The choir is silent during
the elevation of the Host and chalice, which takes place immediately
after the consecration. It is a period of peculiar solemnity, the
congregation kneeling in silent prayer at the signal of a gong. After
the consecration the priest elevates the Host and chalice, and with the
people still kneeling, offers up a prayer silently, the conclusion of
which is as follows: "We most humbly beseech Thee, Almighty God, command
these things to be carried by the hands of Thy holy angels to Thy altar
on high, in the sight of Thy Divine Majesty, that as many as shall
partake of the most sacred body and blood of Thy Son at this altar may
be filled with every heavenly grace and blessing." The central thought
of this prayer is that the sacred elements are borne to heaven by
invisible hands.
In the Beethoven Mass a Preludium for orchestra is introduced, to fill
in the interval while the celebrant is occupied with these silent
prayers. It is an innovation, showing how thoroughly alive Beethoven was
to the development of every phase of his subject.
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