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Following the order of the pre- Vatican II text, some remarks will be added about its expression and the ceremonies that accompany it. The whole Canon is now said silently. The priest should just hear his own voice (this is especially important in the case of the words of Consecration, since the form of every sacrament must be sensible), but should not be heard by the bystanders. This law began with the reduplication of the parts of the celebrant and choir. For many centuries the celebrant has not waited till the choir have finished their part, but goes on at once with his prayers -- except in the cases of the Gloria and Creed, where he has to sing aloud as soon as they have done.

Mabillon quotes from the older Roman ordines that originally "the priest did not begin the Canon until the singing of the Sanctus was over" (In ord. Rom. comm., XXI). The singing of the Sanctus and Benedictus then made it necessary for the priest at the altar to speak the Canon in a low voice. How little this was ever considered really essential is shown by the fact that at an ordination, almost the only case of concelebration left in the West, all the concelebrants say the Canon together aloud. There are also mystic reasons for the silent prayers of the Canon. They are thus shown to be purely Sacerdotal , belonging only to the priest, the silence increases our reverence at the most sacred moment of the Mass, removes the Consecration from ordinary vulgar use, and is a symbol of our Lord's silent prayer in the Garden and silence during his Passion (Suarez, disp. lxxxiii, I, 25). The celebrant lifts up his hands, joins them, also lifting up his eyes, and then bows deeply before the altar, resting his joined hands on it.

This ceremony should come before the "Te igitur", so that he does not begin the prayer till he is bowing before the altar. It is an obvious gesture, a sort of mute invocation as the beginning of the Consecration prayer. The first three prayers are always noted as belonging together and making three parts of one prayer ("Te igitur", "Memento Domine", "Communicantes"), which is closed for itself by the "Per Christum Dominum nostrum, Amen". It is now a law that a picture of the Crucifixion should be placed at the beginning of the Canon. Innocent III (1198-1216) notes that in his time this was already the custom. The Crucifix grew out of the adornment of the letter T with which the Canon begins. Innocent thinks that the presence of the T at that place is a special work of Divine Providence (Inn. III, De Sacro altaris myst., I, 3, c. ii, P.L., CCXVII).


TE IGITUR


We have already considered the "igitur". Unless some such theory as that of Drews be admitted, its presence will always be a difficulty. Gihr (Messopfer, 550), as we have said, thinks that it implies merely a general connection with the Preface: "Because we have praised Thee and glorified Thee, therefore we now pray Thee to accept these gifts". The kiss of the altar after "petimus" is not mentioned by the earlier writers. It is noted by Sicardus (d.1215, Mitrale, III, 6, P.L., CCXIII). At one time the celebrant kissed both the altar and the crucifix in the Missal at the beginning of the Canon (Ordo Rom. XIV, 53, fourteenth century). After kissing the altar the celebrant makes three signs of the cross over the bread and wine. It is the first of the many blessings of the gifts in the Canon and is joined to the kiss as one ceremony. He then stands erect and lifts up his hands, as at the collects (now they may not be lifted above the shoulders, Ritus cel., V, 1). This is the traditional attitude of prayer that may be seen in the pictures of Orantes in the catacombs. It is observed throughout the Canon. The priest prays first for the Church, then for the pope and diocesan ordinary by name. Antistes, from antisto (proistemi), is one of the many older words for "bishop". At the pope's name a slight inclination is made. When the Roman See is vacant, the mention of the pope is left out. In Rome the bishop's name is left out; the pope is local bishop there. The bishop must be canonically appointed and confirmed, otherwise he is not mentioned. But he need not yet be consecrated. It is always the ordinary of the diocese, even in the case of regulars who are exempt. A diocesan bishop in saying Mass changes the form "et Antistite nostro N." into "et me indigno servo tuo". The pope naturally uses these words instead of "una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro N.", and omits the clause about the bishop. The mention of the pope always occurs at this place. Otherwise in the Middle Ages there was a great variety in the names. A very old custom was to name the sovereign after the bishop ("et pro rege nostro N." or "Imperatore nostro N."). Pope Celestine I (422-32) refers to it in a letter to Theodosius II. Boniface I (418-22) writes to Emperor Honorius: "Behold in the very mysteries, among the prayers which the bishop offers for your Empire . . ." (Drews, Entstehungsgesch., 7). So also the "De Sacramentis" says: "Prayer is offered for the people, for the king, for the others" (IV, iv). Throughout the Middle Ages the sovereign was always named. Pius V removed the clause from the Missal. In the case of Catholic princes a privilege is given by which they are put in. In Austria the clause "et pro Imperatore nostro Francisco Josepho" is always added by the celebrant, and in Hungary it becomes of course "pro rege nostro". At one time the priest went on to pray for himself at this place (Bona, Rerum liturg., II, 11). Ebner quotes as the commonest form: "Mihi quoque indignissimo famulo tuo propitius esse digneris et ab omnibus me peccatorum offensionibus emundare" (Miss. Rom., 401). We have already noted this as being almost exactly a version of the Alexandrine form. The word "orthodoxi" that follows is very rare in the West. It is a link between our Canon and the Antiochene Anaphora.


