Traditional Latin Mass 101
The Conclusion of the Canon
"The Glorious Crown of the Ancient Sacrificial Prayer"
By Father Ladis J. Cizik
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Awesome realities are expressed most eloquently in the prayer which closes the Sacred Canon of the Mass. Contrary to today’s heretical Modernist age of religious indifferentism, the closing prayer of the Canon is an acclamation that the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith was founded by God and is the One True Faith with the fullness of the Truth. This ancient prayer treats of our Catholic belief in the Dogma of Transubstantiation, which distinguishes us from Protestants and other heretics.
It also deals with our belief in a Triune God and the Divinity of Christ, which distinguishes us from Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians.
The conclusion of the Roman Canon is effected by the following ancient prayer amid multiple Signs of the Cross ("+"): Per quem haec omnia, Domine, semper bona creas, sancti+ficas, vivi+ficas, bene+dicis, et praestas nobis. Per ip+sum, et cum ip+so, et in ip+so
est tibi Deo Patri + omnipotenti, in unitate Spiritus + Sancti, omnis honor, et gloria. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Saint Thomas Aquinas had much to say about the plenitude of Crosses made by the Priest at the end of the Canon (see ST III. Q83 a5 ad3-4). He said that "After the Consecration, the Priest makes the Sign of the Cross, not for the purpose of blessing and consecrating, but only for calling to mind the virtue of the Cross, and the manner of Christ’s suffering." In particular, he noted that the triple Signing of the Cross beginning at the sanctificas represents the Lamb of God’s threefold prayer upon the Cross: 1) "Father, forgive them …" 2) "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and 3) "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." Saint Thomas also said that the triple Signing of the Cross at the Per ipsum signifies "the three hours during which Jesus hung upon the Cross, that is, from the sixth to the ninth hour." The Angelic Doctor also wrote that the last two Crosses made over the Chalice at the est tibi Deo Patri call to mind the "separation of His Soul from the Body."
Because there is no "Amen" at the conclusion of the Canon’s penultimate prayer, the Nobis quoque peccatoribus, the Per quem haec omnia may be regarded as its continuation. As such, we enter into this final prayer of the Canon after begging Almighty God to grant us some share and fellowship with the Holy Apostles, Martyrs and all God’s Saints. The Communion of Saints and the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ, is the thought leading into the concluding prayer of the Canon Missae.
Following the Nobis quoque peccatoribus, the Priest joins his hands and then makes the Sign of the Cross three times over the Sacred Host and the Chalice containing the Precious Blood of Christ, as he prays: Per quem haec omnia, Domine, semper bona creas, sancti+ficas, vivi+ficas, bene+dicis, et praestas nobis (By Whom, O Lord, Thou dost always create, sanctify
+,
vivify
+, bless
+, and bestow upon us all these good things).
Since the bread and wine had previously been changed by the Priest into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ through the miracle of Transubstantiation, these three ‘Signs of the Cross,’ and any others after the Consecration, CANNOT be considered to be ‘blessings’ by the Priest upon the Sacred Host or the Chalice. These three rubrics rather symbolize the accomplished sanctification, vivification and blessing of the oblation that took place at the Consecration.
"All these good things" (haec omnia … bona) now refers to the Eucharistic Lord, although in some places during antiquity, other gifts were sometimes blessed at this point, such as milk, water, honey, fruit and vegetables. This blessing of various fruits of the earth was never universal but prescribed locally by individual bishops. The only semblance of this today is when the Bishop blesses Holy Oils at this place in the Canon on Holy Thursday.
You "bestow upon us" (Praestas nobis) is a reference to Holy Communion, received later in the Mass, whereby one’s worthy reception of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ will fill that person with sanctity, life, and blessings. The bread and wine, created (creas) by God, and Transubstantiated at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by the Priest, will now soon be given to those in a state-of-grace as the Holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
There follows the Final Doxology preceded by the Priest removing the Pall from the Chalice and genuflecting. He then takes the Sacred Host between the thumb and index finger (the ‘canonical digits’) of his right hand and makes the Sign of the Cross with the Host three times directly over the Chalice, steadied by the left hand, upon the Altar, saying: Per ip+sum, et cum ip+so, et in ip+so
(Through Him
+ and with Him
+ and in Him +). God the Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, is referred to here as "Him," as
Continued Next Page
Continued from Page 12
per ipsum
cum ipso
In ipso
(is unto Thee, God the Father
+
Almighty, in the unity of the Holy
+
to
God the Father …
through, with, and in
God the Son …
in the unity of
omnis honor, et gloria
living
God. Dom Prosper Gueranger O.S.B., in his book,
Explanation of the Holy Mass,
omnis honor, et gloria
is known as the "
Minor Elevation"
(elevatio minor),
not
Minor Elevation
was not only more pronounced, but the
only
The Latin Mass Explained,
Missale Romanum
Per omnia saecula saeculorum
Amen.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass:
Amen,
Sanctus,
the Priest,
in persona Christi,
Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus
Lex orandi, lex credendi:
Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
■
The Traditional Latin Mass--
the Mass the saints heard every day!
it is His Precious Blood alone in the Chalice. The
prayer teaches that Christ is the Mediator between God and man, as well as between man and God. The
can refer to those in a state-of-grace being united with Christ now and for eternity.
may refer to the prayer of Our Lord: "That they may all be one, as Thou, Father in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (Jn 17: 21).
