When Archbishop Edwin F. O?Brien took his teaching chair as the archdiocese?s 15th ordinary ? or ultimate authority ? in the historic Cathedral of Mary Our Queen Monday, two millennia of Roman Catholic tradition were front and center.
The installation ceremony for the former archbishop for the military services, U.S.A., was conducted during the central liturgical celebration of Catholic life ? the Mass, the name of which is thought to come from an age-old Latin dismissal declaration.
At the Mass, readings from holy scripture accompany a sacramental component at which Catholics believe bread and wine are changed or “transubstantiated” into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ.
This sacrament, in the form of wafers of bread and portions of wine, is then distributed to Catholics in good standing, mystically uniting them with the supernatural life of Christ and with one another.
The Mass, which traces itself back to Christ’s last supper before his crucifixion, is considered by Catholics to be an unbloody re-enactment of the sacrifice of the cross, at which Christ offered himself up for the sins of the world ? past, present and future.
Catholic events of any note are usually solemnized with the Mass.
