Pontifical Mass

1. The Bishop’s Ornaments

When the bishop celebrates pontifically, besides the sacerdotal vestments of which we have spoken, he wears the hose, the sandals, the tunic, the dalmatic, the gloves, the ring, the mitre, the crosier, and the breast-cross. If he has been raised to the dignity of an archbishop, he wears also the pallium.

Hose and Sandals.—The hose are the ceremonial stockings which cover the leg to the knee; the shoes which a bishop wears in pontifical Masses are called sandals. The bishop by his office is a messenger of the Gospel, the successor of those whom Our Lord commanded to go throughout the world “shod with sandals.” (St. Mark vi. 9.) St. Paul explains to us the meaning of this recommendation: “Your feet shod,” he says, “with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.” (Eph. vi. 15.)

He who bears the good tidings in his apostolic journeys will have to crush the serpent, and bruise his head; let him, then, be shielded against the venomous sting of him that always bites the heel.

The hose and sandals recall also that the bishop has not been raised to the episcopate for ease and leisure, but to be wearied in his journeying to preach.

The Tunic.—Of all the events in the life of Our Lord that which is constantly present in the Church’s thoughts is the passion.

Not a detail of that sorrowful drama that is not recalled in the liturgy. In the alb we have seen the white robe with which Our Saviour was clad in the court of Herod; in the chasuble, the royal mantle thrown over His torn shoulders; and now in the tunic of the bishop is placed before our eyes memories not less touching. Its name, its form, recall to us that seamless tunic woven for Jesus by Mary’s pure hands, and for which the soldiers drew lots at the foot of the cross. (Inn. III., l. i. c. 39.) The last relic of a condemned one, drawn lots for under the eyes of His Mother—what anguish for such a tender heart!

Why does not the priest take for the sacrifice a vestment so rich in memories? Here we touch upon a mystery. The seamless garment of Jesus Christ which was not divided figured the Church in her unalterable unity, that faithful spouse whom neither heresy nor schism has divided. This is the teaching of the holy doctors: “While the veil of the temple was rent,” says St. Athanasius, “the tunic of the Saviour remained whole in the hands of the soldiers. The Gospel has preserved its integrity while the shadows flee.” (Serm. de Cruce.) The priest is a minister of the Church, but by his sacred office the bishop is her spouse; the closest ties unite him to her. The tunic is a symbol of that mystic alliance.

The Dalmatic.—Above the silken tunic the bishop wears a dalmatic of the same material. The ample folds of this vestment, reserved in the liturgy to the deacons who distribute charity, protectors of the widow and orphan, in a word, ministers and servants of the poor, symbolizes the charity and mercy recommended to the apostles by Our Lord. The bishop, spouse of the Church, should be, as it were, clothed with mercy toward all the suffering members of that Church—the poor, the weak, the afflicted.

The Gloves.—These were originally made of the skin of the kid; the testimony of early writers, as well as the meaning that the Church attaches to them, leaves this point beyond doubt. “Lord,” says the bishop, taking the gloves, “set around about my hands the purity of the new man descended from heaven, that, having followed the example of Jacob, Thy well-beloved, who covered his hands with the skin of kids, and obtained his father’s blessing, having offered him wine and food, I may receive, in consideration of the saving victim offered by my hands, the blessing of Thy grace.” From this prayer springs the meaning of the prelate’s gloves in the sacred ceremonies.

The Ring.—All nations have looked upon the ring as a sign of dignity: the ring is the crown of the hand. It was given to the bishop because of his pre-eminence among the clergy. But we have seen that he who is raised to the episcopate becomes the spouse of the Church to which God sends him; it is in this title that he receives the ring on the day of his consecration. Says St. Optatus: “As spouse of the Church, and following the example of Christ, he should be ready to sacrifice his life for her, if it were necessary.” (Lib. i., ad Parm.)

The Mitre.—This is the golden crown upon the bishop’s brow; it is wonderfully suitable to him who represents Our Lord crowned in the glory of “many diadems.” (Apoc. xix. 12.)

