Month: June 2024

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What is the importance of the concluding rites of the Mass?

After communion, it is appropriate to leave a time of silence so that both the priest and the faithful can take advantage of these moments of intimacy with the Lord. The Holy Father, in his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, affirms in this regard: ” Furthermore, the precious time of thanksgiving after communion should not be neglected: besides the singing of an appropriate hymn, it can also be most helpful to remain recollected in silence.” (Sacramentum Caritatis 50).

To complete the prayer of the People of God and conclude the entire rite of Communion, the priest pronounces the post-communion prayer, in which he prays that the mystery celebrated may bear abundant fruit in the faithful and in the Church (cf. GIRM 72).

After the post-communion prayer, the priest greets the people and blesses them by tracing the sign of the cross and invoking the Trinity: “May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit descend upon you.” It is necessary to point out that the priest does is to transmit, with the efficacy and certainty of the liturgy, a blessing, which Christ finally grants to his people. So that, just as the Lord, in taking leave of his disciples at the moment of their ascension, “lifted up his hands and blessed them; and while he was blessing them, he was separated from them and taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51), so now, through the priest who represents him, the Lord blesses the Christian people, who have gathered to the Eucharist to celebrate the memorial of “his saving passion, and of his marvelous resurrection and ascension into heaven, while awaiting his glorious coming” (Eucharistic Prayer III).

Finally, the priest bids farewell to the people. The celebration of the Eucharist ends with the sending of Christians into the world. Nor is it a question of a simple exhortation, “Let us go in peace”, hardly significant, but of something more important and effective. In fact, just as Christ sends his disciples before ascending into heaven to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), so now Christ himself, at the conclusion of the Eucharist, through the priest who acts in his name and makes him visible, sends all the faithful to return to their ordinary lives.  and in it always proclaim the Good News with words and even more with deeds.

Through these words the link that must exist between the liturgy and the Christian life is manifested. Every man who truly receives the Body of the Lord must necessarily be a witness of his love in the world, he must be a lamp placed on the top of the lampstand so that it may illuminate all those in the house. Participation in the Eucharist cannot be reduced to an intimate experience of union with God, but must spur all the faithful to be witnesses of Christ in the world. The authentic experience of the Eucharist produces apostles.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and Queen of the Apostles, teach us to combine these two realities that are intimately united: the Church lives from the Eucharist, she increases her union with Christ in the Sacrament of Love, and at the same time, the Church must find in Christ in the Eucharist the strength of witness, of proclamation,  so that all men and women may come to know Jesus Christ and to live from him, participating in that abundant divine life that he has come to bring on earth.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Final Prayer and Concluding Rites”, Home of the Mother, accessed 25 June 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2441-concluding-rites

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How should I receive Holy Communion?

The Eucharistic sacrifice, is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life (Lumen Gentium 11). The other sacraments, as well as with every ministry of the Church and every work of the apostolate, are tied together with the Eucharist and are directed toward it. The Most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, that is, Christ himself, our Pasch and Living Bread (Prebysterorum Ordinis 5).

The Eucharistic Sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through communion; we receive the very One who offered himself for us, we receive his body which he gave up for us on the Cross and his blood which he “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28) The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself as our nourishment (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 16).

Knowing now the importance of such a sacred sacrament, how then should we receive communion? First of all, we must be free from sin, we must have confessed any mortal and venial sins we have committed since our previous confession, we must have fasted for at least one hour before receiving communion.

At the time of communion, process in an orderly manner and with respect for the priest or ministers to receive communion. When we arrive in front of the ciborium with the consecrated hosts, we must make a bow (Redemptionis Sacramentum 90), since we are in the presence of Christ, in body, blood, soul and divinity, at that moment the priest or the minister raising the consecrated host, will say to us: “the Body of Christ”, to which we will respond “Amen”, thus recognizing this truth of faith. We can receive the host either on the tongue, or in the hands, extending the hands one over the other at the height of the ciborium, taking care that they are flat as if presenting an altar where we will receive the Body of Christ, once the host is received, it must be consumed immediately.

