OFFERTORY. - The name derives from the verb *offerre* (to offer, to bring), whose past participle *oblatum* gave rise to the word *oblatio*, *oblatus*, by which the thing offered is indicated. The word *offertorium* is used in the II Ordo Romanus, absent in the Gelasian Sacramentary, present in the Gregorian, and soon came to designate the part of the Mass between the presentation of the offerings and the Preface; and since a chant accompanied this part of the Mass, it too took the name of "O" (v. MASS, III).
The Ordo Romanus I describes for the first time in detail the rite of the presentation. While the sacred ministers spread the corporal over the altar, the pope, accompanied by the primicerius, the notaries, and the defensores, descended from the throne, went to kiss the altar, then proceeded to the enclosure where the men of authority (senatorium) stood to receive the offerings; he then went to that of the matrons; the bishop on duty received the offerings of the clergy; some priests received those of the people from the pergola that enclosed the sacred space reserved for the presbyterium. Each brought the paten of bread; the bishops, priests, deacons, and the leading laymen, as well as the cantors—since they were occupied in the chant that accompanied the offertory ceremonies (as Amalarius explains)—offered water in the person of one of the masters called the *archipapalmonista*. What was done in Rome was carried out with the necessary ceremonial adaptations in other cities.
Already in the description of the Roman Mass made by an anonymous Frank of the second half of the 8th century, the deacon offers the paten to the pontiff, who “receiving his two (offerings) in his own hands, raising them with eyes and hands to heaven, prays secretly to God; and having completed the prayer, he places them upon the altar” (Ordo XV, 33: ed. M. Andrieu, *Les Ordines Romani du haut moyen âge*, III, Louvain 1951, p. 102; cf. also p. 71, n. 1). The sign of the Cross was introduced in the 12th century (Durandus, *Rationale divinorum officiorum*, 4, 30, 17). The chalice, however, was simply placed by the deacon on the altar to the right of the oblata, until, under Gallican influence (Amalarius, *De ecclesiasticis officiis*, praef. alt.: PL 105, 992), it was placed behind the Host. And even when the *Offertimus* was introduced, only the deacon recited it; Durandus of Mende (d. 1296) was the first to note that the priest joined in the recitation, and by the end of the 15th century, Johannes Burckard indicates the priest as the one offering the chalice, accompanied in gesture and word by the deacon; this remained the case in the Missal of Pius V.
THE CHANT. - The ceremonies of the Offertory are accompanied by a chant called the *antiphona ad Offertorium*. The earliest Roman testimonies are silent: only the Ordo Romanus I alludes to it, saying that the schola ceased to sing at the pope’s invitation, precisely when the presentation of the offerings was finished; yet it must be considered at least of the 5th century, and in any case before St. Gregory the Great. Originally it was an antiphonal chant performed by two parts; Milan has preserved (even more so in manuscripts) the antiphon often with the verse, sometimes even two; but this was also the ancient Roman usage. The development of the offertory rites, requiring more time, transformed the chant from choral to responsorial, and as such it came to Rome, since the offertories there already appear “luxuriant in their richest melodic garb, and the verses, especially those of the parafonistae, display all the virtuosity of solo artistry” (P. Wagner). Precisely because of their origin, most of the oldest texts are taken from the Psalter; those derived from other sources are usually not primitive, especially if historical. It must also be noted how the texts generally disregard the liturgical moment and often even the feast being celebrated, limiting themselves to expressing the joy of the assembly.
The Tridentine reform removed all repetitions except in the Offertories of the 16th and 23rd Sundays after Pentecost.