A Discussion of the Symbolism of the Ancient Celtic Liturgy

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The Altar is the image of the inflicted persecution. The Chalice is the image of the Church which has been

set and built upon the persecution of the Prophets and of others.

Water is first put into the Chalice while this is chanted: "I pray Thee, O Father; I ask intercession of Thee,

O Son; I appeal to Thee, O Holy Spirit." This is an image of the People which are "poured into" the

Church.

The setting of the Host upon the Altar is the His Conception. As this is done "Jesus Christ, Alpha and

Omega. This is the First and the Last" is chanted. This is an image of Christ's Body which has been set in

the linen sheet of Mary's womb.

Wine is then added to the water in the Chalice. This is Christ's Godhead with His humanity comes upon

the People at the time of His Conception. While the Wine is poured "May the Father remit, may the Son

pardon, may the Holy Spirit have mercy." is chanted.

All the text of the Mass which follows the preparation, the Introductory Collect, the fixed prayers and the

additional Collects up to the Epistle and the Gradual is an image of the establishment of the Knowledge of

Christ in the law of Nature through the Members of His Body and by His own deeds.

However, the portion of the Mass from the Epistle and Gradual to the half-uncovering of the Chalice is a

recounting of the law Letter which prophesies Christ, but what is prefigured is not yet known.

The Gospel, Alleluia and prayers chanted from the half-uncovering of the Host and the Chalice until the

prayer "May these gifts" is a recounting of the Law of the Prophets which specifically foretold Christ, but

the significance of the Prophecy is unknown until His Incarnation.

The elevation of the Chalice, after the full uncovering during the prayer "May these gifts" is the

commemoration of Christ's Birth and of His Glory through the signs and miracles.

When the prayer "Who, the day before He suffered, took Bread...." begins the Celebrant bows three time

in repentance of his sins. He offers the Oblations to God and while this is done, the people kneel or

prostate, and there must be no other voice lest is disturb the priest for his mind must not separate from

God while he chants this lesson. For this reason, its name is the Most Dangerous Prayer.

Later when the Celebrant and ministers step three steps backwards and three steps forward is the three

way in which everyone sins: in word, in thought, in deed. These are also the three means by which one is

renovated and by which one is moved to Christ's Body.

The examination of the Chalice and Host and the effort with which the Celebrant attempts to break it is an

image of the rejection and punches and lashings and the Arrest of Christ.

The Host on the Paten is Christ's Flesh upon the tree of the Cross.

The Fraction of the Host upon the Paten is the breaking of Christ's Body with nails on the Cross.

The reunion of the two halves after the Fraction is the affirmation of the wholeness of Christ's Body after

His Resurrection.

The submersion of the two halves in the Blood are an affirmation that at His Crucifixion, Christ's Body

was covered in His Blood.

The Particle that is cut from the Bottom of the half which is on the priest's left hand is the wounding with

the Lance in the Armpit of the right side; for Christ was facing Westward as He hung upon the Cross:

Facing the City, and Longinus faced Eastward so what was left to Christ was right to him.

There are seven kind of Confraction, that is five Particles of the Daily Host as the image of the five senses

of the soul; seven Particles of the Host of Saints and Virgins except the most important ones as the image

of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit; eight Particles of the Host of the Holy Martyrs as an image of the

octonary New Testament; nine Particles of the Host of a Sunday [and also of the Proper Ferias of Lent] is

an image of the nine Households of winter and the nine Grades of the Church; eleven Particles of the

Host of the Apostles is an image of the incomplete number of the Apostles due to the Sin of Judas; twelve

Particles of the Host of the Circumcision and of Holy Thursday are in memory of the complete number of

the Apostles; thirteen Particles of the Host of Low Sunday and the Feast of the Ascension, is an image of

Christ with His twelve Apostles, it is not usual to distribute from all thirteen Particles.

The "octonary New Testament" has two meanings: 1) The Eighth Day of Creation; 2) The Eight Fold New

Testament according to St. Athanasius: 4 Gospels; Acts and Epistles; Revelations; The Didache;

Added together, five, seven, eight, nine, eleven, twelve and thirteen come to sixty-five which is the

number of Particles of the Host of Easter, Christmas and Pentecost. For all of them are comprised in

Christ. All of the Confraction is set upon the Paten in the form of the Cross, and the upper Particle is

moved down to the left side as reminder us that "Bowing His head, He gave up the ghost".

The arrangement of the Confraction at Easter and Christmas is: 14 Particles in the upright of the Cross, 14

Particles in the crosspiece, twenty Particles in its circlet: five pieces to each quarter; 16 pieces to the

Crosses: 4 to each one. One Particle, for the Celebrant of the Mass is in the middle as the image of the

Secrets kept in the heart. The upper part of the shaft of the Cross is for the Bishops, the left portion of the

crosspiece is for Priests; the right portion of the crosspiece is to the grades lower than Priest; the lower

portion of the stem is to monastics and penitents; the upper left quadrant is for young clerics; the upper

right quadrant is to children; the lower left is for those who are truly repentant; the lower right is for those

who are married and those who have never before received Communion.

This is what God has declared worthy, that the mind be upon the Symbols of the Liturgy, and that this be

your mind: that portion of the Host which you receive is a portion of Christ from His Cross, and that there

may be a Cross in the labor of each in his own life since it is that Cross which unites each one of us to the

Crucified Body of Christ. It is not proper to swallow the Particle without having tasted it, just as it is

improper to not bring savor into God's Mysteries. It is improper for it to be chewed by the back teeth for

such an act symbolizes rumination over God's Mysteries, for it is by such rumination that heresy is

increased. It is ended. 0442_feel. Thanks be to God.