UbiCaritas Press is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of The Mass: A Literal, Historical, and Dogmatic Explanation of Its Prayers and Ceremonies, vol. 1, by the Rev. Pierre Lebrun, C.O.I.. , translated by Harry B. Oesman, (6.14 x 9.21, 600 pages, San Diego: Ubi Caritas Press, 2024.)
Against the currents of naturalism and rationalism then reigning on the heels of the 16th century rebellion against age-old Church teachings, Fr. Lebrun sets out to explain the true and right worship of the God in the Mass, the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the fount of all graces. He explains the teaching of the Church on every prayer said, the meanings of the gestures made, from the time the Priests prepares to vest, all the way through the acts of thanksgiving. In his preface, he says: “We cannot even begin to understand the true significance of the words said in Mass, but by their explanation one by one, and that whatever is said ought to be based on the Fathers, on the most ancient of the writers of the Church, and on Tradition.” He intersperses here and there information on the historical development of the ceremonies of the Holy Mass.
Fr. Lebrun’s work was very much a labor of love. For decades, he sought material from all corners of Christendom, travelling around Europe to find documentary evidence of customs, rites, and ceremonies. His research notes now occupy yards of shelf-space at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in Paris. (BnF Latin Mss. 16796–16818).
L’explication de la Mess is the classic exposition on the Mass. In the 300 years since its publication, reference and other books on the Holy Sacrifice, and the liturgy in general, have imported whole sections of it, often without attribution. Writing 150 years after Fr. Lebrun’s death, Dom Prosper Guéranger said: “We quote his wonderful work several times. He is one of the last liturgists that France has produced who is truly worthy of the name. His erudition is equal to his orthodoxy.” (Institutions liturgiques, 2Ed., Paris, 1880, 2:485). More recently, the work was deemed the preeminent contribution to the method of articulating the mysteries of the Mass and its practical forms in history. (Xavier Bisaro, Le passé présent, Paris, 2012).
THE AUTHOR
The Rev. Pierre Lebrun, was born in Brignoles in 1661. At 17, he entered the minor seminary of the Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate (the French Oratory) in Aix-en-Provence. He went on to their house of studies in Toulouse, and in 1688, earned his theology degree at the university there. Ordained priest, he was sent to the Order’s new seminary of Saint-Magloire in Paris in 1690. He spent his life on his great work on the Mass, applying himself despite his weak constitution. He also dedicated himself to the formation of priests, and was responsible for teaching them Church history. He died at the seminary in 1729, aged 68.
PUBLICATION DATE, OTHER VOLUMES
UbiCaritas Press is publishing Fr. Lebrun’s work in French and English. The publication date will be determined in January 2024, at which time all volumes of the revised and newly annotated French edition will be available to the public all at once. The first volume of the English translation is now available for reviewers.
REVIEWS AND INQUIRIES
For inquiries, please send an email to ucpress@cox.net. If you wish to write a review, please send us your name, street address, email, and telephone number, as well as your affiliation. The publisher will send a reviewer’s copy.
The Mass: A Literal, Historical, and Dogmatic Explanation of Its Prayers and Ceremonies, vol. 1, by the Rev. Pierre Lebrun, CO, translated by Harry B. Oesman, 6.14 x 9.21, 600 pages. San Diego: UbiCaritas Press, 2024.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Translator’s Note
Author’s Preface
Certain Terms Used
The Names and Parts of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Division of This Work
PRELIMINARY TREATISE. ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS AND THE PREPARATIONS PRESCRIBED FOR ITS OFFERING.
Art. I. The necessity for sacrifice in every age, the cessation of those of the Old Law and the excellence of the unique Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross and on our altars, which comprehends all else and which will never cease.
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| The frontispiece of the original French version. |
Art. II. How the faithful ought to prepare themselves to assist at Mass fruitfully.
Art. III. On the preparations specific to Priests noted in the rubrics.
Art. IV. On the external preparation of certain ornaments.
Art. V. On the candles lighted for Mass. Whence the use of lighting them in broad daylight.
The origin of the custom.
Art. VI. On Holy Water sprinkled before Mass on Sundays.
Art. VII. On the procession made before Mass on Sundays.
Art. VIII. On leaving the sacristy and approaching the altar.
