Elevation (liturgy)
In Eastern and Western Christian liturgical practice, the elevation is a ritual raising of the consecrated Sacred Body and Blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist.
[2] Some Christian liturgies have an elevation of the Blessed Sacrament, prior to the Rite of Communion, which shows the congregation, as an act of reverence, Whom they are about to receive.
In response the people, or rather the choir, acclaim: "One is holy, one Lord, Jesus Christ in the glory of God the Father" or similar words.
The priest hands the chalice to the deacon, who raises it on high as he comes out through the Holy Doors and exclaims: "In the fear of God and with faith draw near."
[5][11] Genuflections to accompany the elevations appeared still later and became an official part of the rite only with Pope Pius V's Roman Missal of 1570.
For fear that people would adore the Host even before the consecration, the thirteenth century saw bishops forbidding priests to lift it to the sight of others before actually pronouncing the words.
[16] It was apparently for the purpose of enabling people to come into the church for the short time necessary to see the elevation of the Host that the ringing of a warning bell was introduced.
[5][17] David Aers writes: "The late medieval mass was for the vast majority of Christians a spectacle where pious attendance at the display of Christ's body guaranteed a range of benefits endlessly reiterated.
"[19] Until 1960, the Tridentine form of the Roman Missal laid down that at the Epistle side of the altar a candle should be placed that was to be lit at the elevation.
[25][26][27] Medieval miniatures often show the elevation of the Host with the altar server lifting the priest's chasuble to help secure the maximum elevation by taking some of the weight of the vestment, while at the same time holding aloft a long rod topped with a lighted candle to about the same height as the raised Host.
[28][29][30] A more ancient elevation of Host and Chalice occurs in the Mass of the Roman Rite while the priest speaks the concluding doxology of the Eucharistic Prayer: Per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso est tibi Deo Patri omnipotenti in unitate Spiritus Sancti omnis honor et gloria per omnia saecula saeculorum (Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever).
[5] In the Tridentine Mass form, the Host and Chalice are raised only slightly,[31] and for the duration of only four short words, omnis honor et gloria.
And again, when distributing Communion, "the Priest raises a host slightly and shows it to each of the communicants, saying (in the post-Vatican II Mass): 'The Body of Christ'.
When saying the prayers that accompany the placing on the altar of the paten with the bread and the chalice with the wine, the priest is told to hold them only "slightly raised".
[41] During the elevation, the Daily Divine Service Book states: It is appropriate for the congregation to make the sign of the cross at the elevation/genuflection and to quietly hail the present Christ with Saint Thomas' Confession: "My Lord and my God.
