The Unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar

16. The Relation of the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Sacrifice of the Cross

In the eucharistic celebration are found all the conditions essential to a sacrifice; hence it is a true and real sacrifice. The God-Man—His Body and His Blood—is in reality immolated upon the altar (immolatur), and not merely represented and offered (offertur) to the Heavenly Father. To the essential characteristics of the Eucharistic Sacrifice belongs its interior peculiar relation to the Sacrifice of the Cross. The sacrifices prior to Christ did indeed prefigure the future Sacrifice of the Cross; but the Sacrifice of the Mass is in an infinitely more perfect manner a copy of the Sacrifice of the Cross accomplished on Calvary. The Eucharist is in its nature a relative sacrifice, that is, a true sacrifice in itself, but which at the same time relates to the Sacrifice of the Cross and objectively represents it. It is in consequence of Christ’s institution that this relation to the sacrificial death of Christ is an essential feature of the Mass. Whilst setting this forth, we shall also clearly show the identity of the Sacrifice of the Mass with that of the Cross, as well as the difference that exists between them.

1. Jesus Christ left to His Church in the Eucharist a true and real Sacrifice, “that by means of it that bloody Sacrifice, which He once offered on the Cross, may ever be represented and its remembrance be preserved until the end of the world, and its healing power be applied and spent for the remission of those sins daily committed by us.”⁹¹91Visibile sacrificium, quo cruentum illud, semel in cruce peragendum, repraesentaretur, ejusque memoria in finem usque saeculi permaneret, atque illius salutaris virtus in remissionem eorum, quae a nobis quotidie committuntur, peccatorum applicaretur (Trid. sess. 22, cap. 1). — According to the teaching of St. Thomas, the essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice consists in the immolatio Christi; therefore, the Sacrifice of the Eucharist is also an imago repraesentativa, repraesentatio, figura quaedam et exemplum dominicae passionis, that is, a living likeness of the Passion of Christ, the actual representation of the Sacrifice of the Cross, and, consequently, it is, moreover, at the same time, the applicatio et participatio fructus dominicae passionis, namely, the application and participation of the fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Cfr. S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 1 et 2. According to the doctrine of the Church, the Holy Mass is not a mere memorial of sacrifice (nuda commemoratio sacrificii in cruce peracti), but a true memorial sacrifice, that is, a real sacrifice endowed with a commemorative character (sacrificium commemorativum). The Mass is not a mere shadowy copy, but the living and essential representation of the Sacrifice of the Cross.

a) That the celebration of the Eucharist is the representation of the sacrificial death of Christ, is evident even from the words of the institution. Our Lord Himself calls the Eucharistic Sacrifice the giving of His Body and the shedding of His Blood. In making choice of these words, He would not merely signify the true Sacrifice of His sacramental Body and Blood, but He would, at the same time, designate that the mode and manner of this Sacrifice by the mystical shedding of blood under the separate species should represent symbolically the violent separation of His body and blood, the real shedding of His blood on the Cross. — He then gives to His Apostles and to their successors in the priestly office the command and the power to celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of Him. — The Apostle explains and proves this command, by adding that the celebration of the Eucharist is of itself always an actual announcement of the death of Christ and must, therefore, be perpetuated among Christians until our Lord shall return in glory at the consummation of time to judge the world (1 Cor. 11, 26).

