The Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

39. The Collect

After the Gloria, or the Kyrie, follows the principal prayer, that is, the peculiar prayer of the day or of the feast, and which, as a rule, is called the Collect.²⁰²202In the Roman Missal the heading of this prayer is Oratio, whereby it is in an eminent sense characterized as a prayer. The name Collecta is ascribed to it in the summarized exposition of the Mass Rite (Ritus celebr. Miss. tit. 11, n. 1). To the proper prayer of the day there are generally added some others; they too are called Collectae, whether prescribed by the rubrics and decrees (Orationes praescriptae) or ordered (Orationes imperatae sc. a Superiore) by ecclesiastical superiors (Pope or Bishop), or on certain days of lower rite, when they are added by the celebrant (ex privata devotione) to the others (Orationes votivae). It has here an appropriate place in the arrangement of the Mass rite; for by the humble and confident cry for mercy in the Kyrie, as well as by the praising of the divine power and goodness in the Gloria, we have placed ourselves in the sentiments befitting prayer, that is, disposed ourselves to receive p. 88from God a favorable answer to our petitions. “The Lord hath had regard to the prayer of the humble, and He hath not despised their petitions” (Ps. 101, 18); “the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased Him” (Judith 9, 16), “it pierceth the clouds and till it come nigh, he will not be comforted and he will not depart until the Most High behold” (Ecclus. 35, 21), that is, until the prayer is answered. The Collects are prayers of petition,²⁰³203In officio Missae est ordinatissima mixtio commemorationis divinae excellentiae, quam laudamus, et recognitionis nostrae miseriae, pro qua oramus; nam post Confessionem ante altare, in qua nostram profitemur miseriam, inchoatur Introitus, qui est cantus laudis divinae, et statim subjunguntur Kyrie eleison, in quo rursus humiliamus nos ipsos, nostram miseriam declarantes. Hoc finito ad Dei laudem convertimur, dicentes Gloria in excelsis Deo, quo completo Oratio sequitur, in qua denuo consideramus nos ipsos et misericordiam imploramus miseriae nostrae (Dion. Carthus. Expos. Missae art. 11). in which the Church by the mouth of the priest presents to God her maternal desires and interests, in order to obtain for her children the special gifts and graces corresponding to the different feasts and times of the holy year. The Collect, although but a small portion of the liturgy of the Mass, presents, nevertheless, in several respects some very important and interesting features.

1. The name Collecta.²⁰⁴204Sequitur oratio prima, quam Collectam dicunt (Ordo Roman. II, n. 6). — Prima oratio dicitur aliquando Oratio, aliquando Collecta (Amalar. [† 857] Eclog. n. 23). — Oratio sive Collecta statim subsequitur, quantumvis Collecta proprie vocetur oratio illa, quae fit in processione, cum populus et universus clerus ab una ecclesia procedit ad alteram (Beleth. c. 37). The single formulas for Mass are uniformly arranged according to a determined rule; hence they all have in the same way differently named prayers. The first prayer comes before the Epistle and is called Oratio, or Collecta (collected prayer); the second forms the conclusion of the Offertorium and is called Secreta (silent prayer); the third and last follows the Communion and is called Postcommunio (Communion prayer). — The Collect now engages our attention, and the origin and meaning of this somewhat peculiar name will first be explained.

The word Collecta²⁰⁵205Collecta (from colligere = to collect or to gather) is a substantive form instead of collectio. In the Vulgate and the Fathers Collecta is also the name of the (public) gathering of alms and charity. (Cfr. 1 Cor. 16, 2.) — The corresponding Greek word synaxis (σύναξις from συνάγω) is also frequently used to denote the assemblies of the faithful for divine worship, the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and especially Holy Communion. frequently designated in former times the religious assembly or congregation of the faithful for the exercises of divine service, and principally for the Sacrifice of the Mass; then it was made to designate the celebration of divine worship itself,—of the ordinary morning and night prayer, the prayer in choir, of the Holy Sacrifice. Collecta was the name especially given to the preparatory divine service held on the Station days in a particular p. 89church, which preceded the procession to the Station Church. At this preliminary celebration the blessing and the concluding prayer of the celebrant, namely, the Oratio ad Collectam, that is, the prayer at the religious gathering, formed the principal part. The longer term Oratio ad Collectam was then abbreviated and merely the word Collecta was used to designate the prayer, thus transferring the name of the whole to the principal part. Now, if the name Collect was originally given to that prayer which was addressed to the assembled people at the preparatory service of the Station celebration (super populum collectum), then it was evident that the first Mass prayer to be said soon after in the Station Church should likewise be called Collect, since it also was a prayer at the Collect, that is, at the assembly and celebration of divine worship.²⁰⁶206Collectam proprie dici volunt eam orationem, quae olim super populum fieri solebat, quando collectus in unum erat cum universo Clero in una Ecclesia, ut ad aliam procederet, in qua Statio celebranda erat. Ex quo fieri potuit, ut ad reliquas hujusmodi orationes Collectae nomen dimanarit (Bona, Rer. liturg. l. 2, c. 5, § 3). — With this historical interpretation are found to harmonize naturally certain other explanations, which are often unjustifiably advanced and emphasized on their own merits alone, that is, without regard to the historic origin and foundation of the term Collecta.

Like the Mass prayers in general, this prayer before the Epistle is not merely a private prayer of the priest, but a liturgical one, that is, a public prayer which the celebrant recites in the name and by the commission, as well as according to the ordinance of the Church, and with a special intention for the welfare of the whole Christian people.²⁰⁷207Oratio publica est, quae a ministris Ecclesiae pro populo manifeste ac solemniter funditur, quam oportet non solum esse mentalem, sed etiam vocalem (Dion. Carthus. IV, dist. 15, q. 6). The priest stands at the altar as mediator between God and man, he there presents the desires and interests of all before the throne of God. To him applies what is said of the Prophet Jeremias: “This is a lover of his brethren and of the people Israel, this is he that prayeth much for the people and for all the city” (2 Mac. 15, 14). The faithful assisting at the Sacrifice are of one heart and one soul, they pray interiorly and unite with the priest who, as their representative, gathers up and collects, so to say, their supplications and desires to present them before the God of holiness (vota populi colligit).²⁰⁸208Orationes, quae circa principium Missae dicuntur, Collectae vocantur eo quod sacerdos, qui fungitur ad Deum legatione pro populo petitiones omnium in eis colligat et concludat (Innocent. III., De sacr. altar. myster. l. 2, c. 27). The celebrant is the angel of the Lord who puts the holy incense, namely, the devout prayers of fervent Christians, into the golden chalice of his heart, whence they sweetly ascend to the throne of the Most High (Apoc. 8, 3–4).

As a collective prayer, the Collect is still to be considered under another aspect. It is considered, namely, as a prayer which in comprehensive brevity (compendiosa brevitate) embodies the most p. 90important petitions, that is, the sum or idea of all that we, in consideration of the day’s celebration, especially seek to obtain from God.²⁰⁹209This name of Collects, in fine, has its origin in the fact that the words, of which they are composed, are taken from all that is most touching and beautiful in Holy Scripture, in the treasures of tradition, or even in the lives of the saints, whose feasts are celebrated; it is a wonderful epitome, a substantial abridgment which sums up everything (Pichenot, Les Collectes p. 8). With this feature of the Collect its place in the Divine Office harmonizes perfectly; it returns almost in every Hour²¹⁰210Prime and Complin have—as liturgical morning and evening prayers—always the same Oration, and in the Vespers of Lent the Oratio super populum is recited. and in such a way that the whole of the prayer preceding it finds therein a short and solemn conclusion. It is, therefore, the peculiar prayer of the day, that is, the prayer in which the Church repeatedly expresses what is nearest to her heart and what she principally desires for her children.

Finally, some persons—and indeed in a manner more edifying than solid—discover in the word Collecta an admonition for priest and people to gather and keep all their senses and thoughts collected together, in order to offer to God in profound recollection of spirit (collectis animis) the supplications comprised in the prayer.²¹¹211Sequitur oratio, quae Collecta dicitur eo quod omnes adstantes Missae se debeant devote colligere et cum sacerdote fideliter orare (S. Bonav. Exp. Miss. c. 2). — Collect is, therefore, an ingenious, deeply significant term for the first prayer of Holy Mass: the name itself recalls the beautiful Station solemnities of early Christian ages, at the same time it characterizes the Oration as a liturgical prayer of the priest, draws attention to the rich contents embodied in its few words and, moreover, reminds us of the pious disposition of soul required for its recitation.²¹²212Brevis haec oratio ideo Collecta dicitur, quia populo in unum congregato et collecto recitatur, vel quia sacerdos legatione apud Deum pro omnibus fungens omnium vota in unum colligit, vel quia ex selectis s. Scripturae et Ecclesiae verbis compendiosa brevitate colligitur, vel quia omnes collectis animis affectus suos et mentem ad Deum attollunt (Bona l. c.).

