12-07-2023, 11:03 AM
QUAM OBLATIONEM.
Here begins the Great Prayer which continues up to the Memento of the dead, and in the midst of which the sublime Mystery of Trans-substantiation is accomplished. Thus speaks the Priest: Quam oblationem tu, Deus, in omnibus, quaesumus, adscriptam, ratam, rationabilem, acceptabilemque facere digneris. Holy Church continues wholly absorbed in the Oblation, imploring of God to bless it, and, in order to this, the Priest makes thereon the Sign of the Cross, so that thus sanctified it may be lovingly accepted by the Lord; adscriptam (here the Cross is again signed): this Oblation is of such real importance, that it must be registered, He is begged to note it down; ratam (again, the sign of the Cross), it must needs be ratified, approved, confirmed in Heaven, as a Thing most truly Good and Fitting; lastly, the Priest begs that this Oblation may be rationabilem.
To understand this expression, we must call to mind what those victims of the Old Law were, they were, after all, but gloss and figurative, having no worth, save in as far as they had reference to the Sacrifice of the Cross. Whereas, the Bread and Wine, or rather, - anticipating in thought, together with Mother Church herself, the stupendous effect of the Sacred Consecration, let us say, - the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are here, on our altar, the true and real Victim, the Spiritual Oblation whereby all other sacrifices are rendered superfluous and sterile, it is in this sense that St. Paul, writing to the Romans, tells them to offer unto God in their own persons, an interior and wholly spiritual host: Obsecro vos, fratres per misericordiam Dei, ut exbibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile obsequium vestrum (Rom. xii. 1).
You, who are Christians, says the Apostle, ought to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, agreeable unto God, and reasonable, that is to say, spiritual, in contradistinction to the Sacrifices of the Old Law. So then, the Christian must offer to God, even his very body, making it to take its share in prayer; and this he does by imposing fasts and penances upon it, in order to prevent its continually dragging downwards, according to its own material tendency; in a word, he must so act that the inferior part be continually upheld, so that it may without hindrance unite itself to the superior part of his being.
But let us return to the Offering that is on the Altar. Were this Bread and Wine to remain such as they are they would be no better than the Sacrifices of the Old Law; but inasmuch as they are soon to be changed into the Body, Blood, and Soul of Our Lord Jesus Christ, verily this will be a reasonable Host, essentially reasonable. This is not all: our Oblation must needs be acceptabilem, so that the Lord may truly say: I am wholly satisfied with the Offering made to Me. Ut nobis Corpus et Sanguis fiat dilectissimi Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi. At the words Corpus et Sanguis, the Priest makes the Sign of the Cross over the Host and over the Chalice. Oh! may this Oblation become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ! Truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are for ever in Heaven, but we are asking that They may be produced here below in this Oblation which we are offering. So then, it is for our own sakes that we make such a petition to God, as that this Oblation may be changed into the Body and Blood of the Lord, for the Church particularly puts these words on our lips: Fiat nobis, in order that this Body and Blood may be at our own disposal and may even become our very Food.
CONSECRATION OF THE HOST.
Quam pridie quam pateretur. These words were added by Pope Alexander I., the sixth Successor of St. Peter. This he did, in order to recall the Passion, because the Sacrifice of the Mass is one and the same with the Sacrifice of the Cross; for the same Lord, when He first immolated Himself in the Cenacle, on the Eve of His Sacrifice, was to be immolated the next day on Calvary. Accepit panem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas. At these words the Priest does the very same, he takes the Bread into his hands, et elevatis oculis in coelum, he too raises his eyes to heaven, imitating what he is saying that Our Lord did. It is not mentioned in the Gospel that Jesus raised His eyes to heaven, on this occasion, but tradition tells us so, - a tradition so certain that Holy Church makes a point of giving it here her full acceptance. Ad Te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem, tibi gratias agens. This is the Eucharist, or thanksgiving; and Holy Church is careful to call attention to it; for, behindhand as we ever necessarily are in paying our ceaseless debt of gratitude to God, for His countless Benefits, we should constantly have Thanksgiving in our hearts and on our lips. Benedixit (at this word the Priest signs the Cross upon the host) fregit deditque discipulis suis. Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes. HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM.
