PREFACE. — It is the solemn prayer of praise and thanksgiving, sung or recited, after the Offertory, at the beginning of the action of the Sacrifice. The word P. derives from the ancient use of a formula or prayer solemnly pronounced before an assembly (etymologically prae = in the local sense = coram). In the sense of a liturgical formula it occurs in canon 12 of the Second Council of Milevis (416) and in the Gregorian Sacramentary. In s. Cipriano (De oratione Dominica, 31), the word P. is restricted to the introductory verses « Sursum corda » (« praefatione praemissa... dicendo: Sursum corda »), also in the ancient sense of an admonition or warning before an important action (prae in the temporal sense ante). In the time of s. Giustino, d'Ippolito, and the Apostolic Constitutions through the Middle Ages, the P. formed a single whole with the canon (« Incipit Canon actionis » of the Gelasian Sacramentary, as in the Gregorian), at least the common P., while the others occur within the text. Under Gallican influence, the detached P. became a preliminary formula, but retained the first element of the ancient « Eucharistia » of praise and thanksgiving, while the other element, the supplication, became part of the Canon.
In the first centuries, the celebrant was left free to compose the P., but the Traditio apostolica already recommends using a formula. In the very ancient collection of Roman liturgical libelli (the so-called « Leonian » of Verona), 267 P. occur; in the « Gelasian », 54; in the eighth-century « Gelasian » of S. Gallo, 186. The traditional Roman usage of the « Gregorian-Hadrian » has them only for the feasts of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, the Ascension, Pentecost, and the Apostles (Pietro and Paolo), as well as on particular occasions, no longer in practice, such as in natali Papae, on the days in ordinatione presbyteri, for newlyweds, and at an altar dedication. In the Middle Ages, the P. of the Most Holy Trinity, of Lent, of the Passion, and of the Madonna were added (under Urbano V in 1095). This number of 11 P. was retained up to the present time, under the influence of the pseudo-decree attributed to Pelagio II (d. in 500) by Burcardo di Worms (d. in 1025), which subsequently passed into the Decree of Graziano. Under Benedetto XV, in 1919, the P. of s. Giuseppe and of the departed were introduced; under Pio XI, in 1925, that of Christ the King, and in 1928 that of the Sacred Heart. In addition to these P. of the universal Church, certain dioceses (Lione, Besançon) and certain religious Orders have their own P.
The content of the P. derives from the great prayer of the « Eucharistia », of thanksgiving and praise, inaugurated by the Jewish bèrdkhàh at the end of meals, following Christ’s example at the Last Supper. In keeping with the most ancient tradition, God is praised and thanked for the creation of the world, for all his benefits, especially for the Redemption, for the Passion and death of the Savior, and for his Resurrection and Ascension. The Father is thanked through his Son. This central theme of thanksgiving already occurs in the earliest documents, for example, in the Didaché, in s. Giustino, in d'Ippolito Romano (Traditio apostolica), etc. Praise of God was very soon changed into thanksgiving.
The initial dialogue between the celebrant and the people contains the three traditional phrases with the corresponding responses of the people: the celebrant’s greeting and the two exhortations Sursum corda (Io. 11, 41; Col. 3, 1; Lam. 3, 41) and Gratias agamus (a formula similar to one pronounced by the Jews after the meal), already cited by s. Cipriano and Ippolito. The fundamental structure of the P. is contained in the common P.
It begins with the invocation of the Father (as also in the De sacramentis, IV, 5, 21, where « Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus » is more correctly read: cf. A. Baumstark, Liturgie comparée, 2ª ed., Chevetogne 1939, p. 72). This is followed by an expansion according to the liturgical year or the feast, in three ways: a) after « Deus », it continues with « Et te... Iesum C. D. N. Per quem » (for the Madonna and s. Giuseppe), or with « Qui... Per C. D. N. Per quem » (Lent and the Passion); b) a Christological expansion is inserted, « Quia... et ideo » (Christmas, Epiphany, the Sacred Heart, and Christ the King); at Easter the beginning is varied; c) the expansion follows after « Per C. D. N. Qui... Et ideo » (the Ascension), or « Per C. D. N. In quo... Et ideo » (for the departed). Only the P. of the Apostles represents a supplication; all the others are hymns of glorification and thanksgiving. In keeping with this content, the style of the P. is also elevated, and the melody varies in ferial and solemn tones. Other particular features are these: at the greeting, the celebrant does not turn toward the people, because the sacrifice has begun and he must no longer turn around; during the singing, as throughout the Canon, the hands are held raised and extended. In the Eastern liturgy, unlike the Latin, the P. is never changed, or else it is changed together with the entire formula or liturgy.
In the Gallican liturgy, the word P. is used as praefatio missae, in the sense of a preamble to the collect (as in the Latin-Roman liturgy on Good Friday). In the same sense the word P. occurs in praefatio symboli and praefatio orationis Dominicae in the Ordo of Baptism. The prayer corresponding to the Roman P. in the Gallican liturgy is called contestatio (a term perhaps already known to s. Agostino) or immolatio; in the Mozarabic liturgy, inlatio.
Following the example of the P. of the Mass, other P. were composed for use outside the sacrifice at particular and solemn moments: the consecration of a bishop, the ordination of a priest or deacon, the consecration of virgins, the blessing of an abbot, and the blessing or consecration of things (a church, palms, a baptismal font, the Paschal candle, Exultet). To abbreviate the beginning of the P., « Vere... salutare », the sign formed from the initials of the first two words, VD, fused into a single monogram, was used. Still simple in the Carolingian period, the monogram became very rich and developed into broad and sumptuous ornamentation in the Romanesque period; simpler in the Gothic period of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it was omitted from printed books.
BIBL: P. Bariffol, Leçons sur la Messe, Paris 1923, pp. 191-203; L. Eisenhofer, Katholische Liturgie, II, Freiburg im Br. 1933, pp. 151-59; J. A. Jungmann, Missarum Solemnia, II, Vienna 1949, pp. 123-56; id., Praefatio und stiller Kanon, in Gevordene Liturgie, Innsbruck 1941, pp. 53-119; P. Alfonso, I riti della Chiesa, III, Rome 1945, pp. 158-62; G. Brinktrine, La S. Messa, there 1945, pp. 80-86; M. Righetti, Man. di star. liturg., I, 2ª ed., Milan 1950, pp. 240-41; III, there 1949, pp. 291-97.