#10 The Opening Prayer or Collect: Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

After the Sunday Mass has begun with a Procession and accompanying Song, the Penitential Rite, and the Gloria (except in Lent and Advent), then the Priest prays the Opening Prayer of the Mass, officially called the Collect.

 

To collect something is to gather it. We are familiar that the Sunday Mass has a collection of money and sometimes food for the poor. When the word "Collect" is used for prayer, it is a gathering of the People present and their various prayers into one official prayer on behalf of all by the Priest to God.

 

I have pointed out that the Introductory Rites of the Mass are meant to gather together the Catholic Faithful for Sunday Mass and make visible the Church in that gathering of Priest (or Bishop) and People.

 

At this moment of Prayer, the gathering has occurred; the people are "collected" and "recollected."

 

The Priest Celebrant says "Let us pray." And then all observe a few moments of silence, to lift up our their own prayers and have them gathered into the Collect. This Collect always addresses God the Father and makes petition through Christ Jesus united to the Holy Spirit. It is a Trinitarian Prayer. It usually relates to the Liturgical Season or to some aspect of the Christian life.

 

Like so much in our Catholic sacramental life, the spiritual and the physical are united. When the Priest begins to pray the Collect, he lifts up his arms and extends his hands in what is called "the orans position." What we are witnessing is the physical posture of prayer used by the Jews and Christians of the ancient world. Paintings found in the ancient Christian underground cemeteries called the catacombs often depict this prayer posture.

 

From the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome

 

This style of prayer is found in both the Old and New testamnets. For example, the Psalmist prays: "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." (Psalm 141:2) In I Timothy 2:8, Paul says, "I want peoples everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." The orans gesture is one of openness to God, a posture of receptiveness and surrender to God, as well as of petition.

 

Thus the Priest continues to use this ancient form of prayer even till today. In general, anytime we see the Priest lift his hands and pray, he is praying on behalf of all the People. If he is praying for himself (called for at certain times in the Mass and always silently), he does not raise his hands in the orans position.

 

What about the Laity using the orans position in Mass? The Catholic Charismatic movement uses uplifted hands in prayer. We see some laity at Mass raise their hands at different times. It is neither called for nor forbidden. Hands can be lifted in prayer by worshipers in such a way that it doesn’t draw attention to oneself;  drawing attention to oneself is not desirable in Mass.

 

Prayer at Mass in Lebanon

 

If we were to ask most people today what is the gesture you make in prayer, they would probably say that one folds one’s hands to pray (and bows one’s head and perhaps even kneels). Where did the folded hands gesture come from? We don’t know for sure, but it may have originated in the Middle Ages in Europe, when a man made an act of homage to his noble lord. He would kneel and he would fold his hands which would be held in the hands of his superior. He would then pledge himself to his lord, to be "his man," belonging to his lord. It is easy to see how this could have been applied to homage and self-surrender to God: kneeling, and offering one’s folded hands to be held in God’s invisible hands, God who is Lord of heaven and earth.

 

Feudal Homage Ceremony

 

 

By the way, this ceremony is still practiced today in the Catholic Church, in the ordination Rite when a newly ordained priest puts his folded hands into the hands of the Bishop and promises obedience to the Bishop and his successors.

 

A Candidate for Ordination promises Obedience

 

We have now come to the conclusion of the Introductory or Gathering Rites of the Sunday Mass. Their purpose fulfills what is prayed in Eucharistic Prayer III:

 

"Listen graciously to the prayers of this family,

whom you have summoned before you:

in your compassion, O merciful Father,

gather to yourself all your children

scattered throughout the world."

 

When this happens, we are participating in the Great Gathering which is our salvation and the Kingdom of God:

 

"Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men [and women] into the "family of God". By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all [people] to myself." Into this union with Christ all... are called." (Catechism of the Catholic Church #542)

 

 

 

Next Week: Overview of the Structure of the Mass

 

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#9 The Gloria: Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

We are still working our way through the Introductory Rites of the Mass as celebrated on Sunday and major Feast days. Recall that these Rites (ceremonial acts) are intended "to gather" together the Assembly for worship. This gathering is more than physical; it is also meant to form us into a worshiping community, a visible sign of the Church in a certain place. It takes a lot to gather hearts and minds, to ‘recollect’ oneself and be flexible enough to join into worship with others.

After the Penitential Rite (or in its place, the Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling Holy Water), a song of praise is then sung on most Sundays at this time. It is the Gloria, which is a doxology, i.e., offering praise to the glory of God (Greek origin: doxa, glory + logos, word).

The worship in heaven by the angels and saints is resplendent with such doxologies. For example, Revelation 7:11-12:

"And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,

‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom

and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’"

Our Catholic public worship (the Liturgy) on earth also involves doxology. the Catechism says: "...the Church celebrates public worship to the glory of the Holy Trinity, hears the word of God and sings his praise, lifts up her prayer, and offers the sacrifice of Christ sacramentally present in the midst of the assembly..." (#1199)

The Second Vatican Council summed up the Church’s liturgy in this way: "All the activities of the Church are directed...to the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God." (Constitution on the Liturgy, #10) So our Eucharist and other acts of public worship are meant to bring us salvation to us and to give glory to God. In fact, we were created to give God glory in all we do.

 

What does it mean to "give God glory"? To "give God glory" is to recognize and exalt in the radiance, the saving power, and the love of God in God alone. As the Catechism (#2639) states:

"Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart who love God in faith before seeing him in glory. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God, testifying to the only Son in whom we are adopted and by whom we glorify the Father. Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them toward him who is its source and goal: the ‘one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist.’"

Also, to give God glory by our lives is to let the life of Christ, lived in the Holy Spirit, shine forth in us.