The Priest then holds the Host in both his hands, between the thumb and index finger, and pronounces the words of Consecration, in a whisper, yet distinctly, and keeping his eyes fixed on the Host which he intends to consecrate. The moment that these words of Consecration are uttered, the Priest, on bended knees, adores the Sacred Host. The rubric says statim, at once; he must leave no interval, for the Bread has gone, there remain now but the species, the appearances; it has yielded its place to the Lord, it is the Lord Himself whom the Priest adores. Rising from his own act of Adoration, the Priest uplifts the Host, raising It above his head, to show It to the Faithful so that they too may adore.
Formerly the Host was not elevated at this part of the Mass, but only just before the commencing of the Pater. In the Eleventh Century, Berengarius, Archdeacon of Angers, having dared to deny the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, this Showing of the Sacred Host to the people, in the Mass, immediately after Consecration was introduced, in order to excite them to adoration.
After this august ceremony, the Priest lays the Sacred Host on the Corporal and again kneels in adoration before It. From this moment, each time that the Priest touches the Host, he will genuflect both before and after doing so; before, because he is going to touch the Lord, and after, in order to pay Him homage. Besides this, he will not disjoin the thumb and index finger of each hand, until the Ablution, because these fingers are sacred, and have alone the honour of touching the Lord. For this reason, at his Ordination, the Bishop consecrated these fingers in a more special manner, putting the holy oil upon them first, and thence spreading it over the rest of the hand; if a Priest were to lose one of his index fingers, he would need permission from the Pope himself to touch the Body of the Lord with another finger.
Thus is accomplished the Great Mystery of Transubstantiation (that is to say, the changing of one substance into another), according to that word of Our Lord to His Apostles: Do this in commemoration of Me: Hoc facite in meam commemorationem (St. Luke xxii. 19); on condition, however, that the Minister be a Priest validly ordained, and that he pronounce these sacramental words over true bread and natural wine, with the intention of consecrating as the Church does. These conditions fulfilled, God is not free, He is bound by His own Word, and the Mystery must consequently be achieved.
The word enim is put in, to link this phrase with the preceding; it is not to be found in any of the three Gospels which mention the institution of the Eucharist, neither does St. Paul give it in his Epistle (1 Cor. xi. 24). Nevertheless Our Lord must have said this word, as this Tradition has come down to us from St. Peter and the Apostles. A Priest who were to omit the enim would sin, but his consecration would be valid. If he were to omit the meam there would be no consecration, because it is necessary to determine whose Body it is that the Priest is holding in his hands.
As soon as these above named sacred Words are pronounced, the Body of Our Lord is truly on the Altar; but because, since His Resurrection, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Redeemer cannot be separated, he is on our Altar in a Living State, just as He is in heaven, that is to say, glorious as He has ever been since His Ascension.
The showing of the Body of Our Lord which now takes place, is, as we have explained above, of comparatively modern institution. The Eastern Churches do not observe a similar ceremony, at this part of the Mass; but on the other hand, they give far more pomp and importance, than we do, to the Elevation that immediately precedes the Pater, and thereby attract the attention of the people to profound adoration: for this purpose, the Priest then takes the Body and Blood of the Lord in his hands, and turning towards the Faithful, as at the Orate Fratres, holds Them up for adoration.
CONSECRATION OF THE WINE.
The Chalice being uncovered, the Priest pronounces these words: Simili modo post coenatum est and then taking the Chalice into his hands, he continues: accipiens hunc praeclarum calicem in sanctas et venerabiles manus suas. Notice this expression, praeclarum calicem. How Holy Church extols this Chalice which held the Blood of the Lord, and which she is now placing in the hands of her Priest! In the Psalm, we have the Prophet telling us: Et calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est! (Ps. xxii. 5). Yea, truly, my chalice is inebriating! how august is it! how glorious, how magnificent! Mother Church finds this phrase so well suited to the Sacred Cup which is used to hold the Blood of Jesus Christ, that she now pours out her own sentiments in these very word. The Priest continues: item tibi gratias agens. The Priest spoke previously of this giving of thanks, when, at the consecration of the Host, he said that Our Lord, raising His eyes, gave thanks. Then, taking the Chalice in his left hand, and blessing it with his right, he says: benedixit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes. The Priest thou pronounces the words of Consecration over the wine, whilst he holds the chalice somewhat raised. These are the Sacred Words: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI MYSTERIUM FIDEI QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.
