Dom Gueranger then makes a point of quite some value: when, at the end of the prayers at the foot of the altar, the priest turns to the congregation and says Dominus vobiscum, he is marking the point when “the solemn moment is come for him to ascend the altar and, like Moses, enter into the cloud.” (10) So too in the Maronite rite, the priest first enters the church doors, celebrates the Liturgy of the Word, and then ascends to the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The priest reverently intones the word Oremus, let us pray; and as he does, opens and closes his hands, for when we pray to heaven we raise our hands in supplication. The movement of the priest’s hands, therefore, is a simple and dignified gesture indicative of a profound state of the soul. The use of the plural is because in the High Mass, he is accompanied and speaks for the deacon and subdeacon. Thus, the words used, even in the Low Mass, remind us of the fuller ceremony.
At this point, the priest is entering, as the Aufer a nobis prayer states, the Sancta sanctorum, the Holy of Holies. For this, he properly asks that the celebrants be freed of their sins, for only the pure may enter the sanctuary. In these prayers, the people are described as “assisting” at the Holy Sacrifice, and so “should entertain for the priest a sentiment of filial respect, and pray with and for him.” (11)
When he deals withe censing of the altar, Gueranger states that the focus at this point is the reverence for the relics of the saints, as Christ founded a Church which is His Mystical Body. Christ is the Head and the saints are its members. The fulness of the Mystical Body comprises the Head and the Members. The saints are therefore united with Christ in the Altar which represents Him. (12) Again, this representation is a spiritual reality: as the Maronite liturgy teaches us, the Altar represents the Lamb who was sacrificed upon it, and the High Priest who offered the sacrifice is Himself the Lamb. Incense was used in the Old Testament, and is revealed in the Apocalypse (8:3) as a feature of the celestial liturgy, so that “The blessing which the priest gives … raises this production of nature to the supernatural order.” (12)
The Introit was formerly not said by the priest, rather, he would vest in the Secretarium, and as he proceeded to the altar, following the Cross and torches, and the choir sang the Introit which was, at that time, the entire psalm. Apparently, the choir also sang the Gloria and the other prayers such as the Gradual, Tract, and Alleluia. The Sign of the Cross was made at the opening of the Introit as this was the first of the Readings.
At High Mass, the Kyrie is said at the same side of the altar as the Introit. However, in the Low Mass, the priest intones it from the middle. According to Gueranger, the first three Kyries are addressed to the Father, the Christe Eleisons to the Son, and the last three Kyries to the Holy Spirit. The nine lines of this prayer are a way of showing our union in prayer with the nine choirs of angels.
The priest moves to the centre of the altar for the Gloria (at Low Mass). As he notes, there is no doctrine directly expressed in this hymnal prayer: only fervent praise. (17) In this praise, we recall that the Incarnation is the greatest of God’s favours to man, and “the Incarnation is His greatest glory.” (18)
After the Gloria, the priest turns to the congregation with another Dominus vobiscum, the first he has said from the altar. This is a way of calling their attention to the Collect, which shall sum up their prayers in a short paragraph. His arms are outstretched during the Collect, in imitation of the ancient manner, still visible in the catacombs and called Orantes (the praying people). As he correctly says, the custom at the time of writing was that only in the East did the congregation pray in pubic with arms outstretched; but the priest did so because he is standing in the place of Our Lord (26).
The Epistle prepares us for the Gospel: the words of the servant for those of the Master. The Gradual was chanted from the steps (gradus) of the sanctuary. The Gospel is placed on the altar to show forth the identity of the Word of God heard in the Gospel with Christ who is represented in the altar.
It is a poignant matter to observe that in Requiem Masses only, the deacon does not ask the priest’s blessing when he shall chant the Gospel, for that would be expressive of a joy which is out of place at a requiem.
The Credo follows the Gospel for our faith is based upon the Word. Its use in the Latin Mass dates from the 11th century, according to Gueranger, for the Church of Rome was already sufficiently firm in faith and free of heresy. However, when a Holy Roman Emperor expressed surprise that it was not said (indicating that there must have been a plurality of litugical practices) it was added. This move was defended on the basis that to have the Creed recited by the Church of Rome on Sundays and major feasts would invest the proclamation of the faith with solemnity.