This crown does not in the least resemble those of the princes of this world; its form, consecrated by many centuries, has the appearance of two horns. Let them be a reminder of the light which encircled the brow of Moses as he descended from Mount Sinai; many authors so consider it, as do we. For the bishop also is a legislator and guide to the people of God. But it is more: a horn has been always, and everywhere in antiquity, the triple symbol of glory, power, and royalty; a triple character which belongs to Jesus Christ, and with which He wished to clothe His representatives in the supernatural order. The Church has placed two p. 48upon the mitres of prelates, and their signification is given to us in the prayers which accompany the imposition of this insignia on the head of the newly consecrated bishop. These two horns are the figure of the wisdom of the two Testaments, the spiritual arms necessary to the bishop to combat the enemies of the Church.

The Crosier.—Our Lord recommended the messengers of the Gospel to take nothing with them; the staff was permitted them, not for defence, still less for attack, but as a badge of their sublime vocation—to be pastors of souls, to guide them, sustain them, raise them up, correct them. These divers duties of the pastoral ministry are recalled to the prelate by the traditional form of his crosier: pointed at the lower end, and curved at its upper one. By the cowardly or idle sheep the spur of reprimand must be felt; but the good pastor goes after those who have wandered far from the sheepfold, over stones, precipices, brambles, and with the hand of a loving friend gives them help. Is it not this tender anxiety for the lost sheep which the Church wishes to indicate by the curved form of the pastoral staff? St. Antoninus and Innocent III. say so expressly.

The Pallium.—This insignia, reserved to archbishops, completes the signification of the shepherd’s staff. It consists of a woollen band placed on the shoulders of the prelate, and attached to the chasuble by three golden pins. Its material, borrowed from the fleece of little lambs, reminds the bishop that he should carry on his shoulders the weary sheep, and bring them back to the fold, at the price of his own weariness and sweat. The figure of the Good Shepherd formerly adorned the pallium, the better to imprint this lesson upon the mind of the bishop. The three pins which fasten the pallium to the chasuble are a souvenir of the love of the Good Shepherd; three nails fastened Him to the cross for love of His sheep.

The Cross on the Breast.—Jesus Christ, triumphant and crowned with glory, has kept in His hands, His feet, His side, the wounds of Calvary. In the vestments of the bishop the Church has wished to place under our eyes this double reminder of triumph and suffering. The crown of the pontiff, his throne, his ministers, the gold, the precious stones on his sacred vestments, are the memorials of triumph. The memorial of Calvary and of the wounds we see in the cross which shines upon the gloves, the sandals, and on the bishop’s breast.

2. Ceremonies of the Pontifical Mass

The Throne.—The bishop is the perfect image of Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of His Father; this is why he has a throne, why also he has a place of honor. The various members of the sacerdotal hierarchy surround him, hastening to clothe him in his ornaments, rendering him profound homage, after the example of the celestial hierarchies forming a glorious crown around the throne of Jesus Christ, and happy to serve Him.

The Seven Altar-tapers.—Here is another reminder of heaven; the altar upon which the sacrifice of eternity is offered appeared to St. John adorned with seven candlesticks.

The Kiss on the Hand.—If anything is given to the p. 49bishop, or if he receives something, the minister kisses his hand. This act has been considered from all eternity as an expression of devotion and submission. “Bless God,” the Church seems to say to us, “in prosperity and in adversity; His paternal hand is always worthy of love, whether it showers blessings upon us, or whether it takes them away.”

This ceremony is the literal translation of the beautiful words of Job in affliction: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job i. 21.) And those others of persecuted David: “I will bless the Lord at all times.” (Ps. xxxiii. 1.)

The Entrance into the Choir.—This ceremony represents the coming into the world of Our Lord by His incarnation. The cross is borne in advance of the clergy; it has been the beacon of humanity; the world of antiquity saluted it from the beginning with its most earnest vows, its most lively hopes. The incense is here the symbol of the prayers which made the heavens rain the just upon the earth, and the lights recall the prophecies in the midst of the ancient world, the twilight of a divine dawn. The subdeacon and the deacon are the Old and New Testaments, the figure and the reality. The closed book which the subdeacon carries represents the obscurity of the prophecies of the Old Testament. The assistant priest figures the law of Moses under the high priest Aaron; he walks after the subdeacon, for these are the prophecies which led the priesthood of Aaron to the knowledge of the Messias. The two deacons at the side of the prelate represent Abraham and David, who received the most definite promises of the incarnation of the Word. Besides which the Gospel puts them at the head of Christ’s ancestors: “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.” (Inn. III., l. ii. c. 6.)

