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Explanation of the Mass

Explanation of the Mass - The Preparation of the Gifts

The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the preparation of the gifts. The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are not two different acts of worship, but two moments of one same mystery. The change from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist is well marked by the movement of the minister leaving his seat he goes to the altar, which is reserved for the sacrifice.

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Ask the Register: how do I bring up the gifts?

Q. My family and I have been asked to bring up the gifts at Mass on several occasions, but I’m not sure if I’m doing it quite right. What are you supposed to do when you bring up the gifts at Mass, and what is the purpose behind the practice?

A. Thank you for this very practical question that is probably on the minds of many people. Oftentimes, it is the duty of the ushers to choose a family to present the gifts to the celebrant of the Mass, but there is usually little instruction given ahead of time.

The preparation of the gifts occurs during a time of transition in the Mass. Having been fed and nourished by the Word of God in the Liturgy of the Word, the faithful prepare to be fed and nourished through the Holy Eucharist, in which they receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

The Eucharist is all about the offering of sacrifice. The Mass is the re-presentation of Christ’s offering of himself to the Heavenly Father. And then this gift of Christ to the Father pours forth to the Church in the reception of Holy Communion. Christ offers himself as a sacrifice to the Father, and in doing so he also offers himself to the Church in giving us his very body and blood.

Since the Eucharist is the celebration of Christ’s spousal love for His Church, it is meant to have the full, conscious and active participation of the faithful. The faithful accomplish this by giving of themselves at Mass, and allowing themselves to be transformed by the power of the sacred mysteries.

This desire to be transformed is symbolized in the presentation of gifts, which is much more than simply a sentimental gesture. The people taking up the gifts at Mass represent the people of the parish and, in a sense, the entire Church. They bring up bread and wine; perhaps even the collection from that Mass: all as signs of the gifts God has given us and are returned back to him.

Thus, as we watch the people process down the aisle to bring these gifts at Mass, we think of all we have received from God and ask him to transform us by his saving action.

It’s understandable to be a little nervous in bringing up the gifts. The norm is to process down the aisle with the gifts and hand them to the celebrant at the foot of the altar. It’s customary to bow to the altar or genuflect to the tabernacle before you return to your pew. Don’t be afraid! In presenting the gifts, you are carrying the very bread and wine that will be changed substantially into the Body and Blood of Christ.

This question was answered by a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.

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Why do we present gifts during Mass?

The preparation of the gifts is also called the “offertory,” and it assumed great importance in the early church.

St. Cyprian, martyred in Africa in 258, chided those who came to Mass and received the Eucharist but made no offering of their own: “You are wealthy and rich, and do you think that you celebrate the Lord’s Supper, not at all considering the offering? Who comes to the Lord’s Supper without a sacrifice, and yet take part of the sacrifice which the poor man has offered? Consider in the Gospel the widow… ”

St. Augustine was impressed by a fifth-century procession of gifts in Rome in which the faithful brought from their own homes things from their kitchen tables.

Augustine called this an “admirable exchange” — for their gifts God gave back Jesus. The prayer over the gifts from the sixth day in the octave of Christmas uses Augustine’s language: “Lord, receive our gifts in this wonderful exchange: from all you have given us we bring you these gifts, and in return, you give us yourself.”

Valid matter

For Mass, the Church uses unleavened bread made only of pure wheat flour and water, and wine only from grapes. Why?

Because that’s what Jesus used. He told us to “do this” in his memory, and if “this” changes too much, we’re no longer following his command.

Even in places of the world where wheat or grapes are scarce, the church still insists that these foodstuffs be imported instead of substituted with local products such as corn flour or rice wine. For persons with celiac disease or alcohol intolerance, the church permits virtually gluten-free hosts and mustum, wine whose fermentation has been arrested.

Collection of money

“From the very beginning, Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1351). Tithing and almsgiving are acts of worship (2 Corinthians 9:10-15) and express not only our desire to help those in need but also our generosity to God.

Made by hand

The ordinary form of Mass uses adapted Jewish “berakah” (blessing) prayers whose words are packed with meaning, even if they’re done silently during the music.

Bread and wine symbolize a wonderful cooperation between God and humans. We lay upon the altar not only creation’s goods but ours, too. The gifts are not mere wheat and grapes, but “the work of human hands.” Symbolically, that’s us on the altar, offering ourselves to God. In the eucharistic prayer, we will ask God to send the Spirit to change the gifts and change us as well.

The gift of ourselves is never easy, and the church, knowing that, treats our offerings with great care. The priest places them in a dignified place on the altar, incenses them reverently, and asks God to receive them to himself.

“Pray, sisters and brothers, that our sacrifice” — not only bread and wine, but what they symbolize: our work, struggles, joys, money, our very lives — “may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”

Mass – Preparation Of The Gifts

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Preparation of the Gifts

A ZENIT DAILY DISPATCH

ROME, 24 AUG. 2004 (ZENIT)

Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University.