COMMEMORATIO PRO VIVIS


The celebrant does not now name anyone aloud at the "N et N." After "tuarum" he joins his hands and prays silently for anyone he likes. This is the place where the diptychs for the living were read. A diptych (diptychos, from dis and ptysso, twice-folded) was a table folding in two like a book, on which names were written and then read out. Some authorities admit and some deny that the priest in his silent prayer may name people who are outside the Church. As this prayer is a private one (as shown by the folding of the hands) there is no law to forbid him from so doing. He goes on to mention the bystanders, who are thus always specially prayed for at Mass. "Pro quibus tibi offerimus, vel qui tibi offerunt" is a reduplication. The first half ("pro quibus tibi offerimus") is missing in all early sacramentaries, also in the Greek version (Swainson, 196). It occurs, however, in the parallel text of the Syrian Liturgy. Both parts refer to the same persons, for whom the priests and his assistants offer the Sacrifice and who themselves also join in the offering by their presence. "Sacrifice of praise" (Ps. xlix, 23), "For the forgiveness of their sins" and "For the hope of their safety and health", are three expressions connoting the threefold character of the Mass as praise, atonement, and petition.


COMMUNICANTES


This prayer is headed by the rubric "Infra Actionem". Why is it put here? The "Communicantes" has a small addition on the five chief days of the year, Christmas, the Epiphany, Easter, Ascension Day, and Whitsunday, referring to the feast. The beginning of the text with these additions is placed among the prefaces, after the corresponding proper preface for each feast. Placed there, the rubric that heads it is obvious. For each feast there is the special preface and, moreover, "Infra Actionem", that is, "Within the Canon", a further change is made. From its place among the prefaces as a natural heading to the "Communicantes" this rubric has found its way into the Canon, when people had begun to look upon it as the title of that prayer. The Gelasian Sacramentary has it, when the "Communicantes" occurs with an addition among the Propers (e.g. Wilson, 80), but it has not yet found its way into the Ordinary (ib., 234). These five additions to the "Communicantes", all of them very beautiful and very ancient (they are all, with slight variations, in the Gelasian book), are the only ones left by Pius V, where at one time many more feasts had sometimes long references. "Communicantes" means simply "in union with". The participles here have given rise to much discussion; no finite verb follows, nor does any go before to which they can suitably refer. It is simply a case of late Latin that is not strictly grammatical. It must be understood as standing for a finite verb, as if it were "Communicamus cum eis et memoriam veneramus eorum". There are parallel examples in the Vulgate of a participle standing for a finite verb (e.g. Romans 9:6 sqq., where the Greek has the same anomaly). In the lists of saints that follows, Our Lady of course always holds the first place. She is here named very solemnly with her title of "Mother of God", as in the corresponding Eastern Anaphoras. It is strange that St. John the Baptist, who should come next, has been left out here. He is named in both the Eastern liturgies at this place (Brightman, 93 and 169), and finds his right place at the head of our other list (in the "Nobis quoque"). After Our Lady follow twelve Apostles and twelve martyrs. The Apostles are not arranged in quite the same order as in any of the Gospels. St. Paul at the head, with St. Peter, makes up the number for Judas. St. Matthias is not named here, but in the "Nobis quoque". The twelve martyrs are evidently arranged to balance the Apostles. First come five popes, then a bishop (St. Cyprian), and a deacon (St. Lawrence), then five laymen. All these saints, except St. Cyprian, are local Roman saints, as is natural in what was originally the local Roman Liturgy. It is noticeable that St. Cyprian (d. 258), who had a serious misunderstanding with a Roman pope, is the only foreigner honoured by the Roman Church by being named among her own martyrs. The fact has been quoted to show how completely his disagreement with Pope Stephen was forgotten, and how Stephen's successors remembered him only as one of the chief and most glorious martyrs of the West. The cult of saints was at first the cult of martyrs; all those in both lists in the Canon died for the Faith. Gregory III (731-41) added to the Vatican basilica a chapel containing a great number of relics and dedicated to All Saints. He ordered the monks who served this chapel to add to the "Communicantes" after the words "et omnium Sanctorum tuorum" the further clause: "quorum solemnitas hodie in conspectu tuo celebratur, Domine Deus noster, in toto orbe terrarum". The text is found in some medieval Missals. A certain number of Missals also contained additions about special patrons to be used on their feasts (Benedict XIV, De SS. Missæ sacr., 162). All these clauses disappeared at Pius V's reform, except that in some French churches the names of St. Hilary and St. Martin are still added to the list (Duchesne, Origines, 172). This first complex of prayers forms the chief part of the great Intercession that occurs in all liturgies. We notice again the strange fact that at Rome it is divided in two by the Consecration.


