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in this ceremony the faithful should maintain an atti
tude of recollection and prayer contemplating with love
sincere repentance and veneration the sacred wood on
which our Lord deigned to be crucified, remembering
that their sins have been the cause of the sufferings
and ignominious death of their divine Saviour.
The adoration of the Cross is followed by the PROCES
SION TO THE ALTAR OF REPOSE for the purpose of TC-
moving the sacred Host consecrated on the previous day.
The procession takes place in silence, but on its re
turn, the Vexilla Regis is sung in place of the joyous
and triumphant Pange lingua which the Church omits
as unsuitable to this day of mourning; by this omis
sion she would testify her profound grief and would ren
der homage to the Cross on which our Lord suffered for
the salvation of the world.
The Church calls the last part of the morning Office on
Good Friday the Mass of the Presanctified, or of the gifts
previously consecrated. It is not a Mass, properly
since there is no consecration. When on the
speaking,
return of the procession the sacred Host has been laid on
the altar, the priest having incensed it, prepares the
wine and water in the chalice, but does not consecrate
them. He incenses the oblations and the altar, elevates
the sacred Host, recites the Pater nosier and the prayer
Libera nos, and after one prayer of preparation says the
Domine non sum dignus. He then receives holy Commu
nion under the species of bread only, takes the ablu
tions, and then withdraws.
The Church ordains that NO MASS SHALL BE SAID ON
THIS DAY, because she is so absorbed by the thought
of the great and awful Sacrifice offered this day on
Calvary, that she refrains from renewing upon
her al
tars ^ the immolation of the divine Victim, contenting