domino soriscum et cum spiritua. Then again, sur sum corda, lift up your hearts. And the answer of the people, we have them lifted up to the Lord. And then again, gratias agamus domino deo nostro. Then, when your hearts are lifted up, then let us give thanks to the Lord our God. And again the answer of the people, this is meet and right. And then comes the preface, prefatio, which is a name which originally was given to the whole canon, not only to the piece which we now call preface in a more specific sense. the solemnly sung prayer which ends in the singing of the psalters.

[09:33]

But the whole of the canon was called prefatio, and prefatio means, and again, the word includes, as it were, as an integral element, the presence of the people. Prefatio means a solemn presence, Oration which is pronounced in front and in the presence of an audience, praefatio. That is the original meaning of that word, poetic meaning in the liturgical meaning of the word. And we can see also right away that after this first solemn, solemn prefazio, which is sung, now what is it in last analysis? It is again an invitation to the people, really, connected certainly with the celebration of God's saving deeds, but then it ends in the invitation, the request,

[10:38]

Then now let us all join our voices with that of the angel saying una voce dicentes, saying with one voice, santus, santus, santus, dominus deus servo. So that saying with one voice again emphatically states the communion or union between all at this most solemn moment. And that is absolutely clear that it should be so because the abundance of the Holy Spirit creates that of being of one mind, of one heart. And this oneness of mind and heart simply is expressed in the una voce dicentes, saying with one voice.

[11:43]

And then comes, as the fruit, let us say, of this unity of the spirit, sung in one voice, the sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Sabbath. So what is here the fruit, the power of the Holy Spirit, His fullness among the faithful in equally penetrating and moving the hearts of the clergy and of the scholar and of the crowd. And as Professor Jungmann points out also in his book on the Christian worship, on public worship, this sanctus was the one moment where also the Great Church of old allowed all kinds of instruments to chime in in order to accentuate the solemnity and the impetuosity to the power of this oneness of voice.

[13:01]

And the relic of that is now our ringing the Sanctus Bill. Sanctus Bill is only in that way one relic of the many instruments that joined the singing of the people at this one moment only of the Santos. So to lift that out clearly as a focus, focal point in the celebration of the Mass. It is the Santos, a triumph of the unity of the Holy Spirit and of that love which is turned completely to God. Holy, holy, holy. The repetition three times is always our poor earthly attempt to transfer, as it were, the spirit of eternity into some earthly eternity.

[14:04]

The threefold repetition in that way always indicates that kind of, let us say, eternal intensification. Holy, holy, holy. The hymn is not like the psalm, a cry or a petition, which is shouted out of a contrite, heart or of a heart in need, but the hymn is the solemn, static reflection of the eternal glory of God. Then to this hymn of God's glory is added then in our Mass today also, Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, the solemn greeting of the Curios, of the Lord of the Spirit, who is now about to appear, to manifest himself, to come to us in this most solemn of prayers in the canon of the Mass.

[15:13]

Now, if we go through the explanation of the canon of the Mass itself, then we must first to get ourselves into the right perspective to understand what the canon of the Mass is by especially paying attention to the fact that this canon is also called the Eucharistia, the Thanksgiving. and that it is introduced with this invitation, let us give thanks. Now this word, Eucharistia, or thanksgiving, or the canon, as the great act of thanksgiving on the part of the church, again leads us into that world which we have spoken of before, I mean into the world of the divine agape, of the descending love of God.

[16:30]

by the very fact that this sacrifice of the Holy Mass is called the Eucharist, or the Eucharistic sacrifice. It is immediately pointed out that this sacrifice is not in any way, let us say, autonomous or absolute gift on the part of the Church to the Father. but that it is, as we say, a relative sacrifice, a sacrifice which is essentially related back to the sacrifice of Christ. He is our High Priest. In Him, divinity and humanity are united in one person, the person of our High Priest, And he, Christ, on the cross has, as it is said in the epistle to the Hebrews, once and for all offered the sacrifice which for us is the cause of eternal, that means everlasting, redemption.