Notice that the word enim comes in here just as it was at the Consecration of the Bread, to connect what precedes with what is to follow.
The Words used for the Consecration of the wine resemble those of the Gospel with some slight differences. We have received them by the tradition of the Church of Rome, founded by St. Peter, who had himself heard Our Lord speak. Novi et aeterni testamenti. So then this very Chalice of ours holds the Blood of the Lord, the Blood of the New Testament, called also here, eternal, to distinguish it from the Old Covenant which was to last only till the coming of Our Lord. Mysterium fidei. Mystery, that means the Mystery which specially and above all others, proves our faith; for, according to the word of St. Peter, our faith must needs be proved. And so truly is It the mystery of faith, that St. Paul, writing to Timothy, tells him, on the subject of the Eucharist, that Deacons should be pure and holy, guarding the Mystery of faith in a clean conscience: Habentes mysterium fidei in conscientia pura. It is well known that the Holy Eucharist was given to the special custody of the Deacons, who could even administer It to the Faithful, in the absence of a Priest. Finally, let us notice there other words: pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum. This Blood shall be shed for many, unto the remission of sins. Our Faith is that it was shed for all, and not merely for a large number, but all would not profit of It for the remission of their sins.
Such are the words of Consecration of the Wine, the effect of which is so tremendous. They constitute together with the Words of Consecration of the Bread, the Sacrificial Act itself. Our Lord is the Victim, the Victim immolated on our Altar; not merely in the sense that the Holy Mass, by the mystic separation of the Body and Blood, represents and recalls to us the bloody sacrifice of Calvary; but furthermore, because of the very state and proper destination of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, under the Eucharistic Species. Never was victim in any sacrifice, more truly slain and immolated, than is this Divine Victim of ours, as soon as the Consecration is achieved, when He who is the Splendour of God the Father, has now no other end and destination for this His Divine Glory, Beauty, and very Life, than to enter into us, there to be wholly lost and consumed.
So then, the Sacrifice is verily and indeed accomplished. God has looked upon It, and we can truly say to Him: Behold what was done on Calvary, and were it not for the immortality of Thy Son, the resemblance would be complete. For the accomplishing of this Sacrifice, the Priest lends his ministry to Our Lord who has bound Himself to come down to be thus immolated each time any mortal man invested with the Sacerdotal dignity, holding in his hands bread and wine shall pronounce over them certain words. But who is it that here offers the Sacrifice? Is it the Priest, or is it Jesus Christ? It is Our Lord Himself, in the person of the Priest, who is but one with Him; there is but this single restriction, i.e., that he would not come down on the Altar, if the Priest did not give his concurrence. The Sacrifice, then, is but one, whether it be offered on Calvary or on the Altar.
At the words of Consecration, the Priest, while placing the Chalice on the Corporal, adds the following: Haec quotiescumque feceritis, in mei memoriam facietis. When Our Lord said this to to his Apostles, He, thereby, gave to them, and in their persons, to all Priests, power to do what He had just done, that is to say, to immolate Him. So that, consequently, it is not man who speaks at this solemn moment of the Consecration, it is rather Christ Himself who makes use of man for the purpose.
Such is the dread Christian Sacrifice, which takes us back to Calvary, and shows us how tremendous is the Justice of God which required such a Victim. By itself alone, this Sacrifice could have saved millions of worlds. But Our Lord willed that it should be perpetuated. Having been immolated once on Calvary, He can do no more; yet, nevertheless, knowing what human weakness is, he feared lest the Sacrifice of the Cross, only once offered, might at last make little impression on the Faithful. Before long, man would have treated the Sacrifice of Calvary as a mere historic fact, consigned to the pages of the Church’s Annals, where few even would think of seeking it. So Our Lord said to himself: What was done once on Calvary must needs be renewed until the end of time. See here why, in His Love, he devised this Divine Mystery, whereby He comes into the host and immolates Himself anew. And God too sees the importance of this work, and by its very means He is moved to Compassion, and Mercy, and Pardon towards man.