FIRST PART OF THE MASS. THE PUBLIC PREPARATION AT THE FOOT OF THE ALTAR.
Art. I. What makes up the preparation; its origin and antiquity.
Art. II. Mass begins with the sign of the cross.
Art. III. From the antiphon Introibo to the Psalm Judica me Deus.
Art. IV. The Confiteor.
Art. V. The people’s Confiteor, and the Misereatur that the Priest and the people say to each other.
Art. VI. The prayers of the Priest to obtain the remission of sins.
Art. VII. On the prayer Aufer a nobis on ascending to the altar.
Art. VIII. On the prayer Oramus te Domine, and the kiss of the altar.
Art. IX. On the incensation of the altar in solemn Masses.
SECOND PART OF THE MASS. THE PRAYERS AND INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE INTROIT TO THE OBLATION.
Art. I. The Introit of the Mass.
Art. II. The Kyrie eleison.
Art. III. The Gloria in excelsis.
Art. IV. The Dominus vobiscum and the Collect.
Art. V. The Epistle.
Art. VI. On the origin and explanation of the Gradual, Tract, Alleluia, Psalms and the Prose.
Art. VII. The Gospel, which has always been read at Mass after the Epistle.
Art. VIII. The Credo or the Symbol of Faith.
THIRD PART OF THE MASS. THE BEGINNING OF THE SACRIFICE OR THE OBLATION.
Art. I. Beginning of the oblation; the distinction between the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful.
Art. II. The Offertory.
Art. III. The offering of the people, and where it is in the Mass.
Art. IV. On the blessed bread called eulogia.
Art. V. On the Matter in the holy sacrifice: What kind of bread must the Priest offer at the altar, and since when has unleavened bread been used.
Art. VI. The ceremonies and prayers that accompany the oblation of the bread and wine at the altar.
Art. VII. On the incensation during the oblation at High Masses.
Art. VIII. On the washing of the hands.
Art. IX. On the prayer Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, wherein is seen a new oblation, or new motives, for the sacrifice in commemoration of the mysteries of Jesus Christ and of the honor of the Saints.
Art. X. The Orate fratres.
Art. XI. The Secret.
FOURTH PART OF THE MASS. THE CANON, OR THE RULE OF CONSECRATION, PRECEDED BY THE
PREFACE.
Art. I. On the Preface.
Art. II. On the prayer Te igitur which begins the Canon.
Art. III. The first Memento wherein is said the prayer for the benefactors of the Church, and for those devoutly present at Mass.
Art. IV. The communion of Saints and their commemoration.
Art. V. On the prayer Hanc igitur.
Art. VI. On the prayer Quam oblationem.
Art. VII. On the consecration of the host.
Art. VIII. On the adoration and elevation of the Host.
Art. IX. On the consecration of the chalice.
Art. X. On the adoration and elevation of the Chalice.
Art. XI. On the prayer Unde et memores.
Art. XII. On the prayer Supra quæ, an appeal for the oblation to be received favorably, as were those of Abel, Abraham, and Melchisedech.
Art. XIII. On the prayer Supplices te rogamus.
Art. XIV. The commemoration of the dead.
Art. XV. The last prayer in the Canon, Nobis quoque peccatoribus.
Art. XVI. Conclusion of the Canon, Per quem hæc omnia.
FIFTH PART OF THE MASS. THE PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION.
Art. I. On the Lord’s Prayer, Pater noster.
Art. II. On the prayer Libera nos quæsumus.
Art. III. On the fraction of the Host.
Art. IV. On the wish for peace in saying, Pax Domini.
Art. V. On the prayer Hæc commixtio: Whence it is that a portion of the Host was placed in the Chalice, and the mysteries of the mingling.
Art. VI. The Agnus Dei.
Art. VII. On the peace.
Art. VIII. On the prayers for Communion.
Art. IX. On the Communion of the Priest.
Art. X. On the Communion of the people.
SIXTH PART OF THE MASS. THE ACT OF THANKSGIVING.
Art. I. The Communion antiphon, and the Postcommunion prayer.
Art. II. On the Dismissal.
Art. III. On the additions to the Mass introduced by the devotion of Priests and the people, later authorized by the Church.
Art. IV. The last blessing.
Art. V. The Gospel of St. John.
