The Liturgy of
the Mass
Liturgy (leitourgia) is a Greek composite word meaning originally a “public duty”. In the Septuagint it was used for the public service of the temple. In the New Testament, it is used in Heb. 8:6, where it says the high priest of the New Law “has obtained a better liturgy.” The term “liturgy,” then, normally refers to a standardised order of events observed during a sacramental service of the Church. The early Christians adopted the word to describe their principal act of worship, the Sunday service (referred to by various terms, including Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion, Mass or Divine Liturgy), which they considered to be a sacrifice. The Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, and in the Western Rite Orthodox, and Old Catholic churches. The term is used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches. Eastern Christian Churches use the term Divine Liturgy in regards to the celebration of the Eucharist.
The worship prescribed by God for the Jews in the Old Testament was liturgical in nature. For example, in Exodus, we find vestments for priests (Ex. 28), lampstands (37:17-24), and incense (30:1-10, 34-38; 37:25-29). The Temple, the Passover, and nearly all Jewish rituals, customs, and festivals followed a set liturgical practice. This practice did not end with the New Testament. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism; Christ transformed the Old Covenant ceremonies into the ceremonies of the New Covenant, such as elevating the Passover by instituting the Eucharist. The early Jewish Christians converts understood Jesus to have fulfilled the Law and the prophets, but continued in their liturgical worship as they continued to meet each day in the Temple and afterwards would gather at a private home to celebrate the Eucharist (Acts 2:46, 3:1). Multiple passages in the New Testament illustrate that these early Christians viewed ritual as essential to their worship (See Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 10:16 and 11:24-29, and Matthew 28:19). To the early Christians, these liturgical rituals were meant to imitate the Heavenly worship of God, just as Jesus had taught them to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When we pray the Our Father, therefore, we are saying that our earthly worship should imitate the heavenly praise of the Lord. Jesus then told them how to accomplish this when he asked them to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”, which is a clear reference to the Eucharist.
Revelation gives us insight into just how the heavenly worship is mimicked by the Mass. The book’s activity occurs on “the Lord’s Day,” which is Sunday (1:10), and begins with an address to seven churches in seven cities (1:11-14). “Seven” is a symbolic number in the Bible and means “universal” or “complete”, representing the universal (catholic) Church. The book begins with a blessing (1:3) and the liturgical greeting of “grace” is found both at the beginning (1:4) and at the end (22:1). The liturgical response “Amen” is continually invoked (1:7, 5:14, 7:12, 19:4, 22:20). We see the communion of saints (6:911), and angels bringing prayers to the altar in a golden censer that the prayers may rise to God on clouds of incense (8:34). There is singing (19:6-8), pre-scribed liturgical movement (4:9-10), and incense (5:8). In Revelation 4, John has a vision of winged creatures who “do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ ” (Rev. 4:8, Is. 6:3) and in Revelation 4:9-11; “the twenty-four elders [presbyteroi, equivalent to “priests”] fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.’ ” and in 19:1-9: “a great multitude in heaven, saying: ‘Alleluia! Salvation, glory, and might belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments…. Let us rejoice and be glad. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready…. Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” The wedding feast is the Eucharist, of which we partake of here on earth. We are participants in the celebration of the wedding feast that is happening eternally in Heaven.
The Book of Revelation is not the only Biblical basis for the Mass and it’s liturgies. The first prayer of the Mass, the sign of the cross, draws the words, “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” from Matthew 28:19 and it’s gesture, -the cross over the forehead- is implicitly found Ezekiel 9:4; “Go through Jerusalem and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” The faithful of Jerusalem were to be marked on their foreheads. The word for mark in Hebrew is simply the Hebrew letter, taw. The Greek version is the letter tau, which is T-shaped. So the sign of the cross not only reminds Christians of the cross of Christ, but also of faithfulness. Then, the greeting of the introductory rite where the priest says, “The Lord be with you,” and the congregation responds, “And with your spirit,” comes from 2 Timothy 4:22: “The Lord be with your spirit.” The Confiteor, which is the prayer that begins “I confess to almighty God,” is also rooted in biblical tradition as the act of verbal confession was an essential part of public worship for ancient Israel (Neh. 9:2, Leviticus 5:5). The Gloria: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will,” comes from Luke 2:14 and “heavenly king” from Ps. 98:6, 99:4.
