We are entering upon the sublimest portion of the Mass; in these rites we shall gaze upon and penetrate the Divine Mysteries Themselves. Jungmann notes that we are here entering into the "holy of holies," of the Mass ( ). The very style of the prayers change and the even the melodies for the chants take on a more exalted tone. We are embarking, now, upon consideration of the oldest set portion of the Mass, the Eucharistic Prayer.
Before we begin, however, we should recall that the word Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving. This theme of thanksgiving will constantly mingle with the idea of sacrifice, which is also so prevalent in this portion of the Mass. As only the early Church could do, the prayers here have a concise form, yet are rich and deep in meaning. Let us waste no time, then, in beginning our examination.
The first portion of the Eucharistic Prayer which we encounter is the Preface, with its introductory dialogue. While modern scholars may attempt to separate this from the Great Prayer of the Church, there can be no doubt the early Christians considered this the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer, and even until the Middle Ages, there was no dispute of this. Indeed, there should be no hesitation in viewing this as part of the Eucharistic prayer, for it itself is a great prayer of thanksgiving and may be called that which sets the mood for the rest of the prayers which form the unit that is the Eucharistic Prayer. For although all the prayers are those of thanks, the idea of sacrifice and adoration may often take preeminence. As Gueranger says though:
"The Prayer he [the Priest] is about to make is that of Thanksgiving. Admire how well placed is this Prayer here, for the Priest is on the point of accomplishing the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, and this Sacrifice is verily for us the Instrument of Thanksgiving; it is the Means whereby we are enabled to render back to God that which we owe Him (The Holy Mass, Section: Preface)."
Jungmann, as well, supports this idea, for he notes this is the most appropriate place for this all-embracing concept. After the Consecration, the prayer naturally emphasizes the memorial of the Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection, yet this memorial is done as an act of thanks to the Lord. Therefore, the appropriate place to expand on this idea and to lay the framework of gratitude which the recalling of these events entails is before we are made present to these events (116-117). As Jungmann says,
"We should remember what the action is really a remembrance of; we should remember what is represented in the action as a memorial. The Mass is not a sacrifice reposing on its own self; it is a sacrifice only insofar as it is at the same time a memorial of the sacrifice already consummated, which brought us redemption. Therefore, it is at the same time a thanksgiving, and demands of us such a thanksgiving (117)."
The very offering of this Eucharist is itself a Profession of Faith, and thus one of thanksgiving. Yet in the Preface the thanksgiving often focuses on a specific event of our salvation, namely one of the central mysteries of the Liturgical Year, for each season of the year, as well as many of the major feasts, have at least one preface of their own. While we cannot examine each of them in the space allotted here, we shall consider three, to give us a basic understanding of the structure of this prayer.
Before we enter into these considerations, however, let us look at the Introductory Dialogue of the Preface, which is always the same. It begins immediately following the conclusion of the Prayer over the Offerings; however, it is signaled by that call to attention we are so familiar with, the Dominus vobiscum. Yet it is important to note, although this address is made to the Faithful, the Priest does not turn towards the people if he is not already facing them. He has already begged them for their prayers in the Orate Fratres and has been sent to God; he will not return as man until he has completed his solemn function in Persona Christi.
In this Dominus vobiscum, then, we may understand another call to be united with the actions about to take place. May the Lord be with us so that we may be one with Him in this Sacrifice! Conscious, though, they may only be united to the Sacrifice if the Priest is united with Him through his sacred office, the Faithful give the reply "Et cum spiritu tuo." - "And with your spirit!"
This call to attention completed the Priest continues his instructions to the people with the words, "Sursum corda." - "Lift up your hearts." We are so familiar with the expression, "It lifts up one's heart to God," and yet how often do we truly consider what this means? For something to lift up our hearts to God means that it takes us out of ourselves, and even out of this world, and these are the sentiments we should have before the Eucharistic Prayer and the Holy Mysteries accomplished therein. We would do well to rid ourselves of all secular thoughts and to limit the distractions our minds present to us, for Jesus Christ, "the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13)," is about to enter into our midst. We therefore respond with joy, "Habemus ad Dominum." - "We lift them up to the Lord," or more properly, "We have lifted them up to the Lord."
May these words never be a lie, for our thoughts should always be centered upon God, even when they are occupied by necessity with worldly affairs, for God is the source and center of our lives. Nevertheless, He has deigned to provide us with a sacred time for contemplating Him, for all our days and moments are dispensed according to His Providence and good pleasure. Therefore, at both the thoughts of the Memorial about to occur and at the Providential God Who allows us to be present at these events, the Priest directs our lifted hearts to the sentiment of thanksgiving with the final acclamation, "Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro!" - "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!" to which the Faithful cry, "Dignum et iustum est." - "It is right and just."
