In This Issue:
October, 2007
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church
100 Oak Dr. South
Lake Jackson, Texas
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
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In This Issue: |
The Eucharist, Part Three: The Church, the Body of Christ Grows
The common language that Jesus, like the other Jews, used was Aramaic, and it would have been the language of the Eucharist used by Jewish Christians of Judea, Galilee, Antioch and probably other parts of the Roman Empire. It is still the liturgical language of Christians of the Chaldean churches in present day Syria and Iraq, though many of them are facing persecution and/or expulsion. However, in the early Church, with the arrival of gentile converts, the Eucharist began to be celebrated in Greek and then in Latin, but also in Coptic for the Egyptians and Ethiopians.
Beside house churches, the Eucharist was celebrated in Catacombs, underground burial sites in places like Malta, Sicily, Asia Minor, North Africa and parts of Western Europe, and most elaborately in Rome. Many martyrs and other saints were buried in them, and liturgies were celebrated there on the anniversary of their deaths. Later, when churches were allowed to be built, the relics of these saints and martyrs were moved to the churches to honor them. For centuries, altars were built with a saint’s relic inside.
The prayers surrounding the Eucharist included not only praise, but much thanksgiving – the meaning of the word Eucharist. In 215, Hippolytus of Rome composed a very beautiful
Eucharistic Prayer that reflects the maturity of the Roman liturgy of the period. It was the inspiration for our Second Eucharistic Prayer used today. Justin Martyr described the presider as "praying as he is able," and as some were more gifted in this area than others, the need arose for having common prayers for all communities to use in their celebrations.
In addition to sporadic persecutions, several heresies arose, attacking the divinity of Jesus. In the year 304, Roman Emperor Diocletian prohibited Christians from possessing the Scriptures or meeting on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist. He led a terrible persecution to try to stamp out Christianity. But only nine years later in 313, the new emperor, Constantine, granted complete religious freedom to the Christians. He ordered huge churches, based on the judicial buildings called basilicas, to be built for the Christians and a “standard” Bible to be easily accessible, to reflect the one faith, one Baptism, one Lord. He (not the Pope) also called the Council of Nicea in 325 to address heresies and formulate a Creed to preserve a sense of unity in a Christianity that was now the religion of the Empire. Various local synods tried to regulate the liturgical books containing the prayers. At Hippo, the synod required that prayers at the altar be directed to the Father and that prayers “borrowed” from other places be examined before they could be used.
By now, the basic structure of the Mass was in place and thanks to gifted homilists and preachers, the Liturgy of the Word and the importance of the homily had been well developed. Saints Augustine (of the West) and John Chrysostom (of the East), two of the Church Fathers, sat when giving homilies – in imitation of Jesus’ teaching – while the listeners stood. Bishops standardized the Eucharistic Prayers, now being called a canon.
House churches gave way to Basilicas to accommodate the large number of worshipers, and simple rites expanded to accommodate the grandeur of the Basilicas. The wooden tables gave way to tables made of stone and marble, changing the vision of Eucharist from being a sacred banquet to being a sacred sacrifice. A proper entrance with a procession accompanied by music developed, with hymns created for all to sing for a sense of solidarity with the priest. At house liturgies, the bishop or presbyter wore regular clothing of the day, perhaps their “Sunday best”, which continued into the larger churches. But by this time, the best clothing of the day was more formal. When the fashions again changed, the liturgical garments remained and became sacralized as clerical vestments and gained religious symbolism.
The vessels used for the bread and wine originally were those for household use, but changed to gold and silver chalices for the wine, and gold and silver containers, called ciborium, for the bread. Eventually, a small gold round receptacle called a pyx was used to hold Hosts that were consecrated at the Mass, in order to bring Communion to the sick and dying, and “leftover” Hosts were kept in the sacristy. According to a fourth century document, a vessel that looked like a dove was used to reserve the Eucharist; this developed into the Tabernacle.
Between the Last Supper and Constantine, Christians were formed into community by the unifying bond of the Eucharist, and when they moved from house churches to basilicas, they brought their solid faith in the connection between the Church and the Eucharist with them.
Part four will be in the next issue.
TABERNACLE. (TAB-uhr-nack-uhl) From the Latin word tabernaculum, “tent”.
After the Exodus out of Egypt, the Israelites were a nomadic people en route to the Promised Land. They, as yet, had no Temple, but they did have a sacred dwelling place; a special tent, the “tent of meeting”, housing the Ark of the Covenant where God would meet with Moses to reveal His will. (see Exodus, chapters 25 through 31).
