[The Mass Explained to Children] [Previous] [Next]
PREPARING THE TABLE
The altar represents a table which recalls the Last Supper. But the word "altar" does not mean "table"; it means a "high thing," from the Latin altus, high. And in practice we know an altar from a table by its height, as an altar is always raised up from the ground on steps.
The most simple kind of altar is an oblong, rectangular board, supported by four little columns which represent the legs of the table. But also, in the past, a stone altar supported by only one column in the centre, like a garden table, was a usual kind of altar.
Another kind of altar was a martyr's tomb, because, when they could not use a building above ground to celebrate Mass in, the first Christians often went underground and used the tombs of the martyrs in the Catacombs. This is still the custom in many churches; an altar is made out of a tomb of stone or precious marble, in which the body of some saint is preserved.
The flat top of the altar must be a stone slab with five crosses engraved on it; one in the centre and one at each of the four comers, to represent the five wounds of Christ. If there is no real altar available, as often happens during missions, or when Mass is said in the open air or in private houses, it is sufficient to put a small special stone, called the altar-stone, on any raised structure, even on an ordinary piece of furniture, to make a real altar.
The altar-stone is a square slab, about the size of a large tile, with the relics of saints enclosed in it: a small cross in the centre indicates the exact spot where the relics are placed. An altar-stone for a private chapel can be obtained only from Rome, where an account is kept of all altar-stones granted.
Rome is the very garden of the saints. In the Colosseum there, and in the ancient churches built out of the noble palaces of Roman converts, the bodies of all those who died for the Faith were preserved with honour, so that the relics of martyrs abound there like blades of grass in a field. All this reminds us of the multitude of heroes who fell in the bloody battle for Christianity, to win the reign of peace in the whole world. The martyrs gave their blood without shedding that of their fellow men, because they offered themselves for death, forgiving their enemies and promising them the Kingdom of Heaven.
So the saints, the great soldiers of Christianity, are put there on the altar like sentinels at the gate of the Eternal King, to keep watch throughout the centuries.
During Mass the bread and wine-which are to be changed into the Living Christ-stand on the altar-stone, or rather on the place over it; and after the Consecration the Sacred Species are put on the same spot.
The moment the priest goes up the altar steps, he kisses this stone as a salute to the venerable sentinels, and he says:
"Through the merits of Thy saints whose relics lie here, deign to forgive me all my sins, O Lord!"
THE ALTAR STEPS
The holy table is on a higher level, and there are steps leading up to it.
These steps are usually three in number, and are a symbol of the three theological virtues which lead us to God: faith, hope and charity. The steps really form part of the altar itself, because the Mass begins at the foot of them.
Very often, in the big churches and basilicas, you will see altars built high up, so that one has to climb a series of steps on different levels to reach the high altar. All these stairs are "accessories of honour," but they do not belong to the altar itself. However high up this may be placed, it will still have its own three steps, before which the priest must stop when he begins to celebrate Mass.
THE THREE ALTAR CLOTHS
The altar is covered with three white cloths of real linen. At one time all these cloths were very long, often reaching to the ground.
But to-day the altar-cloths must be arranged as follows: two small ones which cover only the top of the altar; and another very much longer one, but the same width, which is placed over the others and falls down at each side, right and left. This latter is the real altar-cloth.
THE THREE ORNAMENTS
Three things must be placed on every altar: a Crucifix, which is put in the centre and a little to the back, and two candles of pure beeswax, one at each side. The altar Crucifix has a little support so that it stands upright, and of course the two candles are placed in candlesticks.
Even . if these ornaments are of the very plainest kind, they serve the purpose. The Crucifix is a loving, insistent reminder that Jesus was taken and killed on the Cross after the Last Supper. The candles of pure wax, which are lighted and burn for the whole of Mass, are to remind us that Christ suffered to illuminate mankind with His light of love, pardon and peace.
But of course these three ornaments can also be most richly ornamented as an offering of love to Christ.