2. The Liturgical Kissing of the Altar.²¹³213Already the most ancient Roman Ordos and all the Missals of the Middle Age prescribe the kissing of the altar several times during the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The unauthorized assertion that the kissing of the altar in this manner at the celebration of Mass is, “without doubt, repeated too frequently” (Lüft, Liturgik II, 542), is absolutely to be rejected; for the present ordinance and practice of the Church, according to which the celebrant kisses the altar quite often, is based on the signification of this liturgical osculum. As the specially dedicated place of sacrifice, as the resting-place of the Body and Blood of Christ, as the tomb of the relics of the martyrs and as the symbol of Christ, our Divine Victim, the altar is incontestably the most excellent and the holiest part of the Church and, therefore, deserving of all the veneration rendered by the kissing. — This liturgical kiss does not merely apply to the sanctified place of sacrifice, but principally to the invisible Victim and Sacrificing Priest, whom the altar symbolically indicates. If the priest thinks of this, he will be touched by this ceremony and incited to devotion, and will joyfully often repeat the kissing of the altar, in order, in his own name and in the name of the faithful, anew to present to our Saviour sacrificing Himself for us, due love, veneration and gratitude (cf. Augsburger Pastoralbl. Jahrg. 1879, S. 265 etc.). The Collect is introduced by the kissing of the altar, the mutual salutation and the invitation to prayer. — After the celebrant at the conclusion of the Gloria has made the sign of the Cross on himself, he immediately, without joining his hands,²¹⁴214In like manner the hands must not be joined after the Sign of the Cross at the end of the Credo and Sanctus (S. R. C. 12. Nov. 1831). kisses the altar in the middle, because the holy stone is there which represents Jesus Christ, the living Head and Corner-stone of the Church, and also because principally in this place rest the relics of the martyrs. In the kissing of the altar we may distinguish a twofold meaning: first of all, it is a sign and expression of benevolent love; and then, a proof of reverence and devotedness. Hence the special meaning of kissing the altar at this part of the Mass is now evident. In a full sense, the altar is a symbol of Christ and the saints united with Him in glory; it represents the triumphant Church in heaven as a whole; to it belong Christ as the Head and the elect as His members. Now, since the priest stands at the altar as a mediator between heaven and earth, he, therefore, first salutes with the altar-kiss the triumphant Church, to tender to it his love and reverence,²¹⁵215The priest kisses the altar each time before turning to the people, and, with the words Dominus vobiscum, wishing the people to their very face, as it were, the divine blessing in a more impressive manner. He would, namely—for thus also may this rite be interpreted—not turn to the people, without having previously evinced toward the sanctuary this reverence, and he would at the same time indicate that all the help and all the blessings of grace that he wishes to the people present, must come from the altar and from our union with the Saviour sacrificing Himself upon it. then by the Dominus vobiscum the Church militant in words that call down upon the latter salvation and blessing.

3. The Priest’s Salutation. With hands joined before his breast and with downcast eyes, the priest with grave and measured step turns (on his right) toward the people; then, while slowly extending and joining the hands,²¹⁶216Without raising them. in the person of those present he salutes the entire Church with the benediction: Dominus vobiscum—“The Lord be with you.” This motion of the hands, which is repeated in precisely the same manner at the Oremus, harmonizes perfectly with the meaning of the words spoken. The extending of the hands expresses the ardent longing and the earnest desire of the priest, that the blessing he invokes may be bestowed; the joining of the hands signifies that the priest humbly mistrusts his own strength and confidently abandons himself to the p. 92Lord.

This formula of well-wishing dates back to the Old Testament. In the book of Ruth it is related, that Booz greeted his reapers in the field with the words: “The Lord be with you,”²¹⁷217Booz veniebat de Bethlehem dixitque messoribus: Dominus vobiscum. Qui responderunt ei: Benedicat tibi Dominus (Ruth 2, 4). and that they answered him: “The Lord bless thee.” To the blessed Virgin the Archangel Gabriel said: Dominus tecum—“The Lord (is) with thee” (Luke 1, 28). — The aforesaid mutual salutation²¹⁸218At the recitation of the Divine Office only the priest and deacon (but not the sub-deacon) may say the Dominus vobiscum before and after the prayer; by this is signified that here there is question of a canonical salutation, which presupposes the Sacrament of Order on the part of him who pronounces the blessing. is frequently repeated during the celebration of Mass (eight times), in order constantly to excite, increase and awaken afresh the spiritual union and the communion of prayer during the Holy Sacrifice between the priest and the people. As the meaning of this general formula of salutation is uncommonly copious, its special signification must be explained according to the place and connection in which it occurs. Where the Lord is, there He produces the most happy results, there He imparts manifold gifts, graces and blessings. By the formula Dominus vobiscum are wished all the goods, which are connected with the presence of the Lord.

Inasmuch as the priest before the Collect expresses his wish, that the Lord come into the hearts of the people, he at the same time intends to implore for the faithful the assistance of the grace, light and strength necessary for a good and perfect prayer.²¹⁹219Dominus vobiscum, i. e. gratiam vobis infundat devote mecum orandi et sacra verba digne atque salubriter audiendi, et haec verba ex libro Ruth sumpta videntur, suntque affectuose a sacerdote dicenda, velut a mediatore inter Deum et populum, secundum exigentiam caritatis fraternae, quae in sacerdotibus exuberantior esse debet (Dion. Carthus. Expos. Missae art. 11). The words Dominus vobiscum in this place are, consequently, a request for the assistance of divine grace, to enable the faithful to pray efficaciously and to ask for what is proper, since all our sufficiency is from God, and without Christ we can do nothing profitable for salvation (2 Cor. 3, 5; John 15, 5). Prayer presupposes the assistance of divine grace, without which its practice is not possible. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought;” therefore “the Spirit must help our infirmity.” Yes, the Holy Ghost Himself “asketh for us with unspeakable groanings” (Rom. 8, 26), that is, He awakens in us the desire to pray, He urges us to pray, He grants us devotion and perseverance in prayer, He renders our prayer pleasing and meritorious in the sight of God.²²⁰220Illo modo recte accipitur, quo solet significari per efficientem id quod efficitur, i. e. gemere, desiderare et postulare nos faciat Spiritus sanctus, dum scilicet gemendi atque postulandi cordibus nostris inspirat affectum (S. Fulgent. Contra Fabian. fragm. 5). “The spirit of grace and of supplication” (spiritus gratiae et precum—Zach. 12, 10), which the Lord pours p. 93out over His Church, is, indeed, a great and precious gift, since prayer itself is the source of so many blessings.

In addition to the grace of prayer, which is here principally and first of all desired, the salutatory blessing of the priest comprises numberless other graces; for when the Lord enters into a pure and penitent heart, at the same time all good things come along with Him—riches, glory, peace, joy and happiness. When our Lord is with us, He imparts the desire and the relish for all that is good; strength in all combats and persecutions, consolation in all sufferings and encouragement in all temptations. The possession, the grace and the love of God, the soul’s familiar intercourse and confident communion with God constitute a boundless treasure for man. Whoever lives and perseveres in this intimate union with God, may with confidence exclaim in the words of David: “Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou, O Lord, art with me” (Ps. 22, 4). Therefore, the priest could not wish anything better to the faithful than what is included in the greeting Dominus vobiscum; for “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; the people whom He hath chosen for His inheritance” (Ps. 32, 12).

And how do the people respond to this greeting of the priest? By the mouth of the acolyte, they answer with the corresponding greeting: Et cum spiritu tuo—“And with thy spirit.”²²¹221In a profoundly significant manner does St. Chrysostom refer the word spiritus—spirit—to the divine πνεῦμα, imparted at the ordination by the imposition of hands. “If the Holy Ghost were not in this your common father and teacher, you would not recently, when he ascended this holy chair and wished you all peace, have cried out with one accord: And with thy spirit. Thus you cry out to him, not only when he ascends his throne, when he speaks to you and prays for you, but also when he stands at this holy altar, to offer the dread Sacrifice. He does not touch that which lies on the altar before wishing you the grace of our Lord and before you have replied to him: And with thy spirit. By this cry you are reminded that he who stands at the altar does nothing, and that the gifts, that repose thereon, are not the merits of a man, but that the grace of the Holy Ghost is present and, descending on all, accomplishes this mysterious Sacrifice. We see indeed a man, but God it is who acts through him. Nothing human takes place at this holy altar” (First Homily for the Feast of Pentecost, Number 4). The same or a similar wish for a blessing St. Paul frequently employed in his Epistles.²²²222Dominus Jesus Christus cum spiritu tuo (2 Tim. 4, 22). — Gratia Domini nostri Jesu Christi cum spiritu vestro (Gal. 6, 22). Out of gratitude for the imparted salutation and blessing, the people express the wish that the Lord would with His enlightening and strengthening grace replenish and penetrate the spirit²²³223Nec vacat mysterio, quod sacerdoti dicenti: “Dominus vobiscum” non respondeatur: “Et tecum,” sed: “Et cum spiritu tuo,” quod verbum est majoris momenti magisque spirituale, quasi respondentes optent, Dominum implere spiritum ejus devotione, ut magno fervore pro omnibus oret, ita ut ejus oratio non solum lingua proferatur, sed multo magis corde et spiritu (De Ponte, De christ. hom. perfect. IV, tr. 2, c. 11, § 2). of p. 94the celebrant, that he may, as a man of God, as a truly spiritual man, be enabled to present in a worthy manner the petitions and supplications of the whole Church. The priest does indeed greatly stand in need of the assistance of this grace, when he is standing at the altar; for “holy is this place, where he prays for the transgressions and sins of the people”—Locus iste sanctus est, in quo orat sacerdos pro delictis et peccatis populi. In that he prays and offers as a minister of the Church, he discharges the most exalted duty that the Church has to fulfil toward God. The priest appears at the altar by commission of the Church, the immaculate Spouse of Christ, there to recite for the welfare and salvation of the living and the dead those venerable prayers which she herself, inspired by the Holy Ghost, has composed and prescribed. Now, if we are already obliged to prepare our soul carefully for every private prayer, how much more is this necessary for the prayers of the Mass: how great then should be the celebrant’s recollection of mind, devotion and fervor of heart, that he may offer up worthily such holy, such sublime words to the Most High!²²⁴224Quamvis oratio boni sacerdotis efficacior sit ad impetrandum quam mali, tamen oratio, imo et totum officium mali sacerdotis virtutem sortitur et ad impetrandum fit efficax, in quantum sacerdos talis orat et agit in persona totius Ecclesiae. Praeterea quamvis ubique et semper Deus ab omni christiano reverenter et pure atque sollicite exorandus consistat, a sacerdote tamen in Missa tanto ardentius sinceriusque orandus est, quanto causa orandi est major et ipsum officium dignius, persona quoque Christo vicinior, ut puta mediator Dei et plebis (Dion. Carthus. l. c.).

