BUTCH AIVEN C.

CABAYLO

FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION

SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY
MARCH 12, 2024

1. The CATHOLIC FAITH IN and ADHERENCE TO the SACRAMENTS is possible

only for someone who possesses a SACRAMENTAL PERSPECTIVE. The
SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE is realized to the highest degree by the Incarnation of
the Son of God, the nature and mission of the Church, and the seven ritual actions
through which Christ’s work of redemption continues to be channeled today. Be able to
explain SACRAMENTAL PERSPECTIVE and the SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE.
Answer:

 Pope Paul VI in his opening address before the second session of the Second Vatican
Council in 1963 defines “sacrament” as “a reality imbued with the hidden presence of
God.”

 One can therefore speak of a sacramental perspective, one that “sees” the divine in
the human, the infinite in the finite, the spiritual in the material, the transcendent in
the immanent, the eternal in the historical.

o Liturgy is the perfect epiphany of the Church. (Invisible directed towards the
visible)

 Likewise, one can speak of the sacramental principle which affirms that God uses
material, finite, concrete realities to communicate himself and his will for man’s
salvation.

o In the liturgy, the sanctification of man signifies by signs perceptible to the

sense, and is effected in a away which corresponds with each of these signs.

2. The basic notion of SACRAMENT carries the threefold dimension of SIGN,

PRESENCE, and COMMUNION. Be able to explain how this threefold dimension
applies to CHRIST in the first place, to the CHURCH in the second, and to the SEVEN
RITUAL SACRAMENTS in the third place.
Answer:
 Now, we can speak of sacraments as sign, presence, and communion as framework
that runs from God to Jesus, to the church, and from the Church to the sacraments.
Christ as sacrament
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God willed to accomplish his plan to reconcile humanity with himself (= redemption)
the sacramental way, cf. Heb 1:1. The Incarnation is the culmination of such sacramental way
in which God dealt with humanity all throughout human history. In Jesus Christ, the
invisible God became visible. He is the Sacrament of our encounter with God for he is the
perfect sign of God’s presence among us. In Christ, all three elements of sacramentality are
met:
By his human nature, his public ministry, and the paschal mystery of his death and
glorification, Christ did not only reveal the Father; he mediated the presence and saving will
of the Father. He is the one Mediator between God and man. As he signified God’s
presence among us, he was actually God present among us.

The saving plan of God is directed toward communion, that is, the union of
humanity with God and unity among themselves. This, too, is realized perfectly in Jesus
Christ for it is in him that the Father chose to “bring all things into one in the heavens and on
earth.” In a unique exercise of mediatorship, Christ offered himself as sacrifice of
reconciliation between God and man.

CHURCH, SACRAMENT

The Church, in a similar manner, is the fundamental sacrament of our encounter with
Christ and of Christ with us. In her composition and visible structures as a community of
faith and in her various ministries, the Church continues to make visible the living and saving
presence of the Risen Christ among us. By the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the Church
is a living sign of God’s presence in Christ.

We can also speak of the mediating role of the Church. Intimately connected to her
sacramentality, the Church is an efficacious sign, i.e. actually causing what it signifies.
Through the word, the sacraments, and its various ministries, the Church mediates and
communicates to her own and to others the saving grace which she embodies so that
“when the [Church] baptizes, it is Christ who baptizes” (SC 7). In the words of the venerable
Pope Leo the Great, “What was visible in Christ passed over to the sacraments (mysteries) of
the Church” (Sermo 74,2).

But LG 1 speaks also of the Church as mystery/sacrament of communion, that is, sign
and instrument of union with God and of unity among men and women. The Church is a
corporate or communal expression of the union and unity which God wills for the whole
human family. The Church, or the gathering of the redeemed community, is the sign and
instrument of what God is in fact doing for all.

LITURGY, SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATIONS

By its very nature, the liturgy is the Church’s self – expression. What she is and called to do
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in the world is signified and actualized, above all, in the liturgy, especially in the celebration
of the sacraments. The sacraments are the signs and instruments by which that ecclesial
encounter with Christ is expressed, celebrated, and made effective for the glory of God and
the salvation of all.