ADDITIONAL ORNAMENTS OF LOVE
You will often see many other ornaments above or beside the altar, such as candles, little lamps, banners, statues of gold and silver, and vases of lovely fresh flowers. All these things are ACCESSORIES; but they are not superfluous, because nothing is ever superfluous that is offered out of love of Christ.
However, you must distinguish carefully between the "ornaments of the rite," which must be there, and the "accessories" which can be very varied. If there are no accessories whatever, it makes no difference to the rite.
That is therefore how the altar looks when it is not in use for the celebration of Holy Mass.
PREPARING THE ALTAR FOR MASS
Now let us see what is wanted to prepare the altar for Mass. Even a child can do all that is necessary; as a matter of fact, it is very often little boys who prepare the altar for Mass and serve it.
The Light.-When Mass is about to begin, the candles are lighted by means of a taper fastened on to a long stick. The stick has usually a little cone on it, too, for putting out the lights when the Mass is over.
The Book.-At the right of the altar (that is, the right side to those who are looking at it) there is placed a book-rest, or a cushion, on
which is laid a big book: the Missal. The boy is allowed to bring the holy book and put it in its place. He puts it down, closed, on the left half of the support, until the priest opens it and rests it exactly in position.
The Water and Wine.-Two other things which must be prepared immediately before Mass begins are the water and wine. These are got ready in clean cruets in a little dish, which are put on some table near the altar, usually at the right side of it, or perhaps on a little shelf attached to the wall for that purpose.
The Towel.-A small white towel, well ironed and neatly folded, is placed beside the cruets; this is used by the priest for drying his fingers. The Mass server holds it on his arm and offers it to the celebrant at the right time. It is called the finger-towel, or mundatory.
The Bell.-Finally, there is one other thing necessary, and that is a bell, which should be within reach of the boy serving Mass.
And now the acolyte, or the boy who is serving the Mass, has done everything necessary to prepare the altar for the arrival of the officiating priest.
THE SACRED VESSELS
The chalice and paten used for the celebration of Mass are so sacred that no layman is ordinarily allowed to touch them.
They come into direct contact with the Body and Blood of Christ, and no hand that is not consecrated for the priesthood dare reach out towards them. Therefore the priest himself must carry them, unless his Mass is served by another priest, in which case, of course, the serving priest may touch and therefore carry the sacred vessels.
But usually it is the priest vested to say Mass who carries in his hand the mysterious wrapping, of which you can see only the outer covering.
That covering is nearly always made of silk and is the same colour as the priest's vestment. This is not in order to have everything nicely matching, but because not only the ornaments, but even the very colours used (the liturgical colours) are determined by the rubric or regulation for every day in the year.
The first thing the priest does is to go up and rest this mysterious burden on the altar; he lays it down gently, settling the folds of the little cover carefully, almost lovingly, so as to have everything perfect. And the exact place he puts it is precisely over the altar-stone.
When he has done this, the priest goes over to the book and opens it at the right page for the Mass of that day.
Remember, the Mass has not begun: what the priest is doing now is only a final preparation and nothing else.
When he has done this, he comes down.
The Mass begins only at the foot of the three steps.
WHAT THE PRIEST CARRIES
Now let us see what is under that cover which the priest has put on the altar.
Resting on the top of it is a hard, square folder: it is a kind of flat purse covered with coloured silk and usually ornamented by a cross.
This is called the Burse.
It contains a square of white linen, ironed in such a way that it is perfectly smooth and flat.
It is folded up in a very special way : one fold from the side near you, one fold from the top, then one fold from each side so that, when it is spread out, there are nine squares in it.
This piece of white linen is called the Corporal (from corpus, Latin for "body" ) . It has the great honour of touching the Body of Christ, because the priest lays the Sacred Host down on it.
The Chalice also rests on the unfolded Corporal, so that if a drop of the Blood of Christ should get spilled, it would fall on the Corporal.
You can understand now that the Corporal is a most sacred cloth.
No one is allowed to wash it except the priest. Only after this first washing are lay people allowed to touch it to finish the laundering and iron it in the way described above.
A plain linen cloth is used for a Corporal. It is always kept and carried about in the Burse, which is often very richly embroidered because it is used to cover such a sacred thing.