Q: For daily Mass my parish priest prepares the chalice before the celebration with the wine and water in the sacristy. So when it is time for the Liturgy of the Eucharist he just takes the chalice with wine and water and continues on with the prayers. Does the Church allow this? — D.O., Toronto. Is there any reason why the bread and wine are offered with separate prayers at the presentation of gifts at Mass? Is it acceptable for the priest to say one prayer over the bread and wine, combining the two prayers? — D.C., Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago

A: The practice described of preparing wine and water beforehand is not quite correct, although unfortunately not uncommon in some quarters.

There is no good reason to do so since the time "saved" is minimal. And, of course, saving time is not an overly important criterion in liturgy.

There are certainly times when rites must necessarily be abbreviated, but abbreviation does not imply hastiness.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), No. 73, permits the chalice to be prepared at the credence table rather than at the altar, but always during the preparation of the gifts.

It is usually preferable, however, to prepare the chalice at the altar so that the faithful may observe the meaningful rite of adding the water to the wine. An earlier column dealt with this rite.

It is possible to prepare additional chalices before large concelebrations. But the preparation of the principal chalice should still preferably be carried out at the altar by the deacon and offered by the main celebrant.

A priest may not take it upon himself to change the liturgical text by offering a single prayer over the gifts just as he may not change other liturgical texts.

The practice of a separate offering of the bread and wine is a long-standing liturgical tradition which is found in one form or another in all the ancient manuscripts of the Roman rite, even though this rite has undergone many changes over time.

Some other rites, such as the Armenian and the ancient Hispanic (or Mozarabic) of Spain, do have a single prayer over both gifts. But, unlike the Roman rite, some of these rites have minute and painstaking ceremonies for preparing the gifts just before Mass begins.

In both ancient documents and in recent commentaries the separate offering of the gifts seems to be taken for granted. There is little reflection as to possible theological or spiritual motivations for this practice.

GIRM 72 however seem to suggest that the reason for this rite is to somehow parallel the separate consecration of the two species and to reflect the gestures of Christ at the Last Supper:

"At the Last Supper Christ instituted the Paschal Sacrifice and banquet by which the Sacrifice of the Cross is continuously made present in the Church whenever the priest, representing Christ the Lord, carries out what the Lord himself did and handed over to his disciples to be done in his memory.

"For Christ took the bread and the chalice and gave thanks; he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take, eat, and drink: this is my Body; this is the cup of my Blood. Do this in memory of me.' Accordingly, the Church has arranged the entire celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist in parts corresponding to precisely these words and actions of Christ:

"1. At the Preparation of the Gifts, the bread and the wine with water are brought to the altar, the same elements that Christ took into his hands."

From a historical perspective, the separate offerings in the Roman rite would appear to stem from the ancient practice of each member of the faithful, or at least those intending to receive Communion, approaching the sanctuary after the Liturgy of the Word to offer bread and sometimes wine from their homes for the sacrifice.

In most Eastern rites the people left their gifts before Mass in a place designated for this purpose.

The Roman custom led to the development of an elaborate procession of the gifts and to the celebrant and other ministers receiving the gifts separately before placing them on the altar. During this period, however, the gifts were merely received and there were as yet no elevations or offertory prayers.

Once the gifts were paced upon the altar, the celebrant said the prayer over the gifts and then commenced the canon.

As the number of those receiving Communion dropped after the 10th century, the procession gradually disappeared from the liturgy. It has been restored, albeit symbolically, in the present Roman rite.

At the same time, a series of offertory rites, prayers and priestly "apologias" (prayers in which the priest admits his indignity before the celebration of the mystery and still found in the present rite) were added to the rite between the 10th to 13th centuries.

From this time, the rites of preparing the paten and chalice were taken up by the priest and deacon. Always retained were the separate offerings of both species. ZE04082421

Follow-up: Preparation of the Gifts [from 09-07-2004]

In our Aug. 24 column we replied to a question concerning the preparation of the chalice before Mass and the use of a single prayer of oblation.

A Dominican priest from Charlottesville, Virginia, has kindly pointed out that the celebrant who used the single prayer may have been a member of the Order of Preachers.

He writes: "In the Dominican Rite Low Mass the chalice was prepared before Mass and the oblation was made with a single prayer and single raising in both the Solemn and Low Masses. At Solemn High Mass the chalice was prepared during the Gradual.

"Both of these practices were also found in the liturgical family embracing the local uses of northern France and the Sarum Rite in England, from which family the Dominican Rite evolved.

"It is not uncommon for some Dominicans to use the old single oblation and to prepare the chalice ahead. The motive is nostalgia, not haste."

The priest adds that, while he harbors much affection for the Dominican rite, he himself never follows this practice since it is contrary to the spirit and rubrics of the Roman rite.

I believe that his is a prudent decision when celebrating Mass for a congregation. Otherwise, the faithful may be confused by the difference in rites.

All this serves to show, however, that, even before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the Latin Church was not an absolute liturgical monolith. It allowed for several particular rites, either those pertaining to venerable religious orders or to certain regions or dioceses such as Milan in Italy, Lyon in France, Braga in Portugal, and in Croatia where for centuries the Roman rite has been celebrated in Croatian. ZE04090722

This article has been selected from the ZENIT Daily Dispatch © Innovative Media, Inc.