HANC IGITUR


This prayer has already been considered, the most remarkable of all in the Canon. Here it need only be added that the "Hanc igitur" receives an addition (after the words "familiæ tuæ) on four occasions only, on Maundy Thursday, Easter, Whitsunday, and in the Mass at a bishop's consecration. The additions will be found on the feasts in the Missal, and in the Consecration service in the Pontifical. On Maundy Thursday an allusion is made to "the day on which our Lord Jesus gave the mysteries of his Body and Blood to his disciples to be consecrated"; Easter and Whitsunday have an identical form (a prayer for the newly baptised), and the Consecration Mass has a clause "which we offer to Thee also for this Thy servant new bishop says: "for me Thy servant whom Thou hast deigned to promote to the order of Episcopacy". The Gelasian Sacramentary has as many as thirty-eight special forms to be intercalated at this place, in which allusions are made to all kinds of special intentions. For instance, in a requiem Mass, "which we offer to Thee for the repose of the soul of thy servant N." (Wilson, 307); for a wedding, "This oblation of thy servants N. and N., which they offer to Thee for thy handmaid N., we beg Thee mercifully to accept, that as Thou hast allowed her to come to the fitting age for marriage, so Thou mayest allow her, being joined to her husband by thy grace, to rejoice in the offspring she desires and mayest mercifully bring her with her spouse to the desired length of years; and dispose our days in thy peace", etc. (ib., 265). During the "Hanc igitur" the priest, who has joined his hands at the preceding "Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen", spreads them over the offerings. This is a late ceremony. It occurs first in the fifteenth century. Formerly the celebrant lifted up his hands as before, but made a profound inclination (Durandus, VI, 39). This older rite is still used by the Dominicans and Carmelites. The imposition of hands seems to have been introduced merely as a way of practically touching the sacrifice at this point, at which it is so definitely named in the prayer. At the "Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen" following, the priest again (as always at these words) folds his hands. The "Hanc igitur", with the two following prayers, may be considered as forming a second member of the Canon, threefold like the first.


QUAM OBLATIONEM


This prayer has been noticed, as well as its echo of "Hanc oblationem". The offering is accompanied by five epithets. The "De Sacramentis" has only three, "adscriptam, rationabilem, acceptabilemque" (IV, v). The word "rationabilis" occurs in Rom., xii, 1. "In omnibus" means "thoroughly". There follows naturally a petition that the offering may "become to us the Body and Blood of thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ". "De Sacramentis" has: "which is a figure of the Body and Blood", as in Serapion's Prayer and in Tertullian, "Adv. Marc.", III, xix and IV, xl. During this prayer the sign of the cross is made five times over the offering -- a further blessing of the bread and wine about to be consecrated.


QUI PRIDIE


Such a form is in all liturgies the connecting link between an allusion to Christ that has gone before and the words of Institution that follow immediately (Brightman, Antioch, 51, Alexandria, 132). The short form, "Who, the day before he died, took bread", is in other rites sometimes expanded into a longer account of the Passion (ib., 20, 87, 176, etc.).


