Note 16 — CHAP. I.
Reading edition
Footnote 16:
(return)
See Le Brun tom. IV, diss. 15. Super usu recitandi silentio missæ partem etc. This custom was connected with the discipline of secrecy. The scripture itself does not mention what words Christ used, when He "gave thanks", before He pronounced the words of consecration; and the early church imitated this reserve. Anciently curtains concealed the altar, during the most solemn part of mass, as now in some Oriental churches. St. John Chrysostom (Hom. 3, in Ep. ad Ephes.) mentions this custom; and traces of it still remain at St. Clement's church in Rome.