ZENIT International News Agency Via della Stazione di Ottavia, 95 00165 Rome, Italy www.zenit.org

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POPE FRANCIS' CATECHESIS ON THE HOLY MASS. THE PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS. Vatican English Summary + Full text by Zenit

POPE FRANCIS’ CATECHESIS ON THE HOLY MASS. THE PREPARATION OF GIFTS.

OFFICIAL VATICAN-PROVIDED SUMMARY IN ENGLISH Dear brothers and sisters: In our catechesis on the Mass, we now turn from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Following the Lord’s command at the Last Supper to “do this in memory of me”, the Church at every Mass makes sacramentally present the sacrifice of the New Covenant sealed by Jesus on the altar of the cross. The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the Preparation of the Gifts of bread and wine which will then be consecrated in the Eucharistic Prayer and received by the faithful in Holy Communion. The rite of the Preparation of the Gifts invites us to present our own lives as a spiritual offering together with the gifts we bring to the altar. The Prayer which concludes this rite voices our confidence that the Church’s offering will be transformed by the Holy Spirit and become a sacrifice pleasing to the Father, in union with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. At every Mass, may we experience the Preparation of the Gifts as an invitation to offer our lives completely to the Lord, in order to receive from him the grace to live ever more fully our vocation to grow in holiness and to serve the coming of his Kingdom. Speaker: I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Slovakia and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that this Lent will be a time of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you! © Libreria Editrice Vaticana FULL TEXT TRANSLATION OF ZENIT.ORG The Holy Father’s Catechesis Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Continuing with the catechesis on the Holy Mass, the Liturgy of the Word — on which I reflected in the past catechesis –, is followed by the other constitutive part of the Mass, which is the Eucharistic Liturgy . In it, through the holy signs, the Church renders continually present the Sacrifice of the new Covenant sealed by Jesus on the altar of the Cross (Cf. Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47). The first Christian altar was the Cross, and when we come to the altar to celebrate Mass, our memory goes <back> to the altar of the Cross, where the first sacrifice was made. The priest, who represents Christ in the Mass, carries out what the Lord Himself did and entrusted to the disciples in the Last Supper: He took the bread and the chalice, rendered thanks, and gave them to the disciples , saying: “Take, eat . . . drink: this is my Body . . . this is the chalice of my Blood. Do this in memory of Me.” Obedient to Jesus’ command, the Church ordered the Eucharistic Liturgy in moments that correspond to the words and gestures done by Him , on the vigil of his Passion. Thus, in the preparation of the gifts , the bread and wine are taken to the altar, namely, the elements that Jesus took in His hands. In the Eucharistic Prayer we give thanks to God for the work of Redemption and the offerings become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It’s followed by the breaking of the Bread and Communion, through which we relive the experience of the Apostles, who received the Eucharistic gifts from the hands of Christ Himself (Cf. Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano), 72). The preparation of the gifts corresponds, then, to Jesus’ first gesture: “He took the bread and the chalice of wine. It’s the first part of the Eucharistic Liturgy. It’s good that it’s the faithful that present the bread and wine to the priest, because they signify the spiritual offering of the Church, gathered there for the Eucharist. It’s beautiful that it’s in fact the faithful that bring the bread and wine to the altar. Although today “the faithful no longer bring, as before, their own bread and wine destined to the Liturgy, yet the rite of the presentation of these gifts keeps its value and spiritual meaning” ( Ibid., 73). And in this connection, it’s significant that, in ordaining a new presbyter, the Bishop, when he gives him the bread and wine, says: “Receive the offerings of the holy people for the Eucharistic sacrifice” (Roman Pontifical – Ordination of Bishops, of presbyters and of deacons). <It’s> the people of God that brings the offering, the bread and wine, the great offering for the Mass! Therefore, in the signs of the bread and wine the faithful people put their own offering in the priest’s hands, who places it on the altar or table of the Lord, “which is the center of all the Eucharistic Liturgy”( (OGMR , 73). That is, the center of the Mass is the altar, and the altar is Christ. It’s always necessary to look at the altar, which is the center of the Mass. Offered, therefore, in the “fruit of the earth and the work of man,” is the commitment of the faithful to make of themselves, obedient to the divine Word, a “pleasing sacrifice to Almighty God the Father,” “for the good of all His Holy Church.” Thus “the life of the faithful, their suffering, their prayer, their work, are united to those of Christ and to His total offering, and in this way they acquire a new value” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1368). Our offering is certainly a small thing, but Christ is in need of this small thing. The Lord asks little of us, and He gives us so much. He asks little of us. He asks us for good will in ordinary life; He asks us for an open heart; He asks us for the will to be better to receive him who offers Himself to us in the Eucharist. He asks us for these symbolic offerings, which will then become His Body and His Blood. An image of this self-giving movement of prayer is represented by incense that, consumed in the fire, gives off a perfumed smoke that goes up on high: to incense the offerings, as is done on feast days, to incense the cross, the altar, the priest and the priestly people manifest visibly the offertory bond that unites all these realities to Christ’s sacrifice (Cf. OGMR, 75). And don’t forget: it’s the altar that is Christ, but always in reference to the first altar, which is the Cross, and on the altar, which is Christ, we bring our little gifts, the bread and wine, which then will become so much: Jesus Himself who gives Himself to us. And all this is what the prayer over the offerings expresses. In it the priest asks God to accept the gifts that the Church offers Him, invoking the fruit of the wonderful exchange between our poverty and His richness. In the bread and wine, we present our life to Him, so that it’s transformed by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s sacrifice and becomes, with Him, one spiritual offering pleasing to the Father. While the preparation of the gifts is thus concluded, it disposes us to the Eucharistic Prayer (Cf. Ibid, 77). May the spirituality of the gift of self , which this moment of the Mass teaches, be able to illume our days, our relations with others, the things we do, the sufferings we meet, helping us to build the earthly city in the light of the Gospel. [Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester] In Italian A warm welcome goes to the Italian-speaking faithful. I am happy to receive the participants in the General Chapter of the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, the Christian Brothers Schools and “God’s Volunteers” of the Focolare Movement. I greet the faithful of Pavullo nel Frignano, accompanied by the Bishop, Monsignor Germano Bernardini; the young people guests of the Hospitality Center of L’Aquila; the school Institutes, especially those of Civitavecchia and of the Pallotine Sisters of Rome; the members of the Order of Malta of Lombardy and Veneto and the FAIPA associates: “The Golden Keys.” I hope that you all can live the faith as service to God and to brothers. Finally I greet the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. Lent is a favourable time to intensify the spiritual life: may the practice of fasting be of help to you, dear young people, to acquire greater mastery over yourselves; may the thought of the future help you, dear elderly, to give hope to young people: speak with them; may prayer be for you, dear sick, the means to entrust your sufferings to God and to feel Him always close; finally, may the works of mercy help you, dear newlyweds, to live your conjugal life always oriented to the needs of brothers. [Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester] I greet the faithful present in St. Peter’s Basilica. Thank you! Thank you so much for your patience in waiting up to now. May the Lord bless you — bless your patience. But I thought it was better to be here than in the cold, no? Truly? Yes? All right. Now I will give you the Blessing, but first let us pray to Our Lady. [Hail Mary . . .] [Blessing] [Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