[17:42]

So the historical sacrifice of Christ on the cross is the one all-sufficient sacrifice to which nothing can be added. Therefore, if the Church offers this sacrifice now, then it is not and cannot be an absolute sacrifice. a gift that the church brings to God as out of her own. But it is related back. It is the response. It is the thanksgiving for the infinite gift that Christ our Lord has bestowed upon this church in the sacrifice of the cross. It is a thanksgiving for the one sacrifice that he has offered for us And that is the way in which the Church enters and makes the sacrifice of Christ her own.

[18:46]

Well, we have said already before that in this whole matter of God sharing His love with us, that means God sharing His life with us, this sharing and this communion cannot take place as long as the saving action or the gift is merely and exclusively one-sided one. What is given has to be received in a living way, and it is received in a living way by giving it back to God. Veda revota. And that is what takes place here. The Church in this sacrifice gives back, as it were, what Christ to the Father, what Christ has done for us. So this sacrifice is a Eucharistic sacrifice.

[19:51]

It is also the same idea as expressed in the other. a word with which the canon is characterized. It is an anamnesis or a memoria. It is a remembrance. Remembrance means again that what the church does here is not an absolute act, but it is a relative act. It is a remembrance of what Christ has done for us. And therefore, in the very center of the canon. I would say that the canon is constructed in the following way. We have the center of the canon is formed by the prayers will be the day before or at the vigil of his sufferings.

[20:54]

took the bread into his holy and venerable hands, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, to God his Father, his Almighty Father, then giving thanks, he blessed it and he broke it and gave it to his disciples. And then also, and likewise, after, at the end of the meal, lifted up this wonderful chalice. And including then the next one, and therefore we are mindful, O Lord, we, your servants, but also your holy people. So these three things, from the qui predi et quam peteratio, simile modo acos mentionatum est, and the unde et memoris, they, I would say, constitute the center of the canon.

[22:10]

And this center of the canon is essentially the memorial of what Christ has done for us. And this memorial, that is understood, is not simply a kind of mental remembrance, but it is as these prayers and the actions with which they are accompanied show immediately this memorial is a renewal, a renewal of what Christ has done for us. a sacramental renewal of what Christ has done for us. The priest acts in the person of Christ. He represents Christ. He sacramentally, mystically is Christ. And therefore he says, This is my body. At this moment, the priest's ears fused, united, completely with Christ.

[23:23]

In the same way, these ears, the chalice of my blood. Melums requestalix sanguinis mei, novi et eterni testamenti, And as often as you do this, do it in memory of me, in me memoriam. So this is, this memoria, this remembrance, is a remembrance in and through a sacred sacramental action. And that is so beautiful and important too for our whole piety, our Christian attitude, that worship to us is not only either petition or adoration of the glory of God,

[24:26]

but it is our entering into the very action of God. It is our participation in what we call in our monastic language the Opus Dei. And that is the last reason for our insistence on the, as Pope Pius XI called it, the actuosa participatio propoli Dei in the Eucharist, the actuosa participatio, that this active participation, I think it would be such a danger, such a pity and a danger, really, If we would consider, say, the liturgical movement, the insistence on the active participation of the faithful simply as a kind of pedagogical trick through which we get the attention of the people, through which we get, as we say, the people more interested or something like that.

[25:32]

so that the people have more of the feeling what is going on on the altar really has something to do with us. And then the little philosophical consideration, now I'm just only interested in something in which I can participate actively. Then it really becomes mine. Now all that is, of course, has a grain of truth in it, you know, but It should not and could not, if applied to the field of divine worship, it could not be understood simply on some kind only of psychological field, but it must be considered from and in its theological depth. And there it is, see, that here the Church in the fullness of the Holy Spirit identifies herself with

[26:33]

What? The Word of God made flesh. The one who is the Son of God became the servant, our brother, and then as our brother offered the sacrifice of our salvation. So what we meet here in this actual Sarpacci Pazzi really is, and that is of course what Pope Pius XII, it's clearly explained and so beautifully explained in the two encyclicals, Mediator Dei, and what is the other one now? The two, you know, and they really belong together, Corpus Dei, Mystici Corporis, you see, Mystici Corporis. And Mystici Corporis precedes Mediator Dei, and that is absolutely intentional. because the activa participatio of the people in the Mass and the sacrifice of Christ is, of course, based on the spiritual reality and the spiritual order of the corpus mysticum Christi, the mystical body of Christ.