The next part of the Mass is the Liturgy of the Word. In Exodus, Moses reads Scripture in a liturgical setting as we’re told that he “took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people…” (Ex. 24:7). Just as modern Catholics respond to the reading of Scripture with “Thanks be to God,” the Israelites responded by saying, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient” (Ex. 24:7). The prayer ‘alleluia’ (From the Hebrew words “hallel” and “Yahweh” meaning “praise God”), comes from the Jewish Hallel Psalms (Ps. 113-118), which are prayed in the Jewish Passover liturgy to give praise to Yahweh for deliverance from Egypt. The alleluia is also found in John’s heavenly vision of the wedding supper of the Lamb at which the angels praise God for his work of salvation through Jesus and announce the coming of the Lamb for his wedding feast (cf. Rev. 19:1-9). Therefore, the Catholic prayer of alleluia prior to the Gospel reading signals the celebration of a new Passover and a participation in the heavenly marriage feast of the Lamb. The practice of standing for the reading of the Gospel can be found in Nehemiah 8:5, where the whole assembly stands when Ezra, the priest, begins to read from the book of the covenant.
Next is the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where the bread and wine calls to mind the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Greek, eucharistia) offered by the priest-king Melchizedek in Genesis 14:14-16 and that Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:10). The prayer for acceptance of sacrifice can be found in Daniel 3:39-40, where Azariah prays “But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received…”. The priestly act of washing hands models Leviticus 30:18-21 where Moses instructs the Levitical priests to wash their hands outside the tabernacle before entering to perform their priestly duties. The Sanctus, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” comes directly from Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. This represents the fact that we, here on earth, are joining in with the choirs of angels in Heaven as they sing. This is followed by the priest’s words of institution; “This is my body . . . this is my blood,” which are Christ’s own words at the Last Supper in the Gospels and St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (see Matt. 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Cor. 11:24-25). The phrase “the blood of the new and eternal covenant” is a combination of Luke’s account, in which he records Jesus to say “the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20) and Matthew’s version, in which Jesus is recorded saying, “For this is my blood of the covenant” (Matt. 26:28) and echoes Exodus 24, where Moses says, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Ex. 24:8).
Finally, the author of Hebrews describes Jesus as “a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord” (Heb. 8:2) and as an eternal priest in heaven (cf. Heb. 7:25) and because “every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices” (Heb. 8:3a) “it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer” (Heb. 8:3b). Christ, then, eternally offers Himself to the Father as St. John describes Jesus appearing in the heavenly sanctuary as a slain lamb (cf. Rev. 5:6). The Eucharist makes present the one and same sacrifice of Christ in the appearance of bread and wine (cf. CCC 1366-1367) which was offered once and for all on the cross. Eucharistic Prayer IV, thus reads; “we offer you his body and blood, the sacrifice acceptable to you which brings salvation to the whole world.”
Bible Verses:
Matthew 8:8
The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.
Isaiah 6:3
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Revelation 4:8
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.”
Acts of the Apostles 20:7
“On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight.”
Church Father Quotes:
“(Christ) has commanded the offerings and services to be celebrated, not carelessly nor in disorder, but at
fixed times and hours. He has, moreover, determined where and by whom He wants them to be carried out, so that all may be done in a holy manner, according to His will.” –First Letter of Clement to the Corinthians 40:1
“On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.” –First Apology, Chapter 67
“For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly, so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.” –Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 18, Section 5
“When he has been made bishop, all salute him with the sign of peace… The deacons shall then bring the offering to him; and he, imposing his hands on it, along with all the presbytery, shall give thanks, saying: ‘The Lord be with you.’ And all shall respond: ‘And with your spirit.’ ‘Hearts aloft.’ All then say, ‘We lift them up to the Lord!’ ‘Let us give thanks to the Lord.’ And all reply, “It is right and just.” -Apostolic Traditions Book 2 (Written in 215 A.D.)
*Eucharistic Prayer ca 200 A.D.*
“We give you thanks, O God, through your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom. took bread and, giving thanks to You, said, ‘Take, cat, this is my body broken for you. Likewise, he took the cup, saying, This is my blood, poured out for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Remembering, therefore, His death and resurrection, we offer you this bread and wine and give you thanks for having counted us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. We pray that you send your Holy Spirit upon our offering and gather in the fullness of the Holy Spirit your saints who participate; and confirm their faith in truth so that we might glorify you through Your Son, Jesus Christ, now and through the Ages. Amen.” -Apostolic Traditions 2 (Written 215 A. D.)
