The Catholic Church has traditionally seen deacons as necessarily chaste and continent because they touch the sacred chalice. I would like to argue that the sacred chalice is itself \u201cthe mystery of faith\u201d and this has become forgotten in modern liturgics.<\/p>\n
One difficulty in the post-Vatican 2 liturgy, now recognized by many liturgists, was the divorce of the \u201cmysterium fidei\u201d from the words of consecration in the missal of His Holiness Pope Paul VI. Prior to 1970, the consecration of the chalice was as such:<\/p>\n
Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei,
\nnovi et aeterni testamenti:
\nmysterium fidei:
\nqui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur
\nin remissionem peccatorum.<\/em><\/p>\nThis is the chalice of my Blood
\nof the New and Eternal Testament
\nthe Mystery of Faith
\nwhich is poured out for you and for many
\nfor the remission of sins.<\/p>\n
The place of \u201cmysterium fidei\u201d in the consecration of the chalice goes back to the 600s at least. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that the words \u201cmysterium fidei\u201d should be preserved in the consecration of the chalice, just after the word \u201ctestimenti\u201d (cf. STh III, q. 78, a. 3; Super I Cor, c. 11, v. 25).<\/p>\n
By the way, nobody here (especially not I) claims that the consecration is invalid without \u201cmysterium fidei.\u201d Of course, all Novus Ordo Masses are valid. Eastern Eucharists are also valid, even though they also lack what the words \u201cmystery of faith\u201d or \u03c4\u1f78 \u03bc\u03c5\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c0\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2. We\u2019re just talking about liturgy and tradition here, not sacramental validity.<\/p>\n
The phrase \u201cmystery of faith\u201d was not supposed to be an opportunity to recite an affirmation of the Faith (e.g. \u201cChrist has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Previously, the \u201cmystery of faith\u201d is the chalice of the Precious Blood itself which is the New and Everlasting Covenant of Christ. It\u2019s the Blood of Christ in particular that is our \u201cmystery of faith\u201d \u2013 not words that we recite.<\/p>\n
Notably, the only time the phrase \u201cmystery of faith\u201d (Vulgate: mysterium fidei, Greek: \u03c4\u1f78 \u03bc\u03c5\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03c0\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2) appears in the pages of Sacred Scripture is at 1 Timothy 3:8-9:<\/p>\n
\u201cDeacons in like manner: chaste, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre: Holding the Mystery of Faith in a pure conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deacons in all rites and traditions, East and West, are associated with the chalice in the liturgy. Deacons literally \u201chold the Mystery of Faith\u201d at the minor elevation of the Holy Mass. Whether or not Saint Paul intended to denote the Eucharistic chalice by the words \u201cmystery of faith\u201d in 1 Tim 3:8-9, I suspect that the subsequent tradition had a gut feeling that deacons, the mystery of faith, and the chalice go together as an intact unity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Check out the rest here. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That\u2019s how Taylor Marshall describes it, discussing that topic over on his blog. A snip: The Catholic Church has traditionally seen deacons as necessarily chaste and continent because they touch the sacred chalice. I would like to argue that the sacred chalice is itself \u201cthe mystery of faith\u201d and this has become forgotten in modern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,26,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deacons","category-liturgy","category-sacraments"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n