The Unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar

Article II—The Essence and the Efficacy of the Eucharistic Sacrifice

15. The Essential Characteristics of the Eucharistic Sacrifice

All that we have demonstrated from the written and traditional word of God, the infallible Church has solemnly and formally declared in the Council of Trent, defining that in Holy Mass “a true and real Sacrifice” (verum et proprium sacrificium) is offered to the triune God.⁷¹71Sess. 22, can. 1. This revealed truth of salvation is eminently included in the “divine mysteries, which by their nature so far transcend created intelligence, that though divinely revealed to us and comprehended through faith, they yet remain hidden to our eyes by the veil of this very faith, and enveloped in a certain obscurity, as long as we are pilgrims in this mortal life, at a distance from God. Yet reason enlightened by faith, if it inquire diligently, devoutly and prudently, may with the assistance of God obtain a certain and, at the same time, a very profitable insight into these mysteries,” and, consequently, into the mystery of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist.⁷²72Vatican. constit. de Fide, cap. 4. Therefore, we should not be contented with the proof that the Mass is a true Sacrifice, but we should endeavor to acquire a fuller and more profound knowledge of this adorable mystery.

In the first place, the question arises as to the essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. To answer it, we must show that, and to what extent, in the celebration of the Eucharist are found all the conditions absolutely necessary for a true sacrifice. To every sacrifice, and, consequently, to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, appertain a sacrificial gift, a sacrificing priest and the action of sacrifice.

1. Which is the sacrificial gift in the Holy Mass? The Church has declared that upon the altar precisely the same sacrificial gift (una eademque hostia) is offered, as was once offered on the Cross.⁷³73Trident. sess. 22, cap. 2. But Christ, with His holy humanity, with His Body and Blood, was offered on the Cross: consequently, He is likewise the sacrificial gift on our altars; hence upon them there is nothing less offered than the God-Man Himself. The Mass is the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ. Some theologians⁷⁴74Suarez. disp. 75, sect. 1. — Coninck, De sacrament. q. 83, a. 1, d. 4. concl. 3. — Tanner tom. 4, d. 5, q. 9, dub. 2, n. 28. have indeed taught, that bread and wine belong also to the matter of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, that is, that besides and with the Body and Blood of Christ they are truly offered in the Holy Mass; but evidently this is incorrect. Neither the substances nor the appearances of bread and wine constitute a part of the matter of the sacrifice,⁷⁵75Dicendum est, panem et vinum quoad suam substantiam nullo modo esse materiam oblatam in sacrificio Missae, sed tantum terminum a quo materiae oblatae; similiter species panis et vini non pertinere ad rationem victimae tamquam partem ipsius et proinde non esse rem oblatam (Pasqualigo, De sacrif. Nov. Leg., tr. 1, q. 29–30). although they are necessarily required for the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The substances of the bread and wine disappear, in order that, under the species remaining, the Divine Victim of sacrifice may take their place, that is, that they may be changed into the Host of Salvation. The sacramental species render the offering of Christ a visible sacrifice; they form the sensible, perceptible covering, under which the Body and Blood of Christ are offered. — The Body of Christ, once immolated in a bloody manner, and the Blood of Christ, once shed unto death on the Cross, and consequently the whole Christ, once sacrificed upon Golgotha, by the sacrifice of His Body and the shedding of His Blood (Heb. 10, 10; 9, 12), is also on the altar the gift or object of our unbloody sacrifice. A higher and holier, a better and more precious sacrificial offering, than Christ the Lord, can neither be presented nor imagined.⁷⁶76Sacerdos perpendat, quid offerat, videlicet corpus et sanguinem Salvatoris, imo ipsummet Christum, Unigenitum videlicet Dei, qui secundum naturam suam divinam est dignitatis et excellentiae penitus infinitae; secundum naturam vero suam humanam, ut Verbo aeterno unitam, est toto dignior universo (Dion. Carthus. De vita Curator. art. 15). To possess so glorious a sacrificial Victim is for us an inappreciable grace and it imparts to us unspeakable dignity.