GRATIAS AGENS


The word Thanksgiving (Eucharist) always occurs here. Benedict XIV notices that we do not read in the Gospels that Christ lifted up his eyes at the Last Supper, and he says it is a tradition that Christ did so, as He did at the miracle of the loaves and fishes (De SS. Missæ sacr., 160). The words of Institution for the bread are the same in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19) and in I Cor., xi, 23. The Church has added to this form (Hoc est corpus meum) the word enim, and she leaves out the continuation "which is given for you", that occurs in St. Luke and I Cor. The "enim" seems to have found its way here through analogy with the consecration of the chalice, where it occurs in St. Matthew. This prayer admits of one addition in the year; on Maundy Thursday the form is used: "Who the day before He suffered for our salvation and for that of all men, that is today, He took bread", etc. At the beginning of the "Qui pridie" the celebrant takes the bread (only the host that he himself will receive in Communion) between the forefingers and thumbs of both hands. These fingers are then not separated again, unless when he touches the Blessed Sacrament, till they have been washed at the last ablutions (Rit. cel., VIII, 5). The reason of this is, of course, lest any crumb may have remained between them. He lifts up his eyes at the words "elevatis oculis", and makes a sign of the cross over the host at the word "benedixit". If other hosts are to be consecrated they stay on the corporal. The ciborium (if there is one) is opened before the words: "Qui pridie". The words of Institution are said "secretly, plainly, and attentively" over the host and over all, if several are to be consecrated. The Catholic Church has always believed that the words of Institution are those that consecrate. Immediately therefore follows the ceremony of the Elevation. The priest genuflects on one knee, still holding the Blessed Sacrament, rises, lifts it up above his head to show it to the people, replaces it on the corporal and genuflects again. An adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at this point is an old rite. The first Roman Ordo, which does not give the words of Consecration, says that during the Canon "the bishops, deacons, subdeacons, and priests stay in the presbytery bowing down" ("inclinati", ed. Atchley, 138). On account of the heresy of Berengarius (1088), the Elevation was introduced in France in the twelfth, and then throughout the West in the thirteenth, century. Gregory X (1271-76) ordered it to be used throughout the West in his Ceremonial (Ordo Rom. XIII). At first only the Host, not the Chalice, was elevated. The priest's genuflexions were not introduced till later. In the fourteenth century he still only bowed his head (Ordo Rom. XIV, 53). Meanwhile the assistants kneel and bow low. Durandus says "they prostrate themselves reverently on the ground", so also the XIII Roman Ordo. However, since the only object of the Elevation is to show the Blessed Sacrament to the people, this does not mean that they should not look up at it. At each genuflexion, and between them at the elevation, the bell is rung. This ceremony also begins in the fourteenth century. Durandus notices it (IV, 41). The bell should be sounded three times at each elevation, or continuously from the first to the second genuflexion (Rit. cel., VIII, 6). This is the first sounding of the bell ordered by the rubrics after the Sanctus. The common practice of ringing at the "Hanc igitur" has no authority. The server also lifts up the chasuble with his left hand at the elevation, not at the genuflexion (Rubr. gen., VIII, 6). This is to keep back the vestment (which the rubrics always suppose to cover the arms) while the priest elevates. With a modern Roman-shaped chasuble it is a mere form, and a memory of better days. As soon as the celebrant rises from the second genuflexion he continues the Consecration prayer.


SIMILI MODO


So all liturgies (hosautos at Antioch, Brightman, 52, and at Alexandria, ib., 133). "Postquam coenatum est"; the Canon supposes that the cup our Lord consecrated was the last of the Hillelcups. "Hunc præclarum calicem", a dramatic identification of the Mass with the Last Supper. The Consecration-form for the chalice is put together from the four accounts of the Last Supper quoted above. It is mainly from St. Matthew (xxvi, 26); "Calix Sanguinis mei" is adapted from St. Luke and St. Paul, "pro vobis" from St. Luke, "pro multis" from St. Matthew; and the last clause, "Hæc quotiescumque feceritis", etc., is again slightly modified from St. Paul. Moreover, two additions have been made to it that are not in the New Testament at all, "et æterni" and "mysterium fidei". This last clause especially has been much discussed (Gihr, 599). It seems that it was originally a warning spoken by the deacon. The catechumens have been sent away before the Offertory; at the Consecration he again warns the people that it is not for catechumens, it is a "mystery of Faith", that is a mystery for the faithful (the baptised) only. The ceremonies at this Consecration are the same as those for the preceding one, except that the deacon (at low Mass here, as always, the celebrant must supply the deacon's part himself) takes the pall from the chalice before the words of Consecration and replaces it as soon as the chalice is put down after its Elevation. The words "Haec quotiescumque", etc., are now generally said during the first genuflexion. In the Middle Ages they were often said after the Elevation (Ordo Rom. XIV, 53). At high Mass a certain amount of very natural ritual has been added to both elevations. At least two torches are lit or brought in by the acolytes, which are removed after the elevation (on fast days and for requiem Masses they stay till the end of the Communion). The thurifer puts incense into his thurible, and incenses the Blessed Sacrament thrice at each elevation (Ritus cel., VIII, 8).