This relationship between liturgy and sacramentality with its three elements of sign,
presence, and communion can be shown using the description of liturgy offered by SC, 7:

Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office

of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy, the sanctification of man is manifested by
signs perceptible to the senses, and is effected in a way which is proper to
each of these signs; in the liturgy, full public worship is performed by the
Mystical Body of Christ, that is, by the Head and His members.

The conciliar definition says that the ultimate aim of the liturgy, that is, the perfect
glorification of God and the sanctification of the community celebrating it, is signified and
brought about “by means of signs perceptible to the senses.”

 It is the signs and symbols—the words, gestures and symbolic objects --that give to
the liturgy its sacramental dimension.
 In the liturgy, signs or symbols consist of words like sacramental formularies ,
gestures like handlaying, and material elements like water, bread, wine and oil.
 Through the sacramental rites, signs and symbols and the gathering of the faith
community for worship, the Church shines forth as a living sign of God’s presence
through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
 It is, indeed when the Church is gathered for worship that she best shines forth as the
ekklesia, the people whom God has called from darkness into his marvelous light.

It is also through and in the liturgy – the word, the sacraments and its various
ministries -- that the Church mediates to the faithful and even to those outside the saving
grace which she signifies. The conciliar definition of the liturgy includes the basic concept
that Christ is truly present in the celebrations of the Mass, the other sacraments, the Word
of God, and the Divine Office. At Mass, Christ himself “now offers through the hands of the
priests, who formerly offered himself on the Cross.” The Constitution, quoting St.
Augustine, further claims that in the celebration of the sacraments, “when a person
baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes.” He is present in the proclamation of the
Word and “when the Church prays and sings.” All these affirmations emphasize the active
role played by Christ in the exercise of his priesly office which he performed as he preached
the good news, healed the sick, freed those in bondage and culminated by his death on the
cross, resurrection from the dead, and bestowal of the Holy Spirit. The same conciliar
provision speaks of Christ “associating the Church with himself” in the continuation of his
saving work in the world today.
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The conciliar definition explicitly calls the Church the Mystical Body of Christ, Head
and members. As has been mentioned earlier, it is in her gathering at worship that the
Church manifests her deepest nature, where she is best seen as the sign and instrument of
that communion that God planned for humanity and which he revealed and realized in the
Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery. Her being the Mystical Body of Christ is most perfectly
expressed whenever she celebrates the mysteries of Christ in the liturgy, in the sacraments.
Therefore we can speak of the Church as sacrament of communion in her celebration of
the liturgy in two dimensions:
a) the liturgy as the faith-community’s encounter with the Triune God, and,
b) the liturgy as the continuous building up of the Church as the People of the
Covenant.

While the concept of “sacrament” evokes the more basic reality of a “sign”,
sacramentality suggests other properties that makes that which is “sacrament” more than a
mere sign.

 While an ordinary sign, by its materiality and visibility, merely signifies

(=manifests, reveals) another reality,
 a sacramental sign, in addition, realizes (= makes present, brings about,
mediates, effects) what it signifies.
 Furthermore, a sign which is sacrament also unites, that is, it brings about an
encounter between the person who stands behind the sign (that is, the
person who made it a sign) and the person who approaches it as a sign (that
is, the person for whom the sign is intended).
 In the words of the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
“sacrament” is all at the same time “sign” and “instrument” of
“communion” (LG, n. 1)

