The Mass as it was in Rome: the Roman Mass of the 15th century

In the year 1474, what is believed to be the very first printed edition (editio princeps) of the Roman Missal, known as the Missale Romanum Mediolani, was published in Milan. From that time on until Pope Pius V's 1570 edition of the Roman Missal, there were at least 14 different printings of Missals produced in Milan, Venice, Paris and Lyon that purported to present the text of the Mass as celebrated in Rome, rather than elsewhere, and which therefore were published under the title of "Roman Missal"; however even these editions show variations from each other.

The following text is the Ordo Missae of the aforementioned Missal (with some punctuations added and the medieval spelling 'fixed' I've now edited them back to reflect most of their original ortography and punctuation). One can notice that the Roman Rite had evolved much after about 600 years (partly due to the influence of the Gallican Rite to it); the Mass was more or less similar to its 'Tridentine' (or Pian) form.

THE ORDO MISSAE, TAKEN FROM THE 1474 MISSALE ROMANUM MEDIOLANI, Editio Princeps

Paratus Sacerdos cum intrat ad Altare dicat.
V./ Introibo ad Altare Dei.
R./ Ad Deum qui letificat iuuentutem meam.
Ps. Iudica me, Deus totum deinde repetitur versus Introibo ad Altare Dei.
R./ Ad Deum qui letificat iuuentutem meam.

Deinde facit Confessionem et Absolutionem et hinc dicit uersus.
V. Deus tu conversus uiuificabis nos.
R. Et plebs tua letabitur in te.
R. Ostende nobis Domine misericordiam tuam.
R. Et salutare tuum da nobis.
R. Domine exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te ueniat.
R. Dominus uobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Aufer a nobis quesumus Domine iniquitates nostras ut ad Sancta Sanctorum puris mereamur mentibus introire. Per Xpm Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Postea inclinatus dicit secreto hanc orationem: Oramus te Domine per merita sanctorum tuorum quorum reliquie hic sunt, et omnium Sanctorum ut indulgere digneris omnia peccata mea. Amen.

Qua completa ascendit ad Altare et deosculans illud accipiensque turribulum a Diacono legit Introitum cum ministris deinde dicit an dicendum est:

Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bone voluntatis. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus Rex celestis Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine Fili unigenite Iesu Xpe. Domine Deus Agnus Dei Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus. Tu solus Dominus. Tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Xpe. Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
Quo finito antequam dicat Dominus uobiscum osculatur Altare in medio.

In fine Gradualis uel Alleluia uel Tractus inclinat se. Diaconus coram Altari et dicit hanc orationem:
Munda cor meum ac labia mea omnipotens Deus qui labia Ysaie prophete calculo mundasti ignito ita me tua grata miseratione dignare mundare ut sanctum Euangelium tuum digne ualeam nuntiare. Per Xpm Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Dicta oratione et accepto testu inclinat se Sacerdoti celebraturo et petit benedictionem dicendo: Iube domne benedicere. Tunc dicit Sacerdos: Dominus sit in corde tuo et in labiis tuis ut digne et competenter annunties Euangelium suum in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
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The Priest prepares to go to the Altar and says:
V./ I will go to the Altar of God.
R./ To God, the joy of my youth.
V./ Judge me, O God...(the whole Psalm is recited; then is repeated the verse:) I will go to the Altar of God.
R./ To God, the joy of my youth.

Afterwards the Confession and Absolution is made; then the following verse is said:
V. Turn to us, O God, and bring us life.
R. And Your people will rejoice in You.
V. Show us, Lord, Your mercy.
R. And grant us Your salvation.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to You.
V. May the Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.

Take away from us, O Lord, we beseech You, our sins, that we may enter with pure minds into the Holy of Holies; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Afterwards he shall bow and say the following prayer in secret: We beseech You, O Lord, by the merits of Your Saints, whose relics lie here, and of all the Saints, deign in your mercy to pardon me all my sins. Amen.