[27:50]

But that union there, which is really in some way an extension upon the whole church of the hypostatical union, that is so visible and beautiful here in the consecration. So there, not I live, but Christ lives in me. And that is so one can just touch that reality with one's hands at this moment. And therefore also then the request which is implied in the prayer und et memoris, then our inner attitude should completely correspond to this sacramental action. that this identity of action, as the consecration shows so clearly to us, should also be accompanied immediately by a corresponding spiritual attitude and a memory.

[29:02]

And therefore we are mindful, O Lord. And again I call your attention to it, that right here in the very centre of the Mass, the priests say, and that refers to the clergy, but also your holy people. Therefore the same inner attitude of the memoria that we enter completely forgetting about ourselves into what Christ has done for us and is doing for us now sacramentally again in this holy sacrifice is not limited to the celebrating and consecrating priest but the whole people is asked to enter into the same holy of holies of the Eucharistic memorial.

[30:03]

Only based, or let us say, rooted in this memoria of what Christ has done for us, then are we able to offer, as it is said in the Undead Memories, we are mindful, O Lord, of your blessed passion. and also of your resurrection from the dead and your glorious ascension into heaven. And in this state of memoria, of mindfulness, we offer up to your glorious majesty from your gifts to us a pure life. a holy sacrifice, an immaculate sacrifice. So the memoria which we find here in the centre of the mass, and I think that's another point which we should clearly keep in mind, is a memoria which is not limited only to the death of Christ.

[31:21]

That would not be possible. The death of Christ as such cannot be our salvation. The death of Christ is only our salvation insofar as his sacrifice and his death has been accepted by the Father in the resurrection. Therefore, death and resurrection and ascension of Christ, or let us better put it in this way, which also the liturgy of the Holy Tribune puts it, the Pascha Christi and the Exaltatio Christi, those two are really essentially one and cannot be separated one from the other. When we offer, when we celebrate the death of Christ, we can celebrate this death only in this death and insofar as this death is the source of life, as this death ends in the resurrection.

[32:31]

So what we really offer here, the sacrifice that we offer is the transitus Domini, the passing of the Lord through his death into the glory of the resurrection. And that, again, is a point which is not, let us say, of only liturgical interest or something like that, but it is of immense practical importance to our whole attitude, the attitude that we take towards suffering, towards death. towards calamities and all kinds of sorrows that we have to carry in the course of our life. We have to carry it in the sense of the Holy Mass, in the sense of the memorial sacrifice. Our sufferings carried in the Spirit of Christ by us as baptized Christians that have been baptized into the death of Christ, these our sorrows and these our sacrifices carry already in them, as St.

[33:51]

Paul says, the heavy weight of glory. The sacrifices of the Christian, as we can see that so clearly in the spirit of martyrdom, as it was alive and as it's in the old church and as it is still alive in the church today. Martyrdom, wherever we meet it, is a thing of glory and a thing of joy. Martyrdom is the complete Holocaust of oneself in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is an act not in any way of despair or of defeatism, but it is an act of glorious triumph, of absolute hope, of an infinite, limitless affirmation of eternal life in us.

[34:51]

So that must be an attitude which accompanies us constantly, that wherever we really are hit by calamities, when God in his mercy scourges us, that we should always remember Draw out the lines, as it were. Draw out the lines into glory. As human beings, we are easily inclined to discouragement. We are by nature, as our Lord says, when he faced that depression among the apostles after his death, he scolded them and he said, O ye of little faith. And that is, of course, our natural inclination. The one more and the other less, but we all share in it. In this, our common weakness, that our faith so often ends there where discouragement meets us, ends that therefore we have to keep in mind and especially to let us celebrate as priests

[36:09]

the sacrifice of Holy Mass as a constant source of deepest absolute encouragement. Because here at the altar and consecrating the Holy Species, we know that here in an ultimate and final degree, in a perfect degree really, God Christ is the God with us. The Emmanuel is an absolute reality here. And therefore, the glorious presence of Christ who has conquered for us and who has taken upon his shoulders the burden, all our burdens, his presence here must fill us with greatest hope, with absolute hope. As St. Paul says it so beautifully, The pagans certainly are people without hope.