3. Articles 2, 5, 6, and 7 of the Vatican II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy aptly locate
the SACRAMENTS and the THEOLOGY OF THE SACRAMENTS (in general) in the
ECONOMY/HISTORY OF SALVATION. You may also add article 47 which applies
this theology to the Eucharist in particular. Be able to articulate such THEOLOGY
with the help of a serious reading and comprehension of the above-mentioned articles.
Answer:
In the lesson on the theological presuppositions for the study of Sacraments in General, it
highlighted the relationship between the Sacraments and the History of salvation.
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While the visison of the Second Vatican Council of liturgical renewal is pastoral and practical,
wherein the active participation in liturgy is the most effective way for the faithful to avail
themselves of the spiritual benefits of the liturgy, But the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
does not begin with practical measures on how to realize that vision.
The first thirteen articles of Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC 1-13) unfold, rather, the most
profound theological understanding of the liturgy that the Church has ever conceived of in
her two-thousand-year history.
We discover that the liturgy is woven from a treasury of ancient sources. After all, the
battle cry of Vatican II is “Ressourcement” = return to the sources.
SC 2-13 alone has 38 biblical citations from both the Old and the New Testament; 3 citations
from patristic sources; 11 from ancient and recent liturgical texts, and 2 from magisterial sources.
The result is a vision of the liturgy that is not derived from philosophical deductions but from
the point of view of salvation history
 as it unfolds in the pages of Sacred Scripture
 as it was understood and taught by the Fathers of the Church , and
 as it has been enshrined in the venerable prayers of the Church.
Liturgy is salvation history… celebrated per ritus et preces.
 The vision of Vatican II liturgical renewal is practical but its foundation is
theological:
 The liturgy accomplishes “today,” “here and now,” the work of our redemption
accomplished by Christ once and for all in history.
 In the LITURGY THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION IS ACCOMPLISHED
 In the LITURGY what Christ did for our redemption is being accomplished
“here and now”.
SC 2: In the liturgy, ANAMNESIS (PAGSASANGAYON)… meaning the work of our
redemption is accomplished.
SC 7 : The liturgy is “an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ” by Christ himself
and his Body, the Church.
CHURCH: celebrating man’s redemption “here and now” by means of a rite; continues
Christ’s redemptive work... [Liturgy] The salvation which Christ has already accomplished in his
Incarnation and Paschal Mystery is made available to all men and women, especially in the
celebration of the sacraments, in and through the Church “that came forth from the side of
Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the Cross.”
The Church celebrates the presence of salvation today (= hodie) by means of ritual
action. The celebration of the liturgy extends the work of Christ in time and space “until he
comes again”.
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St. Leo the Great - “What in Christ was visible passed on to the sacraments of the
Church!”
CONCLUSION: The work of redemption acomplieshed by Christ continues today in the
Sacraments of the Church.

4. ANAMNESIS and EPICLESIS are concepts essential to the reality, understanding, and
practice of the Sacraments. The understanding of the dynamic presence and interaction
of these two concepts in the celebration of the sacraments is fundamental and vital for
fruitful participation in them. Be able to articulate the meaning of these two concepts
and their importance for sacramental theology and practice.

Both constitute the liturgical action.

a. ANAMNESIS (upward movement)

i. Greek word for remembering; PAGSASANGAYON AT
PAGSASARITO
ii. not a purely mental exercise when one recollects or reflects.
iii. It refers to the ritual act of remembering the paschal mystery.
iv. As it celebrates the liturgy, the Church calls to mind the paschal
mystery.
v. It is not only we who remember, we also ask God to remember.
vi. Liturgical anamnesis is a rite.
vii. Anamnesis causes the presence of the paschal mystery in the
assembly.
viii. They do not regress to the past; the past reappears in the present
because the commemorative rite of anamnesis is performed

b. EPICLESIS (downward movement)

i. Greek word for invocation or appeal addressed to the divinity.
ii. It refers to the prayer for the bestowal and gift of the Holy Spirit.
iii. Liturgical epiclesis is a prayer within the Church that calls upon
God to send the Holy Spirit.
iv. It is not enough to remember.
1. The Church recalls and at the same time what it recalls will
become tangible reality through the prayer called epiclesis.
v. After recalling God’s saving works, and after asking God to
remember, we pray that through the Holy Spirit God will do
again and again in our day what he accomplished in ages past
through Christ
c. The object of anamnesis is the paschal mystery.
d. The object of epiclesis: the mystery of Pentecost.
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e. Epiclesis completes the action of anamnesis.

f. They are inseparable acts and can readily merge into one.
i. In the performance of a liturgical rite, it might not be easy to
distinguish where anamnesis ends and where epiclesis begins.

g. Emmanuel Lanne neatly distinguished two types of epiclesis in the

Roman Mass.
i. One is consecratory epiclesis, the other is communion epiclesis.
In consecratory epiclesis the Church addresses the Father to
make the gifts “holy by the power of your Spirit, that they may
become the body and blood” of Christ (Eucharistic Prayer III).
ii. The communion epiclesis, on the other hand, is a prayer that
“we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled
with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ.”

