This offering of the bread and wine in the public ser- vice became, from a very early period of the Christian Church, the occasion of a voluntary offering on the part of the faithfid ; originally, it would seem, of the bread and wine designed for the eucharistic celebra-
OFFERTORY
314 OFFICE OF TPIE CHURCH
tion and for the communion of the priest and the con- groi^ation, sometimes even incUuling the absent mem- bers, and also for the agape, or common sacred feast, which accompanied it. That portion of the offerings which remained in excess of what was requisite for tliese purposes was applied to the relief of the poor and to the support of the clergy. These offerings were ordinarily made by the faithful in person, and were laid upon the altar; and the Ambrosian rite still preserves this usage in a ceremonial which may be wit- nessed in the cathedral of Milan. By degrees, other gifts were superadded to those of bread and wine — as of corn, oil, wax, honey, eggs, butter, fruits, lambs, fowl, and other animals; and eventually of equivalents in money or other objects of value. The last-named class of oiferings, however, was not so commonly made upon the altar and during the public liturgy as in the form of free gifts presented on the occasion of other minis- terial services, as of baptism, marriages, funerals, etc. ; and from this has arisen the practice in the Eoman Catholic Church of the mass-oifering, or honorarium, which is given to a priest with the understanding that he shall offer the mass for the intention (whence the honorarium itself is often called an '■ intention") of the otfercnt. In some places, however, and among them in some parts of Ireland, offerings " in kind" are still in use, not indeed in the form of the ancient offertory, but in the shape of contributions of corn, hay, etc., at stated seasons, for the use of the parochial clergj'. At weddings also, and in some places at funerals, offerings in money are made by the relations and friends of the newly married or of the deceased (Chambers).
The offertory in the mass (1) commences with the Dominus vohiscum, after the Creed, ending with the Preface. It contains the oblation of the bread and wine by the celebrant, the censing of the oblation, altar, and attendants, the washing of the fingers, the subsequent prayers, the invitation to pray, and the secret prayer. Originally it was usual for the faithful to bring to church the provisions which they contrib- uted to the support of the clergy, and the necessaries for the holy communion and church use. The offer- ing was made at this time. The deacon selected what was required for the altar, and the residue was taken to the bishop's house for distribution to the clergy at his discretion. The candles given at ordinations and the bread and wine at the consecration of a bishop are remnants of the ancient practice. Walifrid Strabo says that it was lawful to offer new wheat-ears, grapes, oil for lamps, and incense at the time of celebration. The name is also given (2) to the anthem sung after the Gospel or Creed, during which the people formerly offered their alms and oblations. Such was the cus- tom in Africa (c. 400) in St. Augustine's time. Hugo de St. Victor and Honorius of Autin attribute the in-
Eepresentution o f the " Oftt i tor\ , ' with a picture of
troduction and arrangement of the offertories to pope (Jregory the Great, but it has also been referred to Eutychius, c. 180 ; Celestine I, c. 430 ; or Adrian I. Singing is used in allusion to Eccles. i, 12-18. Pope Gregory caused oblations to be made as God had directed by Moses (Exod. xxiii, 15). In the first four centuries the offering was made in silence. When a bishop cel- ebrates he goes to the altar after the offertory, and, taking off his gloves, makes the ablution of his lingers. It is, besides, customary to give the name offertory to (3) a silk napkin in which the deacon wraps the chalice when offered to him by the priest. The sub- deacon now has a large scarf placed upon his shoulders, and takes the chalice, over which an attendant spreads the end of the scarf. He then carries the offerings to the deacon, presents the water-cruet, and receives the paten from the celebrant, which he holds enveloped in his scarf, standing behind him since the custom of con- secrating upon the corporal was introduced.
The word " offertorium" is sometimes used (as in the Sarum Missal) for the anthems sung during the collect- ing and making of these offerings, and sometimes, im- properly, for the offerings themselves. Thus Freeman (Principles of Divine Service, ii, 345, note g) writes, " The offertory, it need hardly be said — whether we mean thereby the words used or the contributions of the people — is but a department of the oblation." Boner, on the other hand (Rerum Liturg. II, viii, 3), chows from Amalarius and others that the offertory was the whole portion of the service, from the end of the creed to the end of the Oratio Secreta, thus making it include the oblation. But the extent of the offertorj' in one particular liturgy is not a definition ; and an explana- tion is perhaps given by TertuUian's words, " Nonne et laici sacerdotes sumus?"' (JJe exhort. Castit. p. G68).