“Offer in order, stand in trembling, look towards the East.” With this exhortation the deacon signalled the people (in older times) to bring forward their offerings to the altar. But now things have changed, the offering of the bread and wine has been moved to the beginning of the Liturgy, and the deacons, rather than …
The prayer of reconciliation made its appearance in the Liturgy around the sixth century. Earlier documents show the Kiss of Peace following immediately after the Liturgy of the Catechumens. [24] The offering of the gifts would then start as soon as the Catechumens leave. We first hear about a “prayer before the Kiss of Peace” …
THE LITURGY OF THE CATECHUMENS The teaching part of the Liturgy was called the Liturgy of the Catechumens, because those candidates for baptism (catechumens) were allowed to attend it. It concluded with the kiss of peace, which not only was a sign of reconciliation among all, but also gave the faithful “Godparents” a chance to …
The offertory, simply defined, is the rite of bringing the offerings of bread and wine into the Altar. This rite has undergone a process of evolution in churches all over the world. This evolution involved basically three stages. We have enough information that enables us to reconstruct these stages of development. In the beginning: In …
Traditionally, the Liturgy is divided into two parts: The Liturgy of the word (or the Liturgy of the catechumens), which is the teaching part of the Liturgy, and the Liturgy of the Faithful or the Eucharist proper. Modern liturgical theologians [1] like to expand this to include 3 component parts, the Assembly, the Liturgy of …