b) The sacramental offering of the Body and Blood of Christ on the altar is frequently styled in tradition the figure, the representation, the symbol (typus, figura, imago, signum, symbolum) of the passion and sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross. Gaudentius expresses himself happily on this subject: “Christ willed that His benefits should be permanently imparted to us; He willed that souls should be sanctified by the representation of His own passion (per imaginem propriae passionis). Therefore, He commissioned His faithful disciples, whom He ordained the first priests of His Church (quos primos Ecclesiae suae constituit sacerdotes), unceasingly to celebrate these mysteries of eternal life, which all priests should celebrate in all the churches of the universe until He returns from heaven, in order that the priests themselves and all believing nations also may have a copy (a true representation) of the passion of Christ (exemplar passionis Christi) daily before their eyes, may bear it in their hands, receive it into their mouths and hearts—and thus by this celebration the remembrance of our redemption may ever be indelibly impressed on their minds.”⁹²92Sermo 2. — St. Gregory the Great writes: “The Eucharistic Sacrifice preserves in a unique manner the soul from eternal perdition, as it renews mystically the death of the only-begotten Son of God (nobis mortem Unigeniti per mysterium reparat). For although Christ be risen from the dead, He dieth no more, and death has no longer dominion over Him, yet in His immortal and imperishable life He is sacrificed anew for us in this mystery of sacred oblation (pro nobis iterum in hoc mysterio sacrae oblationis immolatur). Let us, therefore, consider attentively all that this Sacrifice (sacrificium) is for us, since for the remission of our sins it represents continually the passion of the only-begotten Son of God (pro absolutione nostra passionem Unigeniti Filii semper imitatur).”⁹³93Dialog. l. 4, c. 58. In a similar sense, the words of consecration separately spoken over the bread and wine, which cause Christ’s Body and Blood to be present under the separate species, are designated as a spiritual, reasonable and incorporeal sword, by which the Victim is slain upon the altar. Hence St. Gregory of Nazianzum addresses the following petition to Amphilochius: “Delay not to pray for me, when by the word (of consecration) you call down the Word (= the Son of God), when by an unbloody separation you slay the Body and Blood of the Lord with the sacrificial knife of His word (φωνὴν ἔχων τὸ ξίφος).”

c) Finally, how dear to Catholics and how wide-spread among them is devotion to and the hearing of the Holy Mass; they look upon it as a mystical representation, an unbloody celebration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ! — “To our churches Christ could not have given any more effectual or more proper means to preserve the remembrance of our redemption, than His Body and Blood, the price of our ransom. How could we be unmindful of our redemption, when we have before our eyes the Body of Christ mystically sacrificed in death for our salvation, and His Blood shed for our sins? At the very sight of these visible signs (in which we behold with unwavering faith the true Body and Blood of Christ) our hearts should be encouraged to think upon the redemption of the human race, saved by this Body and Blood, and we should be inflamed with devotion and be moved to implore from our inmost heart that God, on account of this holy and precious Sacrifice which in this Body and Blood was once offered for the redemption of mankind, may grant that it profit us for our reconciliation with Himself, and through His mercy for our salvation and beatitude. That this remembrance might remain in constant practice in the Church of Christ, He conferred upon His Apostles the priesthood of the New Law, commanding them to celebrate this Sacrifice: Do this in commemoration of Me.” (Ein Vergissmeinnicht, p. 45.)

The words of the Saviour and of the Apostles, the teaching of the Fathers and the prayers of the liturgies, the conviction and acknowledgment of the faithful, place it beyond doubt that the celebration of the Eucharist has also for object to bring before our eyes and to represent to us Christ’s sacrificial death, in order that the memory thereof may always be preserved fresh and living in all hearts.⁹⁴94Notandum, quia quotidianum nostrum sacrificium idem ipsum dicit (S. Chrysostomus) cum eo, quo Christus semel oblatus est in cruce, quantum at eandem veram hic et ibi corporis Christi substantiam: quod vero nostrum quotidianum illius semel oblati dicit esse exemplum, i. e. figuram vel formam, non dicit, ut hic vel ibi essentialiter alium Christum constituat, sed ut eundem in cruce semel, in altari quotidie alio modo immolari et offerri ostendat: ibi in veritate passionis, qua pro nobis occisus est, hic in figura et imitatione passionis ipsius, qua Christus non iterum vere patitur, sed ipsius verae memoria passionis quotidie nobis iteratur.... Non ergo est in ipsius Christi veritate diversitas, sed in ipsius immolationis actione, quae dum veram Christi passionem et mortem quadam sua similitudine figurando repraesentat, nos ad imitationem ipsius passionis invitet et accendat, contra hostem nos roboret et muniat, et a vitiis purgans et virtutibus condecorans, vitae aeternae nos idoneos ac dignos exhibeat (Alger. De sacramentis corp. et sanguin. domin., l. 1, c. 16, n. 109).

