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Monday, March 13, 2023

From the “Hey, Catholics, Did You Know...?” File: About the Mass

Offertory prayers at the Traditional Latin Mass stress the offering of Jesus Christ in atonement for sin.

Let's talk a little bit about the Holy Mass. Most Catholics today have never experienced the Traditional Latin Mass, barely remember Vatican II, and have no idea what came before and what's been lost. So let's look at just two changes effected by the Novus Ordo Missae: the offertory prayers and Communion in the hand.

First: Did you know that the Novus Ordo (NO) Offertory Prayers are Jewish table prayers... like the grace you say before meals? If you’ve ever attended a Jewish Seder meal, you heard them. The Seder is a memorial meal commemorating the Passover in Egypt, not a sacrifice. 
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life....Blessed areyou, Lord God of all creation, for througt your goodness we have received the wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.
So what exactly is being offered to God at the NO and why? It’s hard to tell because the language is so ambiguous. In the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), the offertory prayers make it totally clear that the offering is Jesus Christ Himself offered in a sacrifice with a purpose, i.e., to atone for sin. Can offering bread and wine, which the NO offertory prayers emphasize, atone for our offenses against Almighty God? No! Of course not! Only the offering of Jesus Christ can do that, but almost all references to the propitiatory nature of the Mass were removed to make it more acceptable to Protestants. 

As Dan Graham writes in his book, Lex Orandi:
Protestants reject the sacrificial nature of the Mass in the strongest terms. Luther taught that the Mass was idolatry because it attempted to be a sacrifice that delivers man from sin. Luther states, “The mass is not a sacrifice but a thanksgiving to God and a communion with believers.” Protestants believe strongly that the Eucharist is a gift from God to men. They believe that in no way is the Eucharist an oblation of men to God; therefore, not a sacrifice.

Moving on to Communion in the hand.  Did you know that Communion in the Hand came about through disobedience? 

After Vatican II the practice of receiving in the hand became widespread around the world, particularly in Germany, Belgium, Holland, and France. [Think about where the scandals and rejection of the faith are coming from today.] A liturgical abuse, sadly, Communion in the hand was often encouraged by liberal bishops and priests. 

Although most bishops opposed the change, Pope Paul VI, after publication in 1969 of the document Memoriale Domini, Instructions on Receiving Communion in the Hand (MD), provided an “indult” (exception) to those countries where disobedience was already rampant if 2/3rds of the bishops agreed. So disobedience was rewarded. Although the norm continued to be Communion on the tongue, in the hand quickly became the practical reality and those receiving on the tongue became a rare breed. In Rome, however, no one could receive in the hand until recent papacies. 

Sad to say, Pope Benedict was one of the innovators who said of the practice, “I am not opposed in principle to Communion in the hand; I have both administered and received Communion in this way myself.” So despite all the warnings in MD about profanation of the Eucharist and loss of belief in the Real Presence, which have come to pass, the novelty expanded to the point where people were often forbidden to receive on the tongue as happened recently at the Vatican when those receiving the office of lector and catechist were mandated to receive standing and in the hand. Will a mandate be coming down next to forbid Communion on the tongue?

The crisis in the Church is serious and it is becoming clearer and clearer that it revolves around the center of Catholic faith, the Eucharistic Sacrifice. My husband and I have returned to the Mass of our youth, the Traditional Latin Mass, with a new appreciation and gratitude to God for bringing us home.

7 comments:

  1. You should add the text of the Tridentine offeratory prayer for comparison as its the one people are less familiar with. Lets see how its so sacrificial.

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  2. I found it:

    "Wherefore, O Lord, we thy servants, as also thy holy people, calling to mind the blessed passion of the same Christ thy Son our Lord, and also his rising up from hell, and his glorious ascension into heaven, do offer unto thy most excellent majesty, of thine own gifts bestowed upon us,

    a pure victim, a holy victim, a spotless victim,

    the holy Bread of eternal life, and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.

    the holy Bread of eternal life, and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.

    Upon which do thou vouchsafe to look with a propitious and serene countenance, and to accept them, as thou wert graciously pleased to accept the gifts of thy just servant Abel, and the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham, and that which thy high priest Melchisedech offered to thee, a holy sacrifice, a spotless victim.

