Nobis Quoque Peccatoribus

are the first words of the Roman Catholic prayer used in the celebration of the mass in behalf of those who may attend the celebrant at the time. The ceremony in this part of the mass is as follows:

"He strikes his breast with his right hand, saying with his voice a little raised [the prayer beginning] 'Nobis quoque peccatoribus' [which is thus tianslated]: 'To us also sinners, hoping from the multitude of thy compassions, mayst thou deign to give some part and fellowship with thy holy apostles and martyrs; with John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all thy saints into whose society, we beseech thee, not as an appraiser of merit, but as a bestower of pardon, do thou admit us. (He joins his hands.) Through Christ our Lord. Through whom, Lord, thou dost always create (he now makes the sign of the cross thrice over the host and the chalice, at the same time saying), sanctify, vivify, bless, and give to us all these good things. (He uncovers the chalice, kneels, takes the host with his right hand, holding the chalice with his left; thrice he makes the sign of the cross with. the host from one lip of the chalice to the other, saying), Through him, and with him, and in him (twice he makes the sign of the cross between the chalice and his breast), there is to thee, Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost (he raises the chualice a little with the host, and says), all honor and glory. (He replaces the host [wipes his fingers, if necessary], covers the chalice, kneels, rises, chants, or reads), World without end. (Answer.) Amen. (He joins his hands.) Let us pray: admonished by salutary precepts, and directed by divine instruction, we dare to say.' The celebrant then extends his hands, and says or sings the Lord's Prayer, and is answered at the end with a repetition of the last petition, 'But deliver us from evil.' The 'canon of the mass,' properly so called, ends with the prayer preceding the Lord's Prayer; but the next part, which is the preparation for and receiving of the communion, is now also included in the canon."