If it is offered at Mass and it is our desire, we can also receive communion of the Blood of Christ, for which we approach the minister with the chalice, and we bow when we arrive before the chalice, since Christ is completely in the consecrated species, the minister will say to us “Blood of Christ” and we will also respond “Amen”, thus recognizing the presence of our Lord in the consecrated wine. The minister will then hand us the chalice for us to take a small sip, after which we hand the chalice back to the minister.

Having received the communion of Christ, we are to go to our places, and take advantage of this sacred moment that we are in communion with Christ to present our prayers to Him. It is tradition to pray on one’s knees and remain so until the priest stores the consecrated hosts that may have remained in the tabernacle.

Let us partake of the sacrament of Holy Communion with great faith, let us prepare our souls for this great mystery by going to the sacrament of reconciliation, and thus be one with Christ.

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Why is it important to receive Communion at Mass?

Communion is the moment towards which the whole Eucharistic celebration converges, since, on the one hand, the table of the Word asks to be completed with the table of the Eucharistic Bread and, on the other, the consecration of the gifts aims not only to make Christ glorify and give thanks to God, but also to the faithful to be united to Christ sacramentally.  eating the Body that is given and the Blood that is shed for the salvation of men. “The celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us” (CCC 1382).

Communion is first of all the culmination of the Mass, since it is “at the same time and inseparably the sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet, in which through the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the people share in the goods of the paschal sacrifice.  it renews the covenant between God and men, and in faith and hope it prefigures and anticipates the eschatological banquet in the Kingdom of the Father” (Eucaristicum Mysterium 3).

Sacramental communion with Christ increases our union with Him, separates us from sin, renews, strengthens and deepens our incorporation into the Church accomplished by Baptism.

Eucharistic communion is the most loving and profound, most certain and sanctifying spiritual encounter we can have with Christ in this world. It is an ineffable spiritual union with the glorious Jesus Christ. It is, in the order of love and grace, an ineffable mystery. Christ gives himself in communion as food, as “living bread that came down from heaven”, who transforms into him those who receive him. To these, who welcome him into communion with faith and love, he promises immortality, abundance of life and future resurrection. Indeed, he assures them of a perfect vital union with Him: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” (John 6:56-57).

Being such an extraordinary moment of grace, we must be ready to live it with intense faith, with a sense of adoration and complete surrender to his will. Only the grace of God, who acts through prayer, can adequately prepare us.

Communion is a pledge of future glory, it is a foretaste of heaven, where our whole existence will be to love and adore Christ. Once again, let us allow gratitude and amazement to be renewed in us at the love of a God who becomes the Eucharist to allow himself to be eaten, to unite us to him and to transform us into him.

Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, grant that we may receive your Son in the Sacrament of love with an open and pure heart, simple and obedient like yours, so that we may be transformed into a living sacrifice, into a “Body that gives itself” for the life of the world.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – Communion”, Home of the Mother, accessed 11 June 2024,
https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2416-communion

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How important is the fraction of the bread in Mass?

From the beginning and for several centuries, the breaking of consecrated bread was a practical and necessary gesture to prepare the particles that were distributed in communion. As there were no small forms, it was celebrated with unleavened bread that then had to be broken to be distributed to the faithful. This gesture also had several symbolic meanings referring to the Eucharist. Everyone could see a clear relationship between this moment and the moment of the institution of the Eucharist where Jesus, like the Jewish paterfamilias, gives his disciples the nourishment of his Body and Blood.

Then, during this moment of the liturgy, the song of the Lamb of God was introduced. In this way, a new reality was emphasized, the sacrificial and salvific dimension of the Eucharist. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The food he distributes is his slain body. In this way, the sense of communion and the sense of sacrifice are presented together. The fraction prepares the food of Christians, which is the sacrificial Body of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of the new Passover (cf. Revelation 5, 6 and 13).

In this way, the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself as a sacrificed bread-body is clearly manifested. When the faithful receive it worthily, the Eucharist makes both Christ and the faithful one body. In this way, the Mystical Body of Christ is constantly renewed, and can thus live by His life (1 Corinthians 10:17).

