Canon of the Mass

Canon Of The Mass

(canon Missae), a part of the mass or communion service of the Church of Rome. The office of the mass is divided into three parts: (1) from the introit to the preface; (2) which contains the canon, from the Sanctus to the time of communion; and (3) the thanksgiving. The second is considered the essential part, being that which contains the consecration of the elements. The Greeks call it civafopa, probably because of the exhortation of the priest at the commencement to the people, sursunm corda. In the Roman liturgy the canon begins at the words Te igitur, etc. In the Roman Church the form of the canon remains the same at every mass. It is sometimes, by ancient writers, called the actio. It is also known by the name secreta, or secretum, because the priest is ordered to say it in a low voice; and, according to Goar, the same practice is observed in the East. (See Cone. Trident. sess. 22, can. 9.) — Martene, De ant. nit. 1:144; Landon, Eccl. Diet. . 5.; Procter On Common Prayer, 319. See MASS.