[37:13]

But your hope is Christ in you, Christ the King of glory in you. He is your hope. So that is so clear and beautiful here in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, where we remember the blessed passion, and that means the life-giving passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then right away add, but also his resurrection of infirmity, And when we read that resurrection up in phrase, then we should remember that in the Church of old, the resurrection of our Lord was never represented as, or the attempt was never made to paint, as I say, represent the resurrection of Christ

[38:14]

let us say, as this isolated, mysterious act in which his body rises out of the tomb. That really was a hidden mystery. Nobody has seen it. No human eye has seen it. And therefore the Church of old has never represented that. The Church of old, one can say, has never represented Christ simply and merely by himself and for himself, but also always Christ with his own, in living contact with his Church, because for the Church of old an image was a sacramental, and a sacramental is opus operandus, Therefore, in a sacramental one sees the, one can say, cooperation of divinity and humanity, of Christ and of his believers.

[39:18]

So that also, especially this resurrection, was always represented that way. It was represented the empty tomb, but then the three women coming to the tomb, and then they being told by the angel so that there in looking at him, in seeing him, we immediately receive from the mouth of the angel ourselves being one of the three women, receive the glad tidings, he is not here, he is risen, so that our hearts are lifted up. Or in the later Byzantine time, and that is what this word in the canon refers to, The picture, the icon, which is called Anastasis or Resurrectio in the Byzantine church is the famous picture that you certainly remember, Christ as he rises up in Phereth, that means out of where he stands upon the gates of hell and where he has wrath with his hands,

[40:30]

Adam, who is followed by Eve, and then he in this moment of rising, of leading captivity captive, that scene is called the Anastasis in the Old Church. And therefore here we are reminded of the ab inferis resurrectionis. This resurrection is the act in which he right away leads the host of the captives into heavenly freedom. Said it in Cholos Gloriosi Ascensionis, his glorious ascension into heaven. So that... In this way, all these things, you know, point to it, how closely we are absolutely, we are united to this glorious passing of Christ through death into the resurrection, which really is the saving factor of our life and throws the light of hope and of a sure hope, as the Gospels always say,

[41:43]

of a sure hope into every little corner of our earthly existence. Now that is the, let us say, the heart of the canon. But then you have around this, let us call this memorial here, let us call it the centerpiece of the, let us say, of the big triptych, which the canon really constitutes. The canon is constructed in a parallel way so that an exact balance is established between the two sides, that means between what precedes the memoria and what follows the memoria. The last form, the definite form of the Roman canon as we have it now, is evidently intended to constitute a clear balance. One can also say that it is

[42:46]

that its structural idea is that of concentric circles which are drawn around the inner sanctuary of the sacramental memorial of the death and the resurrection of Christ and the consecration of the two species. There is next, we can say, the next circle which immediately surrounds the centre is constituted by the prayers, quam oblationem, to Deus in omnibus, and the prayer, hanc egitur oblationem. They are two prayers of recommendation, two prayers in which we, in the attitude of petition, address ourselves to God to bless these gifts which we are going to consecrate. And then, to these correspond, after the consecration, the two prayers supraque propitio excelenibutua speecho dignaris and the prayer suptices derogamus jubehet perferi permanus alti angelitui in subluma altartum constricta divina majestatis tue.