“The Lord be with thy spirit,”—this wish also reminds the priest of the solemn hour, when on receiving the tonsure he made the offering of the adornment of his hair as a figure of his renunciation thenceforth, for the love of Jesus Christ, of all the goods and joys of this world—as he cheerfully uttered the words: Dominus pars haereditatis meae et calicis mei—“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup” (Ps. 15, 5). Then it was that “the lines fell to him in goodly places, and his inheritance became goodly to him;” for then the Lord became his sole possession, his precious legacy, his fortune and property, his reward. All this the priest cannot but remember, whenever he hears this salutation from the lips of the people: he cannot but renew, on his part, his promise to consecrate himself entirely to the Lord, and wish that he should ever remain the Lord’s special property and possession, in order that he may be a true cleric in the fullest sense of the term.

The bishop salutes the faithful (as does the priest) during Holy Mass with the Dominus vobiscum; except that in this place (that is, before the Collect) the bishop’s salutation on those days on which the Gloria is said, is: Pax vobis “Peace be to you!”²²⁵225Postea salutans populum Pontifex dicit “Pax vobiscum” sive “Pax vobis.” Respond. “Et cum spiritu tuo” (Ordo Rom. II, n. 6). Before the Offertory it says n. 9: Salutat episcopus populum dicens: Dominus vobiscum. — The words Pax vobis were regarded, even in the tenth century, as a festive, joyful formula of salutation and were, therefore, not used on penitential days. The Ordo Rom. XIV, c. 79 (written before the middle of the fourteenth century) contains the rubric: Ante orationem non dicit: Pax vobis, sed tantum: Dominus vobiscum, et sic in omnibus feriis et dominicis tam Quadragesimae quam et Adventus, exceptis Dominica Gaudete et Laetare. The p. 95connection between this salutation and the Hymn of the Angels should not be passed over: the bishop invokes that peace which is announced in the Gloria.²²⁶226Episcopus celebrans in festis in prima salutatione dicit: “Pax vobis”, quod post resurrectionem discipulis dixit Dominus, cujus personam repraesentat praecipue Episcopus (S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 5 ad 6). Therefore, as it was the privilege of the bishop to recite the Hymn of the Angels on all Sundays and feast-days, while the same was permitted to priests only at Easter, in like manner, the bishops alone were allowed to salute the faithful immediately after the Gloria with the Pax vobis. From the end of the eleventh century the recitation of the Gloria ceased, indeed, to be the exclusive privilege of bishops, as priests were then placed on the same footing as they in this matter; but the greeting of the people with Pax vobis was, nevertheless, reserved to them as a peculiar distinction. The formula Pax vobis has a certain preference over Dominus vobiscum; this preference does not lie in its contents, but in the fact that the Lord Himself had frequently this salutation Pax vobis on His lips and thereby sanctified it. Therefore, if the bishop salutes the faithful with Pax vobis, he hereby manifests himself in a special manner as the representative of the Lord who, after His Resurrection, said to His disciples: “Peace be to you!”²²⁷227Pontifex salutationem praemittit ad populum dicens: Pax vobis; illius utens eulogio, cujus fungitur pontificio. Minor autem sacerdos ait: Dominus vobiscum. Ut episcopus se ostendat Christi vicarium, prima vice dicit: Pax vobis. Quoniam haec fuit prima vox Christi ad discipulos, cum eis post resurrectionem apparuit. Ad instar vero sacerdotum ceterorum dicit postea: Dominus vobiscum; ut se unum ex ipsis ostendat (Innoc. III., De sacr. alt. myst. l. 2, c. 24). — Cfr. Sicard. Mitral. l. 3, c. 2. As successors of the Apostles, bishops also possess (in addition to other privileges) a greater power of dispensing graces and blessings than priests enjoy; for they possess the plenitude of the power of Order for the administration and dispensation of the heavenly treasures of grace. This sublime and more complete power of blessing, connected with the bishop’s consecration and dignity, is very appropriately exhibited by the bishop’s saluting the faithful at the commencement of Mass with the Pax vobis, as well as at the end of Mass in the concluding benediction by the threefold sign of the Cross. — The salutation of peace Pax vobis, which the bishop, after the example of Christ and the Apostles, utters on certain days in the Mass, contains in itself the plenitude of every good. — However, salvation and blessing for time and eternity are also essentially comprised in the Dominus vobiscum: for where our Lord is, there also is His peace.²²⁸228The Greeks always use indiscriminately the formula: “Peace be to all” (εἰρήνη πᾶσιν), to which the congregation answer: “And with thy spirit.”

Both the sacerdotal and the episcopal salutation come from the lips of the representative of Christ, not as some mere empty wish, but as a blessing spoken with the efficacy of higher power, containing within itself supernatural strength; so that in reality it imparts the good it expresses to all whose hearts are susceptible of it. The Lord stands at the door and knocks; to any one who hears His voice and opens the door to Him, He will come and enter with His peace (Apoc. 3, 20).

If the mutual salutation is realized, if priest and people are animated and moved by the silent wafting of grace, if they are closely united to God and to one another, then in the Collects they will so express the desire and longing of their hearts as to deserve to be favorably heard.²²⁹229Sola est oratio, quae Deum vincit (Tertull. De Oratione c. 29). Prayer in common penetrates more powerfully to Heaven,²³⁰230Post introitum sacerdotis ad altare litaniae aguntur a clero, ut generalis oratio praeveniat specialem sacerdotis; subsequitur autem oratio sacerdotis et pacifica primum salutatione populum salutans, pacis responsum ab illo accipit, ut vera concordia et caritatis pura devotio facilius postulata impetret ab eo, qui corda aspicit et interna dijudicat (Raban. Maur. De clericor. institut. l. 1, c. 33). as it was expressly recommended by our Divine Saviour and received from Him a special promise (Matt. 18, 19–20). Therefore, there now follows the invitation of the priest to common prayer.

4. The Oremus. Standing at the Epistle side of the altar, the priest humbly and reverently bows his head to the Crucifix upon the altar, extends his hands and presently joins them again, while saying the word: Oremus—“Let us pray!” This is an invitation to pray in common, which the priest directs both to himself and to those present.²³¹231Non oro, sed oremus dicit, quia vocem totius Ecclesiae exprimit (Honor. Augustod. l. 1, c. 93). “Let us pray!” Thus the priest invites all; we are not merely to utter words with the lips, but to honor God we must raise heart and mind to Him. We will pour out our heart to the Lord, acknowledge our poverty and misery, and expect and implore from God, the all-merciful and the all-powerful, salvation and help in all our necessities! That this prayer of the Mass should be made in common, is indicated not only by the name Collect and the word Oremus, but, moreover, by the priest’s speaking aloud. For the priest prays aloud to call the attention of the faithful to join at least mentally with him in his prayer and to pray along with him. Prayer is the liturgical accompaniment of the Sacrifice. The best and the most profitable participation in the Holy Sacrifice consists in that those present follow the priest step by step, jointly praying and offering with him.²³²232Sacerdos salutatione praemissa dicit Oremus, ubi oraturus alios hortatur ut secum orent. Tunc ejus pro nobis maxime suscipitur oratio, si nostra ei jungatur devotio. . . . Oportet ergo ut et in Missa et in ceteris officiis cor nostrum jungamus cum voce sacerdotis (Robert. Paulul. De offic. eccles. c. 15). — “The greeting of the priest to the people has for its p. 97purpose to encourage them, attracting and directing their hearts to prayer. And it is meant for us all. For prayer in church is not a simple act of one alone, nor is it for one alone, but it is Collecta, that is, a joint prayer said by the entire congregation of the faithful and in behalf of the whole congregation. Although but one pronounces the words, yet all the others should with heart and mind pray with him. Therefore, we are reminded of the Lord, that we may seriously recollect ourselves, and put aside all levity and frivolous thoughts, for we are in the presence of the greatest and the most powerful of Lords, treating with Him and beseeching Him who is our Master, who has power over our life and death, over fortune and misfortune, who has the power to cast both our soul and body, into eternal fire, as He says Himself, but who is also bountiful and merciful, and who will gladly bestow upon us all the good which we earnestly and with firm confidence ask of Him. — Consequently, every Christian should be attentive to the greeting: The Lord be with you,—and to the admonition: Let us pray. Then we should, as members of God’s Church, unite in prayer also. Whoever does not understand the words of the prayer, can indeed in general be mindful of God and beseech Him graciously to receive the prayer of His Church, and grant to us who are on earth what is needful and profitable for soul and body,—through Christ our Lord.” (Ein Vergissmeinnicht S. 67–68).

