The Traditional Latin Mass - Part V - Lift up your hearts…
“Sursum corda”: The Ascent of the Heart into the Holy of Holies
I. The Solemn Transition: From Offering to Oblation
At the end of the Secret, the priest says aloud:
“Per omnia saecula saeculorum.”
“World without end.”
This is the first public speech since the Collect. The silence of the Offertory now gives way to a solemn dialogue between priest and people—the final ascent before the Canon.
This ancient dialogue is found in the earliest liturgical documents, East and West, including the writings of St. Hippolytus, the Apostolic Constitutions, and the Liturgy of St. James. It is universal because it expresses something universal:
the lifting of man into communion with God.
II. “The Lord Be With You” — The Final Invocation Before Sacrifice
The priest turns toward the people and says:
“Dominus vobiscum.”
“The Lord be with you.”
This is both blessing and summons.
It marks the final moment before the priest, acting fully in persona Christi, enters the sanctuary of the Divine Victim.
St. John Chrysostom explains:
“By this greeting the priest prepares the people for the dread mysteries.”[1]
The people reply:
“Et cum spiritu tuo.”
“And with thy spirit.”
This acknowledges the sacramental character imprinted on the priest’s soul at ordination (cf. 2 Tim. 1:6).
St. Augustine says the faithful are here addressing “the spirit given by God which makes the priest a priest.”[2]
III. The Great Ascent Begins: “Lift Up Your Hearts”
The priest raises his hands and proclaims:
“Sursum corda.”
“Lift up your hearts.”
The people answer:
“Habemus ad Dominum.”
“We have lifted them up to the Lord.”
A. Biblical Roots
This dialogue expresses the universal posture of prayer described in Scripture:
“Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens.” (Lam. 3:41, DR)
“Seek the things that are above.” (Col. 3:1)
B. Patristic Witness
St. Cyprian of Carthage describes this moment as “the call for the heart to ascend to God before the Sacrifice is shown.”[3]
St. Gregory the Great says:
“The heart is raised above earthly thoughts so that the oblation may be pure.”[4]
C. What Actually Happens
The Church teaches that the faithful are mystically drawn into the heavenly liturgy, the very worship described in Hebrews 12:22–24:
“You are come to Mount Sion, to the city of the living God… to Jesus the mediator of the new testament.”
The “lifting up” is not mere symbolism; it is a real participation in the worship of angels.
IV. The Preface: Thanksgiving Before Sacrifice
The priest now chants the Preface, whose structure dates back at least to the 4th century. Every Preface has the same basic form:
Thanksgiving to the Father
Proclamation of Christ’s saving work
Invitation to join the angels in their hymn of praise
This mirrors Christ’s own eucharistic prayer at the Last Supper:
“Giving thanks, He blessed.” (Matt. 26:27, DR)
A. The Priest Extends His Hands
His hands are held in the ancient orans position—
not as a communal gesture, but as Christ the Mediator offering thanksgiving on behalf of humanity.
St. Thomas Aquinas explains this posture:
“The raising of the hands signifies the raising of the mind to God.”[5]
B. “It is Right and Just” — A Universal Response
The people respond:
“Dignum et justum est.”
“It is right and just.”
This is one of the most ancient acclamations in Christianity.
In the earliest liturgies, it was understood as the echo of heaven’s own worship.
St. Basil writes:
“When the people say, ‘It is right and just,’ they confess the justice of giving thanks to God for the redemption wrought by Christ.”[6]
V. The Sanctus: Earth Joins Heaven in One Hymn
At the end of the Preface, priest and people unite in the Sanctus, the same hymn sung by the angels in Isaiah’s vision and in the Apocalypse:
“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.” (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8)
A. Both Testaments Witness to the Heavenly Liturgy
Isaiah saw:
the Lord upon His throne,
angels crying “Holy,”
the temple filled with glory.
St. John, exiled on Patmos, saw the same vision, confirming that the Mass participates in the eternal worship of God.
B. Why the Triple “Holy”?
The Fathers offer several interpretations:
The Trinity (Athanasius)
God’s infinite perfection (Augustine)
The ascending praise of heaven, earth, and the Church (Ambrose)
C. “Benedictus qui venit” — Christ Enters the Sacrifice
The second half of the Sanctus—“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”—is the cry of Palm Sunday:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matt. 21:9, DR)
The Church sings this because Christ is about to come upon the altar in His sacramental Body and Blood.
VI. The Great Silence Falls: Entry into the Canon of the Mass
Immediately after the Sanctus, the priest begins the Roman Canon—the holiest, oldest Eucharistic prayer in the West—in silence.
This silence is itself a theological statement.
A. Why the Sudden Silence?
It reflects Christ’s silent suffering during His Passion.
It marks entry into the Holy of Holies, as in the Temple where only the High Priest could speak before the Ark.
It expresses awe before the impending miracle, in fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:20:
“Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
B. Antiquity of the Silent Canon
The Roman Canon’s silence is attested by:
St. Gregory the Great
St. Augustine
The 5th-century Ordines Romani
Gregory the Great explicitly states that the Canon’s silence imitates the silence of Christ before His accusers.[7]
C. The Priest’s Posture
As he begins the Canon, the priest:
bows deeply,
joins his hands,
speaks in a low voice.
This is the posture of Christ in Gethsemane and Christ before Pilate—silent, resolute, and ready for sacrifice.
D. The Altar Is Now Calvary
The Church teaches that in the Canon:
Christ the Priest offers
Christ the Victim
through the hands of His minister.
As Trent declares:
“It is one and the same sacrifice, the same Victim, the same Priest, who now offers through the ministry of priests what He offered once upon the Cross.”[8]
The Mass truly enters the mystery of Calvary at this moment.
VII. Summary
By the end of the Preface and entry into the Canon, the Church has:
Lifted the hearts of the faithful into heaven
Joined the worship of angels
Proclaimed God’s holiness
Prepared the altar for the descent of the Word made flesh
The sanctuary is hushed.
The priest stands at the threshold of divine action.
The faithful kneel at the gates of mystery.
The Canon is about to begin—
the unbloody re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary.
ENDNOTES
[1] St. John Chrysostom, Homily 36 on First Corinthians.
[2] St. Augustine, Sermon 227.
[3] St. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 63.
[4] St. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, 27.
[5] St. Thomas Aquinas, ST II–II, q. 84, a. 3.
[6] St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit, 27.
[7] St. Gregory the Great, Dialogues, IV.
[8] Council of Trent, Session XXII, Ch. 2.