[44:10]

All these four prayers that I just mentioned are prayers of recommendation. They are, as it were, the hands with which the church holds this central sacramental sacrifice of Christ to the Heavenly Father. I think it's such a, in itself, such a beautiful idea that the sacramental power which has been given to the church by Christ and which is in itself infallible in this way as it is infallibly connected with our performing the sacramental signs and the sacramental material and sacramental form, the sacramental sign, that nevertheless the infallibility which is given into our hands there and the church is so careful that that should never turn in us into or never be the cause in us of a kind of wrong security, of give rise to some kind of arrogance in us.

[45:26]

Because it could be that from a merely human point of view and thinking about it outside of the influence of the Holy Spirit, here I just have to push the button and the thing works. This overly primitive idea of the opus operatum. But which really constitutes a danger. because very often one can see that indeed this kind of sacramental attitude or wrong sacramentalism, as we may call it, takes here and there, takes a hold of the people who are entrusted with the performance of the sacraments. So often one finds that the sacraments are performed in a way which does not correspond to their dignity at all. But the underlying mentality is not in any way, let us say, to do to any kind of, let us say, irreverence, I would say at least not deliberate irreverence, but the kind of wrong assurance, as long as I say the words right and have the material right, as long as I have the sign right, I'm sure of the spiritual effect.

[46:50]

Therefore, while the Protestants and the Protestant ministers depend in their effectiveness with their people completely on the anxiousness with which they put into the tone of their voice and that they display in a rather irritating way in their prayer and in their action, let us say also included the Anglicans included or something like that. We Roman Catholics, we don't need that. We have the true sacraments, and therefore one is tempted really sometimes then to display, let us say, this Roman Catholic whiteness, you know, with a certain... lack of consideration for the reverence which is due to the sacramental form and to the sacramental performance.

[47:50]

So that people, for example, are through with the whole Mass in 20 minutes, you know, that it passes by in such a way that the priest, even I would say without even realizing it, I can I very clearly remember in my own priestly career, and I was just ordained priest, and then later on went to Rome to finish my studies, and then came home, and I know I celebrated Mass at Assisi, at the tomb of St. Francis. And there was a friend of mine who was assisted at it, and later on he came to me and he said, Damasus, it's a shame how you celebrate Mass. And I was absolutely shocked. I didn't even realize it, you know. But then he made it clear to me that the whole attitude and the way in which I did it, probably I did it as a neo-presbyter who kind of, how would I say,

[48:54]

enjoys, you know, his ability and his ear to display that facility, you know, and familiarity which he has with the sacramental rite. But there, suddenly, I mean, through this criticism of somebody whom I esteem, revere very much, certainly it came to my mind, this kind of sloppiness. And that is something which easily can creep in into our priesthood life, especially with this idea, as I repeat it again, all right, as long as the form is there, then the effect is there, and the opposite of that is all right, you know, it's okay. And every do have its way. But that is not right. The opus operatum either does not work in a vacuum. Every grace that is given to us is a spark of the love of God.

[49:56]

And therefore this love of God has to have also room in our hearts. It does not work simply as a little package of medicine or like a pill, but it works in a living way. And therefore, the Church surrounds the sacraments with a festive ritual Why? Not because the essential effect of the sacrament would depend on it, but because this ritual opens the heart, is intended to open the heart, so that the opus operatum may take roots deeply and actually, in actual grace, in the hearts of those who participate. So therefore it's beautiful here to see how the church surrounds the sacramental memorial Christ gives to the church with these prayers of recommendation in which he in all humility asks the Heavenly Father to bless and to accept the sacrifice

[51:06]

And that is done, and that is so important, not only before the consecration, but also after the consecration, where a rationalist mind could say, oh my, I mean, we could dispense with that because we know that this is acceptable. No, but everything, and especially here in the Eucharist, we have to follow the principle, it is the sacramentum unionis. Therefore what Christ does, we do also. And therefore, as far as this sacrifice is our sacrifice, it is also offered necessarily in an attitude of deep humility and, one can say, of the fear of God. The sacrifice or the sacrament is not a means of salvation which would dispense us, they say, from this actual fear of the Lord. the feeling of deep, absolute dependence on God's omnipotence.