The Maniple.—Originally this was a linen intended to wipe away the sweat, and sometimes the tears, of the celebrant. The priest, not being surrounded by ministers as is the bishop, took his maniple before beginning the Mass. But the bishop received it from the hands of the subdeacon at the moment when he mounted to the altar. This ceremonial is preserved, and the prelate does not take the maniple until after the Confiteor.

Opening and Kissing the Missal.—As soon as the bishop goes to the altar the Missal, closed until then, breaking its seals, opens before him; the bishop kisses it, and then incenses the altar, while the Introit chants the glories of the redeeming Lamb. The best commentary on this ceremony is the page of the Apocalypse to which it alludes. The resemblances are so striking that they will present themselves unaided to the reader:

“And I saw in the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to loose the seals thereof? And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it. And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints: and they sang a new canticle.” (Apoc. v. 1-9.)

We can see in this kiss upon the book the love of the incarnate Word for the will of His Father; He wished to fulfil the Holy Scriptures to the last syllable; and it was not until the consummation of His sacrifice by obedience that He breathed His last sigh.

The Bishop on His Throne.—The bishop, after incensing the altar, goes to his throne and remains there until the Offertory. This was always the custom in the Church from the first centuries; the priest did not return to the altar till the moment of the oblation; during the prayers which preceded it he was seated in the place assigned to the celebrant, away from the altar.

The Pax Vobis of the Gloria.—After the Gloria the bishop salutes the people by these words: “Pax vobis” (“Peace be with you.”) Herein is revealed anew the pre-eminence of the bishop. “To show that he is the Vicar of Christ,” says Innocent III., “the first time that he shows himself to the people he uses this form of salutation: ‘Pax vobis,’ because this was the first word of Our Lord to His apostles on the day of His resurrection. p. 51But after this he says: ‘Dominus vobiscum,’ with the priests, testifying by this that he is but one among them.” (Inn. III., l. ii. c. 24.)

Use of the Calotte.—When, by a special indult, the bishop may wear the calotte in celebrating the public offices, he retains it during Mass to the Preface, except while the Gospel is chanted. He puts it on again as soon as he has drunk the precious blood, and retains it for the rest of the office. These customs revive among us the ancient discipline. The amice formerly was put upon the head in the shape of a veil falling upon the shoulders. At the Preface it was thrown back upon the neck and replaced on the head after the Communion. Useless to say that respect due to the blessed Eucharist has so regulated these customs. During the Gospel the men uncovered the head, to show that the preaching of the Gospel had made the veils of the old law fall away.

The Blessing at the End of Mass.—This goes back to the primitive customs, for during a long time there was no benediction at the end of Mass. When the custom of blessing was established, the privilege was reserved to bishops only. A simple priest was never known to bless the faithful at the end of Mass up to the eleventh century. Later, when the priest had shared the privilege of the bishop, a difference was made between the ceremonial of their benediction. The priest blessed the people with the cross, the paten, or the chalice; the bishop alone blessed with the hand, and his benediction was preceded, as to-day, by the versicles Sit nomen Domini and Adjutorium. This ceremonial has been preserved for the bishop; as to the priest, he now blesses with the hand, and with the ceremonial already explained.

The Last Gospel.—If the bishop begins it at the altar, and continues it as he goes to the place where he is reclothed with his pontifical ornaments, it is because the recitation of this gospel was not a part of the liturgy. In the thirteenth century it was marked, in rare Missals, as an act of piety for the use of priests while taking off their sacerdotal vestments.

Papal Benediction.—In virtue of an apostolic indult, the bishops may give the papal benediction at Easter and Pentecost, to which a plenary indulgence is attached. This benediction is called papal because it is given in the same form as that of the Pope. After the Mass is ended the bishop mounts his throne. A deacon reads in Latin and English the indult by virtue of which the prelate gives the papal benediction. The plenary indulgence given to the faithful who receive the benediction is also published. The prelate gives it standing, and, to add to the solemnity, the joyous sound of the bells mingles with the harmonious tones of the organ.