2. A painting or a crucifix may represent the Lord’s death on the Cross; but this is a merely figurative and, consequently, an imperfect representation of that divine sacrificial drama, once enacted on Mount Calvary. Quite different,—infinitely more complete and actual, is the bloody sacrifice of Christ represented by the Mass. It is, namely, the real and objective, the living and essential representation of the Sacrifice of Redemption accomplished on the Cross.⁹⁵95Triplex habemus memoriale passionis, sc. in scripto, in verbo et in sacramento. — In scripto, ut quando passio describitur vel narratur per scripturam, vel quando imaginibus exprimitur; et hoc est memoriale quasi mortuum et habet fieri ad visum, qui apprehendit magis de longinquo. — In verbo, utpote cum aliquis verbotenus narrat passionem Christi; et illud partim est vivum, partim mortuum. Vivum est in corde bonorum praedicatorum, sed mortuum in corde tepidorum et malorum; vel vivum in corde et cogitatione, non vivum in voce; et hoc est ad auditum, auditus autem non ita apprehendit de longinquo. — In Sacramento vero est memoriale, cum ipsum corpus Christi significatur et continetur in specie panis et sanguis in specie vini; et hoc est memoriale vivum, quia ipse Christus seipsum ibi praebet, offerens nobis corpus, quod pro nobis fuit occisum, et sanguinem, qui pro nobis fuit effusus, et hoc est ad gustum, qui de proximo apprehendit, ut jam non quasi speculatione, sed quadam experientia passionis ejus memores simus. — Si ergo accendit affectum nostrum passio descripta, et amplius ferventer praedicata; multo magis inflammare et afficere debet in hoc sacramento expressa. Et hoc absque dubio facit, si quis sensum habet et illum convertit ad hoc sacramentum. Ille ergo est, qui ex hoc sacramento efficaciam reportat, qui se convertit; ille vere audit Missam, non qui tantum verba dicit vel audit sine devotione, sed qui ad hoc memoriale totam mentis intentionem convertit (S. Bonav. 4, dist. 12, p. 2, a. 1, q. 1 ad 3). — The reason for it lies in the inmost nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, as it was instituted by Christ. Upon the altar appear the same Priest and the same Victim as upon the Cross. For in the Eucharist Jesus Christ offers Himself, His Body once immolated on the Cross and His Blood once shed on the Cross, with all the merits there acquired, in an unbloody yet in a real and true manner. — We should, moreover, consider the way and manner in which Christ’s Body and Blood are to be offered. This consists in the mystical shedding of blood, that is, in the separate consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The separate species, under which Christ’s Body and Blood are rendered present by virtue p. 126of the words of consecration, that is, mystically immolated, are symbols of the violent and bloody death of Christ on the Cross.⁹⁶96Consecratio utriusque speciei valet ad repraesentandam passionem Christi, in qua seorsim fuit sanguis a corpore separatus: unde et in forma consecrationis fit mentio de ejus effusione (S. Thom. 3, q. 76, a. 2 ad 1). — Ipsum corpus et sanguis Domini, ut sunt sub illis speciebus (panis et vini), signa sunt ejusdem corporis et sanguinis, ut fuerunt in cruce; repraesentat enim Eucharistia passionem Christi (Bellarm. De sacramento Eucharist., l. 2, c. 15). The separation of Christ’s Body and Blood takes place on the altar—of course, not in reality, but only in appearance: for the Eucharistic Victim can no longer be slain in a bloody (physical), but only in an unbloody (mystical) manner.⁹⁷97Quod consecratio ex vi verborum ponat sub una specie corpus, non autem sanguinem, et sub altera specie sanguinem, non autem corpus, minime probat, consecrationem esse actionem realiter destructivam Christi, sed solum quod sit mystica mortis ejus repraesentatio: quia consecratio non pertingit ad causandam illam separationem inter corpus et sanguinem Christi in se, sed solum in sacramento, h. e. in signo et repraesentatione (Salmant. disp. 13, dub. 2, n. 38). This mystical immolation, therefore, in consequence of which the Divine Victim under the two species appears “as if slain” (tanquam occisus), is well calculated to represent Christ’s Body and Blood in that form of separation which took place on the Cross.⁹⁸98Consecratio est maxime expressa significatio sacrificii crucis, quatenus per eam ex vi verborum seorsim ponitur sub specie panis corpus Christi velut occisum et sub specie vini sanguis velut effusus: unde haec separatio, quantum est ex vi verborum, passim dicitur mystica Christi mactatio et immolatio (Platelius, Synopsis tot. curs. theol. P. 5, cap. 4, § 6, n. 469). By this mystical blood-shedding, which brings the real shedding of blood on the Cross vividly to view, the Eucharistic Sacrifice becomes, in a most perfect manner, a memorial Sacrifice.