The liturgical prayers are recited partly standing and partly kneeling. Anciently²³³233The various methods of prayer in use among Christians already in the most ancient times, Prudentius (Cathemerin. II, v. 48 sqq.) has collected very beautifully in the following lines:
Te, Christe, solum novimus:
Te mente pura et simplici,
Te voce, te cantu pio,
Rogare curvato genu,
Flendo et canendo discimus.
In them is expressed the inmost prayer of the heart, which is the requisite foundation of every other mode of prayer, mente pura et simplici; vocal prayer without singing, voce, and with singing, cantu pio; prayer with genuflection, curvato genu, and prayer with singing and tears, flendo et canendo. Cf. Arevalo l. c. (Migne LIX, p. 789). it was customary on the Sundays of the year and during the whole of Eastertide to pray standing.²³⁴234On Sundays we consider it improper to pray kneeling (de geniculis). The same privilege we enjoy from Easter until Pentecost (Tertull. De corona militis c. 3). The standing up should remind us of the Lord’s glorious Resurrection and admonish us of life eternal. On these days the invitation to common prayer has always been made by the simple formula Oremus. And although we stand up at the prayers, we ought at the same time to abase ourselves in humility of heart before the face of the Lord. — During the seasons, when the spirit of penance should be more prominent, it is befitting to manifest even exteriorly by genuflecting the interior humility and reverence of the heart.²³⁵235Cfr. Honor. Augustod. Gemma animae l. 1, c. 117. — In Quadragesima ideo ad Missam Flectamus genua dicimus, quia corpus et animam in poenitentia nos humiliare innuimus. Hence, for p. 98example, it is that on the Ember Days, as well as on other days that have several lessons and prayers (Wednesday after Laetare Sunday, Wednesday of Holy Week, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and the Vigil of Whitsunday), almost all have prayers which are introduced by the words Flectamus genua (= let us bend the knees) and the answer Levate (= arise).²³⁶236Formerly the deacon said the Flectamus genua (upon which all present prayed kneeling for some time in silence) as well as the Levate. According to the present rite the priest recites the Oremus, the deacon Flectamus genua (when all except the celebrant bend the knee), and the subdeacon the Levate. But if the priest says the Flectamus genua, he must also genuflect; the acolyte in that case answers Levate. The reason for this difference is that in the latter case the celebrant considers himself among those whom he summons to genuflect, while in the former case it suffices for the deacon to unite in genuflecting, to which he invites those present (with the exception of the celebrant). Cf. Quarti, Comment. in Rubr. Missal. p. 1, tit. 17, n. 3. Before we address our petitions to the thrice holy God, we will yet abase and humble ourselves profoundly in the consciousness of our guilt and sinfulness, and also to express our repentance and contrition.

Frequently a double Oremus occurred in the Mass: the first with an addition of for whom and for what the prayer should be made; the second, before the prayer proper. This original form is still maintained in the liturgy of Good Friday at the great or solemn intercessory prayers which date from the first ages. The Church shows herself therein as the loving Mother of the entire human race, inasmuch as she prays at the foot of the Cross for the redemption of the whole world.

5. Contents of the Collects. After this introduction follows the Collect itself, a prayer distinguished as much for the beauty and perfection of its form as for the copiousness and depth of its contents. The Collects are prayers of petition: the numberless needs and necessities of soul and body form the substance of the supplications therein expressed. In them we seek to obtain all manner of favors and blessings, and implore the averting of every evil. The Collects indeed ask of God no more than what is petitioned for in the Lord’s Prayer; but the object of these petitions is presented in the most copious and varied expressions. Thus we pray for the grace to serve God, to let the light of divine faith shine in our works, in the name of Christ to become rich in good works, to know well our duty and to be strengthened in its fulfilment, to become interiorly changed and renewed according to the image of our Saviour, to be supported by His continual help and to be confirmed in all righteousness, to grow strong spiritually and corporally so as to be able to overcome every evil, to be rescued from all sufferings and tribulations, to be safeguarded against all perverting error, to draw down upon ourselves by purity of body and mind the good pleasure of Heaven, to abhor all that is unchristian, p. 99and faithfully to observe the divine Commandments, to love the Commandments of God and to long for His promises, to understand and put in practice what is right and perfect, to be enabled to serve God in undisturbed and pure cheerfulness, to grow in every virtue, to walk in accordance with God’s pleasure—thereby to arrive at the enjoyment of the Beatific Vision, at the happy enjoyment of an imperishable life, at never-ending joys, at the fulness of eternal life, to obtain the heavenly goods.

Each Collect contains a special petition. The reason for imploring precisely this or that favor lies in the variety of days, seasons and feasts, in the special motive for and the character of the celebration of the Mass. In the liturgical cycle of feasts the sacred history and the entire work of Redemption are repeated and renewed. The Church celebrates the mysteries of Christ and of His blessed Mother, as well as the anniversaries of His saints, so that they may become for priest and people a school and a source of supernatural life. By reason of the plenitude of its truths and of the stream of grace flowing throughout its channel, the ecclesiastical year should induce and enable us so to employ the shortness of time, that we may happily arrive at the blissful life of eternity. At the same time the week-days and the Sundays, the feast-days and the holidays, during the course of the holy year, should constantly bring before our soul other truths and mysteries, and continually secure for us new graces. For this practical purpose the simple dogmatical teaching of the feasts and times will liturgically clothe and impress in the most attractive and most dissimilar ways the truth therein embodied. This is done especially by those parts of the Mass, which change in the greatest and ever fresh diversity,—therefore, also by the Collects, in which the Church implores those graces precisely which are appropriate to the season, that is, corresponding to the spirit of the ecclesiastical year, to the different festal seasons and festivals, inasmuch as they enable us to celebrate the holy year to our profit and advantage, to lead an interior life in harmony therewith, and to manifest its spiritual fruit in our conduct.

6. The Form of the Collects. The Collect is, therefore, a prayer of petition for the peculiar grace of the day: but in what form is this petition clothed? Amid all the variety and diversity of the Collects there still prevails a certain uniformity in their construction, which shows that they have been composed after a specified and general rule. The petition is not simply presented to God by itself, but is supported by other kinds or acts of prayer, in order that it may be made so much the more fervent and efficacious. Praise, adoration, thanksgiving—in short, all kinds of prayer are finally resolved in petitions: for petitions are for us in our present state the most important and necessary mode of prayer. Hence petition also forms the peculiar essence of the Collects. But by what other acts is this petition usually accompanied? St. Paul mentions—and probably here there is question of public worship—supplications (urgent entreaty, to which a p. 100powerful motive is added, that the prayer may be heard the sooner), prayers, petitions and thanksgivings.²³⁷237Obsecro primum omnium fieri obsecrationes, orationes, postulationes, gratiarum actiones pro omnibus hominibus (1 Tim. 2, 1). These expressions of the Apostle are differently interpreted. (Cfr. S. Thom. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 17. — Suarez, De Relig. tr. 4, l. 2, c. 3, n. 3–8.) — St. Augustine finds indicated in them the whole course of the Mass. Aliqua singulorum istorum proprietas inquirenda est, sed ad eam liquido pervenire difficile est: multa quippe hinc dici possunt, quae improbanda non sint. Sed eligo in his verbis hoc intelligere, quod omnis vel paene omnis frequentat Ecclesia, ut precationes (sc. obsecrationes) accipiamus dictas, quas facimus in celebratione Sacramentorum, antequam illud quod est in Domini mensa incipiat benedici; orationes, cum benedicitur et sanctificatur et ad distribuendum comminuitur, quam totam petitionem fere omnis Ecclesia dominica oratione concludit. . . . Interpellationes (sc. postulationes) fiunt, cum populus benedicitur: tunc enim antistites velut advocati susceptos suos (their clients) per manus impositionem misericordissimae offerunt potestati. Omnibus peractis et participato tanto sacramento, gratiarum actio cuncta concludit, quam in his etiam verbis ultimam commendavit Apostolus (S. Aug. Epist. 149, al. 59, n. 15–16 ad Paulin.). These four methods of prayer are not only found alternately in the course of the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, but they are, for the most part, combined in each Collect,²³⁸238S. Thom. l. c. — Guyet, Heortol. l. 3, c. 2, q. 4. The oratio (elevation of the mind to God) is usually contained in the words Domine or Deus or Domine Deus or Omnipotens et misericors Deus; the gratiarum actio in the mention of some benefit of God; the postulatio in the expressions: concede, da, largire, praesta, tribue; the obsecratio in the concluding formula: per Dominum nostrum. . . . and form these acts into a perfect and most effectual prayer of petition. The person praying must approach God, draw nigh unto God, elevate himself to God (oratio); and then present his petitions (postulatio), and to obtain more speedily what is asked for, he joins to it his motives: one of which is on the part of the petitioner gratitude or thanksgiving (gratiarum actio); for in so far as we are grateful for benefits received, do we obtain graces yet more plentifully;²³⁹239De acceptis beneficiis gratias agentes, meremur accipere potiora ut in Collecta dicitur (S. Thom. l. c.). — Gratiarum actio est orationis completio et integralis pars ejus, per quam tam ipsa oratio Deo fusa exaudibilis redditur, quam sequentibus orationibus via ac praeparatio exauditionis aperitur. Qui enim gratus est de acceptis et de minoribus regratiatur, majoribus donis efficitur dignus (Dion. Carthus. De oratione art. 3).—but the most efficient means for having our petitions granted, is to beg them of God by the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ: hence the concluding words “through Christ our Lord,” words which express the entreaty (obsecratio).

