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The Ascension -detail

The Preface is the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. During the early years of Christianity, the term preface indicated some solemn prayer of thanksgiving proffered before a congregation.[1] Hence, it referred to the entire Eucharistic Prayer. Later on, it referred only to the introduction, and this varied according to the feast celebrated. The rest of the Eucharistic Prayer, called Canon, became fixed in form.

The Preface is basically an act of thanksgiving in a literary form in‑between prayer and hymn. It seeks to move the faithful to praise and joy. In order to be easily understood, it is rather brief, but substantial in content.

Once the Prayer over the Gifts is said, the priest addresses himself to us with hands extended and greets us in the usual manner, "The Lord be with you." We answer, "And also with you."

Then he invites us to set our thoughts on God alone. He stands with uplifted hands as though he would bear aloft our most pressing desires and expectations. With one voice, we raise our hearts to acclaim the Lord. The priest exhorts us, "Lift up your hearts". We answer, "We lift them up to the Lord." This response befits us as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, for our Head is in heaven.

A fraternal sharing of personal decisions and aspirations is thus established -- as if each one felt the need to be strengthened by everybody else's optimism and daring to climb the mountain, as Moses did, and meet God. The priest continues, and urges us on: "Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God." And we answer, "It is right to give him thanks and praise." Not one word of this dialogue has changed ever since the third century. Almost without realizing it, we find ourselves affirming that it is right to give thanks to God always and everywhere, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

* * *

Our Lord began the Last Supper giving thanks. Penitence, confidence in God, adoration, all these things too, of course, are perfectly in place for us, but the characteristic attitude of the Christian people in worshipping God is thankfulness. That is why we call it the Holy Eucharist. First and foremost, the Mass means reminding ourselves of our redemption --Jesus Christ was crucified for me. First and foremost, then, we are catching our breath at a great deliverance, and thanking God for it.[2]

An offering in the form of thanksgiving was a mode of prayer frequently used by the Christians of the early centuries, as they had grown accustomed to it in the Eucharist.[3] This fundamental attitude of gratefulness to God is evident, for instance, in the letters of St Paul, which almost always begin with an act of thanksgiving. In turn, the spirit of thanksgiving for the coming of the Lord, for his passion and death, and for his resurrection and ascension gave shape to the Prefaces of the Roman liturgy. "Thank you...," we repeat, echoing the priest's words, so that the delicate flower of gratefulness may really bloom in our hearts.

* * *

We thank you for all that is beautiful in the world and for the happiness you have given us. We praise you for daylight and for your word, which lights up our minds. We praise you for the earth and all the people who live in it and for our life which comes from you.[4]

We thank God for our being children of such a loving and provident Father. Once again in the Mass, we show our appreciation to God, whose plan, formed long ago and fulfilled by Christ, opened for us the way of salvation.[5] Although the words, particular aspects, and points of departure vary in each Preface, our attention is always drawn to the figure of Christ and his work of redemption.

Sometimes, the priest says of Christ:

His future coming was proclaimed by all the prophets.

The Virgin Mother bore him in her womb with love beyond all telling.

John the Baptist was his herald

and made him known when at last he came.[6]

At other times, we are reminded that:

He freed us from sin and death

and called us to the glory that has made us

a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, a people set apart.[7]

The first Preface of the Eucharist makes a reference to Christ as:

And in another Preface, the priest says:

Through Christ, we now move up to the Father:

Father in heaven,...

Through all eternity you live in unapproachable light.

Source of life and goodness, you have created all things,

to fill your creatures with every blessing

and lead all men to the joyful vision of your light.[9]

We conclude the Preface by joining the choirs of angels in their majestic hymn of praise for the Three Divine Persons: the Sanctus.

* * *

How beautiful is the Communion of the Saints! We join our own voices with those of the hosts of angels in awe, wonderment, and great enthusiasm.

The angels are pure spiritual creatures of God. Jesus Christ "has made the angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects" (1 Pet 3:22), because he, "as Head, would bring everything together under him, everything in the heavens and everything on earth" (Eph 1:10).[10]

St John Chrysostom describes the presence of the angels during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with these words:

The angels surround the priest; all the temple, especially the sanctuary, is populated with celestial hosts of angels who honor God, present on the altar.[11]

St Thomas of Aquinas also affirms:

It is believed that the angels visit the assemblies of the faithful, especially when the holy mysteries are celebrated.[12]

And St. Josemaria Escriva points out that aside from the angels, our Blessed Mother is somehow present during the Mass, and joins us in praise of God:

I adore and praise with the angels; it is not difficult, because I know that, as I celebrate the holy Mass, they surround me, adoring the Blessed Trinity. And I know that in some way the Blessed Virgin is there, because of her intimate relationship with the most Blessed Trinity and because she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man...In his veins runs the blood of his Mother, the blood that is offered in the sacrifice of redemption, on Calvary and in the Mass.[13]

1. The word praefatio with this meaning was already known to followers of the old pagan cult. They said: praefari divos (Virgil), praefari Vestam (Ovid). Here the preposition prae- indicates something done in front of someone, and not before something else.

2. See R. Knox, The Mass in Slow Motion (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1948), p. 89.

3. "Notice, for example, the last prayer of St. Polycarp, who was martyred in the year 155... Condemned to be burned alive, [he] climbed the pyre, and whilst being tied to the stake he lifted up his eyes to Heaven and prayed: 'O Lord, God Almighty... I bless thee that this day, at this very hour, thou has found me worthy to drink the chalice of thy Christ... I praise thee, I glorify thee, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ'" (G. Chevrot, Our Mass, p. 118).

4. Preface of the Children's Eucharistic Prayer.

5. Preface of Advent I.

6. Preface of Advent II.

7. Preface of Sundays in Ordinary Time I.

8. Weekdays Preface I.

9. Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer IV.

10. See also Eph 1:21; Col 1:16; Is 6:2; Ez 10:1ff, among others.

11. Treatise on Priesthood, VI, 4.

12. Ad I Cor., 11:10.

13. J. Escriva de Balaguer, Christ Is Passing By, no. 89.

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