Before the reading of the Gospel we all stand atosing “Hallelujah”, which means “Praised be to God”, because we will be welcoming Christ in the person of the priest and Who will be speaking to us through His Word (Gospel). The word ‘Hallelujah’ is formed from two words; ‘hallel’ prayers, Psalms of praise and ‘jah’ short for Jahweh, that is God, so the meaning ‘Praise be to God’. For the same reason we have to stand during the Gospel, unlike the two other Readings, which we listen to seated. We stand out of respect towards Christ, for He is going to address us. There is another symbolic meaning in the ‘standing up’; to show that we are ready to go out and spread the Word.
Before the reading we usually make a sign of the cross with our thumb on our forehead, on our lips and on our chest (heart). These three crosses have a symbolic meaning; the cross on the forehead signifies that all we are going to hear and understand, we are bound to spread, to pass to others (mouth), and treasure all that we have heard in our hearts (chest). That means that whilst making those three crosses we will be comitting ourselves, promising to listen, to proclaim and to treasure. In fact afterwards we all say: “Praised be Jesus Christ.”
The ‘Declaration of Faith’, or the ‘Creed’ from the word ‘credere’ to believe, is a declration of our ‘beliefs’, ‘Mission Statement’, our ‘Magna Carta. It is our “YES” promise to the Blessed Trinity, we will be renewing our Faith and the promises we made during our Baptism.
In the Bidding Prayers we renew the ‘priestly vocation’ we received during Baptism, we pray for the Church and for all people. The Congregation participates by answering: ‘Lord, graciously hear us.’
With the presentation of the ‘Offerings’ we start the ‘Eucharistic Rite’. The altar is a symbol of Christ not just a table to share food from. That is the reason why nothing should obstruct on the altar.
The Procession of the Offerings; Up to the XI century it was customary for the faithful to bring from home offerings, intended for the poor and the needs of the priests. These offerings, together with bread, water and wine, were offered after forming a procession and walking up to the altar. Nowadays we have included even monetary offerings in the form of a ‘collection’, so this means the participation of the whole congregation. The ‘prayer’ the priests says over the Offerings, dates back to the Jewish prayer, probably said by Jesus Himself during the Last Supper; the ‘Berakah’. This prayer thanks God for all He has provided. We join the celebrant by answering: “Blessed be God forever.”…./8
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