Not a case of play-acting, but praying

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antony mahendran

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Nov 13, 2007, 12:50:50 PM11/13/07
to cath, Cath Priests
 
by Fr. Tim Deeter, Director of the Liturgy Office

EVERY once in a while, a congregation encounters a priest who actually breaks the Eucharistic bread during the Consecration, while he recites the Institution Narrative:

“He took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying ...”

It is important to understand that the Institution Narrative, which is the heart of the Eucharistic Prayer, is not a “script” to be acted out at that moment. The priest should not break the Host simply because the text says “broke it”, any more than he should immediately begin distributing Holy Communion because the text says “and gave it to His disciples”'.

Those four verbs – took, blessed, broke, gave – are a compressed summary of the entire Eucharistic action. They describe the four principal actions of the sacrificial act of the Mass:

He took the bread – the Preparation of the Gifts, where the

elements for the sacrifice are brought to the priest, who takes them and places them on the altar;

He blessed it – the Eucharistic Prayer, modelled after the Jewish prayer of blessing, during which the priest consecrates the gifts;

He broke it – the Breaking of the Bread, where the priest prepares the consecrated Body and Blood of the Lord for sharing with the faithful;

He gave it – Holy Communion, where the priest administers the Eucharistic gifts to the participants in the sacrifice.

Those who understand this important fact about the words of Consecration will know that breaking the bread at that point is not appropriate at all. In fact, such “play-acting” is directed toward the people, to dramatise the “script”, and that in itself betrays a failure to understand what is really happening at that moment.

The Eucharistic Prayer, including the Consecration with its Institution Narrative, is not directed toward the people at all. Rather, the priest leads the people in directing the prayer to God the Father.

Likewise, the Preparation of the Gifts is not directed toward the people, but to God the Father. Thus, as has been said in a previous column on the focus of prayer, the words and actions of these moments of the Mass should not be spoken to the people, but with eyes uplifted, should be spoken to God in Heaven.

It is only at the end of the Preparation of the Gifts (“Pray, my brothers and sisters ...”) and at the start of the Eucharistic Prayer (“The Lord be with you ... Lift up your hearts ... Let us give thanks ...”) that the priest directly addresses the people.

All the rest is directed to the Father: “Blessed are You, Lord, God of all creation ... Lord, we ask You to receive us ... Lord, wash away my iniquity ... Father, all-powerful and ever-living God ... Holy, holy, holy Lord ... Lord, You are holy indeed ... All glory and honour is Yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.”

Thus the Preamble to The General Instruction of the Roman Missal reminds us: In these prayers the priest, while he performs the commemoration, turns toward God, even in the name of the whole people, renders Him thanks and offers the living and holy Sacrifice, redemption namely, the Church’s offering and the Victim by whose immolation God willed to be appeased; and he prays that the Body and Blood of Christ may be a sacrifice acceptable to the Father and salvific for the whole world (no. 2).

This is the reason why the priest faces “away from” the people when celebrating the Mass according to the 1962 Missal, and why it is not inappropriate nor forbidden for him to do so even in the Novus Ordo. When facing the people, many priests feel the need to “engage” the people throughout the Mass, even during prayers that are obviously directed to the Father, or to Christ Himself upon the altar. Thus the “play-acting” that sometimes occurs during the Consecration.

Dialogue between priest and people is central to the action during the Liturgy of the Word. But when we enter upon the sacrificial action of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the focus changes. In the upcoming columns of this series, let us keep this in mind as we continue to examine the words and actions of the Mass.


Taken from catholicweekly


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