Why Art Thou Sad O My Soul? And Why Dost Thou Disquiet Me?

Structurally speaking, the ordinary form of the Mass follows the traditional Latin Mass in most respects, with well-nigh of the differences existence the elimination of features unique to the latter. One of those eliminated features are the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, which (in the Low Mass) immediately precede the reading of the Introit or (in a sung Mass) are altogether subdued and inaudible by the schola's chanting of the Introit. The initial reform of 1965 saw the Prayers at the Human foot of the Altar reduced, with the emptying of the Psalm Judica Me; the concluding reform of 1970 saw them completely eliminated, with only an amputated form of the Confiteor escaping the reformers' blood-red pens.

The Prayers at the Human foot of the Altar proceed as follows. Subsequently processing out from the sacristy and situating the chalice on the altar, the priest genuflects while the servers kneel. The sign of the cross is followed by the antiphon Introíbo advertizing altáre Dei. / Ad Deum, qui lætíficat iuventútem meam . ("I will go in to the chantry of God. / To God, who giveth joy to my youth"), then immediately by Psalm 42, the Judica Me, which is recited by priest and servers antiphonally:

V. Iúdica me, Deus, et discérne causam meam de gente non sancta: ab hómine iníquo et dolóso érue me. (Gauge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.)
R. Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea: quare me repulísti, et quare tristis incédo, dum afflígit me inimícus? (For 1000 art God my strength: why hast 1000 cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me?)
V. Emítte lucem tuam et veritátem tuam: ipsa me deduxérunt, et adduxérunt in montem sanctum tuum et in tabernácula tua. (Send along thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.)
R. Et introíbo ad altáre Dei: ad Deum, qui lætíficat iuventútem meam. (And I will become in to the chantry of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth.)
Five. Confitébor tibi in cíthara, Deus, Deus meus: quare tristis es, ánima mea, et quare contúrbas me? (To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why art thou pitiful, O my soul? and why dost one thousand disquiet me?)
R. Spera in Deo, quóniam adhuc confitébor illi: salutáre vultus mei, et Deus meus. (Promise in God, for I will still requite praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.)
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. (Glory exist to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.)
R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper: et in saecula sæculórum. Amen. (As information technology was in the outset, is now, and e'er shall be, world without end. Amen).

The antiphon is and then repeated. From here, the priest prays the Confiteor, bowing moderately; the servers pronounce a prayer of absolution, then their ain Confiteor, and are in turn absolved by the priest; and at final a general absolution is given. (These absolutions are not, of course, sacramental in grapheme: they are alike to the Penitential Rite at the start of the reformed Mass). Notably, the traditional Latin Mass' Confiteor is of a slightly unlike character than we find in its closest approximation in the reformed Mass (option A of the Penitential Rite); it includes the invocation of a number of saints. Where Mary is mentioned only in the second fix of invocations in the reformed Mass' Confiteor (where it is even said: option B, which adopts the Kyrie for penitential purposes, omits information technology entirely), she is mentioned in both sets in the traditional Latin Mass' Confiteor, along with Sts. Michael, John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul.

Finally, a brief dialogue ensues, before the priest ascends to the altar and commences with the Mass proper:

Five. Deus, tu convérsus vivificábis nos. (K wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life.)
R. Et plebs tua lætábitur in te. (And Thy people shall rejoice in Thee.)
Five. Osténde nobis, Dómine, misericórdiam tuam. (Prove us, O Lord, Thy mercy).
R. Et salutáre tuum da nobis. (And grant united states Thy salvation.)
V. Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam. (O Lord, hear my prayer.)
R. Et clamor meus advertizing te véniat. (And let my cry come up unto Thee.)
V. Dóminus vobíscum. (The Lord exist with you.)
R. Et cum spíritu tuo. (And with thy spirit.)

As you can see, the Prayers at the Foot of the Chantry have a decidedly preparatory and penitential grapheme to them, and in this sense mirror the extensive Erstwhile Testament regulations on training for entering the temple and offering the sacrifice. (Because of their penitential nature, they are abbreviated with the omission of the Psalm Judica Me on occasions that are already penitential, such every bit Requiem Masses or those during Passiontide). They are also more or less explicitly ministerial, in that their recitation is proper to the clerics and servers who are celebrating or profitable at Mass; for this reason, the faithful do non more often than not join in at their recitation at sung Masses.

The Prayers at the Pes of the Chantry serve to immediately institute the Mass' theocentric and sacrificial dimensions: theocentric in that the Mass' opening words are directed exclusively toward God; sacrificial in that the initial action is oriented toward the altar. Compare this to the ordinary form of the Mass, where, after a cursory reverencing of the chantry, the celebrant proceeds immediately to the presider's chair some altitude abroad from the altar, and opens the Mass with a dialogue spoken to and with the people.

Why were these prayers cut from the reformed Mass? In the first place, at that place were some bitter polemics in the 50'due south and 60's against "medieval accretions," i.e., later additions to the Mass non e'er present from the outset; the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar date back to virtually the 11th century (making them a mere millennium or so old by the time of their elimination!). They most probable began earlier as sacristy devotions, farther justifying the zeal for eliminating them as useless accretions (curiously, the fact that the Gloria in Excelsis Deo originally began every bit a Christmas hymn akin to Easter's Exultet, and only found its style into the Missal effectually the start of the 6th century, is never used equally an argument against its use).

In the second place, at that place were likewise some polemics at the time against the "clericalist" character of the erstwhile Mass, with its accent on the action of the priest, and equally I alluded to earlier, the Prayers at the Human foot of the Altar accept a distinctly ministerial nature to them. Most of the Prayers at the Foot of the Chantry couldn't be salvaged in a style that reasonably includes the people: the people can of grade join the servers in reciting the responses, just there is not much point. They are not the ones going "in to the altar of God," at least in a actual sense. Hence, they had to be eliminated in the proper noun of inclusivity, with the exception of the Confiteor, which was rehabilitated to include the entire assembly.

Finally, there was a generalized animus confronting Romanitas, "Roman-ness," among the reformers, and a consistent desire to eliminate or suppress those characteristics of the Mass unique to the Roman rite. The Prayers at the Foot of the Chantry were one such feature, appearing in none of the other rites. And then they had to get. Companion to the want to eliminate Romanitas was an Orientalizing impulse, that is, an impulse to include or expand features unique to Eastern rites: more on that later.

Interesting to notation is the fact that the Prayers at the Human foot of the Chantry are permitted at least as an option in the new Anglican Use of the Roman rite, which borrows many other features from the traditional Latin Mass, too. Information technology would announced, then, that Rome has largely repudiated her disdain for these venerable prayers, which serve to transition nicely into the primary activeness of the Mass. We may withal, in our lifetimes, see some interest in re-incorporating them into the reformed Mass.

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Source: https://lmsbloomington.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/a-brief-walkthrough-of-the-mass-the-prayers-at-the-foot-of-the-altar/

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