[52:11]

So then, that are these prayers of recommendation as an inner circle. And then comes another circle around this, and that is a circle of prayers of intercession. These prayers of intercession already start in the... in the course of the De Egito Clementissimus Pater. They include the Pope, the Bishop, and the Fidei Confessoris, Orthodoxi Fidei Confessoris, and the saints are there gathered together before the consecration and after the consecration. Two of these prayers of intercession correspond after the consecration, the memento et sion domine, the Novus Coquificatoribus, and perhaps also perquem hec omnia dominis imper bona creas sanctificas.

[53:18]

So in these prayers of intercession, the whole church, as it were, is gathered around the Eucharistic sacrifice. We have the... Prayers of intercession, of course, in themselves, if I may say that, have found their place here in the present Roman rite. The present Roman rite naturally differs from the older traditional rite where these prayers of intercession do not form a part of the canon, but they precede the consecration and are very often connected with the offertory. The idea there, especially in the Eastern liturgies and also some vestiges, as I pointed out when we were explaining the offertory in the Latin Rite, the idea there is that we

[54:21]

that the offertory is the moment in which fraternal love purifies our hearts of selfishness so that we may come to the altar well prepared. And therefore, the prayers of intercession are a concrete putting into action of that fraternal love. We have that now again in these attempts that are being made, and I mentioned before in the so-called Miss Barth's Solenice, the solemnized Lomers, where prayers of that kind are sometimes said or recited in connection with the operatore. But, and I say later on in the Roman Rite, these prayers of intercession have found their place within the canon.

[55:30]

And the reason for that is certainly that one wanted to bring these petitions as close as possible to the Lamb of God while it was there on the altar being offered. And therefore, before the... The consecration, we have these prayers for the entire church, and in the union with all the saints, that also was originally, as we see that still in the Eastern liturgies, had the character of an intercession. Now, that later on has been changed, you know, because one felt, you know, that one really does not pray for the saints and does one not offer sacrifice for the saints because they are in glory. So the mentioning of the saints has changed its character

[56:37]

and also in difference to the Eastern Rites, in the Roman Mass, introduced by the words communicantes et memoriam venerantes, so that the saints are here joining, as it were, the host of our intercession, and in that way giving a greater weight. Then we have, after the consecration, we have the memento corresponding to the memento of the living before. We have now the memento of the dead afterwards. And then we have the nobis quoque peccatoribus, familis tuis, which is a prayer of intercession for the celebrating priests. and therefore also formulated in expressions of special expressions of humility.

[57:47]

But it is an intercession, nobis quo peccatoribus, for the celebrating clergy. And then later on, per quem hec omnia, intercession for all the material gifts which used to be offered together with the bread and wine for the Eucharist in the times of old for the sustenance of the clergy and of the poor of the parish, and to that the words per quem hec omnia are related. And then this whole prayer of the Canon of the Mass, in the end, is then surrounded with a prayer of adoration and praise. And that is the preface in the beginning, and to that corresponds then, in the end, the beautiful doxology per ipsum et cum ipsum et in ipsum, ...corresponding in its tone and in its elevated style to the style of the preface.

[59:02]

So that, in that way, the whole canon is the outer circle, as it were, is a circle of flames of divine praises, the divine praises. a doxology, a solemn doxology, at the beginning and at the end of the canon. Then the prayer of intercession, in which we continue, as it were, the attitude of Christ, who, hanging on the cross, said, Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing, in which, therefore, we appear to the mercy of the Lamb of God on the altar, for the needs of the living and of the dead, this whole wide infinite circle which is covered by our Lord's infinite mercy. And then the expression of our humility, the expression of recommendation, which is a kind of a last, one could say, fifth,

[60:03]

of reverence which the Church has built around the Holy of Holies, that we never may enter into it in a kind of business-like, dry feeling of infallible mechanism which operates here in the sacrament, but that we really may enter it in all humility as God's servants, completely depending on his omnipotence. And then, finally, the centre, the memorial in which the sacrifice of Christ becomes for us not only a new reality to us, but also through us, so that in that way the circle of life really is closed.

[60:56]

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