Jeg kom i dag over talen pave Benedikt holdt ved oljevgselsmessen i fjor. Der knytter han prestens ordinasjon og tjeneste til klærne han bruker under messen. Paven nevner også de tradisjonelle bønnene presten alltid ba (og i vår tid også gjerne kan/bør be) når han tok på seg messeklærne:
Just as in Baptism an «exchange of clothing» is given, an exchanged destination, a new existential communion with Christ, so also in priesthood there is an exchange: in the administration of the sacraments, the priest now acts and speaks «in persona Christi». In the sacred mysteries, he does not represent himself and does not speak expressing himself, but speaks for the Other, for Christ.
… at the moment of priestly Ordination, the Church has also made this reality of «new clothes» visible and comprehensible to us externally through being clothed in liturgical vestments. In this external gesture she wants to make the interior event visible to us, as well as our task which stems from it: putting on Christ; giving ourselves to him as he gave himself to us.
This event, the «putting on of Christ», is demonstrated again and again at every Holy Mass by the putting on of liturgical vestments. Vesting ourselves in them must be more than an external event: it means entering ever anew into the «yes» of our office – into that «no longer I» of Baptism which Ordination to the priesthood gives to us in a new way and at the same time asks of us.
… Putting on priestly vestments was once accompanied by prayers that helped us understand better each single element of the priestly ministry.
Let us start with the amice. In the past – and in monastic orders still today – it was first placed on the head as a sort of hood, thus becoming a symbol of the discipline of the senses and of thought necessary for a proper celebration of Holy Mass. My thoughts must not wander here and there due to the anxieties and expectations of my daily life; my senses must not be attracted by what there, inside the church, might accidentally captivate the eyes and ears. My heart must open itself docilely to the Word of God and be recollected in the prayer of the Church, so that my thoughts may receive their orientation from the words of the proclamation and of prayer. And the gaze of my heart must be turned toward the Lord who is in our midst: this is what the ars celebrandi means: the proper way of celebrating.
If I am with the Lord, then, with my listening, speaking and acting, I will also draw people into communion with him.
The texts of the prayer expressed by the alb and the stole both move in the same direction. They call to mind the festive robes which the father gave to the prodigal son who had come home dirty, in rags.
When we approach the liturgy to act in the person of Christ, we all realize how distant we are from him; how much dirt there is in our lives. He alone can give us festive robes, can make us worthy to preside at his table, to be at his service.
Thus, the prayers also recall the words of Revelation, which say that it was not due to their own merit that the robes of the 144,000 elect were worthy of God. The Book of Revelation says that they had washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb and thus made them white and shining like light (cf. Rv 7: 14).
… The traditional prayer when one puts on the chasuble sees it as representing the yoke of the Lord which is imposed upon us as priests. And it recalls the words of Jesus, who invites us to take his yoke upon us and to learn from him who is «gentle and lowly in heart» (Mt 11: 29).
Taking the Lord’s yoke upon us means first of all: learning from him. It means always being ready to go to his school. From him we must learn gentleness and meekness: the humility of God who shows himself in his being a man.
Se alle bønnene prestene gjerne kan be når de forbereder seg til å feire messen.