Abraham in The Catholic Liturgy - Roman Missal (Missale Romanum)

Roman Missal (Missale Romanum)

• Mention has already been made of the prayer in the Canon of the Mass, when the priest, referring to "the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation", prays: "Be pleased to look upon them with serene and kindly countenance, and to accept them, as you were pleased to accept the gifts of your servant Abel the just, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek, a holy sacrifice, a spotless victim." The idea of sacrifice is common to Western and Eastern liturgies, while those of the East, except the Maronite, omit in their epicleses all reference to the typic sacrifices of the Old Testament, and appear concerned with impressing the faithful with the idea rather of sacrament and communion, an element used for classifying liturgies.

• The second (in the pre-1950s Missal the third) of the Old Testament readings of the Easter Vigil between the lighting of the Paschal Candle and the Blessing of the Font recounts the sacrifice of Isaac imposed upon Abraham (bibleverse||Genesis|22:1-19). Before the early 1950s, the priest read this lesson quietly for himself (as he did for all chants and readings at Mass executed by others, with the sole exception of the Gospel) while it was being chanted for the people, a practice that Pope Pius XII eliminated. The dramatic incidents in this passage of Scripture must have impressed early Christian catechumens deeply, as they are represented on the walls of catacombs and on sarcophagi. The following prayer begins: "God and Father of all who believe in you, you promised Abraham that he would become the father of all nations, and through the death and resurrection of Christ you fulfil that promise ...".

• Until it was removed by Pope Pius XII, another lesson (then the fourth) was followed by the prayer: "O God, grant that the fulness of the whole world may pass over to the children of Abraham...".

• There are now dozens of Scripture readings at Mass that mention Abraham. In the Tridentine Missal they were fewer, but they included the already mentioned John 8:46-59 and also Galatians 3:16-22.

Abraham is referred to also explicitly (e.g. "May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, be with you") or implicitly (e.g. In figuris praesignatur, cum Isaac immolatur in the Sequence of Corpus Christi) in various other liturgical texts within the Missal.