The Collect for Whitsunday, for example, is as follows:

Thus the Church complies with the admonition of the Apostle: “In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God.”²⁴⁰240In omni oratione et obsecratione cum gratiarum actione petitiones vestrae innotescant apud Deum (Philipp. 4, 6).

The prayers may be addressed to the holy and indivisible Trinity or to any one of the Divine Persons: when the latter is done, it is self-evident that the other two Persons are not excluded, but rather virtually included, and to make this obvious they are, as a rule, expressly mentioned. It is the same with respect to the Collects. Whether they be directed to the Father or to the Son, there follows at any rate at the conclusion an explicit confession and solemn acknowledgment of the holy Trinity.²⁴¹241Neque enim praejudicium Filio vel sancto Spiritui comparatur, dum ad Patris personam precatio ab offerente dirigitur; cujus consummatio, dum Filii et Spiritus sancti complectitur nomen, ostendit nullum esse in Trinitate discrimen. Quia dum ad solius Patris personam honoris sermo dirigitur, bene credentis fide tota Trinitas honoratur, et cum ad Patrem litantis destinatur intentio, sacrificii munus omni Trinitati uno eodemque offertur litantis officio (S. Fulgent. [† 533], Ad Monim. l. 2, c. 5).

The Collects were originally and without exception and are now usually addressed to the Father. For the Father is the first Person of the Blessed Trinity and as such He is, in a manner, the original source not only of the divine nature which from all eternity He imparts to the Son and with the Son to the Holy Ghost,²⁴²242Patrem sancta Ecclesia in precibus poscit, quem esse originem Filii et Spiritus sancti recta credulitate cognovit. Ideo autem nomine Filii et Spiritus sancti orationes precesque consummat, ut sanctam Trinitatem unius esse naturae ac majestatis ostendat (S. Fulgent. Contra Fabian. fragm. 29). but of all created things. To the Father are principally attributed (appropriated) power and majesty, revealed in the creation of the world; the Father has sent us His only-begotten Son, and together with Him He has given us all things. — Jesus Christ Himself offered His whole life, actions, sufferings and especially His prayers to God the Father. The Saviour in His prayer to God was not only our advocate, but also our model in prayer—our leader in prayer. He always prayed to His Father, “to show that the Father is His origin, from whom He from eternity receives His divine nature and by whom His human nature also was created, and from whom it received all the good that it possessed.” — Inasmuch as the Church when praying has usually recourse to the Father, she in this respect follows not merely the example but, moreover, the teaching of Christ, who said to His Apostles: “Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you” (John 16, 23). In this a further reason is indicated why the Collects, for the most part, are addressed to the Father. Our petitions should be presented “in the name of Jesus.” Jesus is the Mediator through whom all our prayers and supplications ascend to Heaven, and through whom as well do all graces and merits descend upon earth; hence for the sake of the Son we pray to the Father who sent Him, by concluding the Collects with these words “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This rule is especially observed at Holy Mass, in which the Son offers Himself to the Heavenly Father.

Some of the Collects are addressed to the second Person of the divine Trinity, because they have a particular and closer relation to the mystery of the Incarnation or to the Incarnate Word.²⁴³243For example, the prayer to the Most Blessed Sacrament, on the feast of the Invention of the Cross, on several feasts of the Passion and of St. Joseph. On the other hand, we do not find in our Missal a single Collect addressed to the Holy Ghost; while in the liturgy there are other prayers to the Holy Ghost and hymns in His honor, wherein He is invoked and glorified as God.²⁴⁴244Tota Trinitas una et eadem adoratione colenda est, puta unus Deus, cum in ipsis personis sit una numero majestas et deitas; nihilominus cum unaquaeque increata persona sit in se vere subsistens persona, potest unusquisque fidelis preces suas specialiter dirigere ad quamlibet divinam personam et eam secundum se specialiter exorare, non tamen cum actuali aliarum personarum exclusione, quasi ipsa sola sit adoranda. Hinc in Missae Officio orationes Ecclesiae ad Patrem specialiter effunduntur, interdum ad Filium, ut cum dicimus: “Fidelium Deus omnium Conditor et Redemptor,” communiter vero ad Patrem, tanquam ad totius Trinitatis principium, i. e. primam fontalem personam a nullo manantem; sic et aliquae laudes, orationes, hymni, sequentiae ad Spiritum sanctum specialiter depromuntur (Dion. Carthus. Elementat. theolog. prop. 128).

The form of the conclusion of the Collect is modified in a fivefold manner, according as the Collect is addressed to the Father or to the Son—and according as in a Collect addressed to the Father mention is made in any way of the second or third Divine Person.²⁴⁵245The prayers to the Father usually conclude: Per Dominum nostrum J. Chr. . . .; those to the Son always: Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre . . . Sometimes the Collects addressed to the Father conclude: Per eundem Dominum . . . (when, for instance, the Son was mentioned at the beginning or in the middle), or: Qui tecum vivit et regnat . . . (if this mention is made at the conclusion). This naming of the Son may be done by the words Christus, Verbum, Unigenitus, Salvator etc. or also merely according to the sense. (S. R. C. 11. Mart. 1820). When the person of the Holy Ghost is mentioned directly and actually, as is not the case in such expressions as spiritus dilectionis, fortitudinis, fervoris, adoptionis, gratiae salutaris, the concluding formula is: . . . . in unitate ejusdem Spiritus sancti . . . (S. R. C. 12. Nov. 1831). — But in order to obtain these modifications of the conclusions, the naming of the Son or of the Holy Ghost must not merely be in one of the preceding Orations, but it must be found in the last, to which the conclusion is attached. (S. R. C. 23. Mai. 1835; 8. Apr. 1865). — Outside of the Divine Office and the Mass all Orations have the shorter concluding formula: Per (eundem) Christum Dominum nostrum or Qui vivis et regnas in (or per omnia) saecula saeculorum, if in the liturgical books the longer one is not expressly ordered, as, for example, in the Litany of the Saints (S. R. C. 20. Dec. 1864). — When several prayers occur, only the first (to which, however, at times another sub una conclusione is joined), and the last have a special concluding formula. The Oremus also is prefaced to the first and second Mass orations, while in the Divine Office all the prayers are introduced with this cry, as here the Antiphon together with the Versicle is inserted between the separate orations. — As the prayers are addressed to the omniscient God, in them only the simple or also the double proper names may be employed (for example, Joanna Francisca, Petrus Coelestinus) and similar designations of saints, as express their dignity (for example, Apostolus, Martyr, Confessor, Virgo—but never Vidua, because this is not a title of honor). To them may also be added the names Joannes Chrysostomus and Petrus Chrysologus; for nomina Chrysostomi et Chrysologi adjectiva potius sunt et vel facundiam vel vim et efficaciam divini sermonis recensitis Sanctis quasi supernaturali inditam virtute designant. (S. R. C. 8. Mart. 1825.—7. Dec. 1844 ad 9.) — All other surnames, of what nature soever (cognomina, for example, de Matha, a Cruce, Benitius, Nonnatus, Quintus—and patria, for instance, de Cortona, de Paula, Nepomucenus, with the exception of Maria Magdalena), must be omitted, as they are necessary only for us to distinguish the saints one from another. The name rex and regina may be added, but not of the kingdom over which the saints have reigned (for example, Danorum, Scotiae). (S. R. C. 22. Dec. 1629; 23. Jun. 1736. Cfr. Guyet. Heortol. l. 3, c. 2, q. 5. — Cavalieri, Oper. liturg. t. II, c. 38. — Beleth, Ration. c. 54). p. 103The usual form of conclusion is as follows: Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus: per omnia saecula saeculorum. — “Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth forever and ever.” Thus the Collects end and thus they rise to a magnificent praise of the Most Holy Trinity. How solemn, how overpowering, how grand are these concluding words! With what courage and confidence, with what consolation and consciousness of victory should they fill us! “Were it not for the intercession of our Mediator, without doubt, the cry of our supplication would go up unheard in the presence of God.”²⁴⁶246Adjutor quaeritur, ut desiderium exaudiatur, quia nisi pro nobis interpellatio mediatoris intercederet, ab aure Dei procul dubio nostrarum precum voces silerent (S. Greg. Moralium l. 22, c. 17). The Church prays with a lively faith in the mediatorship of Jesus and an unshaken confidence in His merits; as Christ has merited for us all grace, He has, therefore, secured a favorable answer also to our prayers. For Christ’s sake we are favored and blessed by God. Whenever God looks upon the face of His Anointed, in whom He is eternally well pleased, He will through Christ²⁴⁷247Patri dicimus orantes “Per Dominum nostrum J. Chr. Filium tuum” poscentes, ut per ipsum faciat quod oramus, per quem nos facere dignatus est ut essemus. Omnia enim Pater per Filium fecit et facit, quia unus Dominus J. Chr. per quem omnia—1 Cor. 8, 6 (S. Fulgent. contra Fabian. fragm. 31). and for the sake of Christ graciously receive our petitions and graciously hear them, by pouring out upon us His abundant mercies and blessings.²⁴⁸248Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum—hoc est, per ipsius dignitatem et per virtutem ejus et efficaciam et per ejus meritum et per intercessionem orationemque ejus. Quae omnia significat hoc verbum omniaque sub eo Ecclesia comprehendit, allegans omnes titulos, quos Christus habet, ut omnes ejus orationes ab aeterno Patre exaudiantur et impleantur (Arias, Thesaur. inexhaust. 1, tr. 3, cap. 16).