Completing these things, the Priest shall ascend to the Altar and kiss it, take the thurible from the Deacon, and with the ministers recite the Introit. Then he shall say or intone the following:
Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men of good will.
We praise You, We bless You, We adore You, We glorify You;
We give You thanks for Your great glory.
Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
You who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
You who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
You who are seated at the right of the Father, have mercy upon us.
For You alone are Holy; You alone are the Lord.
You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

When it is finished, he shall say The Lord be with you before kissing the Altar in the middle.
He shall then bow at the end of the Gradual, or the Alleluia, or the Tract. The Deacon shall come before the Altar and say the following prayer:
Cleanse my heart and my lips, O Almighty God, who cleansed the lips of the Prophet Isaiah with a burning coal. Through Your gracious mercy deign so to purify me that I may worthily proclaim Your holy Gospel; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
After saying the prayer and taking the Text, he shall bow before the celebrant Priest and ask for a blessing, saying: Grant, sir, to bless. Then the Priest shall say:May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips that your may worthily and fittingly proclaim His Gospel; in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Father...Birther of the Cosmos?

There are currently a lot of sites in the internet that claim to show a translation of the Lord's Prayer in the 'original Aramaic' (try searching for 'Lord's Prayer Original Aramaic' in a search engine), which usually run along the lines of (this particular translation by Neil Douglas-Klotz):

O, Birther of the Cosmos, focus your light within us -- make it useful
Create your reign of unity now
Your one desire then acts with ours,
As in all light,
So in all forms,
Grant us what we need each day in bread and insight:
Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
As we release the strands we hold of other's guilt.
Don't let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back.
From you is born all ruling will,
The power and the life to do,
The song that beautifies all,
From age to age it renews.
I affirm this with my whole being.

Or even (alternative translation taken from here):

Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes, who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration. May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Let Your will come true - in the universe (all that vibrates) just as on earth (that is material and dense).
Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need, detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others.
Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations), but let us be freed from that what keeps us from our true purpose.
From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.

Sealed in trust, faith and truth.
(I confirm with my entire being)

The questions are: Are these 'translations' accurate renderings of the Aramaic text? Is the 'original Aramaic text' used here the actual Aramaic that Jesus used? To which we answer: No.

These 'translations' mostly exploit the fact that most of the public know next to nil about Aramaic; thus, one could translate the phrase 'Abwun d'bashmaya' into something like 'O Father-Mother who art above and within' or other such variants and no one (save those who actually know or speak the language) would notice the difference!

Some would attempt to justify these translations, saying that Aramaic words has many nuances that is 'lost in translation' and that they are attempting to reconstruct the original sense and meaning of the prayer, and a few of them would even dare point a finger at the usual suspects (Matthew or Luke or whoever else they believe wrote the Greek versions of the Gospels), accusing them of mistranslating Jesus' words.

Yes, there are a lot of things that don't make it when one translates something into another language (like cultural references or whatnot) and a specific language may have different levels of meaning, but I'm afraid that what's happening here is like translating the phrase 'Macaroni and cheese' as 'Spaghetti with meatball sauce' into another language!

In my opinion these are a rather fanciful attempt at a translation (If I might add, these may not even qualify as 'translations' at all, since they do not really 'render' the text literally from one language to another faithfully, but may be entered into the 'paraphrase' category; even so, these are rather spurious and New-Agey paraphrases at that), multiple levels of meaning aside (really, what are the multiple meanings of Ab, the word for father? Can it also mean the neutral parent or even mother? And here I thought it was a singular male noun...)
Note also that the Aramaic text from which these texts are usually translated from are taken from the P'shitto (aka the Peshitta), a translation of the Bible in Syriac (an Eastern Aramaic language originally spoken in northern Meposotamia), and thus is not really the language (Galilean Aramaic, under the Late Old Western variety of Aramaic) that Jesus and His disciples spoke during the 1st century. There are also others who are attempting to reconstruct the original Galilean Aramaic of Jesus (and thus, how the original Our Father may have looked/sounded like), but that's another story.

Now another big question that comes up is: Why are these 'New Age' versions of the Lord's Prayer so popular?

