CANON
261
CANON
are all simply the Roman use with slight local varia-
tions — variations, moreover, that hardly ever affect
the Canon. The Sarum Elite, for instance, which
Anglicans have sometimes tried to set up as a sort of
rival to the Roman Rite, docs not contain in its
Canon a single word that differs from the parent-rite
as still used by us. Bui scum' changes were made in
medieval times, changes that have since been re-
moved by the conservative tendency of Roman
legislation.
From the tenth century people took all manner of liberties with the text of the Missal. It was the time of farced Kyries and Glorias, of dramatic and even theatrical ritual, of endlessly varying and lengthy prefaces, into which interminable accounts of stories from Bible history and lives of saints were intro- duced. This tendency did not even spare the Canon; although the specially sacred character of this part tended to prevent people from tampering with it as recklessly as they did with other parts of the Missal. There were, however, additions made to the " Com- municant es" so as to introduce special allusions on certain feasts; the two lists of saints, in the "Com- munieantes" and "Nobis quoque peecatoribus", were enlarged so as to include various local people, and even the "Hanc igitur" and the "Qui pridie" were modified on certain days. The Council of Trent i l.")l."> -63) restrained this tendency and ordered that "the holy Canon composed many centuries ago" should be kept pure and unchanged; it also con- demned those who say that the "Canon of the Mass contains errors and should be abolished" (Sess. XXII.. cap. iv. can. vi: Denzinger, 819, 830). Pope Tins Y (15(56-721 published an authentic edition of the Roman Missal in 1.570, and accompanied it. with a Bull forbidding anyone to either add, or in any way change any part of it. This Missal is to be the only one used in the West and everyone is to conform to it. except that local uses which can be proved to have existed for more than '200 years are to be kept. This exception saved the Ambrosian, Mozarabic, and By- zantine Rites, as well as a few ancient modified forms of the Roman Elite, such as the Dominican, Carmel- ite, and Carthusian Missals. The differences in these Missals, however, hardly affect the Canon, except in one or two unimportant rubrics. Since Pius V our Canon, then, has been brought, back to its original simplicity and remains unchanged throughout the year, except that on a few of the very greatest feasts slight additions are made to the "Communicantes" and the " Hanc igitur", and on one day to the "Qui pridie quam pateretur" (see below). Clement VIII ' 1592 1605), Urban VIII (1623-44), and Leo XIII 1 1 s7s -1903 ' have, each in his own time, re-edited the Missal, and a great number of additional Masses for new feasts or for local calendars have been added to it. But none of these changes have affected the part now under consideration. The Canon that we say is always the one finally restored by Pius V, that re- mains as it was in the days of Cregory I, and that goes back far behind his time till its origin is lost in the mists that hang over the first centuries when the Roman Christians met together to "do the things the Lord commanded at appointed times" (I Clem., xl).
Through all tin- lincations and additions that, in
recent years especially, have caused our Missal to grow in size, among all the later collects, lessons and antiphons, the Canon stands out firm and unchang- ing in the midst of an ever developing rite, the centre and nucleus of the whole liturgy, stretching back with it^ strange and archaic formulae through all the cen- turies of church history, to the days when the great Roman Cesar was lord of the world and the little community of Christians stood around their bishop while they "sang a hymn to Christ as to a Cod before day-break" (Pliny, Kpp.. X. xcvii). Then the bishop lifted up his hands over the bread and wine, "gave
thanks and glory to the Father of all through his Son
and the Holy Ghost, and made the Eucharist" (Just.,
Apol., III, lxv). So that of all liturgical prayers in
the Christian world no one is more ancient nor more
venerable than the Canon of the Roman Mass.
III. The Text and Rubrics op the Canon. — Following the order of our present text, some remarks will be added about its expression and the. ceremonies that accompany it. The whole Canon is now said silently. The priest should just hear his own voice (this is especially important in the case of the words of Consecration, since the form of every sacrament must be sensible), but should not lie heard by the by- standers. This law began with the reduplication of the parts of the celebrant and choir. For many centuries the celebrant, has not waited till the choir have finished their part, but goes on at once with his prayers — except in the cases of the Gloria and Creed, where he has to sing aloud as soon as they have done. Mabillon quotes from the older Roman ordines that originally "the priest did not begin the Canon until the singing of the Sanctus was over" (In ord. Rom. comra., XXI). The singing of the Sanctus and Bene- dict us then made it necessary for the priest at the altar to speak the Canon in a low voice. How little this was ever considered really essential is shown by the fact that at an ordination, almost the only case of concelebration left in the West, all the concele- brants say the Canon together aloud. There are also mystic reasons for the silent prayers of the Canon. They are thus shown to be purely sacerdotal, belong- ing only to the priest, the silence increases our rever- ence at the most sacred moment of the Mass. removes the Consecration from ordinary vulgar use. and is a symbol of our Lord's silent prayer in the Garden and silence during his Passion (Suarez, disp. lxxxiii, I, 2.5). The celebrant lifts up his hands, joins them, also lift- ing up his eyes, and then bows deeply before the altar, resting his joined hands on it. This ceremony should come before the "Te igitur", so that he does not begin t he prayer till he is bowing before the altar. It is an ob- vious gesture, a sort of mute invocation as the begin- ning of the Consecration prayer. The first, three prayers are always noted as belonging together and making three parts of one prayer "Te igitur". "Memento Domine", "Communicantes"). which is closed for it- self by the " Per Christum Dominum nostrum, Amen". It is now a law that a picture of the Crucifixion should be placed at the beginning of the Canon. Innocent III (1 198-1216) notes that in his time this was already the custom. The crucifix grew out of the adornment of the letter T with which the Canon begins. Inno- cent thinks that the presence of the T at that place is a special work of Divine Providence (Inn. Ill, De Sacro altaris myst., I. ".. c. ii. I'. L., CCXVII).
Te igitur. — We have already considered the "igi- tur". Unless some such theory as that of Drews be admitted, its presence will always be a difficulty. Gihr (Messopfer, .550), as we have said, thinks that it. implies merely a general connexion with the Pref- ace: "Because we have praised Thee and glorified Thee, therefore we now pray Thee to accept these gifts". The kiss of the altar after "petimus" is not mentioned by the earlier writers. It is noted bv Sicardus (d. 1215. Mitrale, III, 6, P. L..CCXIII). At one time the celebrant kissed both the altar anil the crucifix in the Missal at the beginning of the Canon (Ordo Rom. XIV, 53. fourteenth century). After kissing the altar the celebrant makes three signs of the cross over the bread and wine. It is the first of the many blessings oi the gifts in the Canon and is joined to the kiss as one ceremony. lie then stands erect and lifts up his hands, as at the collects (now they may not be lifted above the shoulders, Ritus eel., V, 1). This is the traditional attitude of prayer that may be seen in tin- pictures of Orantes in the cata- combs. It is observed throughout the Canon. The