The Liturgy of the Eucharist: The Preparation of the Gifts

The Liturgy of the Eucharist At the Last Supper the Lord instituted the Paschal sacrifice and banquet and told his disciples to do it in memory of him. Through this the sacrifice of the Cross is continuously made present in the Church. The priest represents Christ the Lord and, like him, takes the bread and wine into his hands to say the same words as Our Lord so that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest does this in memory of Christ, just as the first disciples did following the Last Supper.

In ancient liturgies this part of Mass was called the “Mass of the Faithful”: the first part of Mass, the “Mass of the Catechumens” was as far as those preparing for baptism could go in their initiation. They heard God’s Word, joined their prayers to the Prayer of the Faithful, but weren’t ready to participate in the deepest portion of the Eucharistic mystery. Even today the passage from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist represents a change of gears: we’ve prepared, heard the Lord speak to us, and responded with faith, but now the Lord once again sacrifices himself for us. In this part of the liturgy the sacrifice he made on the Cross is made present for us, today, here and now.

If the emphasis in the first part of the liturgy was Word, faith, and response, the second part could be characterized as offering, sacrifice, and thanksgiving. Now the chair of the priest or bishop is no longer the focus, nor the ambo for the readings. The priest moves to the altar and remains there until after Communion: all attention is drawn to the sacrifice about to be made present on the altar, a sacrifice in which all are participating.

The Preparation of the Gifts Our Lord took bread and wine, blessed them, and then distributed them to his disciples and told them to do the same in memory of him. Bringing the bread and wine and placing them on the altar is at the core of the Preparation of Gifts, and now it becomes a moment for the faithful to offer something of themselves to Our Lord, which is why it’s also been known as the Offertory and, even today, the hymn sung at this point of Mass is known as the Offertory hymn or chant.

The Presentation of the Gifts In many celebrations of the Eucharist the faithful bring up the bread and wine to be used in Mass along with other gifts to serve the needs of the Church and of the poor. This hearkens back to when the faithful actually brought their own bread and wine for use in the Mass and brought it to the altar. This practice probably fell into disuse because it would make things somewhat chaotic today, and because it’s important, with so many varieties of bread and wine now available, to make sure the bread and wine used are suitable for worship.

Even though today the faithful aren’t those who directly prepare or buy the bread and wine that will become the Body and Blood of Christ, it is thanks to them that those offerings are possible. Typically on Sundays a collection is taken at this point that makes that bread and wine possible, and also gives the faithful an opportunity to contribute something to the Church and to those in need.

This moment of offering embraces both realities (providing for the Eucharist and providing for the needy), but the focus is coming forward with bread and wine for the transubstantiation into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Eucharistic Prayer. This is why the other offerings are received, but not treated the same way, since they’re for after the celebration of the Eucharist.

St. Augustine saw this procession as paralleling the procession up the aisles to receive Holy Communion. For him it was a “marvelous exchange” represented by the Incarnation: Christ takes our humanity to bestow on us his divinity ( Enarr . In ps. 129,7). We make offerings that will become him, become divine, and will transform us as well if we receive him worthily. Those few faithful bringing up the gifts are not the only ones offering something: we all offer something, if not materially, spiritually, so that our offering may be transformed into something pleasing to Our Lord, beneficial to us, and beneficial to others. It’s a small token of appreciation for what the Lord is about to offer us once again on the altar and in Communion.

