The Canon Missae in Rupert of Deutz O.S.B.’S. Allegorical Interpretation

At the heart of the celebration of the Eucharist is the Eucharistic Prayer, during which the mystery of Christ is made present. In the Latin liturgy of the Western Church, for centuries the priest always recited the same Eucharistic Prayer at the Holy Mass from the Roman Canon. This oldest liturgical text was built symmetrically around the words of the institution that Jesus spoke over the bread and wine. The structure of the Canon itself was shaped over several centuries, but the proper arrangement was known already in the 7th and 8th centuries. The Canon of the Mass has been for centuries the basis for the theological interpretation of individual texts, gestures and signs. Particularly since the Middle Ages, they were explained on the basis of their allegorical interpretation. This way of interpreting the Mass was known since the 8th century and consisted of a moralizing, typological, commemorative, eschatic and an anagogical presentation of all liturgical rites. The treatise Liber de divinis officiis by Rupert of Deutz is one of the most important texts dedicated to the liturgy in the Middle Ages. Rupert of Deutz explained the celebrations of the Mass in the second book of his work. In the first place, he points to the Passion’s interpretation in the Canon, from the moment Jesus entered Jerusalem to His body being placed in the grave. The Passion is also emphasized by the sign of the cross made by the priest at the time of the Canon, which symbolizes the wounds of Christ. The allegorical interpretation of the Mass Canon, made by Rupert of Deutz, is part of the theological tradition of the Middle Ages. Although he did not discuss all of the texts in the Canon, he did interpret its essential parts.