Now let us next examine and find out who it is that produces this change of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord is it that operates in this mystery? It behoves us to remember that whenever any One of the Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity acts, the other Two Persons concur in this same Act, in perfect accord. In the Incarnation, the Son becomes Incarnate but it is the Father Who sends Him, and it is the Holy Ghost Who operates the Mystery. In like manner, in Holy Mass, the Father sends the Son, - the Son comes down, the Holy Ghost operates Trans-substantiation, or the changing of the one substance into another. Thus, in order to express the Action of the Holy Ghost in this Mystery, the Church in her prayer at the Oblation, called upon this Divine Spirit, as we observed, in these words: Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens, aeterne Deus, et benedic hoc sacrificium tuo sancto nomini praeparatum.
The Eastern Church has not this Prayer, in her Liturgy; but wishing, as she does, to make known to the people, the action of the Holy Ghost in this Great Mystery, after pronouncing the Words of Consecration over the Bread, the Celebrant says: O Lord, God, deign to send Thy Spirit that He may change this Bread into the Body of Thy Son; and all the people answer: Amen. After consecrating the Wine, the Celebrant again says: O Lord, God, deign to send Thy Spirit that He may change this Wine into the Blood of Thy Son; and all the people answer Amen. But this looks like an anomaly; for when the Priest utters each of these invocations, Trans-substantiation has already been effected. Why then call on the Holy Spirit? This is a remark that has more than once been made; their custom has been maintained, and this is the reason alleged. In order not to mix the acclamation of the people with the words of the Sacred Mysteries, the Eastern Church placed after these the invocations relative to the operation of the Holy Ghost, that is to say, they occur at the very moment chosen in the Latin Church for the Elevation, when she presents the Body and Blood of our Lord, to the adoration of the Faithful. Then it is that the Eastern Church pays homage to the Power and Work of the Holy Ghost. This, we Latins do, beforehand, both in the Prayer: Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens, and in the Prayer: Quam oblationem, in which we say: Ut Corpus et Sanguis fiat. Nevertheless, the Latin Church does not ask the people to approve of her Prayer by an acclamation; and in this place, would imply the recitation of this Prayer, in a loud voice. Now, we have already explained that the Prayer of the Canon is entirely secret, and must be wholly recited in a low voice.
To be continued...
Here begins the Great Prayer which continues up to the Memento of the dead, and in the midst of which the sublime Mystery of Trans-substantiation is accomplished. Thus speaks the Priest: Quam oblationem tu, Deus, in omnibus, quaesumus, adscriptam, ratam, rationabilem, acceptabilemque facere digneris. Holy Church continues wholly absorbed in the Oblation, imploring of God to bless it, and, in order to this, the Priest makes thereon the Sign of the Cross, so that thus sanctified it may be lovingly accepted by the Lord; adscriptam (here the Cross is again signed): this Oblation is of such real importance, that it must be registered, He is begged to note it down; ratam (again, the sign of the Cross), it must needs be ratified, approved, confirmed in Heaven, as a Thing most truly Good and Fitting; lastly, the Priest begs that this Oblation may be rationabilem.
To understand this expression, we must call to mind what those victims of the Old Law were, they were, after all, but gloss and figurative, having no worth, save in as far as they had reference to the Sacrifice of the Cross. Whereas, the Bread and Wine, or rather, - anticipating in thought, together with Mother Church herself, the stupendous effect of the Sacred Consecration, let us say, - the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are here, on our altar, the true and real Victim, the Spiritual Oblation whereby all other sacrifices are rendered superfluous and sterile, it is in this sense that St. Paul, writing to the Romans, tells them to offer unto God in their own persons, an interior and wholly spiritual host: Obsecro vos, fratres per misericordiam Dei, ut exbibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile obsequium vestrum (Rom. xii. 1).
You, who are Christians, says the Apostle, ought to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, agreeable unto God, and reasonable, that is to say, spiritual, in contradistinction to the Sacrifices of the Old Law. So then, the Christian must offer to God, even his very body, making it to take its share in prayer; and this he does by imposing fasts and penances upon it, in order to prevent its continually dragging downwards, according to its own material tendency; in a word, he must so act that the inferior part be continually upheld, so that it may without hindrance unite itself to the superior part of his being.
