E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

8o THE PREFACE.
THE PREFACE.
The Preface, as its name indicates, is the introduction
to the Canon, the most solemn portion of the Mass,
which includes the Consecration. If we consider the
Introit (introitus, entrance) with the preceding prayers
as a general introduction to Mass, then the Preface
may be considered as the special
introduction to the
Canon.
The general purport of the Preface is to thank
God for all His mercies, to call on the angels to assist
at the great Sacrifice, and to place ourselves in com
munion with them in the songs of adoration and love
which they present at the throne of God.
There are in all eleven Prefaces the Common or
ordinary Preface, for days to which no other is ap
propriated, and the special Prefaces for the Nativity,
used during the octave of Christmas, for the feasts of
the Holy Name, of the Purification, of Corpus Christi,
and of the Transfiguration for the ; Epiphany, and for
Lent ; for Passiontide, used on the feasts of the Invention
and Exaltation of the Cross, of the Passion of our Lord,
on the Fridays of Lent and for the Sacred Heart ; for
Easter, the Ascension, Whit Sunday ; the Preface for
which have no
Trinity, used on all Sundays in the year
the Preface for the Apostles, said
Preface of their own ;
also on the feasts of St. Peter s Chair at Rome and at
Antioch. The Preface for our Lady was fixed by
Urban II., at the close of the eleventh century, 1088
1099.