The Penitential Rite & Asperges

It is symptomatic of an age wherein people are so preoccupied with themselves / that they cannot admit their guilt. To my mind this is one of the most serious and pervasive of the capital sins of our time. It is simply being dishonesty with oneself, attempting to trick one’s own mind into thinking that, after sinning, he’s still alright and not in need of confession and absolution. Holy Church, ever wise and solicitous for the good of her children, knows that we need to be reminded of our sinfulness and own up to it, not only by going to confession and being completely honest there about our sins, but also by beginning each Mass with a Penitential Act. The main form that this takes is the invitation of the priest to “call to mind our sins,” followed by one of several options. There is no time at Mass for making a complete examination of one’s conscience such as one should do before going to confession, but there ought to be a moment of silence for a critical reflection about one’s sins with a desire to be forgiven of them. If one has on his conscience some venial sins and is sorry for them, this little exercise will remit those sins. But if the sins are mortal, one cannot hope to be free them without sacramental confession. One should not try another form of self-deception by thinking that the penitential rite of the Mass takes the place of going to confession.

The principal option among these penitential rites is the traditional ‘confiteor’ of “I confess” form. This is not exactly a prayer, but a ‘profession’ more in the manner of the recitation of the creed. In the confiteor we are admitting (or ‘confessing’) that we have indeed sinned. This practice then puts into effect a command from sacred Scripture: “declare your sins to one another” (James 5:16). In the old Tridentine Mass, the confiteor (its Latin name) formed part of the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar during which the priest and servers bowed before the altar. It is now said by the priest at his chair together with the people. The text that we now have for this is a revision of the older confiteor form by which we confessed not only to “almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters,” but also “to Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Blessed Michael the Archangel, Blessed John the Baptist, the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, and all the saints...” that we have sinned grievously. By admitting to all the saints that we have sinned, we act like the prodigal son after returning to his senses: “Father I have sinned against all heaven and against you.” Our admission is to four categories of sin: thoughts, words, deeds and omissions.

Included in this confiteor is the often quoted phrase “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” of the Latin original: that is, I have sinned, “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.” These words have now been trimmed to a single “through my fault” by the English translators and, as far as I can see, without justification. (I expect that the three-fold form will be reinstated in the near future when our Mass translation will be revised.) While saying these words, “through my fault” one is supposed to make the gesture of striking the breast with one’s hand. This practice comes from the Gospel of Saint Luke in the parable about the two men who went to the Temple to pray. The man of good heart was he who “dared not to raise his eyes to heaven, but continued to strike his breast saying, ‘be merciful to me, O God, a sinner’”. Striking oneself close to the heart is a way of expressing real grief over one’s sins. (It’s another telling sign of our pride that this gesture is so often neglected today, even by priests.) The second half of this formula is a pleading for the intercession of the saints to be pardoned by almighty God.

All the forms of the penitential act conclude with the priest saying the misereatur which is a minor absolution formula–but–again–for venial sin only: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.”

There are two other ways of making the penitential act at Mass. The second form is the least used and is in the form of a dialogue. For some reason I can’t figure out, our translators got the phrases jumbled from their Latin originals. It ought to read this way: Priest: Have mercy on us, Lord. People: For we have sinned against you. Priest: Show us your mercy, Lord. People: And grant us your salvation.

The third option that may be used is the so-called trope, that is, the insertion of a little phrase such as “You were sent to heal the contrite” followed by “Lord, have mercy” or “Christ, have mercy.” The phrases employed may be those found in the priest’s missal or others freely composed. But the essential thing is the dialogue form and the inclusion of the Lord, have mercy as its response. It’s interesting to note that in the Middle Ages there were many of these trope-phrases in use but that they were subsequently outlawed by the Council of Trent (in the 16th century). The reason being that they had become too long and that some secular ideas were being added to them.

I need to pass on here to the Kyrie, the “Lord, have mercy.” This is one of two texts in the Latin rite that had remained in Greek (the only other single instance of Greek is in the so-called “Reproaches” of the Good Friday liturgy). The Greek original indicates the antiquity of the Kyrie. In form, it’s a brief litany, in which the priest and people (or two sections of the choir) alternate singing: “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.” Originally this was a nine-fold Kyrie: three Kyries, three Christes, and again three Kyries. The word Kyrie itself means “Lord” and refers therefore to Christ. “Jesus is the Lord,” as Saint Paul says in Phil. 2:11. It is Jesus whom we address for mercy, just as in the Gospels, people came to Him with the address: “Lord, please grant [thus and so].” Since the Greek Kyrie is used also in the Orthodox Church, it would be a good thing to retain, even in our English-language Masses, as a little ecumenical bridge.

One last option needs to be commented upon: the rite of sprinkling the people with holy water or the “asperges.” In the former rite of Mass, this was a ceremony that always preceded the so-called ‘High’ or sung Mass on Sundays. It was a preamble to Mass. Now it has been included as an option that may be used for any Sunday Mass. (We have begun the practice here of using this on the first Sunday of each month.) In contrast to the old rite, the water is no longer blest beforehand in private but before the whole congregation. After blessing the water, blest salt may be added to it at the priest’s discretion and then the sprinkling begins. This practice originates from an OT rite prescribed by Moses wherein some blood of sacrificed oxen was sprinkled on the people as a rite of purification. We Christians have now all been ‘sprinkled’ (in a manner of speaking) with the blood of Christ by His sacrificial death and so have been redeemed. The application of His redemption comes to us through the waters of baptism and by confession. For this reason, we use holy water. It’s a rite of cleaning that is meant to purify us of venial sin and protect us from assault.

When we come to the opening of Mass, we should be conscious of the need to be purified before celebrating these awesome mysteries we are about to celebrate.