MANDATUM NOVUM DO VOBIS
THE
Missa in Coena Domini commemorates
and recreates Our Blessed Lord’s last communal action with his beloved
Disciples. We gather in symbolic and ceremonial action in the church, which for
this occasion becomes as it were, the Cenacle in Jerusalem. Here, the intimacy
between us and our Divine Lord is both poignant, because it also involves
remembrance of betrayal, and also precious, because we celebrate the institution
of the Priesthood, The Mass, and the reality of His abiding presence in the
Sacrament of the Altar. The heart and
mind of each person participating in the liturgy should be focused on the
Person of the Lord in a more profound and penetrating spirit of gratitude and
sorrow for past neglect. The custom of an evening Mass, specifically to
celebrate the institution of Priesthood and the Holy Eucharist developed in
consequence of the earlier morning liturgy being primarily one of reconciling public
penitents and later the Blessing of the Holy Oils. The celebration of evening
Mass of the Mandatum and the rituals associated with it that have been handed
on to us are the accumulation over time of the piety and liturgical traditions
of centuries of developing faith and ceremonial.
THERE
are some ancient customs associated with this Mass that have now fallen out of
use. Unusually during the early centuries of the Church – and certainly in the
fourth century as described by St Augustine - the Mass followed a festal supper
and the normal fast before Holy Communion was suspended. It was also the custom
— as it ideally should be still — for no individual Masses to be offered on this
day, but for the clergy to communicate together at the Mandatum. White
vestments or cloth of gold are now the order of the day but there are early
indications that green vestments for this Mass have also been used before the
early Middle Ages. A recent study by Giovanni Scarabelli on the cult and
devotion of the Order of Malta, drawn from archives in the National Library of
Malta provide us with many valuable insights into our former customs. According to the rites and customs of the
Order in its long history of Conventual life, the celebration of the Maundy liturgy
was to be carried out with the scrupulous attention to detail and arrangement of
accessories and wearing the most precious vestments. The altar ornaments were
always to be of silver. In accordance with a papal decree, from 1363 until
1770, the Bull “In Coena Domini” of
Pope Urban V, listing all the censures incurring instant excommunication and reserved
to the Pope for absolution, was decreed by the Holy See to be read at the Missa in Coena Domini, following the
Credo. The Order faithfully observed this custom during the time it was in
force. The list of censures was revised several times during the centuries,
eventually extending from five to twenty, and including among other items “Hindering
the supply of the exportation of food and other commodities to the Roman court;
The supply of arms and weapons to Saracens or Turks” and “violence done the
Cardinals, Legates or Nuncios.” After a storm of protest grew from various bad
Catholic rulers in the 18th century, Pope Clement XIV –famous for
his Trevi Fountain initiative - did not abolish the bull but quietly removed
the order to publish it. It was eventually abrogated by Pope Pius IX.
THE
antiphon at Lauds today is composed of the words that Jesus spoke before the
Last Supper: “My time is near; I and my
disciples must keep the paschal feast at thy house”(Mt. 26:18). The Master
invites His disciples to a farewell banquet in His own honour and in memory of
Him, but more especially to complete the last great action of his earthly life,
anticipating the oblation of Himself on the Cross, the following day. It is to
this great feast that we too are invited as friends and disciples. The commemoration of the Last Supper recalls
the origin of the Church’s liturgy and the symbol of the celestial banquet to
which all the faithful are destined. Just as His words and deeds that night
remained impressed upon their minds and hearts and were immediately carried on
by them in ritual form, so the attraction of this evening’s action for us is
equally powerful and memorable. It is a liturgical assembly of all who are
united in bonds of fraternity and love beyond the merely sentimental. This love
is supernatural because rooted in the love of Christ for us. That is why it is
a commandment and not a general exhortation. The emphasis is on the obedience
of the will, one of the most difficult of virtues, and not on choice and
selective application of affection for others, which is a purely human
reaction. As the rite unfolds we are
lead to reflect upon the words and actions of our Blessed Lord, their impact
upon His disciples and their perennial significance to the Church throughout
the ages.