The distinct consecration of the elements of bread and wine, the separate representation of the Body and Blood of Christ under the two species, that is, the mystical shedding of blood, is, in virtue of the institution by Christ, absolutely necessary, not merely for the lawful, but also for the valid celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. If culpably or inculpably but one substance is consecrated, then Christ is indeed present under one species, but the Sacrifice is not accomplished, because an essential characteristic and requisite, namely, the twofold consecration, is wanting.⁹⁹99Ut hoc mysterium absolute et simpliciter sit verum sacrificium, prout a Christo est institutum, essentialiter requiritur utriusque speciei consecratio.... quia de essentia hujus sacrificii est expressa repraesentatio mortis et passionis Christi; sed haec intrinsece requirit consecrationem utriusque speciei... quando sanguis statim post corpus separatim consecratur, quasi in viva imagine repraesentatur ipsa effusio sanguinis et consequenter separatio animae a corpore, quae ex effusione sanguinis secuta est; nam (ut Scriptura interdum loquitur) vita hominis in sanguine est et ideo solet anima per sanguinem repraesentari (Suarez disp. 75, sect. 6, n. 7). — Cfr. Salmant. De Euch. sacr. disp. 4, dub. 5, n. 92. Hence it is of divine ordination, that both elements—bread and wine—must always be p. 127consecrated, in order that the Eucharistic Sacrifice may take place. Our Lord instituted the unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar in this manner, because He willed that by its very nature it should be a visible representation of the Sacrifice of the Cross, which was accomplished by a violent shedding of blood unto death.

3. The Holy Mass, accordingly, is a relative Sacrifice which, as a living copy, represents the original of the Sacrifice of the Cross. — Between the two there exists the most perfect unity (one-ness), in so far as we consider the Victim and the Priest; for it is Christ who offers upon the altar His Body and His Blood, consequently, the same gift which He once offered on the Cross. — Still, the Sacrifice of the Mass and that of the Cross differ in several respects. The Church says that the way and manner of offering differs, that is, the sacrificial act is differently constituted (ratio offerendi diversa—Trid. sess. 22, cap. 2).¹⁰⁰100In order to judge of the specific and numerical unity, of the dissimilarity of the sacrifices, the sacrificial offering and the sacrificing priest, as well as the sacrificial action must be taken under consideration. — The Sacrifice of the Cross and the Sacrifice of the Mass are identical, that is, they are one and the same sacrifice, inasmuch as on the part of each there is una eademque hostia—idem offerens (Trid.). But, as in the bloody sacrifice the shedding of blood is real and only mystical in the unbloody sacrifice, the sacrificial act is different as well according to number (numero) as according to species (specie). Therefore, the majority of theologians rightly understand the words of the Council of Trent to mean, that “only the manner of offering varies” (sola offerendi ratio diversa = modus sacrificandi diversus, actio sacrifica diversa). — Sacrificium Missae non differt specie aut essentia a sacrificio incruento, quod Christus obtulit in coena, distinguitur tamen numero et quibusdam accidentalibus conditionibus (Suarez disp. 76, sect. 1, n. 2). — In like manner, the daily sacrifices of the altar, in consequence of the continually repeated sacrificial act, differ according to number (numerically), not merely from the Sacrifice of the Cross and from that of the Last Supper, but even from one another,—and only ratione victimae et sacerdotis principaliter offerentis are all these sacrifices identical. Cfr. Vasquez disp. 222, cap. 2. — Tanner disp. 5. de ss. Euch. et Miss. q. 9, dub. 2. — Pasqualigo, De sacrif. N. L., tr. 1, q. 52. On the Cross, the Sacrifice of Christ consisted of the bloody offering of His life and divine self to an actual death: on the altar it consists also in the offering of His holy humanity, but in an unbloody manner, to the mystical sacramental death under the two Eucharistic species. — On Calvary Christ offered Himself in His own natural and human form, and without the assistance of a subordinate priest; He offers Himself here under the veil of the Sacrament and by the ministry of visible priests. — There the human nature of Christ was susceptible of suffering and death. — The Sacrifice of the Cross, therefore, was infinitely painful. Here on our altar His human nature is glorified and immortal—the Sacrifice of the Mass, consequently, is a Sacrifice free from pain. The object of the Sacrifice of the Cross was to obtain the price of the redemption of the world; the purpose of the Sacrifice of the Mass is to apply to individual man the treasures of grace merited and amassed by the Sacrifice on the Cross. — The bloody Sacrifice of the Cross Christ offered but once, in order to acquire for the redemption of fallen man an inexhaustible treasure of satisfaction and merits; the unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar He often offers, in order to apply to us “the fruits of the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross in a most abundant measure.”¹⁰¹101Quia fructu dominicae passionis quotidie indigemus, propter quotidianos defectus, quotidie in Ecclesia regulariter hoc sacramentum offertur (S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 2). On the Cross, the inexhaustible fountain of eternal redemption was opened; from the altar it perpetually pours forth its streams into the hearts of men. — Neither amid the glory of heaven nor in His sacramental state can Christ any longer merit, nor can He satisfy any more; for by divine disposition both are possible only in this mortal life, that is, as long as we are pilgrims on earth. The Sacrifice of the Mass, therefore, draws its power and efficacy, its fruit from the Sacrifice of the Cross, that is, Holy Mass applies to us the graces and blessings of Calvary. On the Cross and upon the altar, consequently, there is the same sacrificial fruit; the distinction consists only in this, that in the former it was merited, and in the latter it is applied.

