E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

56
THE CREED.
THE CREED.
After the Gospel on Sundays follows usually the
sermon or explanation of the Gospel.
The Gospel, then, closes the first of the two
great divisions of Mass. The Mass to the end of
the Gospel and sermon was called in the early ages
of the Church the Missa Catechumenormn the Mass
of the Catechumens from the Offertory to the Ite
Missa est, Missa fidelium the Mass of the faithful.
The catechumens, or those under instruction for the
Church, were dismissed after the Gospel. The Dis
cipline of the Secret
years
lasted for the first five hundred
in the Church. We have already alluded in the
Introductory Chapter to the Discipline of the Secret, or
the custom which prevailed in the early Church of con
cealing from heathens and catechumens the more secret
and mysterious doctrines of the Catholic Church, either
by not mentioning them at all, or by mentioning them
in enigmatical language, intelligible only to those who
were initiated into its meaning.
" That it existed even
as a rule with respect to the sacraments," says Cardinal
Newman,
" seems
to be admitted on all hands." In
times of persecution the Christians were afraid to speak
openly of their doctrines and worship, from the fear of
increasing their own persecution or of having their
doctrines misunderstood or laughed at. They were
especially anxious to keep the Blessed Eucharist and
Mass secret from heathens and even catechumens.
The Offertory begins the Mass of the Faithful, or of
those who professed the Catholic faith. The Credo is
fittingly introduced after the Gospel as a solemn act of
faith in the Gospel and doctrines of Divine revelation.