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The Preparation of the Gifts and the Altar, Part I

The preparation of the altar and the gifts in the Missal of Paul VI differs significantly in theology and in ceremony from the offertory elements of the Missal of John XXIII. Nevertheless, many, though not all, of the directives found in the former rubrics can help structure this part of Mass in a way which is both dignified and graceful. In so doing, the “traditional practice of the Roman Rite” mentioned in no. 42 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) can enrich today’s celebrations of the Novus Ordo .

After the conclusion to the prayers of the faithful, the celebrant sits and the deacon goes directly from the place where he offered the intentions to the credence table or to the altar. According to long-standing custom, the credence table will be placed to the celebrant’s right as he faces the altar (whether celebrating ad orientem or versus populum ). The deacon is joined at the credence table by servers. If convenient, the deacon may bring the chalice from the credence table to the altar (GIRM 171b, 171e, 178), or he may wait at the altar for an instituted acolyte or other server to bring it to him there (GIRM 190). Customarily, the chalice is “vested,” that is, the chalice has with it a purificator, a paten with a host, a pall, a veil of the same material and color as the vestments of the day (or may be white, GIRM 118), and a burse containing a corporal. In the absence of a burse (which is not mentioned in the GIRM or in the Order for Mass , although its use is eminently practical), the corporal lays on the pall under the veil (See A. Mutel and P. Freeman, Cérémonial de la Sainte Messe , Artège, 110). When carrying the vested chalice, the deacon or server holds it by the node in his left hand, with his entire right hand resting flat on top of the veil (or burse) so that nothing falls. He carries it with the front of the veil (and the burse) facing outward—and he carries nothing else in his hands.

The deacon or the server places the chalice on the right hand corner of the altar, with the front of the veil facing the faithful. If there is a burse, a server may take it off the chalice, hold it open with both hands on either side of the burse so that the deacon can more easily retrieve the corporal (See Mutel and Freeman, 111). The deacon (or in his absence, a server) then unfolds the corporal in the middle of the altar such that its bottom edge will be an inch or two from the edge of the altar. With the folded corporal lying flat at the center of the altar, the deacon begins by unfolding a portion toward the left like a book, then to the right, then the top portion, and finally the bottom portion. The corporal is always unfolded and folded while it lays flat on the altar; it is never folded while held up in both hands over the altar. Alternatively, the deacon takes the burse and lays it flat on the altar with its opening facing to the right. With his left hand, he raises the flap of the burse, and with his right hand extracts the corporal from the burse and then proceeds to unfold the corporal as described above.

The deacon then turns to his right to the chalice, removes the veil, folds it, and places the folded veil (and the burse) in the hands of the server who brought the chalice or who accompanied him to the altar. He folds the veil while it lays flat on the altar; it is never folded while held in both hands above the altar. He places the pall (a roughly 6-inch rigid square that will cover the top of the chalice) near the top right corner of the corporal. He leaves the purificator draped over the chalice to the right side of the altar. The paten with the large host (and other hosts) can remain on the chalice and purificator, or it may be placed on the altar between the chalice and the corporal. (See Mutel and Freeman, 112)

A single additional chalice or ciborium is brought from the credence table to the altar by a server. The deacon places it on the corporal at the top right corner. If additional vessels are needed, beyond merely a single chalice or ciborium, additional corporals might be place on the altar, at first to the right hand side, either at the edge of the main corporal or at some distance from it, and then on the left hand side, away from the missal (See P. Elliott, Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite (Ignatius Press), 100). All the necessary corporals and purificators might be brought to the altar with the principal chalice either in a burse and/or under the chalice veil. Servers can bring additional vessels to the altar in a kind of procession, one behind the other, as the deacon places them in their proper locations, the chalices to his right side, the patens or ciboria to his left. The required purificators (which are used to wipe the rim of the chalice after the precious blood is received by the communicant) are placed near their corresponding chalices, along the edge of the corporal on which they rest. The additional chalices, ciboria, or patens already contain the elements in them which will be consecrated. Ciboria can be brought to the altar with their covers. During Mass, the deacon will have to attend to uncovering them and re-covering them at the proper time. However, the ciboria can also be brought to the altar without their covers, which remain at the credence table. Servers carry no more than one vessel in each hand. It may be preferable, especially with younger servers, for them to carry only one vessel in both hands.

Only after all the vessels are placed on the altar, a server brings the missal from the celebrant’s chair to the altar. Or, he may have brought it to the credence table first in order to place it on its stand or pillow and then proceed to take both to the altar once the preparation of the altar and the gifts is completed. The server brings the open missal (on its stand) to the altar and places it at an angle to the left of the main corporal, and insofar as is possible, off the corporal. The deacon or the server may turn the missal to the preparation of the gifts, if it is not already open to that page.

