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by the deacon. The priest offers to God the matter
of the Sacrifice, reciting in a low voice the prayer
Suscipe, sancte Pater, in which he briefly
intentions of which we have just spoken
recalls the
"
for all
present, and, for all faithful "
Christians, living and dead.
this time
This is, as it were, a first Memento. During
the deacon and subdeacon prepare the wine and water
in the chalice. The priest blesses this symbolic mix
ture, whilst reciting_always in a low voice a very ancient
formula which is an admirable epitome of the mystery
of the Incarnation, Dens qui humancz substantive.
As early as the third century Saint Cyprian saw in this
mingling of water and wine a symbol of the faithful,
represented by the water, so closely united to and
mingled with the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ,
typified by the wine, that nothing could separate them.
Then the deacon together with the priest offers to
God the chalice, both reciting the prayer, Offerimus
tibi.
Two more invocations follow said in secret by the
priest, after he has placed the chalice on the altar. The
first of these invocations In spiritu humilitatis is taken
from the prayer of the three children in the fiery fur
nace (Daniel, in, 39) ; the second, Veni, sanctificator ,
is an appeal to God the sanctifier, that is to the Holy
Ghost. Some writers think that this prayer is an Epiclesis,
an invocation to God the Father, asking Him
to send down the Holy Spirit and that it is repeated
in different terms after the Consecration.
The ceremony of incensing here assumes greater
solemnity than at the Introit. God s blessing on the
incense is invoked through the intercession of the Archargel
Saint Michael, Per intercessionem. The Host
and the chalice are so to speak enveloped in the perfume