(GIRM no.303), which corresponds with the 31st condemned proposition from the Synod of Pistoia. вЂњIn building new churches, it is preferable for a single altar to be erected, one that in the gathering of the faithful will signify the one Christ and the one Eucharist of the Church. Hence theВ following liturgical consequences arrived: It is categorically confirmed that вЂњthe Eucharist is the action of the whole ChurchвЂќ (GIRM no.5), вЂњthe action of Christ and of the People of God arrayed hierarchicallyвЂќ (GIRM no.16),вЂќ вЂњthe people called to present to God the prayers of the entire human family, a people that gives thanks in Christ for the mystery of salvation by offering his Sacrifice.вЂќ (GIRM no.5). The вЂњEucharistic prayerвЂќ is addressed to God вЂњin the name of the entire community,вЂќ and вЂњthe meaning of this Prayer is that the whole congregation of the faithful joins with Christ in confessing the great deeds of God and in the offering of Sacrifice.вЂќ (GIRM no. Moreover, it is up to the gathered people вЂњto form one body, вЂ¦ in taking part in the prayers and in the singing, or above all by the common offering of the Sacrifice and by participating together at the LordвЂ™s table.вЂќ (GIRM no. Thus, the Novus Ordo considers that, apart from the prayers that the priest recites вЂњin his own name,вЂќ all the words that the priest utters are in a presidential capacity. The priesthood then disappears, leaving in its place only a priestly action taken in a restricted sense, that of the entire Church represented by the priest. The priest participates in his presidential function, no longer in his divine power. It no longer signifies that the priest represents the humanity of Christ, instrument of His divinity, but only that he represents Christ Head of the Church. The meaning of the saying that the priest acts in persona Christi has changed. 34 вЂ“ then the prayer of the priest at the altar, including consecration, is presidential in nature. 1365), and if the memorial meal is carried out by the whole community вЂ“ вЂњBy its very nature, the celebration of the Mass has a communitarian character,вЂќ General Institution of the Roman Missal (GIRM) 2002 no. If the Mass is sacrifice only as a вЂњmemorialвЂќ (CCC, No. In this way it is systematically affirmed that the priest acts вЂњin the name of the whole ChurchвЂ¦when offering the Eucharistic sacrificeвЂќ (CCC, no. Henceforth, the Eucharistic celebration is made by the entire Church, the priest acting only in his capacity as presiding over it. It abandons the fact that the priest is the unique cause of the sacrifice of the Mass, acting in persona Christi, by the fact that the priesthood allows him to speak with the divine power of Christ. Now, the Missal of Paul VI minimizes the Eucharistic sacrifice.

There is thus an essential link uniting holy orders and the Mass, so much so that modifying one cannot take place without undermining the other. The sacrament of Holy Orders was instituted by Our Lord on Holy Thursday at the moment when He entrusted His apostles the Eucharistic sacrifice. вЂњSacrifice and the priesthood are so unitedвЂќ that changing the conception of the Mass involves profound modifications of the place that the priest holds at the altar, even of the very conception of the priesthood.

This article continues the reflection on the central place of the Mass in the current crisis.

Sspx missal