If there is no deacon assisting the priest for the celebration of Mass, an instituted acolyte or other server properly trained may take the role of the deacon described above. If there is no server suitable for these tasks available, perhaps because of age or stature, the priest himself should go to the altar at the conclusion of the prayers of the faithful to prepare the altar in the manner previously indicated. If there is no procession with the gifts, the celebrant goes directly from his chair to the altar after it has been prepared and bows to it upon arriving (Elliott, 102).

The next post will continue with a description of the postures and gestures involved in carrying out the prayers of preparation for the bread and wine. Many of the traditional practices of the Roman tradition can be helpful in making these gestures as graceful and as efficient as possible.

This is the ninth part of an ongoing series for Adoremus by Monsignor Caron on “Liturgical Traditions,” one that situates the Novus Ordo rites amidst the received liturgical observances, thereby helping us to understand today’s rites in their proper “hermeneutic of reform.” Read the previous parts of the “Liturgical Traditions” series by clicking here .

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Presentation of the Gifts: A Significant Moment in Our Prayer

Occasionally, you might hear someone jokingly refer to “halftime” during Mass — the interval following the Prayers of the Faithful, as the Liturgy of the Eucharist begins. It can be easy, even tempting, to zone out as you sit, waiting for the collection basket to make its way to your pew.

But if you pay attention, you’ll have the opportunity to enter into something deeper — a significant moment in our prayer.

It’s mentioned by St. Justin Martyr, one of the earliest Christian writers, when describing the Mass in the second century, “Bread is brought up and wine and water…”

This practice, of people bringing up the gifts, has been part of our Catholic tradition from the very beginning. Although we might think of this action as being merely practical, in reality, it serves a much deeper spiritual purpose.

Each Sunday Mass, someone is chosen, whether an usher, or another member of the parish, to bring forward “the gifts” — bread, wine, and, in many cases, the collection of money that has been gathered moments before, from the generosity of the congregation. These gifts not only symbolize, but also in reality, are the work of human hands. The bread and wine are fruit of God’s creation, which, through the effort of human hands, are made into the gifts that we present to the Lord.

Certainly, the collection that is presented to the priest also serves to represent the work and sacrifices of the previous week. Sharing our monetary “treasures” is one of the ways that we embrace stewardship. It’s an opportunity to generously give back to the Lord, from the fruit of our work.

In his book What Happens At Mass , Fr. Jeremy Driscoll, OSB explains, “We should not think of the collection of money at this point as some sort of banal, dirty but necessary affair. Money is our work. Money is hours of our lives. And now we give it away, we sacrifice it, for the work of the Church.”

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul instructs Christians to “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1).

The physical act of carrying the gifts forward to the priest is meant to serve as a tangible reminder of the fact that we are all called to stewardship. We are all called to present to God our lives — our work, our talents, the struggles and victories of the past week — as an offering and gift to God.

Those who bring forward the gifts each week have the privilege and responsibility of remembering what their action represents — that we are called to give generously of our time, talent, and treasure to God, who gives us His very self, at Mass. And for those sitting in the pews, tempted to “check out” for a few minutes, seeing the gifts being brought forward should serve as a powerful reminder to offer our lives back to God, through serving and honoring Him.

So next week, don’t just sit back and wait for “halftime.” Come to Mass a few minutes early and approach an usher to ask if you and/or your family may bring up the gifts that week. Don’t be surprised if you start to notice a change in your heart and a desire to be even more generous with God in the coming week!

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Liturgy Matters — Presentation of the Gifts

By Dr. Judy Bullock

What is the significance of the Presentation of the Gifts at Mass?

The congregation is seated. The hospitality ministers take up the collection. Members of the assembly prepare to bring the bread and wine to the altar along with gifts for the poor.

In the early church the people brought the bread they had baked and the wine they had made in their homes for the liturgy. In this way it was clear that these gifts of bread and wine represented the people, “the work of human hands.” Over time this ministry became the purview of specialists, as monasteries and religious communities produced the hosts and wine for Mass.

For those old enough to remember the pre-Vatican II liturgy, you may recall that the priest, usually entering from a side door near the altar, brought the bread and wine to the altar as he entered at the beginning of Mass.

With the liturgical revisions of Vatican II the church recommended a gift procession where members of the congregation carry the bread, wine and gifts for the poor through the assembly to the altar. This ritual sought to recapture the same spiritual intent of the early church liturgy. The procession through the assembly brings attention to this offering, hoping to make it clearer that it comes from all the people.

After the gifts have been placed on the altar and the altar prepared, the priest celebrant prays, “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”

The rest of the assembly responds, “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy church.”

Today if asked what their part in the Presentation of the Gifts includes, many would still say that it is their contribution to the collection. Even though the collection is an important support for the work of the church, it is not the most significant part of this rite.

Our part in this presentation of gifts and preparation for the great Eucharistic Prayer is our intention to offer ourselves to the Father with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the church expresses this intention that the “faithful not only offer this unblemished sacrificial Victim but also learn to offer their very selves, and so day by day to be brought, through the mediation of Christ, into unity with God and with each other, so that God may at last be all in all.”

Our sacrifice is to turn ourselves over to God with a willingness to let go of those things that keep us from being Christlike. We are asked to offer our very lives to the Lord, as a living sacrifice. At Communion, when we receive that very bread and wine that we brought to the altar that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit into the Body and Blood of Christ, we pray that we too may be transformed, one body in Christ.