But let us return to the Offering that is on the Altar. Were this Bread and Wine to remain such as they are they would be no better than the Sacrifices of the Old Law; but inasmuch as they are soon to be changed into the Body, Blood, and Soul of Our Lord Jesus Christ, verily this will be a reasonable Host, essentially reasonable. This is not all: our Oblation must needs be acceptabilem, so that the Lord may truly say: I am wholly satisfied with the Offering made to Me. Ut nobis Corpus et Sanguis fiat dilectissimi Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi. At the words Corpus et Sanguis, the Priest makes the Sign of the Cross over the Host and over the Chalice. Oh! may this Oblation become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ! Truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ are for ever in Heaven, but we are asking that They may be produced here below in this Oblation which we are offering. So then, it is for our own sakes that we make such a petition to God, as that this Oblation may be changed into the Body and Blood of the Lord, for the Church particularly puts these words on our lips: Fiat nobis, in order that this Body and Blood may be at our own disposal and may even become our very Food.
CONSECRATION OF THE HOST.
Quam pridie quam pateretur. These words were added by Pope Alexander I., the sixth Successor of St. Peter. This he did, in order to recall the Passion, because the Sacrifice of the Mass is one and the same with the Sacrifice of the Cross; for the same Lord, when He first immolated Himself in the Cenacle, on the Eve of His Sacrifice, was to be immolated the next day on Calvary. Accepit panem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas. At these words the Priest does the very same, he takes the Bread into his hands, et elevatis oculis in coelum, he too raises his eyes to heaven, imitating what he is saying that Our Lord did. It is not mentioned in the Gospel that Jesus raised His eyes to heaven, on this occasion, but tradition tells us so, - a tradition so certain that Holy Church makes a point of giving it here her full acceptance. Ad Te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem, tibi gratias agens. This is the Eucharist, or thanksgiving; and Holy Church is careful to call attention to it; for, behindhand as we ever necessarily are in paying our ceaseless debt of gratitude to God, for His countless Benefits, we should constantly have Thanksgiving in our hearts and on our lips. Benedixit (at this word the Priest signs the Cross upon the host) fregit deditque discipulis suis. Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes. HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM.
The Priest then holds the Host in both his hands, between the thumb and index finger, and pronounces the words of Consecration, in a whisper, yet distinctly, and keeping his eyes fixed on the Host which he intends to consecrate. The moment that these words of Consecration are uttered, the Priest, on bended knees, adores the Sacred Host. The rubric says statim, at once; he must leave no interval, for the Bread has gone, there remain now but the species, the appearances; it has yielded its place to the Lord, it is the Lord Himself whom the Priest adores. Rising from his own act of Adoration, the Priest uplifts the Host, raising It above his head, to show It to the Faithful so that they too may adore.
Formerly the Host was not elevated at this part of the Mass, but only just before the commencing of the Pater. In the Eleventh Century, Berengarius, Archdeacon of Angers, having dared to deny the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, this Showing of the Sacred Host to the people, in the Mass, immediately after Consecration was introduced, in order to excite them to adoration.
After this august ceremony, the Priest lays the Sacred Host on the Corporal and again kneels in adoration before It. From this moment, each time that the Priest touches the Host, he will genuflect both before and after doing so; before, because he is going to touch the Lord, and after, in order to pay Him homage. Besides this, he will not disjoin the thumb and index finger of each hand, until the Ablution, because these fingers are sacred, and have alone the honour of touching the Lord. For this reason, at his Ordination, the Bishop consecrated these fingers in a more special manner, putting the holy oil upon them first, and thence spreading it over the rest of the hand; if a Priest were to lose one of his index fingers, he would need permission from the Pope himself to touch the Body of the Lord with another finger.
Thus is accomplished the Great Mystery of Transubstantiation (that is to say, the changing of one substance into another), according to that word of Our Lord to His Apostles: Do this in commemoration of Me: Hoc facite in meam commemorationem (St. Luke xxii. 19); on condition, however, that the Minister be a Priest validly ordained, and that he pronounce these sacramental words over true bread and natural wine, with the intention of consecrating as the Church does. These conditions fulfilled, God is not free, He is bound by His own Word, and the Mystery must consequently be achieved.