Now let us take away the square silk cloak that covers everything underneath the Burse. It is made of heavy material, usually brocade with a silk lining, and is called the Veil.
Now we have discovered what stands under the Veil.
A Chalice and a Plate: the things used long
ago at the Supper of Christ have become the Sacred Vessels of the Eucharistic Table.
In the plate (called the Paten) there is a large white Host, which is to be consecrated during Mass. But the Chalice is empty.
Both Chalice and Paten are made of precious metal, even in the very poorest churches . They cannot be made of anything but silver and gold, however plain and simple. An inferior metal is not allowed.
But one rarely finds them plain and simple: love and devotion usually lead the faithful to ornament the sacred vessels and to enrich them with precious stones, making them into great treasures . The very finest engraving, the most beautiful and the rarest gems have been lavished on those two vessels throughout all the history of Christianity.
They are arranged under the Veil in a special way. The Chalice stands on the altar. A linen cloth, folded three times lengthwise, is placed across the cup of the Chalice and hangs down at each side. On this cloth rests the Paten containing the Host, and covering the Paten is' another piece of linen about the same size as it.
The linen cloth placed across the Chalice is called the Purificator and is almost part of it, because it is used to clean the Chalice inside and therefore to remove the last traces of the consecrated wine which may be left after the ablutions. Therefore, this cloth also is very sacred and cannot be touched by any hands save those of the priest.
The Chalice from which the priest drinks the consecrated wine is never washed until it has been wiped well and cleaned with the Purificator. No one can do that but the priest who has said the Mass, and he does it before he puts the Sacred Vessels back under the Veil.
Lastly, there is that other little piece of linen, starched quite stiff, and used as a cover. It first of all covers the Paten under the Veil; afterwards the priest uses it several times during Mass to cover the Chalice. This little piece of linen is called the Pall.
THE BREAD AND WINE
The bread and wine of the Eucharistic table are the materials to be changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. After the consecration, what is present visibly is called the Species.
From a sense of devotion, Christians have always prepared these materials with special care, to mark their difference from what is used for the ordinary food of men. Their first tendency was to make them scrupulously from the very purest things. They have done this since the very earliest ages, even when they put on the altar the big, ordinary sort of loaf of bread that everyone used, but marked with
a cross or with a fish, which was the symbol of Christ for the early Christians. The first Eucharistic breads were made of pure wheat, without any mixing, ground into flour, kneaded with pure water and then baked at the fire. Afterwards, instead of a loaf, wafers were used, but they were made in the same way and stamped with various sacred symbols. The Host used by the priest nowadays is large and ornamented with such symbols; while the hosts, or particles (little portions), given to the faithful in Holy Communion, are much smaller and often have nothing stamped on them.
Then the wine is made of pure grape-juice, without any mixture. Only, when the pure wine is in the Chalice, the priest adds a little water. This action recalls an incident in the Passion, when the soldier pierced the side of Christ and blood and water issued.
That is why such ordinary things as the wheat and the grape have such tremendous importance for us Christians. They become a mysterious food, which only we can understand. Just as our soul lives in the world by means of the flesh of our bodies, so God remains among us under the Species which come from the wheat and the grape. After the consecration the latens deitas, the Hidden Godhead, lies under those humble appearances.
The cultivation of the plants destined for such a noble use inspires Christians with great devotion; even the clods of earth which feed these plants have something sacred for us which sets them apart. The fields of wheat and the vines that are to give the bread and wine for the Eucharist cannot be confused with the vast fields of corn and the rich vineyards which man cultivates for himself in the sweat of his brow.
The former are almost "particles" of earth, small plots, because very little corn and only a very small vine are sufficient to provide the materials for the Eucharist.
This is the reason why the plan was formed in Italy some years ago of turning over to the children the cultivation of such plots. It had already been done in a school in Barcelona. Two fields were set apart for the purpose, side by side, one for the wheat and the other for the vine. These fields were surrounded with flowering plants which would give flowers in every season, especially an abundance of roses .