St. Augustine’s prayer says this very well, “May we become what we receive.”

Dr. Judy Bullock is the director of the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Worship.

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He dwells among us: Holy exchange of gifts

December 9, 2018

As God gathers us to Himself in holy sacrifice, what do we bring to Mass?

By Bishop Richard F. Stika

“That my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” –Luke 2:19

Trying to find the ideal gift to give a loved one or a friend can be very difficult and even stressful. But when we find that perfect gift for someone, there is a special joy we experience in the surprised joy of the person who receives our gift. Now imagine if in giving our gift we were to receive an even greater gift in return from the person who received ours — our joy and theirs would be that of both giving and receiving!

Such should be our joy and that of Christ’s in the beautiful and holy exchange of gifts in every Mass. For in the gift of the Eucharist, Jesus makes us sharers in God’s own life! “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb!”

Does the Mass change your life? Does it fill you with a peace and joy that the world cannot give? Sadly, for far too many Catholics this is not the case. And I truly believe it is because in large part we have lost the true meaning of the offertory. For if the Mass is a holy exchange of gifts, the decisive moment that determines this exchange is the offertory (the presentation of the gifts, preparation of the altar, and prayers over the offerings). We must bring the offering of our very self in every Mass if we are to receive the gift of gifts in exchange.

Do we “attend” Mass or do we “assist” at Mass? Are we spectators or participants? To assist at Mass is not only to “pray the Mass,” but to be offered — “Through him, and with him, and in him….” And the offertory is that pivotal point.

Unfortunately, as one Catholic lamented, the offertory seems to be simply an “intermission” where we pause to sing and wait for the collection basket to come around, and for the gifts to be brought up to the altar. But if we see it that way, then in reality we offer nothing.

So crucial is the offertory that the music should be more instrumental and subdued, and proper time given to sacred silence, so that we might more prayerfully prepare the total and intimate gift of our life, with all its struggles and challenges, so as to offer it with the bread upon the paten and the wine within the chalice on the altar.

The offertory is that crucial part of the Mass where we transition from the Liturgy of the Word — from the ambo — to the Liturgy of the Eucharist — to the altar. And it is the Introductory Rites and the Liturgy of the Word that help us to better prepare our offering. As St. Gregory the Great reminds us, “The Mass will be a sacrifice for us to God, when we have made an offering of ourselves.”

In the Penitential Act and Kyrie, we confess our sinfulness and ask for forgiveness and reconciliation, not only from God, but from the people of God as well. For every sin, no matter how personal, is nonetheless a social sin that harms the Body of Christ as well. Jesus tells us, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). And so we do in every Mass. Only sacramental confession, though, can wash us of serious sin — mortal sin.

In the Gloria that follows, we rejoice with all the angels and saints in the God who saves us from our sin. In it we are reminded of the four purposes of assisting at Mass: to adore the God of our salvation, to offer thanksgiving and praise, to seek atonement for our sins, and to petition the Lord to receive our prayer.

The Introductory Rites conclude with the “Collect,” the collective prayer of the faithful offered by the priest, wherein we pray for the grace to receive more fully the treasures of the mysteries of our faith. We have thus been prepared for the Liturgy of the Word, that we might more keenly listen and make fruitful within our heart the “Good News” of the Lord.

Enriched by the Liturgy of the Word, we are then better able to renew the faith of our baptism, professed in the Creed, and to respond to God, who has spoken to us in the Scriptures. And in the prayer of the faithful that concludes the Liturgy of the Word, we petition for the needs of the Church, the world, our community and civic leaders, and other needs.

All of this has served to prepare us for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which begins with the offertory. Just as at the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple, St. Joseph brought the offering of the poor — two turtledoves — as prescribed by the law, so, too, we now bring our poor offering of body and soul — all that we are — to the altar. All our joys and sorrows, all our prayers and sufferings, our vocation as a husband or wife, father or mother, all our struggles and triumphs — in a word, all that we bring forward with the gifts. And through the priest who acknowledges the goodness of the Lord who has blessed us with all that we now offer, he bids us, “Pray brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father.”

At the consecration, the gifts we have offered, by a miraculous and holy exchange, are transformed (transubstantiated) into the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! The gift that we offered during the offertory is now offered up to God in union with Christ’s sacrifice. We began by offering our self with and through the gifts of bread and wine, and now we offer ourselves through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ. Every grace we receive with an open heart serves to transform us more and more into the image of Christ, but holy Communion even more so. Only our selfishness, and the withholding of the total gift of our self to Christ, can prevent that transformation.

The words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman by the well, “If you knew the gift of God” (John 4:10), are words He speaks to us before every Mass. And to receive this gift of God, we need to bring our gift to the altar.

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Offertory vs. Preparation of the Gifts: When does the Offering of the Mass happen?

The second main part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, begins with what we used to call the Offertory. The imaginary space visitor whom we’ve met in this series remembers that word from a previous visit back in the 1950’s. She was puzzled then. There didn’t seem to be much of an offering going on. Servers carried so-called gifts, mere bread and wine, to the altar. The priest made a kind of fuss over them. But there they stayed. Nothing actually happened to them, at least not at this part of the Mass.

