The Mass of the Faithful - Part 2

 The second half of the Mass of the Faithful is the portion where we receive graces from God, after have given offerings to God in the first half. This second half begins with a minor elevation and doxology, and then the Pater Noster, or Our Father. However, for better organization on the order of the mass, see below:

• Pater Noster to Ablutions
• The Pater Noster
• Breaking of the Bread
• Mixture of the Body and Blood
• The Agnus Dei
• Prayers for Holy Communion
• Peace, sanctification, and grace
• The Prayers at the Communion
• Communion of the Priest
• Communion of the Faithful
• Ablutions to the End of the Mass
• Ablutions prayers
• The Communion Verse
• Post Communion prayers
• Conclusion of the Mass
• The Dismissal
• The Blessing
• The Last Gospel

The Pater Noster to the Ablutions - 

For the Pater Noster, a prayer that we all pray at Mass as a signifier of the end of the sacrificial portion of the Mass we seek to have the perfect fruits of the sacrifice applied to our souls. As I said before, the Pater Noster has seven sections to it. A perfect prayer gives glory and honor to God first, and then petitions for graces. Christ gave us this prayer, not only to pray and believe it, but to form our prayers around it and to mold our prayers in the same form. As such with the Pater Noster, we give God the glory and honor for the Miracle that is in the hands of His priest, and ask in this "daily bread" to receive the graces therein from Him in Heaven. At first glance the breaking of the Eucharistic Bread may be so that more people can receive it, it is a large host after all, but it is symbolic of two amazing events from the New Testament. First, in the breaking of the bread when Christ fed the 5000, with just five loaves of bread. He thanked the Father, blessed them, and broke the bread to feed the crowd of 5000, and had a multitude of bread leftover. Second, was in the Supper at Emmaus, when they did not know Christ in their presence, but knew Him in the moment of the breaking of the bread. They knew Him in the breaking of the bread, and in the breaking of the bread we can come to know Him in the Eucharist. After the bread is broken a small particle is then added into the chalice mingling the Body and Blood of Christ symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ.

Ecce Agnus Dei!

The Agnus Dei, or lamb of God, is then sung as a resemblance of the Lamb slain for the New Covenant, just as the lamb was slain in the Old Covenant so save the first-born children of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. In the Agnus Dei the priest, and the congregation singing, or chanting along, instead of the Trinity as a whole which is how the prayers have been primarily directed up to this point. In the Agnus Dei we acknowledge the act of Christ in His sacrifice, having taken away the eternal punishment for sin, redeeming us in this act. In the other prayers for communion we ask Jesus Christ to make us worthy to receive Him in the Eucharist, our hearts, and our souls. Repeating the words of the Centurion in Capharnaum, we declare that we are not worthy for Him to enter under our roof, but only say the word and we shall be healed. We pray the He gives us peace, sanctification, and grace in this Holy Communion. The symbolism of the Lamb of God doesn't end there. In the Book of Revelation we a lamb that was slain to redeem us to the God, and the Lamb was the only one worthy enough to open the book that had the seven seals on it.

At this point the Priest has already communed himself, taking the Host and consuming the Precious Blood, and now he goes to distribute the Body of Christ to those who present themselves. They who present themselves, must be a Catholic in good standing, meaning not in a state of Mortal Sin, and in the Traditional Latin Mass we are to receive Our Lord kneeling and on our tongue, as we are not worthy to touch the Host. This is because, a Priest's hands, when he is ordained, are specially blessed to be able to touch and hold the Body of Christ. Also, since Christ is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist, He is present in even the smallest of particles. And we do not touch the Sacred Host so as we do not accidentally carry particles of the Host away with us, desecrating the Body of Our Lord. After Communion has ended the Priest then does what is called Ablutions. This is a process in which he washes his thumb and forefingers with water and wine so that any and all particle may be consumed and not desecrated. This is because when a priest consecrates the Host and then places it back down, his thumb and forefingers stay together until he distributes the Host, so that particles of the Host do not leave his grip and are not trampled on by accident.

Post communion thanksgiving prayers are said by the Priest and the congregation. We are giving thanks for the presence of God, for Jesus' sacrifice redeeming us, for the miracle we witnessed on the altar, the miracle of the Eucharistic consecration. Here we pray and give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity as a whole for all of the graces in our lives, and we ask that we continue to receive these graces necessary for our salvation. 

The dismissal of the Mass is just that, The priest, or deacon, announcing or chanting that the Mass has ended, and we respond thanks be to God. This isn't because we're happy that the Mass has ended, as is attributed to St. Jean Vianney "If we truly understood the Mass, we would die of joy.". We say Thanks be to God, because of the immense graces bestowed upon us in the Mass, and in the Eucharist. We thank Him for being able to hear His word, and the opportunity to worship Him in the Mass. After the end of the Mass the priest turns to us and then blesses us, so that we are emboldened of our great duty given to us by Christ Himself, "To go out and make disciples of every nation", having just received Our Lord in the Eucharist we in essence become a walking talking Monstrance, and as such we are to spread the light of the Lord to everyone we meet and know. And yet, we still aren't finished. We receive a last bit of instruction at the very end. The Priest reads the Gospel once more to us, but unlike the first Gospel reading the second Gospel reading doesn't change, it is always the first 14 verses of the Gospel according to Saint John, this passage clearly talks about the Incarnation of Our Lord. He who came down, assumed the nature of Man, taught us, loved us, died for us, and then resurrected and ascended into Heaven redeeming us back to God the Father. 

Thanks be to God, Deo Gratias.