I think this is because of our modern society's fascination with the mystic, the esoteric, the mysterious and the 'extraordinary' (used here in its original sense, 'out of the ordinary'); the same reason why the 'Gnostic Jesus' (a mystical guru who speaks in high pseudo-mystic jargon) and the 'Historical Jesus' (either a proto-Hippie or an angsty, misunderstood guy) are becoming popular in some circles nowadays and the reason why ideas which were once considered by society as 'subversive', beliefs that were once condemned as 'heretical' and 'blasphemous' are now becoming 'cool' and 'edgy'.

Therefore, a New Age 'translation' of the Lord's Prayer, which is presented as having layers of esoteric meaning which was undiscovered in ages before due to years of being 'lost in translation' (thanks to those incompetent Apostles, who never really did understand what Jesus really meant) would sell like pancakes in our modern society today.

What does the actual text in the P'shitto say?
The most important thing one must do when confronted with something is to check its sources to see whether this statement is true or no. Here is the relevant passage from the P'shitto (transliterated), along with a (modern?) Hebrew translation for comparison (Syriac being under the Semitic family of languages share cognate words with Hebrew and other Semitic tongues, such as Arabic):

ARAMAIC/SYRIAC:
Abwun d'bashmaya,
Nitqadash shmakh,
Tethe malkuthakh,
Nehwa tzevyanakh, aykana d'bashmaya, af bar'a.

Hav lan lakhma d'sunqanan yomana.
U'shboq lan khaubeyn, aykana d'af khnan shboqan l-khaybeyn.
U'la te'lan l'nisyouna, ela patsan min bisha.
(Metul d'dilakh hi malkutha, u-khayla, u-teshbukhta, alam l'almin.)
Amin.

HEBREW:
Avinu sheba'shamayim,
Yitqadesh shimkha,
Tavo malkhutekha,
Ye'aseh retzonekha, ba'aretz ka'asher na'asah ba'shamayim.

Ten-lanu haiyom lekhem khukeinu.
U'selach lanu et ashmateinu, ka'asher solekhim anakhnu la'asher ashemu lanu.
Ve'al-tevieinu lidei massah, ki-'im hatzileinu min-hara.
(Ki lekha ha-mamelakha ve-hagevurah veha-tiferet, le'olemei 'olamim.)
Amein.

Now let's do a step-by-step look at the words of the Prayer:

1.) 'Abwun' means 'Our Father' (Ab 'Father'; a masculine noun, not a neutral word like 'Parent' or 'Father-Mother'+un 'our'), with the pronoun suffix -un corresponding to the Hebrew -nu (Abwun would be Avinu in Hebrew) and 'd'bashmaya' (d+bashmaya) is 'who/which/that + in-Heaven'.

The word shmaya is noticeably cognate to the Hebrew word shameh (plural form shamayim) and Arabic samā' (plural form samawāt), meaning 'the sky/heaven(-s)/elevation'. Thus, 'Abwun d'bashmaya'="Our Father, who is in (the) Heaven(s)".

2.) 'Nithqadash', in the imperfect or 'future' tense, means 'will be Holy' (Note that the Aramaic/Syriac 'qadash' is cognate to Hebrew 'qadash', meaning 'to be holy, to be sanctified'). 'Shmakh' (shm+akh) is 'Your name' (shma, meaning 'name' is cognate with Hebrew shem and Arabic 'ism).

The suffix -akh is comparable with the Hebrew -kha and Arabic -ak, both meaning the singular masculine 'you'. At times, the imperfect tense is used as an adjuration, thus, 'Nithqadash shmakh'=literally translated 'Your Name will be holy', i.e. 'May Your Name be holy'.

3.) 'Tethe' is 'will come', 'malkuthakh' (malkuta+akh) is 'Your kingdom' (the Hebrew and Arabic cognates of malkuta are malkuth and mamlakah, respectively), thus 'Tethe malkuthakh'=literally translated 'Your Kingdom will come', i.e. 'May Your Kingdom come'.