Hundreds of years later, by the time of King David, God’s presence was still enshrined in a sacred tent, but the Israelites had become settled in the Promised Land. Finally, Solomon, David’s son, built the magnificent temple in Jerusalem and transferred the Ark there as a new sacred dwelling place, but the Temple’s design clearly incorporated a “tent” motif in the central sanctuary to emphasize the continuity of God’s presence with His people from their nomadic beginnings. The Tabernacle in each church is still an essential element of continuity, for the Lord’s Real Presence dwells in the Tabernacle, retaining the focus of our worship, prayer and awareness of “meeting” with God.
In different eras of Christian history, consecrated Hosts were housed in different places. Sometimes they were reserved in a pyx suspended over the altar, sometimes in the sacristy, and sometimes in a special safe in the wall of the sanctuary, called an ambry. In 1863, it was made mandatory that the Tabernacle was to be placed on the main altar. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) altered that rule to make a clearer distinction between the altar of celebration (where the bread is changed at Mass into the Body of Christ to be consumed at that celebration) and the placement of the Tabernacle in a distinct area for Eucharistic adoration, whenever possible.
Tabernacles are usually beautifully ornamented and always locked with a key. A burning sanctuary lamp indicates the presence of the Eucharistic Lord.
QUIZ
(TRUE/FALSE)
Q. Q. It is permissible to omit the Creed on a Sunday or solemnity if the priest chooses to do so .
(Click here for answers, or scroll down)
That the Liturgical Year (or Christian Year), determines when Feasts, Memorials, Commemorations and Solemnities are to be observed, as well as which portions of Scripture are to be read?
In both the East (Eastern Orthodox Churches) and the West (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Protestant Churches), the dates of many feasts vary from year to year, though in almost all cases this is due to the variation in the date of Easter and all other dates follow from that. The extent to which the feasts and festivals are celebrated also varies between churches; in general, Protestant churches observe far fewer of them than Catholic and Orthodox churches, and in particular are less likely to celebrate feasts of the Virgin Mary and the Saints.
“We are false when the inmost self does not correspond to what is expressed externally. The sacrament of the Eucharist is an external sign that Christ is incorporated into the one who receives Him, and he into Christ. One is false if in his heart he does not desire this union and does not even try to remove every obstacle to it. Christ therefore does not remain in him, neither does he in Christ. In a false person, the sacrament does not produce an effect.
A person receives the effect of this sacrament according to his condition.”
St. Thomas Aquinas on the fruitful reception of Holy Communion.
We should always be ready to “take and eat”, as Jesus invites us, and be able to receive him worthily. Jesus instituted the sacrament of Eucharist at the Last Supper in the Upper Room, and in the same room on Easter Sunday, he instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation (see John 20:19-23).
“It is Church teaching that if we have committed a serious sin, we must go to meet Christ in the confessional before receiving Him in Communion.”
(CCC #1385)
THE LITURGICAL YEAR
ORDINARY TIME
THE LECTIONARY: PART TWO
Most of the current lectionaries used by Western Christian denominations organize the Scripture passages to be read in worship services for each week of the year, making provision for the Liturgical Year with its pattern of the observances of festivals and seasons. The listing for a given week includes:
• A reading from the Old Testament
• A Responsorial Psalm
• A reading from one of the Epistles
• A reading from one of the Gospel accounts
However, different principles apply during the special seasons of the year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Easter, when appropriate lections relevant to the season are chosen.
While the Sunday and Holy Day readings are arranged in a three-year cycle, for churches that hold weekday services, the lectionary provides daily readings in a two-year cycle; Year One in years ending in an odd number, and Year Two in years ending in an even number. These readings are shorter and are composed of:
These week-Day Mass Readings complement the message of salvation heard on Sundays and the Solemnities of the Lord, but neither is dependent on the other.
Because the Church Year begins with Advent and Christmas, people often have the mistaken notion that the Gospels are a history of Jesus’ life; that the stories are laid out in the order in which they happened. But the Gospel accounts are not history or biography; they are a witness to Jesus’ truth and his redeeming work. The Sunday Gospels proclaimed through a given Church Year are sequential only in the sense that they began with Jesus’ birth or ministry and end with his suffering, death, and resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit.