In our prayers, therefore, we put our trust and reliance in the power and goodness, in the merits and mercy of our Head and High-priest Jesus Christ, who “liveth and reigneth”—vivit et regnat.²⁴⁹249Omnes fere orationes finiuntur obsecratione illa: Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum . . ., expressa item mentione regni aeternum duraturi, ut inde crescat fervor et fiducia, cum orationes innitantur meritis Jesu Christi et speretur regnum aeternum in ejus societate (De Ponte l. c.). “The Lord of life died,” thus sings the Church in the sequence for Easter, therefore, “He liveth and reigneth”—Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who offered His life for His sheep and He truly rose again,—“who was dead and He now liveth forever and ever” (Apoc. 1, 18). Christ lives in the light of heavenly glory, in heaven He hath “an everlasting priesthood whereby He is able also to save forever them that come to God by Him, always living to make intercession for us” (Heb. 7, 24–25). Christ is “immortal,” He is “the Son of the living God,” “He bears life within Himself” and He is for the creature “the inexhaustible fountain of life.” All life of grace and truth in souls proceeds from Christ, the “living foundation-stone” of holy Church. But Christ not only lives, but He reigns and rules as the “Blessed and the only mighty One, as the King of kings, and the Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6, 15). All power has been given to Him in heaven and on earth: He possesses plenitude of power, to lead men into the kingdom of grace and glory. The Heavenly Father said to Him on the day of His Ascension: “Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool” (Ps. 109, 1–2). After Christ had drunk from the fountain of suffering and humiliation, He raised His head aloft, and He now possesses triumphantly in glory the throne and the kingdom of eternity, He reigns as King of glory, in order to favor and make happy those who are His own,—but the enemies of His Church “to rule with a rod of iron and to break in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps. 2, 9). The greatness of the Lord is a warrant to us of the terror of His judgment, but it is also a guarantee to us of the bounty of His goodness and the fulness of His grace. Hence, as often as we conclude the petitions which we address to the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation, with the overwhelming expression of our formula, we are reminded of the infinite power, the eternal sovereignty and glory of Jesus Christ which He possesses with the Father and the Holy Ghost; and is not this thought well calculated to raise up our spirits and console us, to strengthen and encourage us, as well as to fill us with humility and holy fear! “Thy (Christ’s) kingdom is a kingdom of ages, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (Ps. 144, 13). Jesus Christ is, moreover, the King of hearts: may His kingdom, the kingdom of grace and love, become daily more firmly established within us! With the most intimate and the most self-sacrificing love we will give ourselves to Jesus and cling to Him: He is indeed infinitely amiable and full of love. May Jesus live and reign in our hearts!

The “Amen,” that the acolyte says at the end of the Collect, in the name of the people,²⁵⁰250In the first centuries the entire congregation responded. Already St. Justin Martyr writes in his first Apology (chap. 67), that all the congregation join in the liturgical prayers and thanksgivings, by saying “Amen.” St. Jerome says of the Roman Basilicas: ad similitudinem coelestis tonitrui Amen reboat (Commentar. in epist. ad Galat. l. 2). — Amen hebraeum est, quod ad omnem sacerdotis orationem seu benedictionem respondet populus fidelium (Raban. Maur. De clericor. institut. l. 1, c. 33). — Amen confirmatio est orationis a populo (Pseudo-Alcuin. De divin. offic. c. 40). is a solemn expression of the wish that the petitions offered be graciously heard and fulfilled: “So be it done!” This word occurs even in the Old Testament, especially in its divine worship; and on account of its antiquity and solemnity, and for the reason of its frequent use also by our Lord, the term is highly venerable and has, therefore, been adopted, without being translated, into her liturgy by the Church.²⁵¹251Duo verba Amen et Alleluja nec Graecis nec Latinis nec barbaris licet in suam linguam omnino transferre vel alia lingua enuntiare. Nam quamvis interpretari possint, propter sanctiorum tamen auctoritatem servata est ab Apostolis in iis propriae linguae antiquitas. Tanto enim sacra sunt nomina, ut etiam Joannes in Apocalypsi referat se Spiritu revelante vidisse et audivisse vocem coelestis exercitus tamquam vocem aquarum multarum et tonitruum validorum dicentium Amen et Alleluja; ac per hoc sic oportet in terris utraque dici sicut in coelo resonat (S. Isidor. Etymol. l. 6, c. 19, n. 20–21). “This word was so frequently on the lips of our Saviour, that it pleased the Holy Ghost (ut Spiritui Sancto placuerit), to preserve it in the Church of God.”²⁵²252Catech. Rom. P. 4, c. 17, q. 3, n. 1. In the New Testament our Lord willingly employs it in His exhortations, and that at the beginning of sentences, to arouse the attention of His hearers, and forcibly to emphasize and impress some thought.²⁵³253Christus geminavit dixitque “Amen, Amen” ad ostendendam rei gravitatem, sublimitatem et certitudinem (Corn. a Lap. in Joannem 3, 3). At the conclusion of prayers, of blessings, of creeds, of doxologies and hymns it is at one time the expression of the ardent desire of the heart (= fiat, γένοιτο, be it so); at another the formula of solemn confirmation, attestation and consent (= verum est, ἀληθῶς, it is so).²⁵⁴254In Hebrew the Amen as an adjective signifies reliable, faithful, true, firm; as a substantive: fidelity, truth; as an adverb: truly, assuredly. (Cf. Hundhausen, Das erste Pontificalschreiben Petri S. 404). Such is its meaning in the liturgy, and to this meaning entirely corresponds the grave and solemn manner in which it is sung by the choir at the conclusion of the Gloria and Credo. The concluding Amen is, therefore, a repetition and confirmation of the petitions which have been presented in the Collects; it is an expression of the ardent desire and confident hope of being favorably heard by God.²⁵⁵255Omnes respondent Amen, h. e. utinam fiat, sicut petis, et ita verum est, sicut dixisti. In quo solo verbo continetur, quidquid sacerdos pluribus dixit, et tanto affectu verbum illud dici potest, ut non minus promereatur unico illo verbo prolato, quam si protulisset omnia. Deus enim Dominus noster non tam verborum multitudinem respicit, quam fervorem affectuum (De Ponte, l. c.). p. 106It is as though the people would make those desires, which the priest in the name of all has offered at the throne of God, still more efficient and, as it were, put their seal upon them by answering: “Amen,” that is, be it done, be it as you have asked.²⁵⁶256Amen est orationis signaculum fructuosum et animi recollectivum. Dicendo enim “Amen,” anima summatim fertur ad omnia praeinducta et renovatur affectio impetrandi, sicque oratio cum fervore finita pleniorem sortitur effectum (Dion. Carthus. in S. Matth. cap. 6). Would that we may always pronounce this short, but truly significant and venerable word with all recollection of mind and fervor of heart, as do the angels in heaven (Apoc. 7, 12).

7. How the Collects are to be said. According to the prescription of the Church, during the recitation of the Collects the hands of the priest are to be extended and elevated before the breast—but in such wise, that the ends of the fingers do not reach beyond the breadth and height of the shoulders.²⁵⁷257Digitorum summitas humerorum altitudinem distantiamque non excedat. On this Lohner remarks: Unde colligitur, in altum elevatos digitos esse debere et non in aequali cum palma altitudine constitutos et quasi jacentes, ut multi faciunt. Sed et distantia manuum cum decore servanda est (De sacrif. Miss. p. 6, tit. 5). This rubric leaves room for no extravagant and unbecoming gestures. “If we pray with modesty and humility, we recommend our petitions to God far better, inasmuch as we do not raise our hands too high, but only moderately and becomingly.”²⁵⁸258. . . ne ipsis quidem manibus sublimius elatis, sed temperate et probe elatis (Tertull. De Orat. c. 17). This position of the body in praying, namely, the extending and raising of the hands, is very proper and well calculated to increase devotion in him who prays, and also to edify those present; it is, at the same time, so natural and expressive, that it has always been customary at prayer among all nations. Amalek fought against Israel. When Moses raised his hands, Israel was victorious; but when he allowed them to fall ever so little, Amalek triumphed.²⁵⁹259Cf. Exodus 17, 8–11. And Solomon placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the people of Israel and extended his hands towards heaven.²⁶⁰2603 Kings 8, 22. David cries out: “Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to Thee; when I lift up my hands to Thy holy temple” (Ps. 27, 2). The adorable hands of Jesus were also extended and elevated on the Cross, when along with His bloody sacrifice He offered prayers and intercession for the whole world. This divine Model the primitive Christians had before their eyes and imitated when they so ardently loved to pray with arms outstretched in the form of a cross.²⁶¹261Non ausa est cohibere poena palmas—In morem crucis ad Patrem levandas (Prudent. Peristephanon, hymn. VI, v. 106–107). “The ancient Christian representation of the cross p. 107by means of the arms extended for prayer, is both the most respectable as to number, and the most beautiful and significant as to symbolism. For hundreds of paintings, tombstones, enamels and sculpturings of the Catacombs represent the blessed in heaven and the faithful on earth praying with arms extended in the form of the cross. ‘We have the command,’ writes St. Maximus, ‘to pray with uplifted hands, so that even by our corporal bearing we may confess the passion of the Lord.’ And St. Peter Chrysologus remarks: ‘Does not he who extends his hands, pray even by the position of his body?’ — through Jesus Christ or in the name of the Crucified. When, therefore, in the first ages the clergy and faithful in general were accustomed to pray with outstretched arms, and when the martyrs often even suffered and died in this posture, they thereby confessed the Saviour extended on the Cross, and presented His merits to the Heavenly Father.”²⁶²262P. Wolter, O. S. B., Die römischen Katakomben, II, 43.