4. Let us, in conclusion, adduce another difference. The Sacrifice of the Cross was exclusively the Sacrifice of Christ; the Eucharist is, at the same time, the Sacrifice of the Church and that of Christ—inasmuch as the Church offers it and is offered together with it at the altar. Christ left the Eucharistic Sacrifice to His Church; it is her chief dower, her glorious mine of wealth, her greatest joy, her all-hallowed sanctuary. At the altar she enters into living communion of sacrifice with Christ; the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered not alone for the Church, but also by her and through her to the Most High. And this is the principal reason why the Eucharist is and is called the Sacrifice of the Church. — To this is added, moreover, the circumstance that the Church Militant during Holy Mass offers herself and is at the same time offered. Christ has placed Himself in the hands of the Church, that she may offer Him to the Heavenly Father; with the infinitely meritorious and acceptable sacrifice to God of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Church unites the offering of herself. In union with the sacrifice of Christ the faithful should offer themselves with all their labors, sufferings and prayers, with body and soul. St. Augustine expresses this sentiment in an appropriate manner, when he says: “The whole body of the redeemed, that is, the society and communion of saints (of Christians), is presented to God as a joint sacrifice by the High-priest who in His passion also offered Himself for us in the form of a servant, that we might become the members of so exalted a Head.... The Church celebrates this in what is known to the faithful as the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she also is offered while offering it” (in ea re, quam ipsa offert, ipsa offertur). And in another place he says, that the Church as the mystical body of Christ “learns to offer herself through Him” (se ipsam per ipsum discit offerre).¹⁰²102De civ. Dei l. 10, c. 6. 20. — This truth obtains its most beautiful expression in the prayers and ceremonies of the rite of the Mass: it is signified not only by the mixing of wine with water, but, moreover, by the two sacrificial elements of bread and wine. As the Fathers remark, the bread is made of many grains of wheat and the wine from many grapes; therefore, the sacrificial bread, as well as the sacrificial wine, is a symbol of the mystical body of Christ, consisting of many members, which in union with the true and natural Body is offered on the altar.¹⁰³103Quoniam corpus (Christi) mysticum est ex multis aggregatis in unum, talia elementa esse debuerunt, quae ex multis aggregantur in unum; tale autem est panis, quia est ex multis granis puris, tale etiam est vinum, quod est ex multis racemis puris; ideo recte unionem corporis Christi mystici signat (S. Bonavent. IV, dist. 11, p. 2, a. 1, q. 1).

With Christ, in Christ and through Christ, the Church during Mass daily offers herself to the Most High “as a holy, living sacrifice, pleasing unto God” (Rom. 12, 1). — With Christ: at the sight of the Divine Victim, whose Body is daily mystically broken upon the altar and whose Blood is daily mystically shed before our eyes, she is encouraged and animated cheerfully to drink with Him of the chalice of bitter affliction,—to embrace with joy labors and sufferings, persecutions and calumnies. — In Christ: for in Him as her Head, that is, in her most intimate connection and fusion with His Sacrifice, the Church offers herself to tread the rough and lonely, the weary and painful way of the Cross, until she shall have arrived at the heavenly Jerusalem. — Through Christ: for the true and mystical Body of Christ (corpus verum et mysticum) constitutes the sole sacrifice, whose sweet odor ascends to Heaven, “through Christ our Lord,” through whom alone we may approach to God, and by whom alone we can please Him.