The word enim is put in, to link this phrase with the preceding; it is not to be found in any of the three Gospels which mention the institution of the Eucharist, neither does St. Paul give it in his Epistle (1 Cor. xi. 24). Nevertheless Our Lord must have said this word, as this Tradition has come down to us from St. Peter and the Apostles. A Priest who were to omit the enim would sin, but his consecration would be valid. If he were to omit the meam there would be no consecration, because it is necessary to determine whose Body it is that the Priest is holding in his hands.
As soon as these above named sacred Words are pronounced, the Body of Our Lord is truly on the Altar; but because, since His Resurrection, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Redeemer cannot be separated, he is on our Altar in a Living State, just as He is in heaven, that is to say, glorious as He has ever been since His Ascension.
The showing of the Body of Our Lord which now takes place, is, as we have explained above, of comparatively modern institution. The Eastern Churches do not observe a similar ceremony, at this part of the Mass; but on the other hand, they give far more pomp and importance, than we do, to the Elevation that immediately precedes the Pater, and thereby attract the attention of the people to profound adoration: for this purpose, the Priest then takes the Body and Blood of the Lord in his hands, and turning towards the Faithful, as at the Orate Fratres, holds Them up for adoration.
CONSECRATION OF THE WINE.
The Chalice being uncovered, the Priest pronounces these words: Simili modo post coenatum est and then taking the Chalice into his hands, he continues: accipiens hunc praeclarum calicem in sanctas et venerabiles manus suas. Notice this expression, praeclarum calicem. How Holy Church extols this Chalice which held the Blood of the Lord, and which she is now placing in the hands of her Priest! In the Psalm, we have the Prophet telling us: Et calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est! (Ps. xxii. 5). Yea, truly, my chalice is inebriating! how august is it! how glorious, how magnificent! Mother Church finds this phrase so well suited to the Sacred Cup which is used to hold the Blood of Jesus Christ, that she now pours out her own sentiments in these very word. The Priest continues: item tibi gratias agens. The Priest spoke previously of this giving of thanks, when, at the consecration of the Host, he said that Our Lord, raising His eyes, gave thanks. Then, taking the Chalice in his left hand, and blessing it with his right, he says: benedixit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes. The Priest thou pronounces the words of Consecration over the wine, whilst he holds the chalice somewhat raised. These are the Sacred Words: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI MYSTERIUM FIDEI QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.
Notice that the word enim comes in here just as it was at the Consecration of the Bread, to connect what precedes with what is to follow.
The Words used for the Consecration of the wine resemble those of the Gospel with some slight differences. We have received them by the tradition of the Church of Rome, founded by St. Peter, who had himself heard Our Lord speak. Novi et aeterni testamenti. So then this very Chalice of ours holds the Blood of the Lord, the Blood of the New Testament, called also here, eternal, to distinguish it from the Old Covenant which was to last only till the coming of Our Lord. Mysterium fidei. Mystery, that means the Mystery which specially and above all others, proves our faith; for, according to the word of St. Peter, our faith must needs be proved. And so truly is It the mystery of faith, that St. Paul, writing to Timothy, tells him, on the subject of the Eucharist, that Deacons should be pure and holy, guarding the Mystery of faith in a clean conscience: Habentes mysterium fidei in conscientia pura. It is well known that the Holy Eucharist was given to the special custody of the Deacons, who could even administer It to the Faithful, in the absence of a Priest. Finally, let us notice there other words: pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum. This Blood shall be shed for many, unto the remission of sins. Our Faith is that it was shed for all, and not merely for a large number, but all would not profit of It for the remission of their sins.
Such are the words of Consecration of the Wine, the effect of which is so tremendous. They constitute together with the Words of Consecration of the Bread, the Sacrificial Act itself. Our Lord is the Victim, the Victim immolated on our Altar; not merely in the sense that the Holy Mass, by the mystic separation of the Body and Blood, represents and recalls to us the bloody sacrifice of Calvary; but furthermore, because of the very state and proper destination of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, under the Eucharistic Species. Never was victim in any sacrifice, more truly slain and immolated, than is this Divine Victim of ours, as soon as the Consecration is achieved, when He who is the Splendour of God the Father, has now no other end and destination for this His Divine Glory, Beauty, and very Life, than to enter into us, there to be wholly lost and consumed.