4.) 'Nehwa' is 'will be', 'tzevyanakh' (tzevyan+akh) means 'Your will or desire', thus 'Nehwa tzevyanakh' is 'Your Will will be', i.e. 'May Your Will be [done]'.

'Aykana' is 'like, as', 'af' is 'also' and 'b-ar'a' (ba+ar'a; Ar'a is cognate with Hebrew Eretz and Arabic 'Ard, meaning 'Land, Earth, ground') is 'on the Earth'. All in all, "Nehwa tzevyanakh, aykana d'bashmaya, af bar'a" means "May Your will be [done]; as in Heaven, [may it be] also on the Earth".

5.) Hav lan (Hav 'give'+ lan 'to us') is 'give to us', lakhma is 'bread' (comparable to Hebrew 'lekhem'), D'sunqanan is 'which we need (lack)' (d' 'which, what' + sunqa 'lack, need' + nan 'we') and yomana (from imama, 'day'; compare Hebrew hayom and Arabic yawmana) is 'today'; therefore "Hav lan lakhma d'sunqanan yomana"='Give us today the bread which we need'.

6.) U'shboq is 'And forgive' (U+Shboq 'to allow, to forgive'), shboqan is 'we have forgiven' and khaubeyn and khaybeyn means 'debts, sins' and 'sinners, debtors, etc.' respectively, thus "U'shboq lan khaubeyn, aykana d'af khnan shboqan l-khaybeyn" is to be rendered as 'Forgive us our sins (debts), also as we have forgiven sinners (debtors)'.

7.) U'la (U+La 'No, not') means 'And not', te'lan is 'lead us' and l'nisyouna is 'unto danger/temptation'. Therefore "U'la te`lan l'nisyouna" is "And lead us not into danger/temptation".

Ela is 'but', patsan is 'deliver us' and min bisha means 'from evil'. All in all, "And lead us not into danger, but deliver us from evil".

8.) Metul is 'because, for', d'dilakh is 'of which-yours', hi malkutha is 'is [the] kingdom', u-khayla and u-teshbukhta are 'and [the] power' and 'and [the] glory', and l'alam 'almin is 'forever, unto the ages' ('alam, meaning 'eternity, forever, world' is related to the Hebrew olam and Arabic alam; it is quite similar in meaning to the Greek aion). Therefore the whole prayer runs loosely thus:

Our Father who is in Heaven,
May Your Name be Holy,
May Your Kingdom come,
May Your will be done; as in Heaven, may it be so on the Earth.

Give us today the bread we need,
And forgive us our sins (or debts), also as we have forgiven sinners (or debtors).
And lead us not into danger, but deliver us from evil.
(For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever unto the ages [i.e. forever and ever].)
Amen.

So there you have it. Even the Aramaic/Syriac text of Our Father is quite close with how we have always said the prayer and how it had been handed down to us, despite some people's claims to the contrary. Matthew and Luke can now rest properly.

This post is mostly inspired and based on an informative article entitled, "O Father-Mother Birther of the Cosmos?!" and this page.

The Mass as it was in the City of Rome: The differences between Ordo I and the St. Amand Ordo

Here, we will list the observable differences between the Ordo of the Mass as it appears in the First Roman Ordo (end of the 7th century?) and the Ordo of St. Amand (9th century), which may show us an interesting example of evolution (some subtle changes, and some not-so-subtle ones) that the liturgy of Rome underwent as years went on:

1.) Ordo Romanus I: An Acolyte carries in the Gospel-Book before Mass. The Subdeacon-Attendant precedes him; on arriving at the Altar he takes the Book from him and sets it thereon.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Gospel-Book is carried in by a Subdeacon and set on the Altar by him.

2.) Ordo Romanus I: A District-Subdeacon ascertains who is to sing the Gradual and etc., then tells the Pope who sings and who reads the Epistle.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Ruler of the Choir tells a District-Subdeacon, who then tells the Pope. No mention of the Epistoler.