Then, making the Sign of the Cross twice with the Host over the Corporal between his breast and the outside of the Chalice, the Priest continues: est tibi Deo Patri + omnipotenti, in unitate Spiritus + Sancti…
Ghost …). As neither the Father nor Holy Ghost were immolated on Calvary, the Sacred Host here does not pass over the Chalice; the Precious Blood belongs to the Son alone. The last two Signs of the Cross, along with the previous three, are sometimes said to represent the five wounds of Christ in His Hands, Feet and Side.
The Trinitarian formula of this doxology confirms the Catholic belief in the Divinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. In this closing prayer of the Canon, the Church affirms that we pray
God the Holy Ghost.
Divine Revelation, which is contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, is embodied in the Traditional Latin Mass. Hence, the Mass of the Ages professes that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church believes in the Dogma of three Divine Persons in One God. Hence, Catholics also believe in the Dogma of the Divinity of Christ.
Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians, deny these essential Divinely revealed truths.
The Priest then raises the Chalice about three to four inches above the Altar with his left hand, while holding the Sacred Host slightly over the center of the Chalice, as he prays four short words:
(all glory and honor). The Body and Blood of Christ are elevated simultaneously to show that in the Risen Lord there is no longer any separation of His Body and Blood, His Soul from His Body: He is the
writes: "The Sacrifice thus truly offered, indeed, is the greatest act which can be done for God. On Calvary, the immolation of the Lord was a hideous and abominable crime; but here, this immolation is all that is most glorious for God, and it is because He Who is offered is living. It is the living God we offer; it is the living Son offered to the living God" (pp 170-171). Protestants deny this truth.
The raising of the Chalice at the
sometimes referred to as the ‘Little Elevation,’ as opposed to the ‘greater elevation’ which took place at the Consecration. The purpose of the Minor Elevation is
in showing the Sacred Gifts to the people, but only in lifting up God the Son/Our Lord Jesus Christ, to God the Father as an oblation.
In ancient times, the
elevation. Msgr. George J.
Moorman in his 1920’s book, reprinted in 2007 as
writes: "Up to the eleventh century, the Body and Blood of Christ were held up at this point in the Mass to receive the adoration of the faithful. But … around 1047, a more solemn elevation was adopted by the Church to furnish a public profession of Her ancient Faith concerning the Real Presence, in contradiction to the heretical teachings of Berengarius" (p. 153). This "more solemn elevation" at the Consecration was codified in the Great Pope Saint Pius V’s
which would well serve the Council of Trent’s response to the Protestant ‘De’-Formation of the Church.
As the Sacred Host and Chalice are placed back on the Corporal, the Priest purifies his fingers over the Chalice before covering it with the Pall. He then genuflects in adoration, rises, and chants or proclaims in a loud voice, ending the grand silence of the Canon:
(For all ages of ages/World without end); to which the server responds,
This marks the CONCLUSION of the Canon of the Mass.
As Father Nicholas Gihr so eloquently summarizes in his book,
"By this majestic conclusion, recited aloud or sung, the solemn silence of the Canon is broken in order that the people, by answering
may make known their assent to all that the Priest alone has performed.
Thus, the Canon terminates in an enthusiastic doxology, which is the glorious crown of the ancient sacrificial prayer" (p. 726).
There is a timeless symbolism of the Canon being introduced and concluded with Trinitarian doxologies. After the
goes up the Altar steps to ‘enter the cloud’ to converse with God in silence, as did Moses on Mount Sinai. As Moses emerged from the cloud with the Ten Commandments, so too does the Priest, in the Person of Christ, break his silence to present the Divine Instruction contained in the ‘Our Father.’ The two doxologies make it clear that Jesus Christ is both Lord and God.
In regards to the Divinity of Christ, Saint Paul the Apostle was not ‘religiously indifferent.’ In his Letter to the Romans (Rm 11: 30-36) he speaks of his concern for those who do not believe in Christ.
He concludes in a doxology similar to that in the concluding prayer of the Canon: "For of Him, and by Him and in Him, are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen." Writing again in another place of the need to believe in Jesus, Saint Paul delivers another precursor to the conclusion of the Roman Canon: "Now to the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
Amen." (1 Tim 1 :17).
Like Saint Paul, for ‘the Glory of God and the salvation of souls,’ the highest law of the Church, we should pray for and proselytize those who are outside of the One True Church founded by Christ.
(No salvation outside the Church) is taught to us by the twin fonts of Catholic Truth: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Catholic Truth is reinforced by the prayers of the Traditional Latin Mass.
The law of prayer is the law of belief; how you worship is how you will believe. That is why we pour our hearts and our souls into the Traditional Latin Mass:
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
![[image]](images/image_20170305_13_1_large_gray.jpg)
![[image]](images/image_20170305_13_2_large_gray.jpg)