How boundless in goodness, how unspeakably rich in mercies is the Lord in presenting us with so precious a Sacrifice! Let us also remember how highly favored we are, how enviable is our lot, since the well-beloved Son of the Eternal Father is and will forever remain our Victim, that we may not have to appear before God empty-handed, but may have a rich and worthy gift to offer Him, and that in union therewith we may offer ourselves also. Since He was once “born and given to us by the Immaculate Virgin” (nobis natus, nobis datus ex intacta Virgine), He wished to be always our own. His love can be requited only with love, and His sacrifice only with sacrifice!

5. From all that has hitherto been said concerning the relation of the Sacrifice of the Mass to that of the Cross, it is evident how distasteful and ridiculous is the offensively oft-repeated objection, that the Sacrifice of the Mass undervalues and detracts from the worth and dignity of the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Sacrifice of the Altar is, by its very nature and very object, the living re-presentation of the Sacrifice of the Cross and the perpetual application of its fruits. — Therefore, the Mass does not cast Christ’s death on the Cross in the shade, but, on the contrary, rather sets it forth in the clearest and most refulgent light.¹⁰⁴104Nulla ratione sacrificium Missae, quod aiunt impii homines, derogat peracto in cruce sacrificio; quinimo ejus merita ac beneficia quam latissime propagat, atque in omnes uberrime diffundit. Siquidem Christus in hoc sacrificio pro iis, quos redemit, omnibus eundem pretiosum sanguinem et vulnera Patri suo ostendit ac offert, quibus ad dexteram ejus in coelis sedens gratiam nobis apud eum conciliat. Utrobique enim sempiterno sacerdotio fungitur, ut possit salvare in perpetuum accedentes per semet ipsum ad Deum, semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis (Hebr. 7, 25). Coll. Lac. III, 493. There certainly is not a more glorious testimony to the necessity and profitableness, to the inexhaustible graces and blessings of the bloody Sacrifice of redemption, than precisely this perpetual celebration of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. At the altar millions draw and drink from the fountain of grace of the Sacrifice of the Cross, without its healing waters ever drying up or becoming diminished. — The bitter sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross should be profoundly engraved upon our minds, and should live unchangeably fresh in our memories and in our hearts. How can this be more easily and surely attained than by the daily celebration of the Eucharist, in which Christ’s bloody sacrificial death, with all its blessings, is presented to us so vividly and so touchingly and, indeed, is even, in a certain sense, renewed? Where is the devotion to the passion and death of Christ more highly esteemed and more fervently cultivated, where is the love of the Cross and of the Crucified more strongly inculcated and more fervently practised than in the bosom of the Catholic Church, in which upon thousands of altars the bloody death of Christ is daily celebrated in an unbloody manner, mystically proclaimed and held in constant remembrance? Every altar is a mystical Mount Calvary, upon whose summit waves “the banner of the Cross,” at the sight of which the believing soul, deeply moved, entering seriously into herself, exclaims: Amor meus crucifixus est! — “My Love is crucified!” But take away the memorial Sacrifice of the altar, and sooner or later the great Sacrifice of atonement, offered on Golgotha nearly nineteen centuries ago, will disappear in a mythical distance, and with it the personality of the Saviour and the entire work of the Redeemer will fall more or less into a deplorable oblivion.

“Ah! my own sweet Good, sovereign Lord and sweet Guest of my soul, I would fain ask yet one more question. Tell me, dear Lord, what advantage is to be derived from the Mass? Is it necessary that every day Thy death should be celebrated anew, for assuredly Thou didst enough for the whole world on Good Friday? Yes, though there had been a thousand worlds, Thou wouldst still have done sufficient for them all! — Jesus Christ: This I have done out of My great love, and for mankind have I planned this delightful invention of love; for since men daily need it because of their human frailty, I have willed that that worthy Sacrifice be daily offered anew for the sins and weakness of men, according to the words of St. Thomas: All the fruitfulness and advantages wrought by God on the day upon which He died, are daily to be found in every Holy Mass, and the same grace is received by all who partake worthily of the worthy Body of our Lord. — Our fervent desires should lead us to have a longing to assist at all the Masses celebrated throughout the world. At every Mass (at which we assist) we should endeavor to receive the Blessed Sacrament, recommending to God in our prayers all whom in our love we bear in mind, whether living or dead. In this manner, we participate not only in the Mass at which we assist, but, moreover, in all the Masses celebrated throughout the world.” (Tauler.)