It was an ancient custom for the Bishop, before he received the Eucharist in the sacrifice of the Mass, to bless the people in a form of prayer apporiate to the feast of the day. This solemn observation was made on the fraction of the host, and as that was the time at which a blessing was asked for the living, so also was it the special moment, when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Mass for the dead, on the day of the burial, the deceased was prayed for, by name.