Secret Of The Mass, a prayer in the canon of the mass before the preface, and having much the same tenor as the collect. Since the 10th century it is said in a low voice by the celebrant after the Orate fred. tres. In France it was marked with the mystic letters V.D. St. Gregory calls it the Canon of the Secret. According to some writers, it represents that the working of God in the holy communion passes man's understanding; but, as Cranmer explains it, Christ's secret conversation which he had with his disciples before his passion. The bells in England were forbidden to be rung during this service in 1701. The secrets were formerly called super oblata and may have taken their name from the secretion of gifts and oblations.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More