The manner in which the priest according to the rubrics must now hold his hands at the altar, presents no longer indeed the form of the cross, as was the case in the ancient Christian mode of prayer, but the position of his uplifted hands can and should still remind us of our Saviour praying and sacrificing Himself upon the Cross.²⁶³263Passis quondam sublatisque brachiis orabant, ut statum, quo Christus oravit in cruce, imitarentur. Consultius vero existimavit Ecclesia, si ad eum modum, quo nunc utimur, Collectae recitarentur, ne veteri retenta consuetudine orandi passis extensisque brachiis, inconcinnis et ridiculis figuris aperiretur locus (Benedict XIV. De Miss. sacrif. l. 2, c. 6, n. 5). — The extending of the hands is, so to speak, an embracing, a collecting together of all the wants and concerns, desires and necessities of the faithful. The elevating of the hands denotes and promotes the uplifting of the heart to God,²⁶⁴264Levat sacerdos manus orando ad designandum, quod oratio ejus dirigitur pro populo ad Deum (Thren. 3, 41. Ex. 17, 11). S. Thom. 3, qu. 83, a. 5 ad 5. the soaring of the soul above the earthly to the heavenly, the rising to that which is above, where Christ ascended with arms extended. The sedate position of the hands extended and raised is a sign of the ardent desire for help, an expression of the fervor and urgency wherewith the petitions are presented, a symbol of confidence and an assurance of being favorably heard. Thus the priest stands at the altar—and from the depths of this earth of suffering, of poverty, he cries to the Lord and stretches out his hands for rescue and redemption, which must come from above. If he then at the concluding formula of the Collect again joins his hands, he thereby manifests the sentiments of ardent devotion, the humble disavowal of his own strength, the devout desire to give himself entirely to the Lord and to rest in the Lord;—he also acknowledges the union and combination of all gifts in God, the Supreme Good, whence as from the fountain and source of all graces every gift comes to us through Jesus Christ.²⁶⁵265Manuum junctio significat omnium bonorum a Deo fluentium in ipso unitatem et conjunctionem (Durand. Ration. l. 4, c. 7, n. 5).

“Now some brief mention should be made as to what direction of the heavens we are to turn while at prayer. But since there are four cardinal points of the heavens, who will not admit at once that the direction of the rising sun is evidently the one towards which we should turn when at prayer, in token that the soul looks to the rising of the true light (that is, to Jesus Christ)?”²⁶⁶266Origen, On Prayer, chap. 32. As is still evident from many other testimonies from the Fathers, it was an ancient custom to turn toward the East when praying; accordingly, as a rule, the Church with the main altar was built in this direction, so that the priest and the faithful might when at prayer look toward the rising of the sun. The principal symbolical reasons for this are, according to St. Thomas,²⁶⁷2672, 2, qu. 84, a. 3 ad 3. the three following. First, the position of the person who prays is considered in reference to the Divine Majesty, revealed to us in the movement of the heavens; this movement of the heavens takes place from the East. — Secondly, we seek to express by this posture that we desire to return to Paradise, which was situated in the East. — Thirdly, we turn in that direction because we thereby think of Jesus Christ who is the true light of the world and is, therefore, called the Orient (Oriens), that is, the Rising Sun of Justice, and who at His second coming, as Judge of the living and the dead, will appear “as lightning coming out of the east and passing even into the west” (Matt. 24, 27).

8. The Antiquity, the Number and the Value of the Collects. From Apostolic times a number of prayers and supplications were offered at the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice; naturally their form gradually developed. In our Missals may be found Collects which date from primitive ages. The saintly Popes Leo I. (440–461), Gelasius (492–496) and Gregory I. (590–604) deserve great credit for not only having faithfully preserved the treasure of traditional prayers, but also for having added new ones. The most of our Collects, therefore, are venerable for their antiquity and their use throughout many centuries.

Until far into the Middle Age, till about the twelfth century, the Roman Church was accustomed in every Mass to recite but one Collect before the Epistle. However, in the eleventh century this original practice was in many instances departed from in other churches in which several prayers were recited; only the consecrated number of seven was not to be exceeded.²⁶⁸268Amalarius (d. c. 847) attests in the praefatio altera to his principal work, that even in his time some juxta affectum recited two or three Collects, although in Rome only one (unam tantum) was said—even on Sundays upon which the feast of a saint fell. Micrologus (in the eleventh century) defends this antiqua vel romana traditio, but adds these remarks: Sed hoc jam pauci observant, imo plures in tantum orationes multiplicant, ut auditores suos sibi ingratos efficiant et populum Dei potius avertant quam ad sacrificandum alliciant. Hoc autem sapientioribus multum displicet, qui etsi aliquando antiquam traditionem aliis morigerando excedunt, in ipsa tamen sua excessione modum tenere et aliquam rationem attendere solent. Unde et in Missa, etsi non semper una tantum oratione sint contenti, septenarium tamen numerum in orationibus raro excedunt. . . . . Hoc autem summopere solent observare, ut in Missa aut unam, tres aut quinque aut septem orationes dicant (De eccles. observat. c. 4). — Debet dici una oratio, sicut una epistola et unum evangelium, propter fidei unitatem . . . sed ex Patrum institutionibus quandoque dicuntur tres vel quinque vel septem. Praeter hos numeros alius est, non dico reprehensibilis, sed extraordinarius. . . . Pares non sunt dicendae, quia “numero Deus impare gaudet”. . . Quotcunque dicantur, sola prima conclusione debita terminentur (Sicard. [† 1215], Mitral. l. 3, c. 2). With the development of p. 110the liturgical calendar, a fixed law was gradually formed regulating the number of prayers to be said at Mass. Since the thirteenth century the prescribed number of prayers has been determined according to the respective rank (ritus), also according to the dignity (dignitas) and to the solemnity (solemnitas) of the feasts of the ecclesiastical year. The greater the feast, the more deeply recollected we should enter into the spirit of it, the more we should concentrate all our thoughts and sentiments upon the mystery celebrated; hence for the feasts of the highest rank (duplex) only one Collect is properly appointed.²⁶⁹269Oratio est explicativa desiderii. Sed desiderium tanto est sanctius, quanto magis ad unum restringitur, secundum illud Ps. 26, 4: “Unum petii a Domino, hanc requiram” (S. Thom. 2, 2, qu. 83, a. 14). — The celebration of a feast of an inferior rite (semiduplex) is of less importance; hence other commemorations and interests may and should find expression in our prayer, which is then offered at the throne of God generally in the consecrated number of three. — The lowest rite (simplex) allows the priest to go beyond the consecrated number of three and to present to the Lord various needs in the number of the five wounds of Jesus, or of the seven petitions of the Our Father.²⁷⁰270Quadt, Die Liturgie der Quatembertage S. 81–84. As often as the rubrics leave the priest free to add, according to his pleasure, one or more prayers to those prescribed, he must take care that the number be an uneven one.²⁷¹271The priest is, however, not bound, in simplicibus, feriis et votivis to add another prayer, so that the numerus impar may be observed (S. R. C. 2. Dec. 1684). — Regarding the Missa quotidiana for the departed curandum est, ut orationes sint numero impares (S. R. C. 2. Sept. 1741). Quod si in quotidianis Missis pro defunctis plures addere orationes celebranti placuerit, uti rubricae potestatem faciunt, id fieri potest tantum in Missis lectis, impari cum aliis praescriptis servato numero et orationi pro omnibus defunctis postremo loco assignato (S. R. C. 30. Jun. 1896). For this symbolizes the indivisibility of the Supreme Being and the unity of the Church. The number of seven should not be exceeded: in the first place, because our Lord who taught us to pray, compiled all that we require for soul and body in seven petitions, then too, that those present may not become weary and annoyed on account of the length of the Mass.