    We most humbly beseech thee, almighty God, to command that these things be borne by the hands of thy holy angel to thine altar On high, in the sight of thy divine majesty, that as many of us (he kisses the altar) as, at this altar, shall partake of and receive the

    most holy Body and Blood of thy Son (he makes the sign of the cross on himself), may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace (he joins his hands together). Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen."

    Hmmmm.

    Even though this technically uses sacrificial language it lowers Christ's sacrifice down to the level of Abel's animals or Melchisedek's literal mere bread. This is blasphemous, even if you do believe in the Old Testament. Luther was right to reject this.

    But the problem with both masses is they are infected with vile Judaism and overly literal belief in the Old Testament. St. Marcion pray for us!

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  3. Can't agree NO Joe,

    And I don't understand your reference to "vile Jadaism." Jesus was Himself a Jew and he appeared with the Jews, Moses and Elijah, at the Transfiguration. He said this about the Jew, John the Baptist, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!"

    But thank you for listing the TLM offertory prayer which makes it crystal clear that Jesus is the sacrifice, the only sacrifice possible to atone for the sin of Adam and to open the gates of heaven.

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  4. Joe, in charity, that quote appears to be from the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I in the NO), prayed immediately after the consecration. It would be tremendously awkward if your criticisms were true and the Church had been blaspheming the Body and Blood of Christ for the entire time She has prayed the Roman Canon—over 1,000 years, even to the present day, in the Novus Ordo no less, should the priest choose to pray Eucharistic Prayer I.

    For your consideration, the offertory text of the TLM:

    Accept, O Holy father, Almighty and Eternal God, this spotless host, which I, Your unworthy servant, offer to You, my living and true God, to atone for my numberless sins, offences, and negligences; on behalf of all here present and likewise for all faithful Christians living and dead, that it may profit me and them as a means of salvation to life everlasting. Amen.

    O God, + Who in creating man didst exalt his nature very wonderfully and yet more wonderfully didst establish it anew;; by the Mystery signified in the mingling of this water and wine, grant us to have part in the Godhead of Him Who hath deigned to become a partaker of our humanity, Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord; Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God. World without end. Amen.

    We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, entreating Thy mercy that our offering may ascend with a sweet fragrance in the sight of Thy divine Majesty, for our own salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen.

    Humbled in spirit and contrite of heart, may we find favor with Thee, O Lord: and may our sacrifice be so offered this day in Thy sight as to be pleasing to Thee, O Lord God.

    Come Thou, the Sanctifier, Almighty and Everlasting God, and bless + this sacrifice which is prepared for the glory of Thy holy Name.

    Receive, O Holy Trinity, this oblation which we make to Thee in memory of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ; and in honor of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, of blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, of these and of all the Saints. To them let it bring honor, and to us salvation, and may they whom we are commemorating here on earth deign to plead for us in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

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  5. The Novus Ordo Offertory prayers are very similar to words used in a Jewish rite dating from the 1600s and based on Cabala, which is Jewish occult mysticism, and the Talmud, the classic Jewish anti-Christian Hate literature which curses Jesus and Christians.

    “Jean Bustorf, in his “Synagoga Judaica”, the 1661 edition, page 242, gives the following words:

    For the Bread: ´Benedictus Tu, Domine Deus noster, mundi domine qui panem nobis a terra produxisti.' (Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, lord of the world who brought forth bread from the earth.)

    For the wine: 'Benedictus Tu, Domine Deus noster, mundi domine qui vineae fructum
    creaveris.'.” (Blessed are Thou, Lord Our God, lord of the world who created the true fruit of the vine.)

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  6. I often like to pull this out of my holster in comparing the new mass with the traditional mass (not old mass as its the mass of all time according to Pope Pius X). It proves its has noting to do with the Latin but all to do with the doctrine. https://www.tridentinecatholic.com/compare.pdf

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  7. And if the doctrine of the new Mass is different than the doctrine of the TLM? Could it come from heaven? And does the NO Church's doctrines of false ecumenism and religious liberty fulfill the Church's supreme Law; the salvation of souls? Not only has Catholicism not spread since VII, it is in steep decline to the point most baptized Catholics don't even believe what a Catholic must believe to be Catholic.

    But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.
    Galatians 1:8‭-‬9

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