So then, the Sacrifice is verily and indeed accomplished. God has looked upon It, and we can truly say to Him: Behold what was done on Calvary, and were it not for the immortality of Thy Son, the resemblance would be complete. For the accomplishing of this Sacrifice, the Priest lends his ministry to Our Lord who has bound Himself to come down to be thus immolated each time any mortal man invested with the Sacerdotal dignity, holding in his hands bread and wine shall pronounce over them certain words. But who is it that here offers the Sacrifice? Is it the Priest, or is it Jesus Christ? It is Our Lord Himself, in the person of the Priest, who is but one with Him; there is but this single restriction, i.e., that he would not come down on the Altar, if the Priest did not give his concurrence. The Sacrifice, then, is but one, whether it be offered on Calvary or on the Altar.
At the words of Consecration, the Priest, while placing the Chalice on the Corporal, adds the following: Haec quotiescumque feceritis, in mei memoriam facietis. When Our Lord said this to to his Apostles, He, thereby, gave to them, and in their persons, to all Priests, power to do what He had just done, that is to say, to immolate Him. So that, consequently, it is not man who speaks at this solemn moment of the Consecration, it is rather Christ Himself who makes use of man for the purpose.
Such is the dread Christian Sacrifice, which takes us back to Calvary, and shows us how tremendous is the Justice of God which required such a Victim. By itself alone, this Sacrifice could have saved millions of worlds. But Our Lord willed that it should be perpetuated. Having been immolated once on Calvary, He can do no more; yet, nevertheless, knowing what human weakness is, he feared lest the Sacrifice of the Cross, only once offered, might at last make little impression on the Faithful. Before long, man would have treated the Sacrifice of Calvary as a mere historic fact, consigned to the pages of the Church’s Annals, where few even would think of seeking it. So Our Lord said to himself: What was done once on Calvary must needs be renewed until the end of time. See here why, in His Love, he devised this Divine Mystery, whereby He comes into the host and immolates Himself anew. And God too sees the importance of this work, and by its very means He is moved to Compassion, and Mercy, and Pardon towards man.
Now let us next examine and find out who it is that produces this change of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord is it that operates in this mystery? It behoves us to remember that whenever any One of the Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity acts, the other Two Persons concur in this same Act, in perfect accord. In the Incarnation, the Son becomes Incarnate but it is the Father Who sends Him, and it is the Holy Ghost Who operates the Mystery. In like manner, in Holy Mass, the Father sends the Son, - the Son comes down, the Holy Ghost operates Trans-substantiation, or the changing of the one substance into another. Thus, in order to express the Action of the Holy Ghost in this Mystery, the Church in her prayer at the Oblation, called upon this Divine Spirit, as we observed, in these words: Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens, aeterne Deus, et benedic hoc sacrificium tuo sancto nomini praeparatum.
The Eastern Church has not this Prayer, in her Liturgy; but wishing, as she does, to make known to the people, the action of the Holy Ghost in this Great Mystery, after pronouncing the Words of Consecration over the Bread, the Celebrant says: O Lord, God, deign to send Thy Spirit that He may change this Bread into the Body of Thy Son; and all the people answer: Amen. After consecrating the Wine, the Celebrant again says: O Lord, God, deign to send Thy Spirit that He may change this Wine into the Blood of Thy Son; and all the people answer Amen. But this looks like an anomaly; for when the Priest utters each of these invocations, Trans-substantiation has already been effected. Why then call on the Holy Spirit? This is a remark that has more than once been made; their custom has been maintained, and this is the reason alleged. In order not to mix the acclamation of the people with the words of the Sacred Mysteries, the Eastern Church placed after these the invocations relative to the operation of the Holy Ghost, that is to say, they occur at the very moment chosen in the Latin Church for the Elevation, when she presents the Body and Blood of our Lord, to the adoration of the Faithful. Then it is that the Eastern Church pays homage to the Power and Work of the Holy Ghost. This, we Latins do, beforehand, both in the Prayer: Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens, and in the Prayer: Quam oblationem, in which we say: Ut Corpus et Sanguis fiat. Nevertheless, the Latin Church does not ask the people to approve of her Prayer by an acclamation; and in this place, would imply the recitation of this Prayer, in a loud voice. Now, we have already explained that the Prayer of the Canon is entirely secret, and must be wholly recited in a low voice.
To be continued...
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre