offertory means A prayer said or sung as an anthem while offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar during the Roman Catholic Mass or the Anglican Communion service.
offertory is pronounced /ˈɒfət(ə)ɹi/.
Why “offertory” is a great word
The ritual part of the Eucharistic service where the gifts of bread and wine are formally presented and prepared at the altar, and the congregation’s alms are gathered. From Late Latin offertorium, from the participle stem of offere ('to offer'), first attested in English in the mid-14th century. Unlike a 'collection'—a general term for money gathered, stripped of sacred context—or an 'oblation'—any religious offering, without fixing it to this particular ritual instant—the offertory is a specific, choreographed moment of presentation. It is the rustle of coins in the velvet-lined alms basin, the precise placement of the cruets on the credence table, the choir's anthem rising over the quiet assembly—the entire assembly caught in that suspended breath between having and giving, between the ordinary substance of bread and its promised transformation.
Etymology
From Late Latin offertorium, from the participle stem of offere (“to offer”).
noun
- A prayer said or sung as an anthem while offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar during the Roman Catholic Mass or the Anglican Communion service.e.g.“There was an impressive musical program, conducted by Sheldon Smeeth, educational director of the Y.M.C.A., who also sang the offertory.” — 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:
- The part of the Eucharist service when offerings of bread and wine are placed on the altar and when any collection is taken; also, the money or other things collected.
- A linen or silken cloth anciently used in various ceremonies connected with the administration of the Eucharist.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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