UNDE ET MEMORES


A solemn memory of Christ's life, death and resurrection (the Anamnesis), naturally following the words "as often as you shall do these things, do them in memory of me", comes immediately after the words of Institution in all liturgies (Apost. Const. Brightman, 20, St. James, ib., 52, St Mark, 133). The five signs of the cross made over the Blessed Sacrament during this prayer have often been discussed. Before the Consecration such signs are obviously blessings of the offering. How can blessings be given to what is now consecrated and has become the Real Presence? St. Thomas says the blessings refer to the "terminus a quo", the bread and wine, not to the "terminus ad quem", the Body and Blood of Christ (III:83:5 ad 3). People have seen in them symbols representing our offering to God, memories of the Crucifixion, blessings for the future communicants (Bossuet, Médit. sur l'Evang., I, 63), or merely a way of pointing to the Blessed Sacrament. It seems that really here again is one more case of what is very common in all our rites, namely, a dramatic representation that does not consider at what moment the effect of a Sacrament is really produced. Such effects must really all happen at one instant, the moment the matter and form are complete. But the Church cannot with words express everything in one instant; moreover before scholastic days people did not ask very closely about the actual moment. So we continually have such dramatic divisions of one simple act, and continually in her prayers the Church goes on asking for something that really must already have been granted. So in our baptism service the devil is driven out before, and the white robe and candle given after the actual baptism. The truth of these symbols presumably occurs at one instant. Our ordination service is a still more striking instance. Long after the subject is ordained priest, after he has concelebrated, the bishop gives him the power of forgiving sins which is certainly involved in the priesthood he has already received. So these blessings after the Consecration need be only such dramatic forms as our expression, "Receive . . . this spotless Host", said at the Offertory long before. The question is important because of the Epiklesis.


SUPRA QUAE


This prayer, too, with its memory of sacrifices in the Old Testament (Abel, Abraham, Melchisedech), is common to other liturgies. St. Mark's Rite mentions the offerings of Abel, Abraham, Zachary's incense, the alms of Cornelius and the widow's mite (Brightman, 129; cf. the Coptic form, 171). The words sanctum sacrificium immaculatam Hostiam are said to have been added by St. Leo I (440-61; Ben. XIV, "De SS. Missæ Sacr., II, xii, p. 161). They do not occur in the text as given in "De Sacramentis". Grammatically they must refer to Melchisedech's sacrifice.


