E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. xxiii
And now I pass to the third motive of this volume
THE EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYERS IN THE ORDINARY
OF THE MASS.
On this the greatest possible stress has been laid.
The prayers at Mass are the prayers of the Church
and their importance cannot be exaggerated. The
Church is responsible for these prayers. She watches
over every word in the Mass with anxious care and
is keenly jealous of the least alteration or addition.
In proof of this we may mention that about 1814 the
Holy See was petitioned to add the name of St. Joseph
to the list of saints in the prayer Communicantts in the
Canon. The request was refused. Not all prayers,
however holy and beautiful, even written by saints in
approved manuals of devotion, can claim to be called
the prayers of the Church. Much misunderstanding
is abroad on this subject. By the prayers of the Church
we mean pre-eminently the Scriptures (for in a sense
Scripture from Genesis to the Apocalypse can be called
one long prayer), and such prayers as are prescribed
in the Mass and in all public Services or in those
rites, Ambrosian, Mozarabic, Carmelite, Carthusian,
Dominican, &c., &c., which the Church has approved.
In these she teaches her doctrine and preserves her
creed. The well-known theological axiom must not
be forgotten, lex supplicandi est lex cvedendi her prayers
are the rule of her belief. It may safely
be said that
the prayers at Mass are the warmest outpourings