There is a valuable small book: The Holy Mass by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1805-1875), republished in 202 by the Baronius Press. I believe it is a posthumous collection of notes he had made. It deals with the Ordinary of the Mass, the framework of the Liturgy of the Word and the Canon. The first section serves as a general introduction, and then follow short chapters on specific parts of the Mass. Needless to say, it is the Tridentine Liturgy he deals with.
The first point he makes is that the type of the Mass, that is, the full paradigm, is the sung Mass, the Missa Solemnis. The second is that the Sacrifice of the Mass is in sober fact the Sacrifice of the Cross: “in it we must see Our Lord nailed on the Cross; and offering up His Blood for our sins, to His Eternal Father. And yet we must not expect to find in the several portions of the Mass all the detailed circumstances of the Passion …” This is wise, because it is only too easy to take things so literally that they become silly. Incidentally, this is an example of what wisdom is – not just having knowledge but also possessing the judgment to know when to rein the intellect in.
The third point is that the priest leaves the Sacristy to go to the Altar to offer up the Sacrifice. He does not just come in from the street: he goes first to the Sacristy to prayerfully prepare himself and then enter to the Altar of God, prepared, or as Gueranger says, paratus, wearing the appropriate vestments. As he approaches the Altar, he makes the debita reverentia, the reverence which is owed – either a genuflexion when the Blessed Sacrament is in the Tabernacle, or otherwise simply a profound inclination.
Psalm 42 is the subject of the next chapter. He notes that the Church selects Psalms which have an appropriate verse: here it is Introibo ad altare Dei. This Psalm was not here in the oldest Missals, but was required by Pope St Pius V in 1568. It is prayed by the priest but in the name of Christ. When one contemplates this, one realises what a great privilege is allowed to the priest – that he may speak in the Name of the Lord in this most holy setting.
Gueranger says that the reference to youth is an autobiographical comment by King David, the psalmist. This had not occurred to me before: I had always taken it as referring to all of us. But I see his point. The King is a strong young man, yet he is cast down, but understands enough to turn to God, and in doing so, his spirits are raised. I would add that I think it is putting the lower cause first to go to the Liturgy to lighten one’s mood. But it is entirely right that if I direct my soul to God, my spirit should be raised. The author also explains that it is because the Psalm is so joyful that it is omitted from requiem Masses, and during Passiontide.
After the Psalm and the antiphon, the priest prays: Adiutorium nostrum …”Our help …” What is then written is priceless: “… the priest (has just) expressed his ardent desire to possess Our Lord, Who is Light and Truth: but the very thought that he, a sinful creature, is about to meet (his) Lord … makes him feel the need he has of help. True – God has willed this meeting; He has even vouchsafed to prescribe it as one of our duties: and yet, notwithstanding, man is continually made to feel his unworthiness and nothingness.”
I think this becomes more critical as we grow older: to see that not only are we weak, but that we are nothing. Not absolutely, but relatively, like a dot in relation to a three dimensional being. A dot by itself does not exist. But a dot can be found on a line or a plane. God is more than a three dimensional being – He is being itself. Beside Him, we are nothing, and such as we are, we are endlessly weak. We can be full of joy and gratitude one moment, and bitterly angry the next. We do not choose to be like that, but neither do we choose in any serious way to change ourselves.
At this point in the Mass, we come to the confession of sins, the Confiteor. Dom Gueranger states that this prayer probably dates from the 8th century. Reciting it with contrition is accepted as sufficient for the forgiveness of venial sins. The confession is made to God in the first place, then to the saints so that they will pray for us. We have not sinned against the Mother of God, but we have sinned “in her sight,” as he puts it, and the very thought of her brings us to contrition. St Michael is mentioned at this point because he “is appointed to watch over our souls, especially at the hour of death.” I had not realised that some religious orders had permission to name their foudners, e.g.Benedictines to insert here the name of St Benedict. Then, the priest asks the faithful to pray for him, thus admitting to them that he is a sinner. The striking of the breast is an antetype of the actions of the repentant sinner in the Gospel of St Luke. This wonderful prayer is, Geuranger says, sufficient for one in danger of death who is unable to make “a more explicit Confession.”
Our guide notes: “It is never allowable to change anything which Holy Church has prescribed for the celebration of the Mass. Hence … the Ministers must always use the simple words Et tibi, Pater … Et te, Pater; they must add no further title, not even if they were serving the Pope’s Mass.” What a powerful reflection.
Dom Gueranger says that in the following prayers when we beseech God to send His mercy and salvation, we are actually asking Him to send His Son. That is, while to pray Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam … Et salutare tuum da nobis means “Show us, Lord, Your mercy and grant us Your salvation,” it is a plea for the coming of the Saviour HImself.