3.) Ordo Romanus I: When all are ready to enter, the Ruler of the Choir goes to the Precentor and says, "Sir, command!"
Ordo of St. Amand: The Pope sends word to the Precentor and says, "Sir, command!"

4.) Ordo Romanus I: No mention of any tapers.
Ordo of St. Amand: The bringing in of the Oblationer's two tapers.

5.) Ordo Romanus I: Inspection of the Eucharist reserved from previous Solemn Mass.
Ordo of St. Amand: No mention of this.

6.) Ordo Romanus I: The Pax is given before the Gloria Patri is sung.
Ordo of St. Amand: Pax given after Gloria Patri.

7.) Ordo Romanus I: Kyries sung by the Choir.
Ordo of St. Amand: Kyries sung by the Choir and repeated by the District officials below the Ambo.

8.) Ordo Romanus I: After the Responsory Psalm the Gospeller kisses the Pope's feet.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Gospeller only bows to the Pope.

9.) Ordo Romanus I: The Subdeacon-Attendant holds the Gospel-Book for the kissing after the reading.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Gospel-Book held by a Subdeacon.

10.) Ordo Romanus I: No mention of the Pallium (used here in the sense of Altar cloth).
Ordo of St. Amand: Pallium (if any) turned back off the Altar.

11.) Ordo Romanus I: The Ruler of the Choir offers water for the Chalice to the Subdeacon-Attendant.
Ordo of St. Amand: One of the Choir offers water to the Subdeacon-Oblationer.

12.) Ordo Romanus I: The Offertory Veil used in setting the Chalice on the Altar.
Ordo of St. Amand: No mention of the Offertory Veil.

13.) Ordo Romanus I: No mention of Acolytes.
Ordo of St. Amand: At Sanctus Acolytes with palls stand behind the Deacons holding Ewers and sacks.

14.) Ordo Romanus I: The Acolyte acting as Patener has a linen cloth girt around his neck.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Patener has a silken Pall or Sudary marked with a Cross.

15.) Ordo Romanus I: The veil is used when the Archdeacon raises the Chalice at the second sacring.
Ordo of St. Amand: No mention of the veil.

16.) Ordo Romanus I: No mention of any Psalm.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Psalm Beati immaculati (Psalm 119 [118]: 1-8) is sung by Priests and Deacons at the Fraction.

17.) Ordo Romanus I: The Agnus Dei is sung by the Choir.
Ordo of St. Amand: The Agnus Dei is sung by the choir and repeated by the Acolytes.

18.) Ordo Romanus I: The Sancta and the Pax come before the Fraction. No mention of the Lavatory.
Ordo of St. Amand: No mention of the Sancta. The Pax and Lavatory is done after Communion.

19.) Ordo Romanus I: Invitations to breakfast are issued during the Agnus Del.
Ordo of St. Amand: After the Communion of the Subdeacons, Notaries and District Officials.

20.) Ordo Romanus I: The next Station is announced between the Communion of the Pope and that of the Bishops.
Ordo of St. Amand: The next Station is announced during the Communion of the Bishops and Presbyters.

The Mass as it was in the City of Rome: The Ordo of St. Amand, part 4

THE POST-COMMUNION, THE DISMISSAL and THE BLESSING (cf. The Mass as it was in the City of Rome, part 9)

15. The Collect having been finished, the Deacon (not he who reads the Gospel, but another) says, "Ite, missa est!"

Then the Pontiff comes down from the Altar, and the Deacons with him, and the Subdeacon who has been mentioned above goes before him with the Censer, as also the candlesticks carried by the Acolytes; and as he passes down through the midst of the Presbytery a Subdeacon of the Choir says, "Jube, benedicere!"

And the Pontiff gives the Prayer, and they answer, "Amen." And when he goes out of the Presbytery, the judges next say, "Jube, domne, benedicere." And when the blessing has been given, they answer, "Amen."

And the Acolytes come before the Pontiff with their candlesticks, and stand before the door of the Sacristy until he is gone in; and then they put out their lights.