 

The Mass has several doxologies which will be described as they occur in the Sunday and festival Masses. The First doxology encountered in the Sunday Mass is what we call the Gloria (Latin: glory). It is taken from the Gospel according to Luke when the angels announced the birth of the Christ, our Lord Jesus: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of goodwill." (Luke 2:14) Most of us also know the first words of this doxology in Latin from the Christmas carol "Angels We Have Heard on High": "Gloria in excelsis Deo!"

This was an early hymn of the ancient Church, much expanded over the centuries. At first it was not part of the Mass, but rather used in some places, especially in the East, in Morning Prayer. It was later adopted in the West and eventually (starting the 5^th century) included in the Sunday Mass.

The Gloria is omitted during the liturgical seasons of Lent and Advent. Lent is a Penitential season in the Church marked by repentance and fasting. Advent has some of that penitential character, but with a solemn call to preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. Omitting the Gloria puts more focus on the Penitential Rite of the Mass.

When the Gloria is sung, however, during the rest of the Church year, it adds a celebratory character to the Mass. We go from repentance to doxology. It is preferable, therefore, that the Gloria be sung; but if not sung it still must be recited when called for.

The text for the Gloria is the following:

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you, we bless you,
we adore you, we glorify you,
we give you thanks,
for your great glory,

Lord God, heavenly King,

O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father: have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One,

you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Next Week: The Opening Prayer or Collect

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#6 Entrance Song, Entrance Procession and Sign of the Cross: Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

Prior to Sunday Mass beginning, a portion of the People of God, the Church, has gathered in the Church building and have prepared themselves in silent prayer. The Mass begins on Sunday with an Entrance Chant (Song).

 

Entrance Song

Anyone who reads the Psalms (which originally were sung in the Jewish Temple’s worship) or other parts of the Old Testament discover that singing was (and is) an integral part of the worship of God by the People of Israel. The early Church continued this practice of vocal singing and later added the instrumental music, as well. As St. Paul exhorted the Ephesian Church: "address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." (Ephesians 5:19) The other religions of the time also used singing and musical instruments. The Church was cautious about instrumental music for some time (because of pagan practices; to this day the Orthodox Church does not use instrumentation in worship); but certainly the worship in heaven, described by the Book of Revelation, involves singing and instrumental music continuously. (For example, there will be the music of harps in heaven as described by Revelation 5:8; 14:1-2; 15:2-3 ).

So on Sunday, we begin with an Entrance Song, sometimes described as a "gathering song," because we are being gathered step by step ever deeper into the Church and her relationship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which regulates the celebration of the Mass, describes this singing in this way:

 

"When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers." (#47)

 

You may wish to read more about music in the Mass by reading an explanation from our Music Director, Cristina Logn HERE.

 

Procession

This directive also mentions the procession of the Priest and ministers. This is the usual way to begin the Mass, i.e. with the Entrance Procession. Processions were a part of the Jewish Temple worship (again a reference to the worship conducted in the Temple: Catholic liturgy certainly has elements of this Temple worship):

 

"These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul:

how I went with the throng,

and led them in procession to the house of God,

with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,

a multitude keeping festival." (Psalm 42:4)

 

At first the early Church met mostly in large homes. There would be no need for a procession. Eventually, after Christianity became a legal religion of the Roman Empire, the Church grew and worshiped in larger buildings. Then a procession was possible, with various degrees of solemnity. When Christianity came to encompass the majority of the Empire, there were even large processions in the city itself, not just in the Church

 

A Procession signifies a journey from one place to another. In Mass it signifies the journey of Christ with his People, his Body the Church (See my writing on "The Journey of a Lifetime: An Orientation to the Catholic Spiritual Journey," HERE)

 

Another website describes the meaning of the Entrance Procession well:

 

"The entrance procession is not just a means to get to the front of the church and the altar; it has deep theological significance, reminding us all of the fact that the entire people of God are pilgrims – we are a pilgrim people on the road from here (the earth) to eternity (to heaven). The entrance procession symbolized that journey – from the world outside the doors at the back of the church, to our heavenly destination, symbolized by the sanctuary at the front of the church. In that journey, Christ is not only our goal, symbolized by the altar, but He also accompanies us on the way in the person of the priest." (Citation HERE)

 

The People at Mass are processing "in spirit" with their fellow parishioners and Priest who are in the Entrance Procession. Though the ministers may sit in the main seating of the Church building or in the sanctuary, it is highly significant when the Priest and the Deacon (if present) enter the sanctuary, for as quoted above the sanctuary represents heaven and the altar is a central symbol of Christ himself. The Priest and Deacon reverence the altar with a kiss, which is an ancient sign of respect. Later the Gospel will be kissed after it is proclaimed and there is the "Kiss of Peace" which now takes the form of an embrace or a handshake or some other form of exchanging the Sign of Peace before Communion.

Reverencing the altar with a kiss

Sign of the Cross

Once the Priest comes to his chair in the sanctuary, he begins the Mass by making the sign of the Cross and saying "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The people make the sign of the Cross with him. The invocation of the Threefold Name of God is originally a formula of Baptism. Indeed, I mentioned why we sign ourselves with Holy Water when we enter the Church: to remember our own Baptism since it is by that Baptism that we become members of the Church.

 

Sign of the Cross is traced on the Infant's forehead before Baptism

We may recall by this act of Signing with the Cross at the start of Mass that we are to be in Communion with one another in our Communion with the Holy Trinity, what the Catechism says is a sharing in God the Three Persons’ "exchange of love":

 

"But St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is love"(1 John 4:8,16): God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (CCC#221)

 

So much significance is contained in these three acts of beginning Sunday Mass: the Entrance Song, the Entrance procession, and the Sign of the Cross.

 

Next Week: The Introductory Rites continued.

 

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