The Mystery of Faith
There is a very strange phrase in the old Roman Canon. While it is not scriptural it was found right in the middle of a scripture quote as part of the words of institution; said over the cup. It is the fourth line below:
Accipite, et bibite ex eo omnes. mysterium fidei: Take and drink you all of this: the mystery of faith:
Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei,
novi et aeterni testamenti:
qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur
in remissionem peccatorum.
Haec quotiescumque feceritis,
in mei memoriam facietis.
For this is the Chalice of my blood,
of the new and everlasting covenant:
which shall be shed for you and for many
others unto the remission of sins.
As often as you shall do these things,
you shall do them in memory of me.
In the pre-Vatican mass we did not usually hear this phrase because the priest said the words very quietly. Those two words “Mysterium fidei” have been in the Eucharistic Prayer since at least the seventh century. We don’t know how they landed up in such a strange place. One theory is that the words were not originally said by the priest at all. The priest was behind a curtain screening off the altar and a deacon may have announced “Mysterium Fidei” to cue the congregation that the priest was saying the words of institution.
Not only the origin of the phrase but its sense is mysterious. Is it an expansion of the previous phrase about the new covenant? Is it a proclamation by the priest of his faith in what he is doing? Does it announce the consecrated elements as being the central mystery of our faith? Is it an essential part of the formula of consecration?
The liturgists revising the mass after Vatican II opted to shift the phrase slightly and to make it the cue for a congregational response.
Mass of Paul VI (Eucharistic Prayer 1)
Accipite, et bibite ex eo omnes:
hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei
novi et aeterni testamenti,
qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur
in remissionem peccatorum.
Hoc facite in meam commemorationem.
Mysterium fidei.
1973 English Translation
Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all
so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
New Zealand Missal 2011 translation:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it,
for this is the chalice of my blood,
the blood of the new and eternal covenant,
which will be poured out for you and for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
Those who first translated it into English opted for the “leading the congregation” sense and expanded on the text by adding in the phrase “Let us proclaim”. The new translation is more accurate and preserves the ambiguity of the Latin. It still functions as a cue for our response, but leaves open the possibility of other interpretations. The formatting and the rubrics separate “the mystery of faith” slightly from the words of institution. Interestingly the instruction “Take this, all of you, and drink from it” on the other end of the words of institution which the pre-Vatican rubrics had treated as preamble are now clearly part of those words as the new translation with its use of capital letters makes plain.
So, in our English text, we’ve had a change from the grammatically sensible and very clear “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith” to the odd and enigmatic “The mystery of faith” and I, for one, consider that an improvement. In the celebration of the Eucharist we are touching the ultimate mystery and the language we use should show that we are at the limits of our understanding.
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