Canon, Canon Missæ

(From the Latin canon = guideline, rule) the Roman Canon was the constant text of the Anaphora in the Holy Latin Mass, which encompassed the consecration of the Eucharist until the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. It began after the Sanctus with the prayer "Te igitur" and ended with the final acclamation immediately before the "Our Father". The priest spoke the text quietly out of fear of dishonoring Jesus' words of consecration.