2. Who offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice?

a) It is beyond question, that in the Holy Mass Christ is not only the Victim Sacrificed, but also the Sacrificing Priest (sacrificium et sacerdos mirabiliter et ineffabiliter constitutus—Oratio S. Ambros.); for, “as He once offered Himself on the Cross, He now also offers Himself on the altar, but in an unbloody manner and through the ministry of the priests” (sacerdotum ministerio).⁷⁷77Trident. sess. 22, cap. 2.—p. 113Christ in the Eucharist is both the one that sacrifices and the object sacrificed. Ipse offerens, ipse et oblatio. As the true Melchisedech, He possesses an imperishable priesthood and unceasingly exercises the priestly office, inasmuch as He daily offers Himself on the altar as a gift and an oblation of sweet odor unto God (Eph. 5, 2), to save those who by Him approach unto God (Heb. 7, 25).

If Christ in the Mass truly makes the offering and this by the visible priest, then it follows that He is the principal celebrant (offerens principalis). To be such in reality it does not suffice, that the Lord instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice and commanded the celebration of it; nor that He imparts power and efficacy to it; He must rather co-operate directly, through His holy humanity, in performing the Eucharistic Sacrifice. He must always and everywhere be found acting as priest wherever Mass is celebrated. Condescending to the words of the visible priest, Christ as invisible Highpriest changes the elements of bread and wine into His Body and Blood, that is, He places His Body and His Blood, His humanity, Himself, in a state of sacrifice. And this action of sacrifice of Himself He, at the same time, directs to the glory of God, to propitiate Him, and also to contribute to the salvation of mankind. — In the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Lord indeed is, in a certain sense, dependent upon the ministry of visible priests; yet He Himself always performs directly and principally the real act of sacrifice. At the celebration of every Mass, Jesus with His soul, with His human will and heart, gives proof anew of His priestly sentiments, His unchangeable love of sacrifice, His inexhaustible devotedness to the honor of God and the salvation of the world. — From what has just been said, we may draw several conclusions. Since Christ on the altar is the direct and principal Offerer, because He Himself by His Highpriestly act celebrates and offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice, therefore, like the Sacrifice of the Cross, the Mass possesses absolutely infinite value and infinite perfection. For the excellence of the Sacrifice depends chiefly upon the merit and dignity of the person who offers it. — Furthermore, it follows that the Eucharist always and everywhere remains the spotless Sacrifice, as the chief Offerer, Jesus Christ, is at all times infinitely holy, although the visible and representative priest be ever so imperfect and unworthy.

b) As the Eternal Highpriest according to the order of Melchisedech Christ does not and will not cease until the consummation of time to offer Himself in the Mass to His Heavenly Father; but now He no longer does so alone in a personal, visible manner, as He did at the Last Supper and upon the Cross, but invisibly and with the assistance of a human representative. Christ is indeed the principal celebrant at the altar, for He has the primary and chief part in the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice; still He does not perform this action alone and without assistance, but employs for it specially authorized servants and instruments, namely, validly ordained priests. p. 114The visible priest acts as the living and free agent of Jesus Christ; therefore, he performs, though only as the instrument of the Lord, but yet in a real manner, the act of consecration or sacrifice at the altar. At his ordination he receives the exalted superhuman and divine power to change the elements of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, that is, to celebrate Mass; for only God can impart such power. This power, like holy Orders in general, can neither be lost nor destroyed; just as little as the sacerdotal character can be effaced from the soul of the priest, so in like manner, the power of sacrificing cannot be taken away from him. Every validly ordained priest, and only such a one, can offer the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. In this action he always represents the person of Christ and, as an authorized minister, acts in His name. Here the privileged character and dignity of the officiating priest are in contrast with the condition of the faithful, to whom such a heavenly sacrificial power has not been imparted.

c) At the altar, the officiating priest acts not merely as the representative and as the organ of Christ, but also in the name and under the authority of the Church. For the Eucharist is the property of the Catholic Church: to her our Lord bequeathed the Eucharistic Sacrifice, that she might always be able to render to the Most High due honor and glory, as well as to dispense with lavish hand to her needy children the fulness and riches of all blessings. Christ our Lord, in the excess of His divine bounty and goodness, made over to the Church His Body and Blood, Himself with all the treasures of His grace, placing this as an offering in her hands, that she might offer it in sacrifice to God. By the Church we understand all the faithful in so far as they, united to one another and under submission to their lawful Pastor, form but one fold and one kingdom, the one mystical body and the one spouse of Christ. — The entire Church, therefore, offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice; for it is a public and solemn act of worship, which is always celebrated in the name and for the welfare of all the people of God.⁷⁸78Datum est hoc sacrificium universae Ecclesiae, ut ipsa illud offerat, quamvis per sacerdotes, quibus potestas offerendi specialiter commissa est, ut dicit Trid.; et ideo sess. 22. cap. 6 addit, Missae omnes, quantumvis privatim dicantur, communes esse censendas, quia a publico Ecclesiae ministro, non pro se tantum, sed pro omnibus fidelibus, qui ad corpus Christi pertinent, celebrantur; dicuntur enim pro eis celebrari, non tantum, quia pro eis offeruntur, sed etiam, quia ipsorum nomine, tanquam eorum sacrificia offeruntur (Suarez disp. 74, sect. 3, n. 1). Now, the Church cannot celebrate without a priest; he is ordained to be the representative of men (constituitur pro hominibus—Heb. 5, 1), that is, that he may really celebrate and offer sacrifice in the name of the faithful as mediator between God and the people. — Therefore, at the altar, the priest is the authorized representative of Jesus Christ and of the Church, but in a twofold manner: Jesus Christ, the Divine Highpriest, celebrates by the priest who is His subordinate minister; the Church, on the contrary, celebrates in the person p. 115of the priest, who is the superior mediator given her by God. When he consecrates, that is, celebrates the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the priest represents, first, the person of Jesus Christ, and then the Church. Then also he acts and speaks in the name of the Church, inasmuch as he performs the remaining acts of divine worship, namely, the ceremonies and liturgical prayers accompanying and surrounding the sacrificial function. — Hence it follows that the Mass prayers are not the private prayers of the priest, but public prayers, that is, the prayers of the Church; and as such there is attached to them a special, efficacious, impetratory character, independent of the disposition of the priest celebrating (valor ex opere operato).⁷⁹79In Missa duo est considerare, sc. ipsum sacramentum quod est principale et orationes quae in Missa fiunt pro vivis et mortuis. Quantum ergo ad sacramentum non minus valet Missa sacerdotis mali quam boni, quia utrobique idem conficitur sacramentum. Oratio etiam quae fit in Missa potest considerari dupliciter: uno modo inquantum habet efficaciam ex devotione sacerdotis orantis et sic non est dubium quod Missa melioris sacerdotis magis est fructuosa; alio modo inquantum oratio in Missa profertur a sacerdote in persona totius Ecclesiae, cujus sacerdos est minister, quod quidem ministerium etiam in peccatoribus manet sicut ministerium Christi. Unde etiam quantum ad hoc est fructuosa non solum oratio sacerdotis peccatoris in Missa, sed etiam omnes ejus orationes, quas facit in ecclesiasticis officiis, in quibus gerit personam Ecclesiae, licet ejus orationes privatae non sint fructuosae (S. Thom. 3, q. 82, a. 6).

The priest, therefore, celebrates in the name of the Church, in the name of the whole Christian people, so that in as far as they are members of the Church, all the faithful at least habitually offer through him as their representative the Eucharistic Sacrifice. For this reason also the Prince of the Apostles calls all Christians “a holy and a kingly priesthood” (1 Peter 2, 5–9), that is, called “to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” — The actual participation of each individual faithful in the Eucharistic Sacrifice takes place in different ways and in different degrees, according as their activity and co-operation is merely interior or also exterior.⁸⁰80Cum ad proprie dictum sacrificium offerendum haec duo requirantur: hostiae immolatio, hujusque immolationis oblatio, improprie dicentur sacrificium offerre, qui sacrificium a sacerdote celebratum interne aut etiam externe in Dei honorem referunt, vel qui aliqua ratione sacerdoti in sacrificii oblatione subveniunt eumque adjuvant (Lambrecht, De ss. Miss. sacrif. pars 3, c. 3, § 3). For example, he who assists devoutly at Mass, he who communicates during Mass, he who serves at the altar, he who has a Mass said or who contributes what is necessary for the Sacrifice, participates in a more especial manner in the celebration of the Sacrifice, than he who merely interiorly, that is, without being present in body, unites his intention with the holy Sacrifice and the prayers of the priest at the altar.

3. In what does the sacrificial act of the Eucharistic service properly consist (sacrificatio vel immolatio hostiae)?

a) The Eucharistic Sacrificial action (actio sacrifica) consists p. 116in the double consecration, by which the Body and Blood of Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine, are placed in a state of sacrifice and are, therefore, sacrificed. — All the prayers, ceremonies and actions that partly precede and partly follow the consecration in the celebration of the Mass are, consequently, not essential to the Eucharistic Sacrifice. — The oblation-prayers at the Offertory and after the Elevation, the fraction of the consecrated Host and the co-mingling of a particle of it with the Sacred Blood, are important and profoundly significant constituent parts of the ancient, venerable rite prescribed for the Sacrifice by the Church, but in nowise are they integral or essential portions of the sacrificial action instituted by Christ. That the Communion of the faithful who are present is not necessary for the Sacrifice, is admitted by all Catholics. — But the case is quite different with regard to the Communion of the officiating priest. The officiating priest must necessarily communicate at the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, not merely by reason of a command of the Church, but in virtue of a divine ordinance from Christ Himself. The Communion of the celebrant, therefore, is so necessary, because although it does not appertain to the essence, it is, however, indispensable to the external completeness of the Eucharistic Sacrifice; for by this Communion the Sacrifice attains its end as a food-offering and, consequently, by it the Sacrifice is in a certain sense perfected and consummated.⁸¹81Partes alicujus rei compositae aliae sunt essentiales, aliae integrantes: sine partibus essentialibus res non est talis naturae; essentia vero rei salva consistit sine partibus integrantibus. Hac distinctione in sacrificio Eucharistiae facta, juxta communem Theologorum sententiam dicimus, in sola Eucharistiae consecratione essentiam sacrificii consistere, et ad integritatem ejus referri utriusque speciei consecratae sumptionem, quae a sacerdote fit in Missa (De Augustinis S. J., De re sacramentaria, lib. 2, p. 3, art. 5). The celebrating priest must partake of the same sacrificial matter which he has just consecrated, in order that the unity of the visible Sacrifice may in its essence and integrity be perfectly secured. — The so-called Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday is, therefore, no sacrificial celebration, but only a Communion celebration; for it is without consecration and consists only of the reception of the Sacrament consecrated on Holy Thursday. This Communion of the priest may be regarded as a continuation and completion of the Mass celebrated on Holy Thursday; and this throws sufficient light and explanation on the liturgical formulas of prayer occurring in this service.⁸²82Aliud est conficere sive consecrare, aliud est offerre; et quamvis in die Veneris sancto non fiat confectio, fit tamen oblatio, quia sacerdos corpus in praecedenti die consecratum offert in altari (S. Bonav. IV, dist. 12, p. 2, dub. 2).

That the essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice depends neither wholly nor in part on the Communion of the celebrant, but rests solely and entirely in the consecration, is the most solid and the more general opinion. As is frequently repeated in the ancient p. 117liturgies and by the Fathers, the Communion of the priest and of the people is a sacrificial banquet, that is, a partaking of the accomplished Sacrifice or the reception of the Lamb of God offered in sacrifice. The sacrificial banquet must, in fact, be preceded by the sacrificial action; only the immolated or sacrificed victim can be partaken of as food. — St. Gregory of Nyssa thus appropriately expresses this truth. “Christ, who is both priest and victim, offered Himself mystically for us in sacrifice. When did He do this? At the Last Supper; for when He gave to the disciples, assembled around Him, His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, He publicly declared that the Sacrifice of the Lamb was already accomplished. The body of the victim to be slain cannot be eaten as long as it is in a natural, living state (ἔμψυχον, animatum); as He then gave His disciples His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, His Body was already sacrificed in an unspeakable and inconceivable manner, as it pleased the Lord to perform this mystery by His power.”⁸³83First Sermon for Easter Sunday. What is here said of the first celebration of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, naturally holds good with respect to the daily repetition of this unbloody Sacrifice on our altars. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is perfectly the same here, as it was there: its essence consists in the act of the twofold consecration.

b) The mysterious obscurity, in which the mystery of the Eucharist is shrouded from our weak vision, extends particularly to the question, in how far by the act of the dual consecration Christ is really and actually sacrificed. According to the teaching of our holy faith, we must hold firmly that the Eucharist is not merely a simple oblation or a consecrated gift, but much more, truly and properly a Sacrifice. Now for this a sacrificial action, that is, an actual sacrificing (sacrificatio), and not a mere offering (oblatio), is necessarily required,—a sacrificial action, in which both an interior and an exterior quality are taken into consideration and distinguished. — The interior consists in the disposition of the heart to sacrifice, in the hidden intention of the will to sacrifice, on the part of the priest who celebrates; the exterior, by which the real sacrifice essentially differs from the simple oblation, consists in this, that the offering to God of the sacrificial object, even in its visible form, is accomplished by a change or transformation, corresponding also to the meaning of the Sacrifice. — Conflicting answers are given to the question, whether and how far there takes place a similar change or transformation of the matter of the Eucharistic Sacrifice by the dual consecration, as is essentially the case in every sacrifice. In order to throw some light on this much disputed question—under what aspect the eucharistic consecration is a true sacrificial act—we will here make a few observations.

