This Week's Bulletin Sermon

Series on the Mass, Part 31: Preface, conclusion
September 13, 2020

There are three parts to the Preface: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. 
The introduction is a thanksgiving to God for all that He is: Almighty and Everlasting and it is addressed to the Father through the Son. The priest addresses God in the first-person plural since he is speaking on behalf of all present. This introductory part changes little from Preface to Preface.

The second part is the body of the Preface, which adapts to the various feast days and liturgical seasons. We always have reason to worship God, but some feast days or liturgical seasons add an important element that is brought out in the Preface. These Prefaces give short but rich doctrinal teachings concerning their respective subjects. If there is no particular Preface for a feast day, the common Preface is used.

The conclusion calls upon the adoration of the angels, who never cease to adore God in heaven. Some of the choirs of angels are mentioned in the prefaces, though they do not all have the same list or necessarily even mention all of them. The nine choirs of angels are: Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Cherubim, and Seraphim. After the mention of the angels, it is only fitting that the hymn of the angels to the Holy Trinity be sung: “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus ….”

Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Charles Van Vliet, FSSP
Pastor, Regina Caeli Parish