Celebrating 100 years
- Clustered Worship Sites:
Christ the King
St. Salome
St. Thomas the Apostle - Individual Worship Sites:
St. Cecilia
St. Margaret Mary - Irondequoit Catholic Communities:
Regional Mass Schedule
Regional Calendars
Irondequoit Senior Ministries
The purpose of the rite is to prepare the altar, the gifts, and the community for the offering to come and therefore has a secondary character since it prepares for and leads to the Eucharistic Prayer. In the early Christian community this action remained very simple and informal. At Rome, bread and a cup of wine mixed with water were presented by the deacon to the bishop who then began the Eucharistic Prayer. The rite gradually expanded with the people themselves bring the gifts to the altar.
The procession of the gifts is intended to carry on "the spiritual meaning of the ancient custom when the people brought bread and wine from their homes" (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 49). From time to time, collections of food or other needed items are still made, and although they are not directly part of the procession of the gifts, their value is still directly connected to the eucharistic sacrifice.
The altar is prepared; the gifts are "set apart" and presented as a sign of the community's desire to incorporate itself in the sacrifice of Christ; the bread and wine are placed on the altar as the celebrant praises God for his gifts which will become the body and blood of the Lord; finally, in a prayer over the gifts the priest sums up the meaning of all that has taken place.