“The deacons bring the offerings of the people, and the presiding bishop gives thanks according to his ability, and the people respond, ‘Amen.’ Then the consecrated elements are distributed to each one, and they partake, while the deacons take what remains to those who are absent.” –Apostolic Tradition, Chapter 4
“It is one and the same sacrifice: He who now offers by the ministry of the priests is the same One who offered Himself then upon the cross; only the manner of offering is different.” –Epistle 63, 14
“Then, having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual hymns, we call upon the merciful God to send forth His Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before Him, that He may make the bread the Body of Christ, and the wine the Blood of Christ; for whatsoever the Holy Spirit has touched is surely sanctified and changed.” –Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 23, 7–9
“You have noticed that the deacon gives the priest water with which to wash. . . the washing is a symbol that you ought to be pure of all sin and lawless deeds.” -Catechetical Lectures 23:2
“After this, the priest calls out ‘Hearts aloft!’ For truly, in that solemn moment, it behooves us to have our hearts aloft to God. . . Then you answer: ‘We lift them up to the Lord!’. . . Let no one say this while he is preoccupied with physical cares.” – Catechetical Lectures 23:4
“Then the priest says: ‘Let us give thanks to the Lord!’ Surely we ought to give thanks for His having called us, as unworthy as we are to so great a grace. . . Then you say: ‘It is worthy and just!’ For in giving thanks we do a worthy and just thing for His having counted us worthy of such great benefits.” – Catechetical Lectures 23:5
“Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep, for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn sacrifice is laid out” –Catechetical Lectures 23:6-9
“This prayer we offer, setting forth the death of Christ, this, our thanksgiving for His having made the world and all things therein. For this reason, we beseech Him to send down His Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before Him, to make the bread the Body of Christ, and the wine the Blood of Christ.” –On the Holy Spirit, Chapter 27, 66
“We see that it is not that bread which is placed upon the altar, but it is transformed into the Body of Christ by the consecration of the priest. How can that which is bread be the Body of Christ? By consecration. Consecration is effected by the words and words belong to Christ. Therefore, when the time comes for the consecration of the precious sacrament, the priest uses not his own words, but he uses the words of Christ. Therefore, it is Christ’s words that affect this sacrament.” –On the Mysteries, Chapter 9, 52-54
“When you see the Lord sacrificed and lying upon the altar, and the priest standing and praying over the victim, and all that worshippers are empurpled with that precious Blood, do you then think that you are still among men, and standing upon the earth? Are you not, on the contrary, straightway translated to Heaven?” –Homilies on the Treachery of Judas, 1, 6
“Christ is both the priest, offering Himself, and the victim. He willed that the sacramental sign of this should be the daily sacrifice of the Church, which, since the Church is His Body and He is its head, learns to offer itself through Him.” –The City of God, Book 10, Chapter 20
Isidore of Pelusium (360-440 A.D.)
“When the bishop goes up to the church’s episcopal chair, he extends the peace, doing so in imitation of the peace Jesus left to his disciples. The people reply, “And with your spirit.” The meaning here is as follows. Lord, the peace you offered us is our unity together. Grant us peace, namely, a similar unity with you, a unity that can in no way be broken, so that we, made peaceful with your Spirit (indicated to us at creation’s beginning), may never be separated from your love.” –Letters to Various People CXII. Worship in the Early Church, An Anthology of Historical Sources, Volumes 1-4.
Victor of Vita (430-486 A.D.)
“Carrying candles in their hands and positioning their children before the martyrs, the people cried out, ‘To whom are you leaving us, we who are so pitiable, while you continue on to your crowns [of martyrdom]? Who will baptize these little ones with water from the eternal font? Who will grant us the favor of penance and free those bound by the fetters of sin, doing so by the forgiveness of reconciliation? We have been told that Whatever you loose upon earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Who will bury the dead with solemn prayers? Who will offer the accustomed rites of the divine sacrifice (the Mass)?” –A History of the African Province Persecution, in the Times of Genseric and Huneric, the Kings of the VandalsTIXXXIV. (II. 11). (Written ca. 484 A.D.). Worship in the Early Church, An Anthology of Historical Sources, Volumes 1-4. Lawrence J. Johnson. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota
Narsai of Nisibis (399-502 A.D.)
“Then the priest blesses the people using the words the life-giving mouth prescribed: ‘Peace be with you’ says the priest to the children of the Church, for peace is multiplied in Jesus our Lord who is our peace… The people answer the priest lovingly and say, ‘With you, O priest, and with your priestly spirit.’