The Eucharist is a sacrifice wholly peculiar and singular (sacrificium singulare), and of a higher and mysterious order.⁸⁴84Deus hoc sacrificium instituit modo extraordinario et singulari aliis victimis et sacrificiis non communi (Mastrius disp. 4, q. 4, a. 1, n. 72). The essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is of divine institution and, therefore, must not be indiscriminately decided or judged by the same standard as other known sacrifices. First and above all the peculiarity of the Eucharistic Sacrifice consists in this, that the object sacrificed is offered under foreign or sacramental species, whilst in other sacrifices the sensible objects are always offered in their own natural forms. Another peculiarity is that in the Eucharist the living, glorious God-man is the matter or object of the unbloody sacrifice, although always and everywhere living beings can be sacrificed only by the actual shedding of their blood and by their immolation. According to the correct conception of the eucharistic transsubstantiation, there can be no question of the destruction of the bread and wine, nor of the production of the body and blood of Christ, so that evidently the explanation of the essence of our sacrifice cannot be based on either of these suppositions. In like manner, every attempt to prove a real change in the sacrifice of the eucharistic body must end in failure. Numerically the same glorious Christ, reigning in heaven, is indeed present on the altar, without undergoing any change in Himself; only the external relation of His humanity to space and the surroundings is different. On the altar, then, we have a true and real sacrifice without any real change in the eucharistic victim. So peculiar a sacrifice is rendered possible only by Christ being offered as a living victim, not in His natural form, but under the symbolical envelope of the sacramental species. The Eucharistic Sacrifice takes place simply and merely by Jesus Christ becoming present, by virtue of the words of consecration, under the separate species in a state of immolation or death, that is, of sacrifice, so far as external appearances go.⁸⁵85Exhibetur Christus per modum mortui sub speciebus, quamvis in se non sit mortuus, et hoc fit ex vi actionis sacrificativae; haec autem exhibitio sufficit ad protestandum totum id, quod protestari posset realis destructio, nempe totalem submissionem respectu Dei et recognitionem supremae majestatis (Pasqualigo tr. 1, q. 43, n. 5). — Sacramentally, that is, according to external signs, the blood of Jesus Christ is separated from His body, and therefore shed, since by the words of consecration there is designated and effected, on the one hand, the presence of the body of Christ under the solid species of bread, and, on the other hand, the presence of His blood under the fluid species of wine.⁸⁶86Quantum est ex vi verborum consecrationis, corpus et sanguis Christi sistuntur et exhibentur seorsum, unum ab altero, sicut in cruce separatus fuit sanguis a corpore, atque ita Christus mystice et incruente immolatur (Sylvius 3, q. 83, a. 1, concl. 4.) This sacramental separation of the blood of Christ from His body, or this mystical immolation of Christ, is fully sufficient for the actual and symbolical expression of the Saviour’s interior intention of sacrificing Himself—that is, for the consummation of a real sacrifice.⁸⁷87Cum Christus sit principalis offerens, dum in se ipso facit repraesentationem propriae mortis se offerendo Patri, declarat affectum se totum tradentis in obsequium Patris, qui est interius sacrificium, atque adeo oblatio externa cum illa repraesentatione mortis declarat hunc affectum et ideo hujusmodi repraesentatio est sufficiens destructio pro sacrificio: nam illa tantum destructio requiritur, quae possit declarare interius sacrificium (Pasqualigo tr. 1, q. 43, n. 4). Sacrifice is, indeed, an exterior symbolical sign of p. 119the interior sacrifice; according to this, the mystical shedding of blood on the altar performs the same office as did the real shedding of blood on the cross. The unbloody immolation of the eucharistic victim through the sacramental shedding of blood proves the reality of the sacrifice of Christ under foreign sacramental species. The Eucharist is a mystical, that is, a sacramental and, at the same time, a real or actual sacrifice. — Mystica nobis, Domine, prosit oblatio (Miss. Rom.).

The eucharistic service is not only a true sacrifice, accomplished in the present on the altar, but also, at the same time, the mysterious copy and representation, or renewal, of the past sacrifice of the cross. For the dual consecration should be considered under a two-fold aspect; first, in so far as a mystical immolation, it makes the present offering of the body and blood of Christ a real sacrifice; and secondly, inasmuch as it represents in a visible manner the past sacrifice of the cross.⁸⁸88Christus Dominus vi consecrationis tanquam verus Agnus et victima sistitur in altari sub speciebus panis et vini, et in quodam statu mortis constituitur, quatenus per spiritualem verborum gladium sub diversis et separatis speciebus immolatur et offertur Deo Patri. — Porro haec mystica, quae vi verborum fit, separatio corporis ac sanguinis, apte separationem cruentam sanguinis a corpore in cruce peractam repraesentat (Puig et Xarrié, De euchar. c. 4, § 1, n. 620). It is, therefore, by one and the same thing, namely, by the transsubstantiation of the two elements, that the eucharistic offering acquires the character of an absolute and relative sacrifice, that is, of a true sacrifice in itself, but which, according to its intrinsic nature and constitution, not only relates to the sacrifice of the cross, but also visibly copies it. There was something similar in the bloody sacrifice of the Old Testament. One and the same immolation, or blood-shedding, rendered them not only peculiar sacrifices of the worship then obtaining, but also figures of the future sacrifice of Christ. In the Eucharist a merely mystical shedding of blood suffices to constitute a true sacrifice, for on the altar there is question, not of acquiring the merit of propitiation, but only of applying the fruits of redemption acquired on the cross. For this purpose the Victim actually immolated on Golgotha, with His inexhaustible treasures of merits, is constantly represented and sacrificed to God the Lord, in the eucharistic service through unbloody immolation. — The complete essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice consists, therefore, in the mystical shedding of blood wrought by the words consecrating both elements;—and, indeed, it consists in this blood-shedding, inasmuch as said blood-shedding is a real expression of the present intention of sacrifice and of the self-offering of Christ taking place on the altar, and, at the same time, in so far as it represents and renews the Sacrifice of the Cross. This conception of the Eucharistic Sacrifice commends itself, not only on account of its p. 120simplicity and theological foundation, but also because it has a positive basis in the words of the institution of our Lord as well as in the ecclesiastical tradition. The Saviour Himself characterizes the Eucharistic Sacrifice as an unbloody offering, or breaking, of His body, and as a mystical shedding of His blood “for the remission of sins.” In agreement with this the ante-tridentine theology always taught, that the formal character of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist consists only in the mystical immolation of Christ through the words of the dual consecration.⁸⁹89Cfr. Pasqualigo tr. 1, q. 42–44. — Billot, De sacram. 1, 556 seqq.

