Listen to the Word difference place from where we began.


For love of God E


ach prayer has its own cycle of divine gift and human response, and over the course of the liturgy the four prayers develop so that we end up in quite a


Textual analysis: In the Opening Prayer, the expression in tua … devotione seems to indi- cate that we rejoice in God’s devotion towards us, as its direct translation suggests, “in your devotion”. Classical Latin authors suggest the opposite meaning if the word tua is under- stood as a substitute for the objective genitive tui, “[in devotion] of you”, referring to the devo- tion that we show towards God. The Prayer After Communion is the only


prayer I have noted that is set in the past tense. The main verb sumpsimusis what we call “time 4a” (pure perfect), meaning that it refers to a past action as it touches upon the present. The text then states what our prayer has been as we received Communion up until the moment of the prayer’s expression.


Ritual development Opening Prayer:As we gather to celebrate the liturgy and so form the body of Christ, this prayer presents a rather direct form of exchange. God grants that we may be devoted to God. The consequence in us of serving the author of all good things is that we rejoice and our happiness is both abiding and full. Prayer Over the Gifts: Again we ask that


God grant to us the grace of devotion to God. Not only do the gifts we offer already express our devotion to God, but we pray that they also become the means by which we receive the grace of devotion. The consequence of such devotion to the divine majesty is blessed eternity. Preface: While the other three prayers


express our petitions, the Preface is an expression of thanksgiving. Here we give thanks for God’s devotion to us shown in the Incarnation and specifically in the closeness of Jesus to people in their fragility and weakness. In this, Jesus revealed the divine concern for all God’s children. The divine gift of human devotion to God is redirected by this thanksgiving to the divine example of care for humanity. Prayer After Communion: The gifts we


offer in the Prayer Over the Gifts are returned to us as the gifts of the sacred mystery, accord- ing to this prayer. At the Last Supper in the


16 | THE TABLET | 6 November 2010


Through our Lord Jesus Christ … Amen.


Prayer Over the Gifts Grant, we ask, O Lord, that the gift offered in the sight of your majesty


may both obtain for us the grace of devotion and gain the result of blessed eternity.


Through Christ our Lord. Amen.


God’s gift of our devotion to the divine majesty is redirected by the example of Jesus Christ who was nearest to us in our need, writes Daniel McCarthy. As we receive Christ’s body and blood, his divine gift of care for humanity is entrusted to us


THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME


Opening Prayer Give to us, we ask, Lord our God, ever to rejoice in devotion to you because happiness is full and lasting, if we continually serve the author of all good things.


and he always made himself very close to the oppressed and the afflicted. By word and deed he announced to the world


Collecta


(Opening Prayer) Da nobis, quaesumus, Domine Deus noster,


si bonorum omnium iugiter serviamus auctori. (Missale Romanum, 2008)


Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs and Occasions IV, Preface


Truly worthy and just it is, fitting and right, that always and everywhere we give you thanks,


Father of mercies and faithful God, because you have given to us Jesus Christ your Son as Lord and redeemer.


He always showed himself to be merciful towards the little ones and the poor, the sick and the sinners,


gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Christ commanded us to share a meal in his mem- ory, but in the gospel of John, Christ washed the disciples’ feet and gave the command to love one another as he has loved us. In this prayer, we petition that our sharing the meal leads to an increase in the humble service we offer to others in imitation of the humble serv- ice that Jesus offered to us in our human frailty, as recounted in the Preface. The divine gift of care for humanity is entrusted to us.


The art of celebrating The prayers of this Mass shift from devo- tion towards God in the first two prayers to God’s concern for the most fragile among us mentioned in the Preface to our sharing both in the sacramental meal leading to the care of neighbour mentioned in the Prayer After


that you are the Father and have concern for all your children. And therefore with the all the Angels and Saints we praise and bless you and sing the hymn of your glory


in tua semper devotione gaudere, quia perpetua est et plena felicitas,


without end saying: Holy, Holy, Holy …


Prayer After Communion We have received, O Lord, the gifts of the sacred mystery,


humbly praying that the things which your son


commanded us to do for the remembrance of him


may be useful for the increase of our own charity.


Through Christ our Lord. Amen.


(The study texts are translated directly from the Latin in collaboration with Frs Reginald Foster OCD and James Leachman OSB. They are not polished translations but are intended to reveal a theological richness and beauty.)


Communion. A parallel shift in the goal of each prayer begins with our happiness and blessed eternity in the first two prayers to thanksgiv- ing for God’s closeness to us in our need mentioned in the Preface to the sacred mys- tery we have already received in the meal we share, which prompts us to the daily practice of charity. The same shift occurs from our desire to serve the author of all good things in the Opening Prayer, to God’s mercy shown to us in our suffering from what is less than good, to the table-sharing that increases our charity toward others with the implied command that we serve others in their need as Christ has served us.


■Daniel McCarthy OSB is a monk of St Benedict’s Abbey, Kansas, who writes and teaches on liturgy.


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