"When the priest sayeth his Mass at the altar, commonly there is an image before him, and commonly it is a crucifix, stone or wood or protrayed.
For every Mass is a special remembrance of Christ's passion, and therefore he hath before him a crucifix to enable him to have the more fresh remembrance, as he ought to, of Christ's Passion.
Before this image the priest says his Mass, and makes the highest prayers the holy Church can devise for the salvation of the quick and the dead.
He holds up his hands, he bows, or else he kneels down, and all the worship he can do, he does.
Moreover, he offers up the highest sacrifice and the best offering that anyone can devise, that is Christ, God's Son of Heaven, under the form of bread and wine.
All this worship does the priest at Mass before the image".
From "Dives and Pauper" printed by Wynken de Worde 1496
Please pray for the soul of Henry Thompson whose Requiem Mass will be held today at St Paul's Church, Haywards Heath
For every Mass is a special remembrance of Christ's passion, and therefore he hath before him a crucifix to enable him to have the more fresh remembrance, as he ought to, of Christ's Passion.
Before this image the priest says his Mass, and makes the highest prayers the holy Church can devise for the salvation of the quick and the dead.
He holds up his hands, he bows, or else he kneels down, and all the worship he can do, he does.
Moreover, he offers up the highest sacrifice and the best offering that anyone can devise, that is Christ, God's Son of Heaven, under the form of bread and wine.
All this worship does the priest at Mass before the image".
From "Dives and Pauper" printed by Wynken de Worde 1496
Please pray for the soul of Henry Thompson whose Requiem Mass will be held today at St Paul's Church, Haywards Heath
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death nor crying nor sorrow for the former things are passed away
I'd like to put these wise words before my pp, but he wouldn't understand them.
ReplyDeleteRecently a new school chaplain of a certain age arrived, and removed the crucifix from the altar in the school chapel. I'm often in there on my own in the morning, so I took the opportunity to put it back again. Let's see what happens next . . .
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I've had to do three or four times now, is find a fresh candle and light it, because the one burning near the tabernacle has gone out, and nobody's noticed.
Anthony, I enjoy your blog, thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt is, of course, a requirement that Mass be celebrated in the presence of a crucifix, ideally on or over the altar.