How can we not agree that thanksgiving should be the primary sentiment at all that has already occurred in the Holy Mass and especially at what is to come? True, adoration for God is overflowing, but is not this adoration one of thanksgiving, for it is brought about by the benefits bestowed and the Love encountered.
The Priest will now put this thanks into the solemn words of the Preface. As we stated above, the Preface may be one of general thanksgiving or may focus specifically on the event of the Life of Christ or the Blessed Virgin or saint, being commemorated. Nevertheless, the Preface will hardly fail to mention how these events or holy lives correspond to the overall plan of salvation in Christ. To understand this, however, let us examine three Prefaces. The first is the Common Preface I, which is used on ferial days with no proper or seasonal Preface:
"It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
"In him you have been pleased to renew all things,
giving us all a share in his fullness.
For though he was in the form of God, he emptied himself
and by the blood of his Cross brought peace to all creation.
Therefore he has been exalted above all things,
and to all who obey him,
has become the source of eternal salvation.
"And so, with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
we sing the hymn of your glory,
as without end we acclaim:"
In this preface we may see the basic layout of all the prefaces. The Preface first begins with a continuation and acknowledgment of what has been said in the Introductory Dialogue, that it is indeed right and just to give thanks to God, yet it expands upon this basic idea. The first difference we notice is this word, "truly." This hearkens our minds to the Gospels, in which our Lord, for emphasis, will say, "Truly, I say to you . . . (Matthew 5:18; Mark 9:1; etc.)." This phrase is used by our Lord to express the importance of the statement, as well as its correlation to the plan of salvation in the Divine Economy. When we hear these words, "It is truly right and just," then, we must understand this as emphasizing the necessity for salvation, for unless man gives thanks to his Creator and Savior, he has not yet acquired the humility necessary for the Kingdom of Heaven.
And this truth is confirmed by the next words, "our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks." It is our duty to give thanks to God as our Creator and He Who sustains us in being, yet it is our salvation to give thanks to Him as well, for this attitude of gratitude will show our humility, and consequently our love of God. And a soul filled with the love of God is one in the state of grace, as St. John the Apostle and Evangelist tells us, "He who loves is born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7)." To know God is to already be in communion with Him, and this communion shall continue into the next life.
For this reason, then the words of "always and everywhere" are included, so that it may be clear that we wish at all times to be in communion with the Lord, through a sense of gratitude and love for His blessings, especially the Mysteries of our salvation!
But the Preface shall now continue that theme of the entire Sacrificial Offering, in that it is directed to God the Father, who is here addressed as, "Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God." The Eucharistic Prayer is addressed to God the Father, for as we have stated, it is God the Son Who offers it in union with the Holy Spirit. Yet, why all of these titles for God? Would not simply, "Father" suffice? We must answer in the negative, for each of these titles may be said to not only highlight the sublimity of this moment, but they bear a correspondence to the words which have immediately preceded them.
The title, "Lord," is given to the Father in reference to our duty, for Creation is an act ascribed to the Father, although all Three Persons of the Trinity participate in it, and all Three Persons are Lord, as the Athanasian Creed testifies. Nonetheless, to call the Father, "Lord," is to acknowledge His dominion and power over us, due to our being created by Him and held in existence by Him. Indeed, Power itself is another attribute ascribed to the Father, as Creator. Therefore, it is truly right and just to address Him as Lord.
Yet, He is also addressed as "Holy Father." Once again, all Three Persons are holy, though only the Father is Father. Yet it is on account of our salvation that we especially address Him as holy, for by the holiness of God we are redeemed and sanctified. Only a holy God could make others holy, and that is what grace does unto us; it sanctifies us and conforms us more perfectly to beatitude.
The next two titles of, "almighty and eternal God," are used in correspondence to the "always and everywhere," which precede them. The God the Father is almighty; He is omnipotent. Nothing is outside of the power of God and all He does He does for the sake of our salvation and His eternal glory. His almighty power is always active in every part of the world, for it holds it in existence. Even more so, His power is always active, for He Himself is Pure Act. God, existing outside of time, acts in all of parts of time in one single almighty act!
These thoughts and considerations should make us bow in humble adoration. Nonetheless, they also make us conscious of a great fact and that is the infinite distance between us and God. Indeed, we are unable of our own power to offer Him any sort of worthy homage. However, in and through Christ, our mediator, we are able to have communion with God, for prayer offered through Jesus, as Gueranger notes, "goes straight up, and penetrates even right to the very centre of the Divinity (The Holy Mass, Section: Preface)."
The Preface then moves into an enumeration of doctrine in how Christ brought about this communion with God. In our current example, it is simply a profound explanation of the renewal and salvation brought through Jesus Christ. As there is no specific Mystery being commemorated when this Preface is to be used, the theme is simply salvation in general and the wonders wrought in the act of bring it about. However, we shall see in the following two examples a more specified explanation. Nevertheless, whether general or specific, this stanza is always full of some of the sublimest and most concise doctrines which the Church can offer Her children. Yet these teachings are not geared toward knowledge as their first priority, but towards instilling the feeling of praise and thanksgiving, which so mark this portion of the Mass.