The harvesting of the wheat and the vintage of the wine were then made great country festivals, carried out with the most beautiful ceremonies.
The idea that children are the most suitable for cultivating the Eucharistic fields, and for taking part in the making of the hosts and the wine, is only the latest of many such devout ideas which Christians have had from the very earliest times.
At one time it was the most illustrious and powerful personages in the kingdom, such as queens and princes, who reserved this honour for themselves; one old writer says:
" ... I saw with my own eyes Candida, the wife of Trajan, General-in-Command of the armies of Valerius, spend the whole night in grinding the wheat and making with her own hands the bread of oblation .... "
The holy Queen Radegonde used to make the Eucharistic bread and bake it during Lent.
Towards the end of the ninth century, a cardinal recommended deacons, chosen to make the altar-breads, to vest themselves in their blessed habits for this work and to sing psalms while they were doing it.
It is said that in some parts of France it used to be the custom to choose the wheat grain by grain; and the very holiest person in the district was chosen to take it to the mill, dressed in white, as in a solemn ceremony.
Even a reverence for the sods of earth IS related in ancient history. People used to leave as heritage little plots of ground that they loved, dedicating them to the cultivation of the wheat that would supply "the pure, holy and stainless Host."
It is faith that makes people do these things: those who are imbued with faith show a great delicacy of love in all their actions.
THE PRIEST
So you see that the earth gives nourishment to the wheat and the vine.
The wheat and the vine grow and make the material substance of the bread and wine.
The Christian man makes Eucharistic bread out of the wheat, and pure wine out of the clusters of grapes.
But there is only ONE sort of man with hands sacred and pure enough to offer the bread and wine. There is only one sort of man who can raise his eyes to Heaven, with power to speak the words which Christ commanded to be spoken if He was to descend among us, according to His promise; one sort of man only, and that is a priest.
He is the link between God and man; the instrument for putting earth in touch with Heaven.
So there are not only sacred things, but sacred people too.
Although, in a sense, his office is slight-almost like that of a hand switching on the electricity at night and brilliantly lighting up a room-still, it is he alone who can do it; it is to him we owe that final touch which permits us thus to communicate with God.
It is he who can say: "Vouchsafe, Almighty God, that what is being done by means of Thy humble minister, may be accomplished by Thy power."
It is the priest's hands only that may touch the Sacred Species and distribute them to us as the spiritual food instituted by Christ.
For My Flesh is meat indeed:
And My Blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth My Flesh,
And drinketh My Blood,
Abideth in Me,
And I in him.
Let us look at the priest with reverence, let us love him gratefully, let us never forget him in our prayers, because he has given up his life to us.
He, too, was once a child just like you, and he used to play away thoughtlessly at his games, but his heart was filled with a great love for Christ.
Then one day he "heard the call" and knew what it meant. He was not a priest then, and perhaps did not even know he would become one.
But when he felt himself called, he made the same answer that Christ made to the Eternal Father: "Thy will be done."
If it were only because of that call, we should revere him. But he is greater still because he resolved to answer to it and become virtuous in his heart. He resolved to be faithful to the end; and he was made a priest for all eternity.
It is with him that Jesus Christ, through the Church, His Spouse, concluded a divine pact, saying in effect:
"When you repeat at the Holy Altar the words which I spoke to the Apostles when consecrating and offering the bread and wine, I WILL COME."
Look at him well: he is the very personification of obedience. He will not say one word different from what he has been commanded to say; every movement he makes has been determined for him. His vestments and their colours have all been prescribed for him.
He can say: It is not I who live, but Christ, whom I represent.
THE SACRED VESTMENTS
The priest who is getting ready to say Mass vests himself according to the prescriptions of the rite.
Like a great court dignitary, who must appear before the king, he dresses according to the very strictest etiquette.
Whether they are very rich or quite plain, the sacred vestments should always be dignified. The different parts of the complete dress are always the same, because they are ordered by the rubric.
Now here, just as in the case of the ornaments used on the altar at Mass, you must distinguish between what is absolutely indispensable and what may be added by way of accessories.