5. The liturgical study (and teaching) of the sacraments presupposes the basic doctrine of
the Church concerning their essential components, institution by Christ, number, scope
and purpose, efficacy, ministration by the Church, and the requirements for celebration
and reception. However, on account of their nature, the sacraments should be studied
with a focus on their CELEBRATION (with its elements of words proclaimed, prayers
uttered, actions and gestures done, symbolic objects, etc.), drawing from it both
doctrine and spirituality of the sacraments expressed by the various components of the
ritual action treated from the theological, historical, and pastoral perspectives.
Expound on this affirmation and illustrate with reference to some celebrative
elements/rites and prayers of some sacraments.

 In the liturgy the sanctification of man is signified by signs perceptible to the senses,
and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs.
Vestigia Dei – is a Latin term meaning “traces of God.”
1146 Signs of the human world. In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place.
As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through
physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to communicate
with others, through language, gestures, and actions. The same holds true for his relationship
with God.

1147 God speaks to man through the visible creation. The material cosmos is so presented to
man's intelligence that he can read there traces of its Creator.16 Light and darkness, wind and
fire, water and earth, the tree and its fruit speak of God and symbolize both his greatness and his
nearness.

1148 Inasmuch as they are creatures, these perceptible realities can become means of
expressing the action of God who sanctifies men, and the action of men who offer worship
to God. The same is true of signs and symbols taken from the social life of man: washing and
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anointing, breaking bread and sharing the cup can express the sanctifying presence of God and
man's gratitude toward his Creator.

In the liturgy, the sanctification of man (and the worship of God) is signified by signs perceptible
to the senses… and is effected in a way which corresponds with each of these signs.

The various symbolic elements of the liturgical-sacramental action are both revelatory and
salvific.

Physical experience (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting) gives access to a reality beyond the
signs (sonship/daughtership, forgiveness, healing, nourishment, consecration, etc.).

Some liturgical signs belong to the essence of the particular sacrament.

They are called ESSENTIAL RITES.

Sacramental signs are made up of:

1. action
2. word
3. material element

ACTION: the act of immersing into water, the laying on of hands, anointing

WORD: the prayer of anamnesis and epiclesis or the declarative formula (as in baptism)

MATERIAL ELEMENT: water, bread and wine, oil

Essential rites are therefore not merely the material element, but the action and word which
involve the material element.

Sometimes, in fact, there is no material element, as in ordination and marriage.

Thus, the essential rite of baptism is washing with water accompanied by word;
 that of the Eucharist is the prayer of anamnesis and epiclesis (eucharistic) over bread
and wine.

ESSENTIAL RITES
because they belong to the essence of the sacrament (= sign, revelation and presence), have
the presence of Christ and his paschal mystery and consequently of the Holy Spirit who effects
such a presence by his power.
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ILLUSTRATIVE SIGNS OR EXPLANATORY RITES

Some other liturgical signs do not belong to the essence of the particular sacrament in which they
are used but are reminders of the sacraments and their effects.

 Those used before or after sacramental signs either to introduce them or to illustrate their
effects.

 These were freely instituted by the Church in the course of time as either illustrations of
the sacraments or as reminders of them.

 In the rite of baptism the rite of welcome and the post-baptismal rites of anointing with
chrism, vesting with white garment and lighting candles are illustrative signs of the
washing with water with the word. In marriage: giving of rings and arrhae, etc.

 There are other signs that have the function of reminding the Church of the mystery she
celebrates in the sacraments.
o E.g. holy water reminds us of baptism; holy images (crucifix, icons, medals, etc.)
remind us of particular persons and events celebrated in the liturgy; incense
reminds us of sacrificial worship, etc.

Some liturgical signs may, from the start, have a symbolic character, e.g. rite of commingling or
the fermentum in the Roman eucharist.
 Or they may have originated for a practical purpose, but obtained a symbolic character
later, as in the case of washing of hands at the offertory.

6. The rites of the sacraments have a simple composite celebrative structure consisting of
WORD and SACRAMENT. The Sacraments are celebrated in word and sacrament!
The binomial Word-Sacrament represents a theological process that has deep Judaeo-
Christian roots. The liturgical reform of Vatican II in envisioning the full, conscious,
and active participation of the faithful in the liturgy not only took care to retain this
liturgical shape but also sought to bring it out more clearly by simplifying the rite and
purifying it of unnecessary accretions. In this structure of the sacramental celebrations,
be able to explain the relationship between WORD and SACRAMENT?

