hand washing?

[zorrosidekick]

Why does the priest wash his hands after accepting the offering from the congregation? What tradition does this stem from? Thank you for your answers.

 

[Carolus_Martell]

Ritual washing has been a long established tradition in Judaism…which we Catholics are firmly rooted.

Our mass celebrates the new covenant which orbits around Christs ultimate sacrifice for us. While the new Covenant is a bloodless sacrifice the Lavabo is there to remind us, among other things that a blood sacrifice is at the heart of our mass…

…and replaces the need for any future blood sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of sin.

Also the hand washing, I suppose, pays homage to the many laws and requirements on sacrifice demanded by Jewish law. btw there’s a psalm mentioning hand washing too.

A lot of us can remember the nuns saying …‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’.

 

[Windmill]

Hand washing probably started out as a practical thing: the priest’s hands were soiled from incensing and other things, so he washed them before handling the Sacred Species. As time went on, certain prayers were added to this act, and it became more ritualized.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

In my copy of the Ritual for the Seder Meal there is a hand washing after the drinking of the first cup. This is the normal ritual for Jewish meals.

1* Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

Matthew 15:1-2 Thus it would have been the procedure at the Last Supper [Fisrt Mass]

I have also heard it suggested that in earlier times The offerings of the people were usually in kind - produce, animals etc. The celebrant would then wash his hands after receiving them. *
*

 

[japhy]

“Wash me, O Lord…”

The ancient practice of receiving bread and wine and other gifts from the congregation necessitated the priest washing his hands before continuing with the liturgy, not only for sanitary reasons, but also out of reverence for the Eucharist. This action gained a spiritual significance even before the presentation of the gifts became simplified.

The rite and its meaning are found in the Apostolic Constitutions from the end of the fourth century: “let one of the sub-deacons bring water to wash the hands of the priests, which is a symbol of the purity of those souls that are devoted to God.” (Book VIII, XI) A fuller explanation of the rite is found in the mystagogical catecheses of St. Cyril of Jerusalem:
[This is] not at all because of bodily defilement; it is not that; for we did not enter the church at first with defiled bodies. But the washing of hands is a symbol that you ought to be pure from all sinful and unlawful deeds; for since the hands are a symbol of action, by washing them, it is evident, we represent the purity and blamelessness of our conduct.

Did you not hear the blessed David opening this very mystery, and saying, “I will wash my hands in innocence, and so will compass Your Altar, O Lord”? The washing of hands is therefore a symbol of immunity from sin. (Catechesis XXIII, 2)
The purpose of this rite is to impress upon the priest and congregation the need for “interior purification” (GIRM 76) for the proper celebration of these sacred mysteries. The rite is not to be omitted on the pretense that the priest’s hands simply are not dirty.
In the Ordinary Form, the priest says the following prayer quietly:
Lava me, Dómine, ab iniquitáte mea, et a peccáto meo munda me.
Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Ps. 51:2)
The Scripture used in the Ordinary Form differs from that which is used in the Extraordinary Form, Psalm 26:6-11, the psalm quoted by St. Cyril (and which is used in certain Eastern Rites). There is a different tone between Psalm 51:2 and Psalm 26:6. In the former, it is God Who washes: “Wash me, O Lord…” In the latter, it is the priest who washes: “I wash my hands…” While Psalm 26 is about recognizing the call to holiness and the importance of purity in exercising the priestly office, Psalm 51 is about admitting failure to live up to that holiness and purity. Psalm 26 contrasts the hands of the faithful priest with those of evildoers, “in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.” (Ps. 26:10) The Extraordinary Form prayer does not imply that the priest is a faultless man who has no need of the mercy of God: the prayer ends by beseeching God, “Redeem me, and have mercy on me.” (Ps. 26:11)

The point of both prayers is that, just as the holy sacrifice about to be offered is pure and spotless, so too the priest and people offering that sacrifice should be holy and without blemish. Of course, this state of sanctity does not come from ourselves, but from God.

From Praying the Mass: The Prayers of the Priest (chapter 5)​

 

[Joe_Kelley]

japhy - Thanks - Joe K.

 

[EasterJoy]

“Wash me, O Lord…”

The ancient practice of receiving bread and wine and other gifts from the congregation necessitated the priest washing his hands before continuing with the liturgy, not only for sanitary reasons, but also out of reverence for the Eucharist. This action gained a spiritual significance even before the presentation of the gifts became simplified.

The rite and its meaning are found in the Apostolic Constitutions from the end of the fourth century: “let one of the sub-deacons bring water to wash the hands of the priests, which is a symbol of the purity of those souls that are devoted to God.” (Book VIII, XI) A fuller explanation of the rite is found in the mystagogical catecheses of St. Cyril of Jerusalem:
[This is] not at all because of bodily defilement; it is not that; for we did not enter the church at first with defiled bodies. But the washing of hands is a symbol that you ought to be pure from all sinful and unlawful deeds; for since the hands are a symbol of action, by washing them, it is evident, we represent the purity and blamelessness of our conduct.

Did you not hear the blessed David opening this very mystery, and saying, “I will wash my hands in innocence, and so will compass Your Altar, O Lord”? The washing of hands is therefore a symbol of immunity from sin. (Catechesis XXIII, 2)
The purpose of this rite is to impress upon the priest and congregation the need for “interior purification” (GIRM 76) for the proper celebration of these sacred mysteries. The rite is not to be omitted on the pretense that the priest’s hands simply are not dirty.
In the Ordinary Form, the priest says the following prayer quietly:
Lava me, Dómine, ab iniquitáte mea, et a peccáto meo munda me.
Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Ps. 51:2)
The Scripture used in the Ordinary Form differs from that which is used in the Extraordinary Form, Psalm 26:6-11, the psalm quoted by St. Cyril (and which is used in certain Eastern Rites). There is a different tone between Psalm 51:2 and Psalm 26:6. In the former, it is God Who washes: “Wash me, O Lord…” In the latter, it is the priest who washes: “I wash my hands…” While Psalm 26 is about recognizing the call to holiness and the importance of purity in exercising the priestly office, Psalm 51 is about admitting failure to live up to that holiness and purity. Psalm 26 contrasts the hands of the faithful priest with those of evildoers, “in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.” (Ps. 26:10) The Extraordinary Form prayer does not imply that the priest is a faultless man who has no need of the mercy of God: the prayer ends by beseeching God, “Redeem me, and have mercy on me.” (Ps. 26:11)

The point of both prayers is that, just as the holy sacrifice about to be offered is pure and spotless, so too the priest and people offering that sacrifice should be holy and without blemish. Of course, this state of sanctity does not come from ourselves, but from God.

From Praying the Mass: The Prayers of the Priest (chapter 5)​

thank you…lovely!