This is the seventh in a series on the Mass. I’ve been letting the various actions and experiences of the Mass speak their meaning to an interested, theologically untutored, and so quite observant space alien. I’m finding that she pays a lot of attention to things we tend to take for granted or even interpret wrongly.

At the moment this visitor notices that the name Offertory has changed to “Preparation of the Gifts.” That makes more sense to her, but I wonder if most of the rest of us have caught the significance of the change. I was present at a liturgy workshop in the mid-1970’s, ten years after the beginning of the liturgical reforms. The presenter asked us, “When in the Mass does the offering occur?” Priests and lay leaders alike thought it was “at the Offertory.” – Wrong! I pictured in my mind the priest raising host and chalice up as high and as close to God as he could and piped up, “At the Consecration.” – Wrong again!

A merely preparatory rite

We’ll get the right answer, but, first, about that old name “Offertory.” It seemed to say: W make our little sacrifice, offering God gifts of bread, wine, and money in the collection basket; later Jesus responds way out of proportion to our small effort. He puts his whole infinite self at our disposal in the forms of the bread and wine. But truly the only offering to God is what Jesus accomplishes. God’s gift to us in no way depends on our gifts to God.

The Preparation of the Gifts is a minor rite now. The prayers are shorter and more in tune with what’s actually happening. The priest no longer says as in the old Offertory:

Receive, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this spotless host, which I, Your unworthy servant, offer to you ….

And, after another long prayer,

We offer You the chalice of salvation, Lord ….

Today the priest doesn’t claim to be offering anything at this part of the Mass. The words are:

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread/wine to offer…. It will become our spiritual food/drink.

This preparatory rite is like cooking and making ready at home before the guests arrive. We, the people in the pews, do some of the preparations, carrying bread and wine forward to the altar. That’s a welcome switch from just having servers carry them from one table in the sanctuary to another.

Actually, we only bring the gifts near the altar. The priest and servers, with perhaps a word of thanks, receive the gifts there and carry them the rest of the way. The people’s work is not honored as well as it might be by this seemingly polite “Thanks, I’ll take it from here.”

The Eucharistic Prayer

That preparatory rite is not a time of offering to God. Our space visitor doesn’t see that the gifts of bread and wine are destined for God at all. The new words “It will become our spiritual food/drink” indicate that she might be right. But it’s necessary to think again about what Jesus was doing on the cross, which the next part of the Mass, the Eucharistic Prayer remembers.

In the past it seemed to me that the most important part of the Mass was the Consecration in the middle of the Eucharistic Prayer. I was awestruck by the words the priest, echoing Jesus at the Last Supper, said: “This is my body…. This is the chalice of my blood….” We didn’t quite worship the words, but we tiptoed around them for fear that a priest might carelessly or maliciously utter them while walking past a bakery or wine shop.

In the previous paragraph I left out parts of what the priest and Jesus said. Here are the words of the Consecration in full:

Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you . Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Here is not our offering to God but God’s offering to us.

Still, the whole Eucharistic Prayer is an offertory, an offering to God. The prayer’s climactic ending sums up the essence of that offering:

Through him [Christ], and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours for ever and ever.

Our “Amen” signals our willing participation in Jesus’ offering of all praise to God.

Observing the Crucifixion

Praise in the form of a life of perfect obedience, even extending to the cross, is what Jesus offered to his Father. If our theologically untutored space alien had been there at the crucifixion, she would have seen what the Romans and a few Jewish leaders got out of this offering—Jesus’ body to abuse and destroy. In their contest with Jesus, they were the winners. She might also have noticed that they didn’t win very much. The honor and bragging rights that usually accrue to a winner are missing here. They didn’t get to take Jesus’ life with their overwhelming power. Jesus disrupted that process by not entering the fight at all.

The Roman Empire got Jesus’ suffering and death, but it did not get what empires always want. What empires want and what they need to survive is exactly what Jesus gave to God alone. Empires want our lives to control, our awe in the face of their almighty power. They want the grudging or willing esteem that hopeless and bowed down people give to tyrants. They want our worship. All of that is what Jesus, and after him subversive early Christian martyrs, gave only to God.

In the next post in this series we’ll see what our space visitor makes of the phrase “all glory and honor” in the Mass’s great offering. She sees how that offering to God leads, without a moment’s pause, to the high drama of the Mass—our reaching out, in Communion with God and each other, across our many divisions that depend on the petty honors that we would, except for Jesus, keep for ourselves or offer to our favorite lesser gods.

Image credit: Alamy stock foto

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Liturgy: Preparation of the Gifts

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And More on Gospel Reflections by Lay People

ROME, AUG. 25, 2004 (Zenit) - Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University.

Q: For daily Mass my parish priest prepares the chalice before the celebration with the wine and water in the sacristy. So when it is time for the Liturgy of the Eucharist he just takes the chalice with wine and water and continues on with the prayers. Does the Church allow this? -- D.O., Toronto. Is there any reason why the bread and wine are offered with separate prayers at the presentation of gifts at Mass? Is it acceptable for the priest to say one prayer over the bread and wine, combining the two prayers? -- D.C., Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago