What Is the Offertory?
The Baltimore Catechism asks: “At what part of the Mass does the Offertory take place, and what parts of the Mass are said before it?” (Q. 933) The answer:
“The Offertory takes place immediately after the uncovering of the chalice. The parts of the Mass said before it are: The Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Prayers, Epistle, Gospel, and Creed. The Introit, Prayers, Epistle, and Gospel change in each Mass to correspond with the feast celebrated.”
Few people realize that the Offertory is an essential part of the Mass. Perhaps this is because it was so drastically altered when the New Rite of Mass (Novus Ordo) was created. Perhaps it is because the liturgical action is often overshadowed by people processing up the aisle with gifts, or the passing of the collection plate, or banal hymns. This is certainly one part of the Mass which is so often abused by liturgical innovation.
Yet, the importance and gravitas of the Offertory are in clear relief in the Traditional Rite of the Mass.[1] The immemorial prayers of the Offertory manifest both the sacrificial and propitiatory aspects of the Mass. They clearly teach that the Mass is for the good of both the living and the deceased. Moreover, they establish an important liturgical distinction between the priest making this offering for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. The prayers humbly acknowledge the sinfulness and unworthiness of man to even offer God just this natural sacrifice of bread and wine (because they are as yet not transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Our Lord). At this time, the powerful intercession of Our Lady (by name) and the saints is also invoked. Finally, when incense is used, the priest implores St. Michael the Archangel, whose duty it is to stand at the heavenly Altar, to take this offering and our prayers along with it to Almighty God. All of these elements have sadly – disastrously – been stripped from the Offertory in the Novus Ordo, which limps along as a shell of what it ought to be.
Properly understood, the Offertory is a distinct and necessary part of the Mass. In fact, theologians generally state that for someone to have satisfied the obligation of attending Mass on a Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation, the individual must be present for the Offertory, the Consecration, and the priest’s Communion. Missing the Offertory and arriving just moments before the Consecration would not fulfill your Sunday obligation and you would still be obligated to attend Mass later that day.
The Offertory Explained
The Offertory is when the priest, acting in persona Christi, sets aside the bread and wine for divine worship. The priest offers the bread and then separately the wine, just as Christ did at the Last Supper. “In the Offertory, Christ unites our desires and prayers to His own offering of Himself to the Father. As our intentions are joined to the Passion of Christ, they assume the value of the Passion in the eyes of God” (1962 Angelus Press Missal).
The Sacramental matter for the Holy Eucharist is two-fold: wheat bread and wine. Turning to The Catechism of the Council of Trent (also known as the Roman Catechism), we read:
“There are, however, various sorts of bread, either because they consist of different materials, such as wheat, barley, pulse and other products of the earth; or because they possess different qualities, some being leavened, others altogether without leaven. It is to be observed that, with regard to the former kinds, the words of the Savior show that the bread should be wheaten; for, according to common usage, when we simply say ‘bread,’ we are sufficiently understood to mean wheaten bread. This is also declared by a figure in the Old Testament, because the Lord commanded that the loaves of proposition, which signified this Sacrament, should be made of fine flour.”
An interesting question arises on whether the Sacrament must be confected from unleavened wheat bread or if leavened wheat bread is equally valid. On this point, the Catechism makes clear that the Eucharist “was consecrated and instituted by Him on the first day of unleavened bread, on which it was not lawful for the Jews to have anything leavened in their house.” However, the venerable authors continue, “This quality of the bread, however, is not to be deemed so essential that, if it be wanting, the Sacrament cannot exist.” The Eastern Catholic Rites – such as the Byzantine Rites – lawfully consecrate leavened bread.
Along with wheaten bread, wine constitutes the other required matter of the Sacrament. The wine is not optional and may not be replaced by any other liquid, for any reason, in virtue of Our Lord’s own command:
“That in the institution of this Sacrament our Lord and Savior made use of wine has been at all times the doctrine of the Catholic Church, for He Himself said: ‘I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day’. On this passage St. Chrysostom observes: He says, ‘Of the fruit of the vine,’ which certainly produced wine not water; as if he had it in view, even at so early a period, to uproot the heresy which asserted that in these mysteries water alone is to be used” (Catechism of the Council of Trent).
Therefore, wine along with wheaten bread constitute the matter for the Sacrament, as summarized by the Catechism: “These, then, are the only two elements of this Sacrament; and with reason has it been enacted by many decrees that, although there have been those who were not afraid to do so, it is unlawful to offer anything but bread and wine.”
The Bread and Wine Now May Never Be Used for Any Other Purpose
The gifts of bread and wine are presented to Almighty God during the offertory of the Mass and from that moment forward may only be offered in divine worship. They may not be used for any other purpose aside from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Even if the priest were to die at this point and the Mass were not to continue, the offered bread and wine would never be able to be used for any other purpose than for eventual use at Mass.[2]
Why Is Water Added to the Wine During the Offertory?
During Mass, the priest adds a drop of water into the chalice along with the wine. Why? The Catechism of the Council of Trent explains:
“First, because Christ the Lord did so, as is proved by the authority of Councils and the testimony of St. Cyprian; next, because by this mixture is renewed the recollection of the blood and water that issued from His side.” But the Catechism appropriately clarifies: “But although there are reasons so grave for mingling water with the wine that it cannot be omitted without incurring the guilt of mortal sin, yet its omission does not render the Sacrament null.”
The tradition of the Church also teaches that the water and wine recall great mysteries of our Faith. In this mingling, we are reminded of Christ’s divine nature (wine) and of His human nature (water). Moreover, the water can represent us (our human nature) who by virtue of Baptism are made members of Christ and are called to be divinized (the divine nature). We are meant to become one with Christ and forever enjoy the Beatific Vision and partake of the life of the Triune God. “And even as these few drops of water lose themselves in the wine, so may also we lose ourselves in the divinity of Christ.” (Fr. Lasance New Roman Missal, 1945 Copyright edition, p. 82.) In this mingling, we can even perceive God’s great and infinite mercy (wine) engulfing and transforming man’s fallen nature (water).
Surely the Church’s hallowed rites reveal many more mystical truths, but at the very least each one of us should perceive therein the mixing of the water and wine as signifying the Incarnation of Christ (mixing of the divine nature with human nature), His Passion and Salvific Death (in which water and blood poured from His pierced Heart), and a Pledge of Future Glory.
[1] For a comparison of the two, see https://lms.org.uk/missals
[2] Those interested in learning about the Church’s rubrics for instances such as the illness or death of the priest during the Sacrifice, and the ramifications for the Liturgy, should consult the General Rubrics of the Missal by Rev. J.B. O’Connell on page 144.