ST
PAUL’S Epistle reminds us not only of the antiquity of the Eucharistic doctrine
that has been handed on to us but also of the manner of humility and reverence
with which we should approach it. The perfection and reality of the Presence of
Christ is emphasised and there is only one attitude of mind and heart
appropriate to this truth. The Lord’s Body and Blood is the viaticum of every devout soul who discerns
faithfully the supreme intimacy of the gift that he receives. But for those who
approach casually, unrepented and without due care and attention to the
holiness of the Sacrament, there is condemnation. We must never presume to be
worthy without due deference to the obligation to seek forgiveness and without
a positive effort to med our ways and to be free of the guilt of sins against
charity and purity of life, of whatever
kind.
THE
Gospel sets the scene for the ceremony of the Mandatum that follows it. The account of the washing of the feet is
–as it were- the prologue to the other
great action of divine condescendence that will be celebrated in the Canon of
the Mass, the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Christ is defining the
relationship between Himself and His Church, His priestly representatives to
Him and to one another, and lastly, to the faithful in the Church to Him and to
their priests and to each other. Every action and every aspect is to be
characterised and carried out in love. This is not the love of sentiment but of
sacrifice. It is rooted and grounded in Christ because this kind of love and
service in humility is only possible within a supernatural framework of grace.
The mutual respect and obligation of the faithful to those in authority in the
Church is based not on secular values, characteristics or control but on the
fidelity of all who teach to the example and doctrine of the Lord. Similarly,
the right of clergy to direct, admonish, exhort and teach is to be understood in
exactly the terms exhibited in the words and gestures of Our Lord “exemplum enim dedi vobis, ut quod admodum
feci vobis, ita et vos faciatis”. During
the mandatum, the celebrant, like
unto Our Lord in the Gospel, gives practical effect to the true quality of the
priestly office which he is privileged to exercise. As Jesus did the work of
the lowest level of slave in the house, so the priest or Bishop is reminded
that though he is called to represent the Lord at the Altar, in the supreme
action of sacrifice, he must never seek the highest place or to use his exalted
office as a base quest for personal glory.
THE
Offertory, Preface and Canon of the Mass proceed in the usual way, with the
special Communicantes and Hanc igitur designated for the Maundy
Mass. Jungmann’s study on the Roman Rite, concludes that these special
additions for Holy Thursday and other solemn days, were certainly in use by the
middle of the fifth century, because they are referred to in message from Pope Vigilius (537-555) to
Profutrus, Bishop of Braga. The Pope states that apart from these additions,
the Canon is unchangeable! Another difference to be noted in this evening’s
Mass is the absence of the “Dona nobis
pacem” from the “Agnus Dei” as
well as the prayer “Domine Iesu Christe, qui
dixisti apostolis tuis”, for peace and also the “Pax”. In this of all nights which commemorates also the arrest and
betrayal of Jesus, these signs at the Mass are obviously out of place.
THE
triumphal and glorious part of this evening’s liturgy gives way after the
Communion to the solemn procession to the Altar of Repose. In spirit, we
accompany the Lord as His Presence is ceremonially taken from the heart of the
church where it is both immediately accessible and adorable, to a place of
reverential repose. The liturgical ceremonial appropriately done, the Holy
Sacrament remains until midnight so that devout souls may keep vigil with the
Lord in sympathy with his suffering and abandonment and betrayal by those he
had loved and chosen. The custom of random visits to as many Altars of Repose,
still observed in many places, is both laudable and to be encouraged. With many
churches in our country today, with tabernacles far removed from their
traditional place, the symbolism of repose is lessened to the point of being
meaningless. Perhaps we could make the return of central devotion to the
Blessed Sacrament a prominent intention in our prayers at the altar this
evening. The symbolic stripping of the Altars, further emphasises the sense of
dereliction and sorrow to be felt as Christ has been taken from us for a time.
In this latter part of the evening, let us all endeavour to keep as much of a
reflective spirit as possible, as we go about our duties. The spirit of the
liturgy may be observed as much in the appropriate reflection and silence as in
the care and diligence taken in carrying out its sacred rites.
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