4. The priest should frequently reflect that it is God who has called and consecrated him to the exalted office, as a servant of Christ and in the name of the Church, to accomplish and offer the adorable Sacrifice of the Eucharist. The most sublime act of his priestly power consists in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, that is, in his power “to call the Lord of Glory with holy words down upon the earth, to bless Him with his lips, to hold Him in his hands, to receive Him into his mouth and to distribute Him to the faithful,” whilst at the same time “the angels stand about him in order to honor Him who is sacrificed.” Hence the strict obligation incumbent on him to preserve his body and soul pure, and continually to work at his sanctification. “In the Lord”, said the Seraphic Francis to his spiritual sons, “I entreat all my brethren, who are priests of the Most High, that, as often as they celebrate Mass, they be spotless and that they thus offer with purity the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To animate them still more, he draws their attention to the Virgin who conceived our Lord by the power of the Holy Ghost and who, in the days of His childhood, touched Him with her most pure hands and carried Him in her most pure arms. And in truth, the priest has reason to regard with special veneration that Blessed One, the blessed Mary ever Virgin, of whom was born for us the God present in the Sacrament, and with peculiar fervor to endeavor to make his heart like unto her holy and immaculate heart. As Mary, in a marvellous manner, conceived and gave birth to the Son of God, the priest has received power to call Jesus Christ from heaven to earth. As Mary, standing constantly and to the last at the foot of the Cross, offered Her Divine Son to the Heavenly Father, in like manner does the priest offer Him daily upon the altar of the Cross. As Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, so are priests, the instruments of the Holy Ghost, to continue in the Church the mystery of the Incarnation for the salvation of men. As Mary gave herself unreservedly to God, the Church requires of her priests a cheerful and self-sacrificing love. As Mary, who conceived the Son of God and carried him in her womb, excelled as a vessel of the Holy Ghost (vas spirituale) all creatures in purity of heart, so Christ and the Church require a special purity of heart in the priest who places the Eucharistic Christ upon the altar, carries Him in his hands, receives Him and gives Him to others, and thus in a more special manner appears as a vessel of the Holy Ghost. This Virgin is, consequently, the honor and joy of all good priests. A priest, inflamed with love for Christ in the Eucharist, clings also with the most tender devotion and truly filial love to the Virgin Mother of God, and such a sentiment obtains for him the special protection of this powerful Virgin. Under her auspices, he is enabled to live a pure life and to celebrate in a holy manner the true Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. His filial piety at all times urges him to implore the holy Virgin to permit him to participate in her profound humility, her exceptional purity and ardent charity. A priest, assiduously intent on this object, will learn from experience that the Mother of the Eternal Word will be propitious to him.⁹⁰90Cfr. Neues Pastoralblatt für die Diöc. Augsb., Jahrg. 1876, p. 259.