A brief historical overview of the Lectionary:
a. Latin edition, 1981 - based on the Neo-Vulgate Bible translation
b. Canadian edition, 1992 - based on the NRSV translation (inclusive
language dispute arose, approval – or “recognitio” - finally granted
September, 2007.Work will begin on a second edition).
c. USA edition: Sundays, 1998; weekdays, 2002 – based mostly on the
NAB translation
d. Publication of the current USA edition is normally in four volumes:
At the present time, Roman Missal III is being worked on. The United States Bishops have begun a long process to revise the Lectionary for Mass that, once completed, is submitted to Rome for final approval. While some portions of Roman Missal III are completely translated into English and have full approval, the decision from most U.S. Bishops is to wait for a fully finished product before implementing it.
Main Feast Days of Saints
October 2007
Oct. 1 St. Therese of the Child Jesus
Oct. 2 Guardian Angels
Oct. 4 St. Francis of Assisi*
Oct. 15 St. Teresa of Jesus
Oct. 17 St. Ignatius of Antioch
Oct. 18 St. Luke, Evangelist
*St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was born into the wealthy Bernadone family in Assisi, Italy. His father was a silk merchant, and his mother christened the boy John during his father’s absence, but upon his return, he insisted on renaming the child Francis. The young Francis spent his time in extravagant and pleasure-seeking living, but going to war and being taken prisoner, becoming ill, and returning to war caused him to reevaluate his life. A vision of the wounded Christ suffering on the cross that he experienced in Spoleto and another after returning to Assisi brought on a change of 
lifestyle. The San Damiano crucifix has become part of the Franciscan spirituality.
After a pilgrimage to Rome in 1206, he devoted himself to a life of poverty and care of the sick and poor. He was renounced and disinherited by his father, who called him a madman. But Francis soon attracted disciples and formed the order of Franciscans in 1209. In 1212, he was joined by St. Clare over the violent objection of her family.
Francis established a Rule for his order, and over the years, fought off attempts to lessen its restrictions by revising it several times, but keeping the ideal of simplicity, humility and poverty.
At Christmas, 1223, he built a creche at Grecchia, beginning a custom still followed today. In the following year, he received the Stigmata, (bodily marks resembling the wounds of the crucified Christ), and is the first recorded of over 300 cases. There have been over 10 Franciscan saints or blessed to have borne the Stigmata, the most recent being St. Padre Pio (1887-1968), who was canonized in 2002.
ANSWER:
A.
False - The Creed may never be omitted on Sundays or Holy Days.
(General Instruction of the Roman Missal 44
Q: When we say The Creed at Mass (The Profession of Faith), and we get to the
two lines that read, "...by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the
Virgin Mary, and became man." Why do we not kneel or bow during those
two lines anymore?
Can we ourselves bow or kneel during those two lines if no one else does so or would that be frowned upon?
Thank you, I appreciate your help greatly.
A: The second Commandment, while demanding reverence for God’s Holy Name, voices it in the negative; “Thou shall not…” However, not only should we not take His name in vain, but we should honor it and show respect.
Homage to God and his Holiness began even before it was commanded. When Moses sought to learn the Divine Name at the burning bush, he removed his sandals in the divine presence. This simple act of humility reflects the relative positions between the Creator and His creatures, to whom He promised to “Be with you always.”
The name of Jesus evokes the same response to divine omnipotence and omnipresence; we discover ourselves in the presence of someone who has given Himself to us forever. St. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:9 that God has bestowed on Jesus the name that is above every name.
The birth of Jesus is a joyous event, celebrated each Christmas when we meditate on the incredible restoration of humanity to a state of grace surpassing Eden before the Fall of Man. However, we sometimes forget that the Incarnation requires a response. The Incarnation makes it possible for us to become part of the Body of Christ and carry on His mission. It opened up new possibilities for growth and made a path to God for all of Creation. In this infant, God becomes Emmanuel – “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).
Every time we recite the Creed together as a community, we not only profess our faith, but remind ourselves that the second person of the Godhead – Son, or Logos (Word) - became flesh when he was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The divine nature of the Son was perfectly united with human nature in one divine Person who was true God and true man, taking on human flesh to suffer and die for our salvation.
So it is only fitting to make a profound bow at the words, “by the power of the holy Spirit…..became man” on Sundays and Holy Days. On the Solemnities of the Annunciation and of the Nativity of the Lord, all should genuflect instead of bowing.
It is regrettable that many people may be unaware of this devotional action, but it is commendable that you do so even if you are the only person bowing. How powerful it would be if everyone at Mass would make a reverential bow at these words without prompting.
(To submit any question on the Mass (Liturgy)
or Eucharist (Sacrament),
click here:
Questions will be answered in next
month’s issue)
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