SUPPLICES TE ROGAMUS


This prayer is commonly believed to be the remnant of the Roman Epiklesis (Duchesne joins the preceding "Supra quæ" to it as making up the Invocation, "Origines", 173). It seems certain that our liturgy, like all the others, once had an Epiklesis, and this would be its natural place. Even as late as the time of Pope Gelasius I (492-96) there seems to have still been one. He writes: "How shall the Heavenly Spirit, when He is invoked to consecrate the divine mystery, come, if the priest and he who prays Him to come is guilty of bad actions?" (Ep., vii; Thiel, Ep. Rom. Pont., I, 486: "si sacerdos, et qui eum adesse deprecatur". By striking out the "et" we have a much plainer sentence: "If the priest who prays Him to come".) Watterich (Konsekrationsmoment, 166), and Drews (Entstehungsgesch., 28) think that several of the Secrets in the Leonine Sacramentary (which does not contain the Canon) are really Epikleses, For instance: "Send, we pray Thee O Lord, thy Holy Spirit, who shall make these our present gifts into thy Sacrament for us", etc. (ed. Feltoe, p. 74; XXX Mass for July). The chief reason for considering our prayer "Supplices te rogamus" as the fragment of an Epiklesis is its place in the Canon, which corresponds exactly to that of the Epiklesis (following the Anamnesis) in the Syrian Rite (Brightman, 54). But its form is hardly that of an Epiklesis. The first words of the preceding prayer, "Supra quæ propitio ac sereno vultu respicere digneris", suggest the beginning of the Alexandrine Epiklesis: "Look down upon us and upon this bread and this wine" (Brightman, 134), and the last part (Sacrosanctum Filii tui Corpus et Sanguinem) have perhaps a vague resemblance; but certainly the chief thing, the Invocation of the Holy Ghost to change this bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is wanting. Moreover there is a prayer in the Alexandrine Liturgy which corresponds singularly to these two prayers ("Supra quæ" and "Supplices"): "the Sacrifices . . . of them that offer honour and glory to thy holy name receive upon thy reasonable altar in heaven . . . through the ministry of thy holy angels and archangels; like as Thou didst accept the gifts of righteous Abel and the sacrifice of our father Abraham", etc. (Brightman, I, 170, 171; the Greek form, 129). And this is not an Epiklesis but an Offertory prayer, coming in the middle of the Intercession that with them fills up what we should call the Preface. On the other hand the end of the "Supplices te rogamus" (from "ut quotquot") corresponds very closely to the end of both Eastern Epikleses. Antioch has here: "that it may become to all who partake of it" (quotquot ex hac Altaris participatione) "for a forgiveness of sins and for life everlasting" etc. (Brightman, 54); and at Alexandria the form is: "that it may become to all of us who partake of it (a source of) Faith", etc. (ib., 134). It seems, then, that this prayer in our Canon is a combination of the second part of an Invocation (with the essential clause left out) and an old Offertory prayer. It has been suggested that the angel mentioned here is the Holy Ghost -- an attempt to bring it more into line with the proper form of an Invocation. There is however no foundation for this assertion. We have seen that the Alexandrine form has the plural "thy holy angels"; so has the Latin form in "De Sacramentis"; "per manus angelorum tuorum" (IV, v). The reference is simply to an angel or to angels who assist at the throne of God and carry our prayers to Him (Tob., xii, 12, etc.). We have already seen that the order and arrangement of our Canon presents difficulties; this is a further case in point. As for the vanished Invocation itself, it will probably always remain a mystery what has become of it. Watterich (op. cit., p. 142) thinks that it was Gelasius himself who removed it from this place and put it before the words of Institution. And indeed the prayer "Quam oblationem" has a curious suggestion of an Invocation in its terms. On the other hand an Epiklesis before the words of Institution would be an anomaly unparalleled in any rite in the world. To come back to the rubrics, the celebrant has resumed the normal attitude of standing with uplifted hands after the "Unde et memores", except that now the forefingers and thumbs remain joined; at the "Supplices te rogamus" he bows deeply over the altar -- a ceremony obviously in accordance with the nature of its first words -- resting his joined hands on it; and he stays so to the words" ex hac altaris participatione" at which he kisses the altar, rises, joins his hands, and makes the sign of the cross over the Host at "Corpus", over the chalice at "Sanguinem", and on himself at "omni benedictione" (while he crosses himself, the left hand is, as always in this case, laid on the breast). He joins his hands for "Per eumdem", etc., and lifts them up for the next prayer. The next two prayers complete the Intercession, of which we have the greater part before the Consecration.


COMMEMORATIO PRO DEFUNCTIS


The place of this prayer has often been changed (Ebner. Miss. Rom., 420). If we accept Drews' theory that an original memory of the faithful departed was once joined to what is now the second half of the "Hanc igitur", it would follow that this prayer must be a later one, introduced after the "Hanc igitur" had changed its meaning. This is confirmed by the fact that it is absent from the Canon in the Gelasian Sacramentary (ed. Wilson, 235). Why "Memento etiam"? This would seem to refer to a commemoration of some one else, that should come just before. If we arrange the Canon as above, this prayer comes naturally just after the Commemoration of the Living and the "Communicantes" (we have seen that such is the order of the Eastern liturgies), and then this "etiam" refers quite naturally to the parallel commemoration of the living. In any case it must always be a mystery that these two last prayers, obviously forming the conclusion of the Intercession, should stand out here by themselves. Gihr finds a mystic reason for this, because the living offer with the priest, but the dead do not (Messopfer, 626). The ritual is the same as for the other Memento. The celebrant may not now say any names at the place marked "N. et N."; passing on, he reads "Famularumque tuarum, qui nos præcesserunt", etc., and after "in somno pacis", folding his hands, he silently prays for anyone he likes. The diptychs of the dead of course once were read here. Now no names are ever read out at either Commemoration. Benedict XIV quotes a case in which names were read out at the "N. et N." in the sixteenth century (De SS. Missæ Sacr., 220). At the final clause "Per eumdem", etc., the priest not only folds his hands but bows the head -- a unique case in the Roman Rite, for which there has not been found any satisfactory explanation. Benedict XIV quotes from Cavalieri a mystic reason -- because Christ bowed His head when He died, and we here think of the dead (p. 219). The rubric occurs in Pius V's Missal.