. . . This shows that even the priest needs prayer, and it is necessary that the whole Church should intercede for him.” –Homily 17, an Exposition of the Mysteries. The Liturgical Homilies of Narsai, vol. 8, no. 1. Translated into English by Dom R. H. Connolly M.A. Cambridge, 1909
“The priest first blesses the people. [.. ] ‘The grace,’ he says, ‘of Jesus our Lord and the love of the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us – may the grace which our Lord has granted us by his coming give us confidence before his Majesty. May the love of the Father, who sent us the Son, who is from him- open for us the door of mercy in the day of his coming. May the communion of the Holy Spirit, of which we have been made worthy, sanctify and purge us from the filth of our sins.’” –Homily 17, an Exposition of the Mysteries. The Liturgical Homilies of Narsai, vol. 8, no. 1. Translated into English by Dom R. H. Connolly M.A. Cambridge, 1909
“All the priests in the sanctuary bear the image of the apostles who gathered at the tomb. Undoubtedly the altar is the symbol of the Lord’s tomb; the bread and wine are the body of the Lord which was embalmed and buried. The veil covering them is a type of the stone sealed by the ring of the priests and the executioners. And the deacons, standing on both sides and brandishing [fans], symbolize the angels at the head and feet [of the tomb]. All the deacons who minister before the altar are like the angels who surrounded our Lord’s tomb.” –Homily 17, an Exposition of the Mysteries. The Liturgical Homilies of Narsai, vol. 8, no. 1. Translated into English by Dom R. H. Connolly M.A. Cambridge, 1909
“Then the Church’s herald commands all the people to give the Peace, each one to his or her companions, doing so in the love of our Lord…. While the Peace is being shared in the church from one person to another, the book of the two (sets of] names, namely, those of the living and the dead, is read. The Church commemorates the living and the dead at this time so that it may declare that the living and the dead profit from the sacrifice.” –Homily 17, an Exposition of the Mysteries. The Liturgical Homilies of Narsai, vol. 8, no. 1. Translated into English by Dom R. H. Connolly M.A. Cambridge, 1909
“‘Pray, brethren, over the sacrifice we offer that it may be acceptable before God to whom it is offered, that by the brooding of the Holy Spirit it may become for us a cause of life in the heavenly kingdom.’ With these [words] the Church’s herald urges the people, exhorting them to pray to God with a pure heart. Full of awe and covered with fear and great dread, the priest now offers the mystery that redeems us. The priest begins to make earnest supplication before God, asking God in his love to graciously accept the living sacrifice that is being offered to him. He mentions the ecclesiastical orders, one after another, for whom the Church offers the venerable mysteries. First he commemorates the glorious Church that is in every place, asking that they [its members] may be of one mind and faith. He mentions the priests who are standing around and the deacons, entreating that they be made holy and pure. He recalls the martyrs, confessors, and doctors that they may be remembered in the Church during the mysteries. . . He also commemorates all the deceased who have departed in faith without doubting.” –Homily 17, an Exposition of the Mysteries. The Liturgical Homilies of Narsai, vol. 8, no. 1. Translated into English by Dom R. H. Connolly M.A. Cambridge, 1909
“All these the priest mentions before God. [. .] To this effect the priest prays before God, asking God to graciously accept the sacrifice which the priest offers him. On behalf of all is the living sacrifice offered within the Church, a sacrifice that assists and profits all creatures. By the priest’s supplication on behalf of all classes their sins and offenses are forgiven.” –Homily 17, an Exposition of the Mysteries. The Liturgical Homilies of Narsai, vol. 8, no. 1. Translated into English by Dom R. H. Connolly M.A. Cambridge, 1909
“The sacrifice of Christ is offered perpetually in the Mass, because by this mystery the Lord’s death is shown forth, and His Body and Blood are received, so that souls may be set free from sin, and obtain eternal life.” –Dialogues, Book 4, Chapter 58
Maximus the Confessor (580-662 A.D.)
“After the divine reading of the holy Gospel the bishop descends from his throne and there takes place the dismissal and sending away of the catechumens and of others unworthy of the divine vision of the mysteries to be displayed.” –Mystagogy: Chapter 14. Berthold, George C., trans. Maximus the Confessor: Selected Writings. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1985.
Non-Catholic Quotes:
Barbara Kay (born 1943), Jewish columnist for the Canadian newspaper National Post
“The power of liturgy to lift us out of our narrow practical and material pursuits is not dependent on our understanding of every actual word we are saying, any more than our emotional submission to classical music’s soaring magic is dependent on our ability to read the score that produced it. . . . An ancestral, globally employed language like Hebrew or Latin provides a context for predictable and organic communion amongst those present at the service. Through regular engagement, even though rote, with a universally recognized language, worshippers are subliminally imbued with a common motivational narrative from the past, common moral goals in the present and intimations of a common destiny in the future.” –National Post, “Latin’s Second Coming,” October 18, 2006.
David Chilton, Evangelical Bible Scholar
“God’s people have been saved from the whoredoms of the world to become the Bride of his only begotten Son; and the constant token of this fact is the Church’s weekly celebration of her sacred feast, the Holy Eucharist. The absolute fidelity of this promise is underscored by the angel’s assurance to John that these are the true words of God [Rev. 19:9]. It should go without saying (but, unfortunately, it cannot), that the Eucharist is the center of Christian worship. . . The greatest privilege of the Church is her weekly participation in the Eucharistic meal, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
“It is a tragedy that so many churches in our day neglect the Lord’s Supper, observing it only on rare occasions (some so- called churches have even abandoned Communion altogether). What we must realize is that the official worship service of the Church on the Lord’s Day is not merely a Bible study or some informal get-together of like-minded souls; to the contrary, it is the formal wedding feast of the Bride with the Bridegroom.” –David Chilton’s The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Fort Worth: Dominion, 1987).