 Among the ritual components of the liturgy of sacraments and sacramentals the binomial
“word and sacrament” stands prominently.

 It is the basis for the plan of liturgical celebrations, consisting of the liturgy of the word
and the liturgy of the sacrament. In the case of the Mass, the General Instruction of the
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Roman Missal states that it “is made up as it were of two parts: the liturgy of the word
and the liturgy of the Eucharist.

 These two parts are closely interconnected that they form but one single act of worship.

 Word and sacrament are distinct parts but they form one act of liturgical worship.

 There should be no theological and liturgical disjunction of these two components

any more than there should be no dichotomy between the priest’s ministry of
preaching and sacramental administration.

 For in the Mass the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body is laid, from which the
faithful may be instructed 1 and refreshed”

 In the case of the sacraments and sacramentals the standard plan of the celebration
includes the word of God.

 the purpose of the liturgy of the word is to create and nourish the proper disposition
of faith that is required by the sacrament.

 In addition to this the Constitution says that “it is from Scripture that the readings are
given and explained in the homily and that psalms are sung; the prayers, collects, and
liturgical songs are scriptural in their inspiration; it is from the Scriptures that actions and
signs derive their meaning” (24).

 In its turn the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals confers on the word of God a
ritual, visible form.

 What takes place in the liturgy when the word of God is proclaimed first and the
sacrament is celebrated afterward fittingly symbolizes the process of encounter between
God and his people.

 The Constitution on the Liturgy teaches that “in the liturgy God speaks to his people
and Christ still proclaims his gospel” (33) and that Christ “is present in his word, since
it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church” (7).

 He is as present in the word as he is in the consecrated host, as present in the

proclamation of the word as he was when he preached to the people in the synagogues
and the hillsides of Galilee.
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7. The Vatican II sacramental renewal sought to offer a clearer articulation of the

theological description of a sacrament that is now contained in contemporary
catechisms, especially the CCC and the CFC. Be able to thoroughly explain each of the
6 parts of such theological definition: a) the sign aspect, b) their relation to Christ, c)
the role of the Holy Spirit, d) the role of the Church, e) the effects or fruits of the
sacraments, and f) the role of faith.
Answer: The theological definition of a sacrament as articulated in contemporary catechisms
emphasizes their nature as efficacious signs of grace instituted by Christ and entrusted to the
Church. They are closely connected to Christ, mediated by the Holy Spirit, administered by
the Church, and received through faith, producing specific spiritual effects in the lives of
believers.
a) The Sign Aspect:
 Sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the
Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.
 This aspect emphasizes that sacraments are not merely symbolic rituals but are tangible
signs through which God's grace is communicated to us. They signify spiritual realities
and convey God's saving presence and action in our lives.
b) Their Relation to Christ:
 The sacraments are closely connected to Christ, who instituted them during His earthly
ministry.
 Christ is the source and mediator of all grace, and through the sacraments, believers enter
into communion with Him and share in His saving work.
c) The Role of the Holy Spirit:
 The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of the sacraments, who sanctifies and empowers the
sacramental signs to communicate divine grace.
 It is through the Holy Spirit that the sacraments are efficacious, bringing about the
spiritual effects they signify.
d) The Role of the Church:
 The Church is the steward of the sacraments, entrusted with their administration and
safeguarding their integrity and efficacy.
 The sacraments are celebrated within the community of the Church, and it is through the
Church's ministry that believers receive the sacramental grace.
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e) The Effects or Fruits of the Sacraments:

 Each sacrament produces specific effects or fruits in the lives of believers, corresponding
to the spiritual realities they signify.
 These effects include sanctification, forgiveness of sins, spiritual strengthening,
incorporation into the Church, and empowerment for mission and service.
f) The Role of Faith:
 Faith is necessary for the reception of the sacraments, as it opens the heart and mind of
the believer to receive God's grace.
 Faith enables believers to approach the sacraments with trust and receptivity, allowing
them to experience the fullness of God's saving presence and action.