NOBIS QUOQUE PECCATORIBUS


A prayer for ourselves that naturally follows that for the faithful departed, although the Commemoration for the Living has gone before. So the Eastern liturgies (St. James, Brightman, 57; St. Mark, ib., 129). The parallel between this prayer and the latter half of the "Hanc igitur" has already been noticed. It is a petition that we too may find a good death and be admitted to the glorious company of the saints. The names of saints that follow are arranged rhythmically, as in "Communicantes". Like the others they are all martyrs. First comes St. John the Baptist, as Our Lady before, then seven men and seven women. After the first martyr, St. Stephen, St. Matthias finds here the place he has not been given among the Apostles in the other list. The Peter here is a Roman exorcist martyred at Silva Candida (now part of the Diocese of Porto, near Rome). His feast with St. Marcellinus is on 2 June. The female saints are all well known. Benedict XIV quotes from Adalbert, "De Virginitate", that St. Gregory I, having noticed that no female saints occur in the Canon, added these seven here (p. 162). This list of saints, like the other one, was subject to local additions in the Middle Ages (ib., 223). The celebrant strikes his breast and slightly raises his voice at the words: "Nobis quoque peccatoribus". This rite (the only case of part of the Canon being spoken aloud, if we except the "Per omnia sæcula sæculorum" that closes it) is a reminder to the assistants that he has come to the prayer for all of those now present, in which prayer they may join. There is no Amen after the "Per Christum Dominum nostrum", since now the following words, "Per quem", follow it at once Nevertheless after it comes a noticeable break in the Canon.


PER QUEM HæC OMNIA


Again, a difficult text. It has no connection with what goes before; the words "hæc omnia" refer to nothing in the former prayer. Moreover, the prayer itself is not easily explained. God is said to "sanctify, enliven, bless and give to us these good things". What good things? Such a form as applied to what is already the Blessed Sacrament is very strange. Duchesne notes that at this point fruits of the earth and various kinds of foods were brought up and blessed by the celebrant; thus the milk and honey once given to the newly baptised at Easter and Whitsunday, beans on Ascension day, grapes on the feast of St. Sixtus (6 August). And even yet at this point the Holy Oils are blessed on Maundy Thursday (Origines, 174-75). He sees in this prayer, then, an old blessing of such fruits; the "hæc omnia bona" were once the good things of the earth. Now the form must be taken as again a dramatic representation like the sign of the cross after the Consecration. Finally this prayer and the whole Canon ends with a stately doxology. The "Per omnis sæcula sæculorum" is said aloud, or sung at high Mass. The answer, "Amen", of the people, closes the Canon. Signs of the cross are made at the three words: "Sanctificas, vivificas, benedicis", and the doxology has a special ritual. The celebrant uncovers the chalice and genuflects, makes three signs of the cross with the Host over the chalice at the three forms: "per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso", two more signs over the altar in front of the chalice at "Patri omnipotenti" and "Spiritus Sancti", and finally at "omnis honor and gloria" he slightly elevates the chalice with the left hand, holding the Host above it with the right. He then replaces both, covers the chalice (at high Mass the deacon always uncovers and covers the chalice), genuflects and with joined hands says: "Per omnia sæcula sæculorum". So he goes on to the Embolism of the Our Father. This ceremony went through slight changes in the Middle Ages Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) notices it, II, Q. lxxxiii, a. 5, ad 3 ; the essence of it is the Elevation, made to show the people the Blessed Sacrament. The reason why these crosses are formed with the Host is that it is just about to be elevated. The priest has already taken it up to elevate it (Gihr, 650, n. 2). This corresponds more or less to the point at which the Eastern Churches elevate (Antioch, Brightman, 61; Alexandria, 138). It is the original Elevation of the Roman use, and till the heresy of Berengarius it was the only one. We note finally that at and after the Consecration the Host, chalice, ciborium, and all other Hosts that may be consecrated, must always be placed on the altarstone, if it is a movable altar, and on the corporal. Also the celebrant, whenever he lays his hand on the altar before the Consecration, does so outside the corporal; after the Consecration he lays it on the corporal.