As to the value of the prayers of the Mass, but one opinion can be expressed in their regard: as to form and contents they are incomparable and unequalled models of prayer. The language of the Collects is calm, simple and plain, yet not without ornament; their contents exceedingly rich and profoundly dogmatic. One need but reflect in devout meditation on the text of a Collect, and he will discover what a wealth of sublime thoughts and holy emotions is embodied in those brief, substantial words. It is, therefore, very difficult, often even impossible in a translation to render these prayers without impairing their full meaning and weakening their force. That profound connoisseur of the Roman liturgy, Cardinal Wiseman, writes on this subject: “There is a fragrance, a true incense in those ancient prayers which seems to rise from the lips, and to wind upwards in soft, balmy clouds upon which angels may recline and thence look down upon us, as we utter them. They seem worthy to be caught up in a higher sphere, and to be heaped upon the altar above, at which an angel ministers. They partake of all the solemnity and all the stateliness of the places in which they were first recited: they retain the echoes of the gloomy Catacomb, they still resound with the jubilee of gilded basilicas, they keep the harmonious reverberations of lofty groined vaults . . . Nothing can be more perfect in structure, more solid in substance, more elegant in conception, or more terse in diction, than the Collects, especially those of the Sundays and of Lent. They belong essentially to the traditional deposits of the Church. In fact, there is hardly a Collect in which some singular beauty of thought, some happy turn of phrase, is not to be found. Each is almost invariably composed of two parts, which may be called the recital and the petition. The first contains either a declaration of our wants, or a plea for mercy, or for a favorable hearing. Nothing strikes one so much as the noble and appropriate terms in which the Deity is addressed, and the sublime greatness in which His attributes are described. The petition itself is ever most solemn, devout and fervent; often containing depth of thought which would supply materials for a long meditation. ... If any one thinks that these prayers, so easy in appearance, require no great power to imitate them, let him try to compose a few, and he will soon find their inferiority to the old ones; he will see that it is far from easy to put so much meaning into such a small compass, and still more difficult to come up to the beauty and greatness of thought generally condensed in the ancient form.”²⁷²272Essays. The Collects are, therefore, to be reckoned among the most precious liturgical treasures of the Church: they are masterly, unsurpassable prayers, distinguished alike for their solid force and pithy brevity, as for their fragrant charm and imperishable freshness.

9. Examples. The petition contained in the Collect is, as a rule, taken from and based on the Mass of each day. This is made evident in the various feasts of the ecclesiastical year. The Saviour of the world is born to us—this is the mystery, this is the great joy of the holy Christmas night. To honor the threefold birth of Jesus Christ, (of God the Father, of the Virgin Mary and in the hearts of the faithful) the Holy Sacrifice is offered three times to the glorious Trinity (in nocte, in aurora, in die). Now what are the desires and petitions of the Church on this great feast? In the first Collect she implores of God, who “enlighteneth this most holy night with the brightness of Him who is the true light, to grant that we who have known the mysteries of this light of earth, may likewise come to the enjoyment of it in heaven.” In the prayer of the second Mass the Church addresses to Almighty God the petition that He would “grant to us, who are flooded (perfundimur) by the new light of the Word made flesh, the grace that this light may be so reflected by our actions, as it shines through faith in our mind” (hoc in nostro resplendeat opere, quod per fidem fulget in mente). The Collect of the third Mass contains the petition that “the new birth in the flesh of Thy only-begotten Son may free us, whom the ancient slavery holds under the yoke of sin.” On the feast of the Ascension, we beg of God the grace which elevates us above all that is earthly and effects that “we also may with our mind dwell among heavenly things” (ipsi quoque mente in coelestibus habitemus). — On the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church begs that “the earthly and temporal celebration (actu), as well as the heavenly and eternal fruit (fructu) of the benefits of this love-inflamed Heart may be our joy and felicity” (delectemur)—and, in order the more easily to be heard, she represents to the Almighty “that the most Sacred Heart of His beloved Son is our glory and that we recall out of gratitude the chief benefits of its love towards us” (recolimus).²⁷³273Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, qui in sanctissimo dilecti Filii tui Corde gloriantes, praecipua in nos caritatis ejus beneficia recolimus: eorum pariter et actu delectemur, et fructu.

In the Masses in honor of the Saints, the subject of the petition is in general, that, by their example and merit, by their doctrine and intercession, we may be raised to a spiritual life, make progress therein and attain eternal joys; that we may enjoy their mediation, their protection and their intercession; that, animated by their example, we may be converted to God, produce worthy fruits of penance, despise all that is earthly, temporal and perishable, and, on the contrary, long for and strive after all that is heavenly, eternal and imperishable, fly the lust of the world and come to God, walk in the simplicity and innocence of heart, endure all adversity with constant patience; that we may love what they loved, do what they taught, imitate what they have done and obtain what they possess. — Frequently the prayer of the Church prays for their imitation in a particular virtue, for example, love of our neighbor, constancy in faith, confidence in God, the spirit of prayer, mortification;—or a special protection, for instance, against the malice of the devil, against enslavement of soul by the body, for the extinguishing of evil desires, for the ruling of the tongue, for Holy Communion and p. 113the overcoming of the Evil One at the hour of death. The occasion for petitioning for such special graces and virtues is usually based upon some fact, on a miracle or some prominent characteristic feature of the life of the Saint whose feast is celebrated. Thus the Church prays to Almighty God on the Nativity of St. John Baptist, that He would grant “His people the grace of spiritual joys, and direct the minds of all the faithful into the way of eternal salvation.” On the feast of St. Thomas of Aquin, the Collect is as follows: “O God, who by the wonderful learning of blessed Thomas, Thy confessor, dost illustrate Thy Church, and by his holy works dost render her fertile; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may perceive with our mind what he taught and, in our lives, fulfil by our imitation what he practised.” On the feast of St. Teresa we beseech God to give us the grace, “to be nourished with the food of her heavenly doctrine, and taught by the affection of her pious devotion.”

On the Sundays of Advent we implore the Lord “to arouse His power and come; that by His protection we may deserve to be freed from the imminent dangers of our sins, and be saved by His redeeming aid;”, “to stir up our hearts to prepare the way for His only-begotten Son, that we may be enabled to serve Him with minds purified by His coming;” “that He would bend His ear to our prayers, and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of His visitation;” “that He would exert His power and come, and succor us by His great might, that by the assistance of His grace, what by our sins is delayed may be hastened by His indulgent mercy.”

The Collects of the Lenten liturgy have reference almost always to the same subject; for they generally implore the grace to worthily and profitably employ this solemn time of penance, so as to make it available for the sincere practice and sanctification of fasting. With an astonishing variety this petition is expressed in an ever new and changeable form. Thus, for example, the Church prays that “our mind, chastened by the mortification of the body, may, by the ardor of its desires for God, shine brightly in His sight (desiderio fulgeat); that the faithful who by abstinence mortify their body, may by the fruit of good works become quickened in spirit;” “that God, who understands our utter helplessness, may protect us from within and without, that our body may be safeguarded from all that may injure it, and our mind purified from evil thoughts;” “that, by abstaining from material food, we may also refrain from pernicious lusts;” “that, fervently persevering in fasting and prayer, we may be delivered from the enemies of both soul and body;” “that the chastisement which we have inflicted on the body may serve to the strengthening and fortifying of the soul” (ad nostrarum vegetationem transeat animarum); that “amidst the sufferings that we have deserved and that oppress us, we may be enabled to breathe more freely through the consolations of divine grace;” “that our fast may be pleasing to the Lord, make us worthy of divine grace and lead us to the fountains of eternal salvation.”

The second half of the ecclesiastical year—the time from Pentecost to Advent—represents the pilgrimage of the children of God to their eternal home, their heavenly country: this pilgrimage is indeed accompanied with hardship and labor, but is also full of hope and consolation.²⁷⁴274Deliciae spiritus nostri divina cantica, ubi et fletus sine gaudio non est. Fideli homini et peregrino in saeculo nulla est jucundior recordatio quam civitatis illius unde peregrinatur; sed recordatio civitatis in peregrinatione non est sine dolore atque suspirio. Spes tamen certa reditus nostri etiam peregrinando tristes consolatur et exhortatur (S. Aug. Enarr. in Ps. 145, n. 1). We feel that we are “pilgrims and strangers, hailing from afar, look towards the promises” and “we seek a better heavenly country—the city which God hath prepared for us” (Heb. 11, 13–16). There we live “in expectation of the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2, 13). Therefore, in the Collects of this time, the Church prays that God, the strength of all that hope in Him, may send us the help of His grace, that, in the fulfilment of His Commandments, we may please Him by thought and by deed; that God may grant that we may always revere His holy name with filial love and fear, since He never withdraws His benign protection from those whom He has firmly established in His unchanging love; that God would multiply His mercies to us, that guided by Him we may make use of temporal goods in such a manner as not to lose those which are eternal; that under the guidance of God, the world may be ruled peacefully and the Church may enjoy undisturbed devotion; that God, who has prepared invisible goods for all who love Him, may pour into our hearts the fire of His charity, that, by loving Him in all things and above all things, we may obtain His promises which surpass all understanding; that God’s infallible providence may avert from us all that is hurtful and grant us all that is profitable for us; that God may give us the spirit of always knowing and accomplishing what is right and just; that God, who in the abundance of His goodness grants to us more than we merit or even desire, may pour out His mercies upon us, so that He may pardon what fills our conscience with dread, and add those gifts which we do not venture to ask in prayer; that He would give us an increase of faith, hope and charity, and in order that we may attain unto the happiness He has promised, He may fill us with love for His holy commandments; that grace may always forestall and accompany us, and urge us onward to perseverance in the practice of good works. — Faithful children, who are as yet pilgrims at a distance from their true home, suffering and combating,²⁷⁵275Ab octavis Pentecostes usque Adventum Domini (Ecclesia) recolit tempus peregrinationis. In hoc est nobis perpetua pugna et lucta adversus tres infestissimos hostes, mundum videlicet, carnem et diabolum. Mundus est hostis sophisticus, caro hostis domesticus, diabolus hostis antiquus. Nullus tamen istorum hostis est efficacior ad nocendum quam inimicus noster familiaris, scil. caro, quam fovemus indumentis et reficimus alimentis,—cui tanquam jumento tria debentur: cibus ne deficiat, onus ut mansuescat, virga ut non indirecte, sed directe incedat (Beleth., Rational. c. 56). assuredly can ask or desire nothing better than what is expressed in these Sunday prayers.