8. Liturgical-sacramental spirituality says Msgr. Kevin Irwin is “living one’s Christian life
taking inspiration and cues from the liturgy or sacramental celebration and its various
elements of word proclaimed and heard, of action accomplished together in community,
of prayer recited or sung, and so forth” (Liturgy, Prayer, and Spirituality, New York
1984, p. 16). In other words, from the rites and prayers of the liturgical-sacramental
celebrations.
Answer:
The words of two very eminent personages eloquently express the meaning and beauty of
LITURGICAL-SACRAMENTAL SPIRITUALITY in the following passages.
Text # 1 From Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB (What, then, is Liturgy? Musings and
Memoirs, Litrugical Press, 2010, page 257). It is part of the conclusion of the book, entitled
“Liturgical Spirituality”:
 “The sacraments constitute the third component of liturgical spirituality. Allow me to
reiterate by way of conclusion what I discussed earlier in this book.
 For the ministers, liturgical spirituality consists in their performance of the
sacramental rites and prayer.
 These are the Church’s prayer for the faithful, but the ministers adopt them as their
personal prayer for themselves and for the people they serve.
 Ministers become personally involved in the unfolding of Christ’s mystery in the
faithful who receive the sacraments.
 The official prayer of the Church becomes the personal prayer of the ministers.
 There is no more distinction between what they officially read from the book and
what they utter in their hearts as personal prayer.
 The sacramental words they recite, like “I baptize you” and “I absolve you,” are not
merely sacramental formulas required for the valid administration of the sacraments;
they are their personal petitions for the recipient of the sacrament.
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 Thus the ministry of baptism is an occasion for the minister to experience the love of
the Father who graciously adopts the candidate to be his son or daughter.
 Ministers exercise their spirituality in the act of presiding or celebrating the
sacraments. For them spirituality and liturgical ministry are one and the same.”

Text # 2 From Pope Francis (Apostolic Letter Desiderio Desideravi, on the Formation of
the People of God, nos. 59 and 60). Please see the text of the Apostolic Letter itself since the
two articles (59 and 60) are rather too long to reproduce here.

59. Having become instruments for igniting the fire of the Lord’s love on the earth, protected in
the womb of Mary, Virgin made Church (as St Francis sang of her) priests should allow the
Holy Spirit to work on them, to bring to completion the work he began in them at
their ordination.

The action of the Spirit offers to them the possibility of exercising their ministry of presiding in
the Eucharistic assembly with the fear of Peter, aware of being a sinner (Lk 5:1-11), with the
powerful humility of the suffering servant (cf. Is 42ff), with the desire “to be eaten” by the
people entrusted to them in the daily exercise of the ministry.

60. It is the celebration itself that educates the priest to this level and quality of presiding. It is
not, I repeat, a mental adhesion, even if our whole mind as well as all our sensitivity must be
engaged in it. So, the priest is formed by presiding over the words and by the gestures
that the Liturgy places on his lips and in his hands. He is not seated on a
throne [18] because the Lord reigns with the humility of one who serves. He does not
rob attention from the centrality of the altar, a sign of Christ, from whose pierced side flowed
blood and water, by which were established the Sacraments of the Church and the centre of
our praise and thanksgiving. [19]

Approaching the altar for the offering, the priest is educated in humility and contrition by the
words, “With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our
sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.” [20] He cannot rely on himself for
the ministry confided to him because the Liturgy invites him to pray to be purified through the
sign of water, when he says, “Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my
sin.” [21]

The words which the Liturgy places on his lips have different contents which require specific
tonalities. A true ars dicendi is required of the priest by the importance of such words. These
give shape and form to his interior feelings, in one moment in supplication of the Father in the
name of the assembly, in another in an exhortation addressed to the assembly, in another by
acclamation in one voice with the entire assembly.

In the Eucharistic prayer — in which also all of the baptized participate by listening with
reverence and in silence and intervening with the acclamations [22] (IGMR 78-79) — the one
presiding has the strength, in the name of the whole holy people, to remember
before the Father the offering of his Son in the Last Supper, so that that immense
gift might be rendered newly present on the altar.
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In that offering he participates with the offering of himself. The priest cannot recount the Last
Supper to the Father without himself becoming a participant in it. He cannot say, “Take this,
all of you and eat of it, for this is my Body which will be given up for you,” and not
live the same desire to offer his own body, his own life, for the people entrusted to
him. This is what happens in the exercise of his ministry.

From all this and from many other things the priest is continually formed by the action of the
celebration.