16. Then the Pontiff takes off his vestments, and the Subdeacons take them and hand them to the Chamberlains. The Deacons, however, unvest outside the Sacristy and their Acolytes take their vestments.

And when the Pontiff sits down, the chief Sexton of the church comes with a silver bowl (spelled as "bacea" in the original text="bacchia") with little round loaves on it (or if there is none of silver, with a bowl of some sort [catino]), and stands before the Pontiff; and there come in order the Deacons, then the Chancellor and the Secretary and the Papal-Vicar and the Subdeacons, and they receive little loaves or cakes from the Pontiff's hand. Then a drink is prepared for the Pontiff and the rest above mentioned.

All having been finished, the Pontiff gives a blessing, and they go out of the Sacristy.

APPENDIX: WHEN THE MASS IS CELEBRATED BY A BISHOP OR PRIEST

17. And this which we have omitted, we recall to mind; that is, that if the Pontiff should not make his appearance, the Deacons set out as is said above. And if there should be no Deacons, the Presbyter proceeds in their place from the Sacristy with the candlesticks to set before the Pontiff's throne, and he can read the Gospel in the Ambo divested of his planeta like a Deacon, and on coming down from the Ambo he puts his planeta on again.

And when the Deacons or Presbyters come before the screen, the Bishop or Presbyter who is going to celebrate Mass that day comes from the left side of the presbytery, and the Deacon who is going to read the Gospel that day gives him the Kiss of Peace. And when the Choir have finished "Kyrie Eleison", the Bishop goes to the right side of the Throne within the screen, and says, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo."

But if it should be a Presbyter who is celebrating, he does not say Gloria in Excelsis Deo, but only advances and says the Collect. And when that is over, he returns to his place until the Gospel is read. When that is over, he advances as above, and says, "Dominus vobiscum", then, "Oremus"; and everything is done as it is described above.

And when he comes to, "Omnis honor et gloria" [at the end of the Canon], the Deacon does not lift up the Chalice as he does for the Pontiff, but the Bishop or Presbyter [who is celebrating] lifts up two loaves, and touches the Chalice with them as he says, "Per omnia saecula saeculorum."

The Niche of the Pallia in St. Peter's Basilica. Newly-blessed palliums are placed inside the urn seen in this photograph overnight before the pallium ceremony (June 29th, the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul). They rest in this spot that is very close to the bones of St. Peter (in fact, just behind this niche lies a 2nd-century structure built over the Apostle's tomb).

THE FERMENTUM

And when he is going to say, "Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum", the Subdeacon holds a piece of the Holy Element, which the Pontiff has consecrated, at the right corner of the Altar; and the Deacon takes it and hands it to the Bishop or Presbyter, who thereupon makes a Cross with it over the Chalice, saying, "Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum."

Then he kisses the Altar, and the Deacon gives the Kiss of Peace to the Subdeacon. Then another Bishop comes from the left side [of the Presbytery], and they both hold their hands over the loaves and break them; and then the [second] Bishop goes back again to his place. The Bishop or Presbyter who is celebrating the Mass then hands one whole Loaf, and a portion of one which has been divided, to the Deacon; and he puts the portion on the Paten, and that which is whole into a little sack held by an Acolyte.

The latter then goes to the Archpresbyter for him to break the Loaf, but the bishop stands at the left side of the Altar until the loaves have been transferred to the little sacks of the Acolytes, as is the custom. Then the Bishop turns back before the Altar, and breaks the portion of the Loaf which was left there. And as soon as the Fraction has been completed, the Deacon announces the next Station, as is the custom.

Then both Bishops and Presbyters come before the Altar to communicate; and the Bishop [who is celebrating] places two fragments in the hand of the first of the [other] Bishops, and he who receives them returns one of the fragments to the celebrant, and he holds the fragment in his right hand until they have communicated,
as described above. Then he who is celebrating the Mass places his hands upon the Altar, and communicates. Then the Deacons communicate, and the Bishop or Presbyter who first communicated administers the Chalice to them; and he holds the Chalice, and accomplishes all things as is written above.