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irenaeusgsaintonge.blogspot.com/2011/03/prayers-at-foot-of-altar.html
Notes from a non-theologian layman:
I managed to attend a High Mass again yesterday for Quinquagesima Sunday. I get more and more out of it each time I go, and this time was notable because the only time I got lost was the time that I noticed my little booklet was missing the page for the Consecration. Obviously that threw me off a bit, but it wasn’t really my fault, so I count that as not getting lost at all.
Something that struck me especially this Sunday was the prayers at the foot of the Altar.
I’ve been looking around on the internet for the text of the prayers (I don’t own a missal), and I found a great little resource at Fisheaters.com.
Full text of this section will be in my first reply to this thread.
The aspect that strikes me first of all is the solemnity and deliberateness of this entire section. Whereas in the Novus Ordo, there is no ceremony to approaching the Altar itself, here the priest is physically separated from it until he has first begged to be made worthy to approach. For me, this really underscores the fact that this is a holy place, and that we are all sinners.
The Altar was in this case raised three or four steps above the rest of the area in which the priest was standing (forgive me, I don’t know the proper name for it [probably the sanctuary?]). I don’t know if this is true of all High Altars, but it has been the case of every one I can currently recall. Since the priest has not yet ascended to the Altar, he is still at (almost) the same level as his parishioners, which says to me that he is praying with us (maybe more accurately for us) to be made worthy, and that as he prays to be made worthy of his role, he truly prays to represent his entire congregation.
The entire scene makes me consider standing before God Himself. It makes me think about being before such an awesome and incomprehensible Presence. I think the Mass itself considers the same thing when the priest says “I will go in unto the Altar of God: unto God, Who giveth joy to my youth.”
The last thing that strikes me is the action of actually ascending the Altar after the prayers. Without having studied in depth the theology of the Mass, it seems to me that this action represents the priest taking on the role of alter Christus, another Christ. It may not be that exact moment that this is considered to be the case, but it certainly means something significant that the priest is going “in unto the Altar of God”, physically rising above the congregation to where Christ is in the tabernacle, to the Altar where the Sacrifice of the Mass will again be offered in worship of God.
All in all, the prayers at the foot of the Altar is another aspect of the EF that I believe emphasizes reverence and fear of God far better than is done today in the Novus Ordo. We will all be judged before the Altar of God.
“Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.”
Addendum:
I said in my last post:
“The last thing that strikes me is the action of actually ascending the Altar after the prayers. Without having studied in depth the theology of the Mass, it seems to me that this action represents the priest taking on the role of alter Christus, another Christ. It may not be that exact moment that this is considered to be the case, but it certainly means something significant that the priest is going “in unto the Altar of God”, physically rising above the congregation to where Christ is in the tabernacle, to the Altar where the Sacrifice of the Mass will again be offered in worship of God.”
I’d now like to add on to that just slightly.
I had meant, when I wrote this, to also deal with the concept of the Mass as being God’s presence on earth, and in a sense being heaven on earth. Later in the Mass the priest prays “Let my prayer, O Lord, like incense before You; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.” Just like the incense used throughout the Mass, the priest himself brings our prayers up to God and, as Christ became Man and dwelt among us, one like us in all things but sin, the priest also brings God to us via the Consecration.
So the priest, when he ascends the Altar, also in a manner of speaking ascends to heaven in order to bring Christ back to us.
I am utterly fascinated by the many layers of meaning in the TLM. I’m confident that I’ve hardly even scratched the surface yet; there is simply so much to take in.
Notes from a non-theologian layman:
I managed to attend a High Mass again yesterday for Quinquagesima Sunday. I get more and more out of it each time I go, and this time was notable because the only time I got lost was the time that I noticed my little booklet was missing the page for the Consecration. Obviously that threw me off a bit, but it wasn’t really my fault, so I count that as not getting lost at all.
Something that struck me especially this Sunday was the prayers at the foot of the Altar.
I’ve been looking around on the internet for the text of the prayers (I don’t own a missal), and I found a great little resource at Fisheaters.com.
Full text of this section will be in my first reply to this thread.
The aspect that strikes me first of all is the solemnity and deliberateness of this entire section. Whereas in the Novus Ordo, there is no ceremony to approaching the Altar itself, here the priest is physically separated from it until he has first begged to be made worthy to approach. For me, this really underscores the fact that this is a holy place, and that we are all sinners.
The Altar was in this case raised three or four steps above the rest of the area in which the priest was standing (forgive me, I don’t know the proper name for it [probably the sanctuary?]). I don’t know if this is true of all High Altars, but it has been the case of every one I can currently recall. Since the priest has not yet ascended to the Altar, he is still at (almost) the same level as his parishioners, which says to me that he is praying with us (maybe more accurately for us) to be made worthy, and that as he prays to be made worthy of his role, he truly prays to represent his entire congregation.
The entire scene makes me consider standing before God Himself. It makes me think about being before such an awesome and incomprehensible Presence. I think the Mass itself considers the same thing when the priest says “I will go in unto the Altar of God: unto God, Who giveth joy to my youth.”
The last thing that strikes me is the action of actually ascending the Altar after the prayers. Without having studied in depth the theology of the Mass, it seems to me that this action represents the priest taking on the role of alter Christus, another Christ. It may not be that exact moment that this is considered to be the case, but it certainly means something significant that the priest is going “in unto the Altar of God”, physically rising above the congregation to where Christ is in the tabernacle, to the Altar where the Sacrifice of the Mass will again be offered in worship of God.
All in all, the prayers at the foot of the Altar is another aspect of the EF that I believe emphasizes reverence and fear of God far better than is done today in the Novus Ordo. We will all be judged before the Altar of God.
“Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.”
Addendum:
I said in my last post:
“The last thing that strikes me is the action of actually ascending the Altar after the prayers. Without having studied in depth the theology of the Mass, it seems to me that this action represents the priest taking on the role of alter Christus, another Christ. It may not be that exact moment that this is considered to be the case, but it certainly means something significant that the priest is going “in unto the Altar of God”, physically rising above the congregation to where Christ is in the tabernacle, to the Altar where the Sacrifice of the Mass will again be offered in worship of God.”
I’d now like to add on to that just slightly.
I had meant, when I wrote this, to also deal with the concept of the Mass as being God’s presence on earth, and in a sense being heaven on earth. Later in the Mass the priest prays “Let my prayer, O Lord, like incense before You; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.” Just like the incense used throughout the Mass, the priest himself brings our prayers up to God and, as Christ became Man and dwelt among us, one like us in all things but sin, the priest also brings God to us via the Consecration.
So the priest, when he ascends the Altar, also in a manner of speaking ascends to heaven in order to bring Christ back to us.
I am utterly fascinated by the many layers of meaning in the TLM. I’m confident that I’ve hardly even scratched the surface yet; there is simply so much to take in.
