This morning's General Audience began at 9:35am in the Paul VI Hall, where the Holy Father, Pope Francis met with groups of pilgrims and the faithful from Italy and from every corner of the world.
In his speech, the Pope continued the new cycle of catechesis, adding his meditation on the introductory rites of the Mass.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, I want to enter into the life of the eucharistic celebration. The Mass is composed of two parts which are the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. These two parts are closely linked in order to form one act of worship (cf Sacrosanctum Concilium, 56; Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 28). Introduced by some preparatory rites and concluding with others, the celebration is therefore a single body and cannot be separated, but in order to better understand the Mass, I will try to explain the various moments, each of which is capable of touching and involving a dimension of our humanity. We need to know these signs in order to fully experience the Mass and to be able to savour all its beauty.
When the people are gathered, the celebration opens with the introductory rites, including the entrance of the celebrants or the celebrant, the greeting - The Lord be with you or Peace be with you - the penitential act: I Confess to Almighty God, in which we ask pardon for our sins - the Kyrie eleison - the singing of the Gloria - and the Collect Prayer: it is called the Collect Prayer, not because it is a matter of collecting our offerings, but rather because it collects the prayer intentions of all the people; and that collection of the people's prayer intentions rises to heaven in the form of a prayer. Their purpose - the reason for these introductory rites - is to ensure that the faithful, gathered into a community, are able to dispose themselves to listening in faith to the word of God and to worthily celebrating the Eucharist (Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 46). It is not a good habit to be looking at our watches and saying: We are on time, we will arrive after the sermon and in time to satisfy our obligation. The Mass begins with the sign of the Cross, with these introductory rites, in these simple acts, the community begins our adoration of God. This is the reason why it is important for us not to arrive late, in fact, we should arrive a bit in advance in order to prepare our hearts for these rites and for the community celebration.
While the Entrance Hymn is sung, the priest, along with the other ministers enter in procession, and once they have arrived at the altar, they bow as a sign of veneration and the priest kisses the altar and, when incense is used, he incenses the altar. Why? Because the altar is Christ: it is the figure of Christ. We we look to the altar, we see precisely where Christ is. The altar is Christ. These gestures, which risk going un-noticed, are very significant, because they express the fact that from the very beginning of the Mass, we are involved in a loving encounter with Christ, who by offering his body on the cross ... became an altar, a victim and a priest (Easter Preface V). In fact, the altar, as a sign of Christ, is the centre of the action of graces which are accomplished by the Eucharist (Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 296), with the entire community gathered around the altar, which is Christ; not to look at one another in the face, but to look to Christ, for Christ is at the centre of the community; he is not far away from us.
Then there is the sign of the cross. The priest who is presiding traces it upon himself and everyone in the assembly does the same, aware that the liturgical act takes place in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And here I go on to another small subject. Have you ever seen children making the sign of the cross? They don't know what they are doing: sometimes they look like they are drawing, and this is not the sign of the cross. Please: moms and dads, grandparents, teach your children, right from the start - from the time they are very small - to make the sign of the cross well. Explain to them that they are protected by the cross of Jesus. The Mass begins with the sign of the cross. Every prayer moves, so to speak, in the space of the Most Holy Trinity - In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit - which is a space of infinite communion; its origin and it's end is love in One Triune God, manifested and given to us on the Cross of Christ. In fact, his paschal ministry is a gift of the Trinity, and the Eucharist always flows from his pierced heart. Marking ourselves with the sign of the cross, we therefore not only keep the memory of our Baptism, but we also affirm the fact that liturgical prayer is our encounter with God in Christ Jesus, who took on flesh for our sakes, died on a cross and rose in glory.
The priest then offers the liturgical greeting with the expression: The Lord be with you or another similar phrase - there are several possibilities - and the assembly responds: And with your spirit. We are in a dialogue, we are at the beginning of the Mass and we should think about the significance of all these gestures and words. We have entered into a symphony, in which there are numerous tones and voices, including times of silence, aimed at creating agreement among all the participants, which is to say that all the participants are animated by one Spirit and everyone toward the same purpose. In effect the priestly greeting and the response of the people manifest the mystery of the assembled Church (Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 50). In this way, the common faith and the mutual desire to be with the Lord and to live in unity with the entire community is expressed.
And this is a symphony of prayer, which is created and presented immediately at the most touching moment, because those who preside invite everyone else to recognize their own sins. We are all sinners. I don't know, maybe someone among you is not a sinner ... If there is someone who is not a sinner, raise your hand, please, so that everyone else can see you. But ... there aren't any hands raised, ok: you have good faith! We are all sinners; this is the reason why at the beginning of the Mass, we ask for forgiveness. It is called the penitential act. It's not merely a matter of thinking about the sins we have committed, but much more: it is an invitation to confess our sins before God and before the community, before our brothers and sisters, with humility and sincerity, like the tax collector in the temple. If the Eucharist truly makes the paschal mystery present, that is to say the passage of Christ from death to life, then the first thing that we should do is to recognize the situations in which we too have died or are dying in order to rise again with Him to new life. This helps us to understand how important the penitential act is. For this reason, we will continue the explanation in the next catechesis.
Step by step, we will continue the explanation of the Mass. But I would recommend right now that you teach your children the proper way to make the sign of the cross: please!
The Holy Father's catechesis was then translated in abbreviated form in various languages and the Pope offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the student groups from Australia and the United States of America. In these final days before our celebration of Christmas, I invoke upon you and your families the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his speech, the Pope continued the new cycle of catechesis, adding his meditation on the introductory rites of the Mass.