A simple and important gesture at the same time is the conmixtio, which consists of the priest introducing a small particle of the Body of Christ into the chalice (GIRM 72). The union of the two species of consecrated bread and wine, which had hitherto been separated, symbolizes the one person of the glorious Christ, vivified by the Holy Spirit.

Then the priest, showing the people the consecrated host, repeats the words of John the Baptist: “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And he adds the words that, according to the Apocalypse, he says in the heavenly liturgy: “Blessed are those who are invited to the supper of the Lord” (Revelation 19:1-9).

The assembly then responds by repeating the words of the Roman centurion, who amazed Christ with his humble and bold confidence: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8-10).

Without a doubt, knowing the meaning of the words and gestures of the liturgy helps us to enter into communion with the Lord. But living faith in those who participate in the Eucharist is essential. To discover the presence of the Lord, his love that becomes self-giving in order to enter into communion with us. “The Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, manifesting God’s infinite love for every man” (Sacramentum Caritatis 1).

Let us ask Mary, the Eucharistic woman, to help us not to waste the treasure that God has given in the Eucharist, but that by loving and living the mystery of Christ we may be transformed into Him.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Breaking of the Bread and the Lamb of God”, Home of the Mother, accesed 22 June 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2415-lamb-of-god

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What is the importance of the rite of peace?

Peace, in the biblical sense, has an enormous richness. It symbolizes the sum of all goods. Sin separates man from God, divides humanity into opposing parts, and also introduces into the heart of man a myriad of contradictions and anxieties.

Peace was awaited as one of the fruits and signs of the coming of the Messiah, who would overcome sin and restore the order willed by God. The Messiah is announced by Isaiah as “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:5-6). Only he will be able to restore to mankind the peace lost through sin (Ezekiel 34:25; Joel 4:17ff; Amos 9:9-21).

We recognize in Jesus the Messiah foretold. At His birth, the angels announce that the Child brings on earth “peace to men who are beloved of God” (Luke 2:14). Through his paschal mystery, the Lord Jesus has brought about the reconciliation of men with the “God of peace” (Romans 15:33).1

“Peace I leave you, my peace I give you” (John 14:27) are the words with which Jesus promises his disciples gathered in the Upper Room, before facing the Passion, the gift of peace, to infuse them with the joyful certainty of his permanent presence. After his resurrection, the Lord fulfills his promise by standing in their midst in the place where they were in fear of the Jews, saying, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19-23). Peace, the fruit of the Redemption that Christ brought to the world with his death and resurrection, is the gift that the Risen Lord continues to offer today to his Church, gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist, so that she may bear witness to it in her daily life. (Cañizares and Roche, 1)2

The priest offers peace to all, saying, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” After this, the faithful can give each other a greeting of peace to symbolize it, as well as expressing ecclesial communion and mutual charity, before sacramental communion.

However, it is necessary that at the time of giving us peace some abuses must be avoided: (Cañizares and Roche, 6f)3

  • There is no such thing as a “song for peace.”
  • The faithful should not move to exchange peace.
  • The priest must not leave the altar to give peace to some of the faithful.
  • Peace should not be an occasion to congratulate or express condolences

As for the sign for peace, it must be said that there is no universal gesture, since the episcopal conferences must determine the concrete gesture taking into account the idiosyncrasies and customs of the peoples (GIRM 83 and 390).

It should be noted that the greeting of peace is not an obligatory gesture. The Roman Missal (128) expressly says that this greeting is to be invited “if it is judged opportune.” That is, you can perform or omit that act that is significant, but not essential, depending on various factors.

Let us solemnly give ourselves the sign of peace, only those who are around us, avoiding falling into abuses, since the most solemn moment of the Mass is approaching, which is the breaking of bread and communion with the body of Christ.

[1] López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Rite of Peace”, Home of the Mother, accesed 22 May 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2436-rite-of-peace

[2] Cañizares and Roche, “The Ritual Expression of the Gift of Peace at Mass”, Congregation for Divine Workship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Rome, 8 June 2014, https://www.liturgybrisbane.net.au/media/1182/the-ritual-expression-of-the-gift-of-peace-at-mass1.pdf

[3] Cañizares and Roche, loc.cit.