And so we move to the final stanza of the Preface, which speaks of the eternal song we join in order to express these emotions of awe and wonder and gratitude to the Lord. This portion of the Preface mentions any number of the nine choirs of angels. The Angels, Archangels, Powers, Principalities, Dominions, Virtues, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim, as well as all the other saints and heavenly hosts, are all meant to represent Heaven, which the Liturgy makes us present to and we participate in through Christ. Yet special mention and enumeration is made of the angels, for it is their hymn of "Holy, holy, holy," which we are about to sing.
We must have a deep understanding of the privilege we are here given, for it will increase our sentiments of thanksgiving. We read in the Book of the Prophet Daniel of the Lord in Heavenly Glory, "A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him (Daniel 7:10)." We have been granted the honor of being among that solemn number of heavenly host that stand before the Lord to perform the most solemn duty man can - to adore the Lord! Let us move into the Sanctus then with a deep reverence and awe at the Divine Mysteries we are about to be present at!
It is, however, necessary for us to consider the enumeration of our salvation in the Preface before we conclude our considerations of this portion of the Holy Mass. Let us first look at Preface of Advent I, used in all the Advent Masses from the First Sunday of Advent until December 17:
"It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
"For he assumed at his first coming
the lowliness of human flesh,
and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago,
and opened for us the way to eternal salvation,
that, when he comes again in glory and majesty
and all is at last made manifest,
we who watch for that day
may inherit the great promise
in which now we dare to hope.
"And so, with Angels, and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and and Powers of heaven,
we sing the hymn of your glory,
as without end we acclaim:"
As we have explained the first and last stanza, we shall not repeat ourselves, but let us look at the middle stanza. We can clearly see the doctrine proclaimed herein is not general, but specifically refers to the two Comings of Christ, and how they relate to salvation. Yet, as always, it is designed to draw our minds to the heavenly things, which we were called to contemplate in the Introductory Dialogue, along with harboring the sentiments of gratitude and love for our all-powerful and glorious Father and His Only-Son, Jesus Christ.
But the proclamations of this middle of the Preface are not confined solely to the events of the life of Christ, but they may also refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the angels and saints, of course in reference to the salvation wrought in Christ. Holy Mother Church has no reserve in chanting the praises of these glorious heroes, for their marvelous deeds show forth the splendor of Christ and awaken in us thanksgiving and joy towards God, Who wrought the marvels in them. As an example of this, let us look at the Preface for Holy Pastors:
"It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
"For, as on the festival of Saint N. you bid your Church rejoice,
so, too, you strengthen her by the example of his holy life,
teach her by his words of preaching,
and keep her safe in answer to his prayers.
"And so, with the company of Angels and Saints,
we sing the hymn of your praise,
as without end we acclaim:"
We clearly see that the saint is herein being venerated, yet in so doing, Christ is glorified, for it is Christ Who strengthened the saint, and will strengthen the Church. Christ is the One taught by the saint, and it is Christ to Whom the saint directs his prayers to.
We may also make notice that the last stanza of this specific Preface does not name all the choirs, but gives emphasis to the saints as well as the angels. As we noted before, while the triple sanctus is the hymn of the angels, the entire Church has been privileged to sing it by the filling up of the ranks of the fallen angels by the company of saints who have attained and will attain heavenly triumph in the Father's House.
As one last note, it would behoove us to mention the melody to which the Introductory Dialogue and the Preface are sung to. It is not the standard melody of the Mass, but is given a more exalted tone, as befits the most exalted portion of the Sacred Rites. Gueranger informs us that, "The Preface is intoned on the very same melody used by the ancient Greeks when celebrating some hero in their feasts, and there declaiming his mighty deeds in song (The Holy Mass, Section: Preface)." This should come as no shock to us, for the Eucharistic Prayer is also the recalling of the mighty deeds and triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest of all heroes, for He is Savior of the world. Additionally, the Blessed Virgin and all the angels and saints are worthy of this title of hero for the example they have left, as well as the mighty deeds they did for the Church and the wonders they do for Her now in Heaven.
This exalted melody and these powerful words, then, after directing our minds to thankfulness to the Lord for His mighty deeds and the power of His Hand, lead us directly into the most perfect song we can use to sing to God, for it is that which the angels themselves use in Heaven!
All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume
2. Part IV: The Canon actionis or the Eucharistic Prayer as a Whole, 101-109; The Introductory Dialogue, 110-115; The Preface, 115-128; Sanctus and Benedictus, 128-138.
Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics:
Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).
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