No one has a better right to wear rich garments than the priest celebrating Mass, and, as a matter of fact, the sacred vestments are sometimes made of the most magnificent materials, such as silk and gold damask, and covered with embroidery and gems. Fabrics of the most extraordinary beauty are worked by loving hands in the silence of cloisters to clothe the priest of God.
You must now learn the names of the different vestments. They are put on over the usual clothes. The priest or the monk does not take off his ordinary habit, but he puts on the vestments over it. While they are saying Mass, the priest and monk have a special dignity over and above what they already possess as men, and therefore they put on over their ordinary clothes the vestments which represent that additional dignity.
You see, the man is less than the priest. Under the magnificent priestly vestments is the man, who is just the servant of God. This man must be full of reverence for the Mass which he is preparing to say, and while he is vesting, he must be recollected and pray. He says a special prayer with every vestment he puts on, and he does this slowly and devoutly.
The vestments which the priest wears for celebrating Mass are made like the clothes which even lay people wore once upon a time. But the priest's vestments have always remained unchanged, except in shape, whereas lay people change theirs continually according to the fashion of the day, so that now the sacred vestments are absolutely unlike any others.
In addition, on account of their high purpose, the sacred vestments came little by little to have a symbolical meaning, as though they were an armour of defence. The priest represents the soldier of Christ who arms himself and goes to the combat, to overcome evil by good and make the Kingdom of Christ triumphant in the world.
The sacred vestments are of two kinds: linen vestments and outer vestments. The linen vestments are:
I. The Amice.-This is a white linen cloth which in ancient times served to cover the head, and is now worn around the neck and over the shoulders. The word "amice" comes from the Latin and means a covering . It is like a little hood. In its mystical meaning, it is the helmet of salvation, almost like those steel helmets which soldiers put on to protect their heads.
II. The Alb .-This is a very wide tunic made of linen which covers the whole body down to the feet, with big sleeves reaching down to the wrists. All white, it represents the innocence which clothes the Christian soul through the merits of Christ.
III. The Girdle.-This is a long white cord tied around the waist, to draw in the wide tunic. It is the symbol of chastity.
The vestments which are not oflinen are all made of the same material, in a set to match. They are:
I. The Maniple.-This is a band which is worn round the left arm. It is a symbol of Our Lord's Passion.
II. The Stole.-This is another band like the Maniple, but longer, and it is worn crossed on the breast. The stole is the symbol of immortality.
III. The Chasuble.-This is a large outer vestment which, in olden times, fell down in stately folds, and then was reduced by degrees to that stiff covering which you often see to-day. This vestment represents the yoke of Christ, the mild yoke of His law of love, which is, however, marked by the necessity for sacrifice: the Cross.
THE LITURGICAL COLOURS
The different colours of the chasuble (and, therefore, of all the vestments and things of the same material which the priest wears or uses during the celebration of Mass) are ordered by the Church for the different seasons and days of the year, and are called the liturgical colours.
There is a special colour for each festive season, and for the feast-days of the saints celebrated in the daily Mass. But the number of colours is limited. They are:
Red, the colour of the martyrs; white, the colour of holiness; red is also the colour for Whitsuntide and white is the colour for Christmas. When the season is one of sadness or penance, as in Lent or during Holy Week, then the colour is violet. It is black if the Mass is offered up for a departed soul. On days when nothing special is to be commemorated the colour green is used. No other colours but those five are normally allowed at the altar, except gold and silver.
That completes the description of the sacred vestments used in the celebration of Mass.
When Benediction is given, as it sometimes is after a High Mass, you will see the priest put on an additional cloak over certain of the vestments described above. This cloak is usually a gorgeous mantle like those a king wears when he sits -on his throne.
But this mantle-the Cope-is not really for the officiating priest: it is really meant to clothe Christ reigning in the Sacrament. Over it
again the priest wears the Humeral Veil which is wrapped over his shoulders and round his hands.
The priest becomes very small and is almost hidden beneath those wrappings; he only serves to support them. The King is there in that Sacred Host, turning towards His faithful people, and the priest, as God's minister, gives them his blessing.
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