E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
procession or solemnity before the priest s Mass, and
he naturally vested in the sacristy. The Psalm
Judica was not generally recited at Mass before the
ninth century, its omission at Masses for the Dead
and during Passiontide takes us back to the Mass in
the earlier ages when the Judica was never said. The
maniple originally served the purpose
of a hand
kerchief. It was pinned to the priest s arm before
he ascended the altar. The custom is now observed at
the Bishop s Mass ; he receives the maniple at the
Indulgentiam after the Confiteor. The sign of the Cross
is made at the Introit because it begins the Mass :
the
Kyrie at Low Mass is said in the centre of the altar,
while the old custom of saying it at the Epistle side
is still kept at High
Mass. The Gloria in excelsis was
said at Mass until the eleventh century by Bishops
only on Sundays and feasts, and by priests only at the
Mass of Easter Sunday. The Pax vobis said by the
Bishop after the Gloria instead of the Dominus vobiscum,
is taken, according to some writers, from the Gloria,
and is possibly a vestige of the Bishop s privilege.
Benedict XIV. gives another and far better explana
tion. Bishops say Pax vobis after the Gloria on festivals.
If the Gloria be not said, the Bishop s salutation is
the same as the priest s, Dominus vobiscum. The Bishop
possesses the fulness of the priesthood, and therefore
more closely represents Jesus Christ than a simple
priest. And Pax vobis was our Lord s greeting to
His disciples in the joy of the Resurrection. These