The first word of that portion of Psalm 25 said by the
celebrant at Mass while he washes his hands after the Offertory, from
which word the whole ceremony is named.
The principle of washing
the hands before celebrating the holy Liturgy -- at first an obvious
practical precaution of cleanness, then interpreted also symbolically
-- occurs naturally in all rites. In the Eastern rites this is done at
the beginning as part of the vesting; it is generally accompanied by
the same fragment of Psalm 25 (vv. 6-12) said in the West after the
Offertory. But in the "Apost. Const.", VIII, 11, the hands of the
celebrants are washed just before the dismissal of the catechumens
(Brightman, 13), in the Syriac and Coptic rites after the creed (ib.,
82 and 162). Cyril of Jerusalem also mentions a washing that takes
place in sight of the people (Cat. Myst., v). So also in the Roman Rite
the celebrant washes his hands before vesting, but with another prayer
("Da, Domine, virtutem", etc., in the Missal among the "Orationes ante
Missam"). The reason of the second washing, during the Mass, at Rome
was no doubt the special need for it after the long ceremony of
receiving the loaves and vessels of wine from the people at the
Offertory (all of which is absent from the Eastern rites). The first
Roman Ordines describe a general washing of hands by the celebrant and
deacons, who have received and carried the offerings to the altar,
immediately after they have done so ("Ordo Rom. I", 14; "Ordo of St.
Amand" in Duchesne, "Origines du Culte", 443, etc.; in the St. Amand
Ordo the Pontiff washes his hands both before and after the Offertory).
There is as yet no mention of any psalm or prayers said at the time. In
the Gallican Rite the offerings were prepared before Mass began, as in
the East; so there was no Offertory nor place for a Lavabo later. At
Milan there is now an Offertory borrowed from Rome, but no washing of
hands at this point; the Mozarabic Liturgy also has a Romanizing
Offertory and a washing, but without any prayer (Missale Mixtum", P.L.,
LXXXV, 538). The Roman Rite had in the Middle Ages two washings of the
hands at the Offertory, one just before, while the deacon spread the
corporal on the altar, one immediately after the incensing that follows
the offertory (Durandus, "Rationale", IV, 28; Benedict XIV, "De SS.
Missæ Sacrif.", II, 11). The first of these has now disappeared. The
second was accompanied by the verses 6-12 of Psalm xxv. This psalm is
first mentioned by the medieval commentators (e.g. Durandus, loc.
cit.). No doubt it was said from very early times as a private devotion
obviously suitable for the occasion. We have noted that it accompanies
the washing before the Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite. Benedict XIV
notes that as late as his time (eighteenth century) "in some churches
only some verses are said" (loc. cit.) although the Missal requires
that all (that is from v. 6 to the end) be recited. Cyril of Jerusalem
(loc. cit.) already explains the washing as a symbol of purity of the
soul; all the medieval writers (Durandus, loc. cit.; St Thomas Aquinas,
"Summa Theol.", III, Q. lxxxiii, art. 5, ad 1um; etc.) insist on this
idea.
The present rule is this:
At high Mass (or sung Mass), as soon as the celebrant has incensed the
altar after the Offertory and has been incensed himself at the Epistle
side, he remains there while his hands are washed by the acolytes, who
must be waiting by the credence-table. The first acolyte pours water
from the cruet over his fingers into the little dish provided, the
second then hands him the towel to dry the fingers. Meanwhile he says:
"Lavabo inter innocentes", etc., to the end of the psalm, with "Gloria
Patri" and "Sicut erat". The Gloria is left out in Masses for the dead
and in Masses de tempore from Passion Sunday to Holy Saturday
exclusively ("Ritus celebrandi", VII, 6, in the Missal). A bishop at
high Mass wears the "precious" mitre (mitra pretiosa) while he is
incensed and washes his hands (Cærim. Episc.,II, 8, 64); in this case a
larger silver jug and basin are generally used, though the Cærimoniale
Episcoporum" does not mention them. At low Mass, since there is no
incense, the celebrant goes to the Epistle side and washes his hands in
the same way immediately after the prayer "Veni sanctificator". For his
convenience the altar-card on the Epistle side contains the prayer said
when the water is blessed before it is put into the chalice ("Deus qui
humanæ substantiæ") and the verses "Lavabo", etc.
Publication information
Written by Adrian Fortescue. Transcribed by Tony de Melo.
The Catholic Encyclopedia,
Volume IX. Published 1910. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil
Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M.
Farley, Archbishop of New York
Bibliography
GIHR, "Das heilige
Messopfer" (Freiburg im Br., 1897), 502-05; BENEDICT XIV, "De SS. Missæ
Sacrificio", II, 11 (ed. SCHNEIDER, Mainz, 1879, pp. 146-48); DURANDUS,
"Rationale divinorum officiorum", IV, 28, DE HERDT, "S. Liturgiæ
praxis", I (9th ed., Louvain, 1894), 307-08; 464-64; DUCHESNE,
"Origines du Culte chretien" (Paris, 1898), 167, 443.