After having summarized his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance.
The General Audience concluded with the chanting of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic blessing.
Catechesis of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the General Audience
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, I want to enter into the life of the eucharistic celebration. The Mass is composed of two parts which are the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. These two parts are closely linked in order to form one act of worship (cf Sacrosanctum Concilium, 56; Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 28). Introduced by some preparatory rites and concluding with others, the celebration is therefore a single body and cannot be separated, but in order to better understand the Mass, I will try to explain the various moments, each of which is capable of touching and involving a dimension of our humanity. We need to know these signs in order to fully experience the Mass and to be able to savour all its beauty.
When the people are gathered, the celebration opens with the introductory rites, including the entrance of the celebrants or the celebrant, the greeting - The Lord be with you or Peace be with you - the penitential act: I Confess to Almighty God, in which we ask pardon for our sins - the Kyrie eleison - the singing of the Gloria - and the Collect Prayer: it is called the Collect Prayer, not because it is a matter of collecting our offerings, but rather because it collects the prayer intentions of all the people; and that collection of the people's prayer intentions rises to heaven in the form of a prayer. Their purpose - the reason for these introductory rites - is to ensure that the faithful, gathered into a community, are able to dispose themselves to listening in faith to the word of God and to worthily celebrating the Eucharist (Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 46). It is not a good habit to be looking at our watches and saying: We are on time, we will arrive after the sermon and in time to satisfy our obligation. The Mass begins with the sign of the Cross, with these introductory rites, in these simple acts, the community begins our adoration of God. This is the reason why it is important for us not to arrive late, in fact, we should arrive a bit in advance in order to prepare our hearts for these rites and for the community celebration.
While the Entrance Hymn is sung, the priest, along with the other ministers enter in procession, and once they have arrived at the altar, they bow as a sign of veneration and the priest kisses the altar and, when incense is used, he incenses the altar. Why? Because the altar is Christ: it is the figure of Christ. We we look to the altar, we see precisely where Christ is. The altar is Christ. These gestures, which risk going un-noticed, are very significant, because they express the fact that from the very beginning of the Mass, we are involved in a loving encounter with Christ, who by offering his body on the cross ... became an altar, a victim and a priest (Easter Preface V). In fact, the altar, as a sign of Christ, is the centre of the action of graces which are accomplished by the Eucharist (Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 296), with the entire community gathered around the altar, which is Christ; not to look at one another in the face, but to look to Christ, for Christ is at the centre of the community; he is not far away from us.
Then there is the sign of the cross. The priest who is presiding traces it upon himself and everyone in the assembly does the same, aware that the liturgical act takes place in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And here I go on to another small subject. Have you ever seen children making the sign of the cross? They don't know what they are doing: sometimes they look like they are drawing, and this is not the sign of the cross. Please: moms and dads, grandparents, teach your children, right from the start - from the time they are very small - to make the sign of the cross well. Explain to them that they are protected by the cross of Jesus. The Mass begins with the sign of the cross. Every prayer moves, so to speak, in the space of the Most Holy Trinity - In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit - which is a space of infinite communion; its origin and it's end is love in One Triune God, manifested and given to us on the Cross of Christ. In fact, his paschal ministry is a gift of the Trinity, and the Eucharist always flows from his pierced heart. Marking ourselves with the sign of the cross, we therefore not only keep the memory of our Baptism, but we also affirm the fact that liturgical prayer is our encounter with God in Christ Jesus, who took on flesh for our sakes, died on a cross and rose in glory.
The priest then offers the liturgical greeting with the expression: The Lord be with you or another similar phrase - there are several possibilities - and the assembly responds: And with your spirit. We are in a dialogue, we are at the beginning of the Mass and we should think about the significance of all these gestures and words. We have entered into a symphony, in which there are numerous tones and voices, including times of silence, aimed at creating agreement among all the participants, which is to say that all the participants are animated by one Spirit and everyone toward the same purpose. In effect the priestly greeting and the response of the people manifest the mystery of the assembled Church (Ordinamento Generale del Messale Romano, 50). In this way, the common faith and the mutual desire to be with the Lord and to live in unity with the entire community is expressed.
And this is a symphony of prayer, which is created and presented immediately at the most touching moment, because those who preside invite everyone else to recognize their own sins. We are all sinners. I don't know, maybe someone among you is not a sinner ... If there is someone who is not a sinner, raise your hand, please, so that everyone else can see you. But ... there aren't any hands raised, ok: you have good faith! We are all sinners; this is the reason why at the beginning of the Mass, we ask for forgiveness. It is called the penitential act. It's not merely a matter of thinking about the sins we have committed, but much more: it is an invitation to confess our sins before God and before the community, before our brothers and sisters, with humility and sincerity, like the tax collector in the temple. If the Eucharist truly makes the paschal mystery present, that is to say the passage of Christ from death to life, then the first thing that we should do is to recognize the situations in which we too have died or are dying in order to rise again with Him to new life. This helps us to understand how important the penitential act is. For this reason, we will continue the explanation in the next catechesis.
Step by step, we will continue the explanation of the Mass. But I would recommend right now that you teach your children the proper way to make the sign of the cross: please!
The Holy Father's catechesis was then translated in abbreviated form in various languages and the Pope offered particular greetings to each group of the faithful in attendance. To English-speaking pilgrims, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the student groups from Australia and the United States of America. In these final days before our celebration of Christmas, I invoke upon you and your families the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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