The Unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar

Article III—What Place the Eucharistic Sacrifice Holds in the Organization of the Church; Its Meaning There and Purport

23. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—The Centre of Catholic Worship

It yet remains for us to explain at least briefly the central position and fundamental signification pertaining to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Catholic Church, instituted for the salvation of souls.²²²222Tolle hoc sacramentum de Ecclesia, et quid erit in mundo nisi error et infidelitas? Sed per hoc sacramentum stat Ecclesia, roboratur fides, viget christiana religio et divinus cultus (S. Bonav. tr. de praepar. ad Miss. c. 1, § 1, n. 3). Thence it will be seen that it is of vital importance for the very life and operation of the Church.

1. The Catholic Church is the great institute of salvation, founded by Christ for the entire world and for all time: as such she has the sublime mission and task to continue and accomplish throughout all ages the work of Christ’s redemption by the conversion and salvation of all nations. God wills that all men by means of the Church and in the Church should receive heavenly light and life, and come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved (1 Tim. 2, 4). For this purpose the Lord is and remains with His Church; in her He lives and acts all days until the end of the world. In sacramental truth and reality the God-man continues always His mediatorship on earth by the ministry of His Church. As He redeemed mankind especially by the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross, so He carries out the work of redemption in His Church chiefly by the unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar, since it is the essential representation and mystical renewal of the world’s redeeming Sacrifice of the Cross. This the Church concisely and appropriately expresses, when it says of the Mass: Quoties hujus hostiae commemoratio celebratur, opus nostrae redemptionis exercetur,²²³223Orat. secret. Dom. IX. post Pent. — Dicitur exerceri, non tantum secundum repraesentationem, sed etiam secundum efficaciam, quia nobis applicatur (Suarez in S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 1.)—that is, as often as this memorial Sacrifice is celebrated, the work of the redemption is performed. These simple words not merely express that by the Eucharistic Sacrifice the fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross are bestowed on men in regard to the redemption taken subjectively, but they also declare that all the features of the work of the redemption, taken in its objective sense, are mystically renewed and represented on the altar.²²⁴224In celebratione hujus mysterii attenditur repraesentatio dominicae passionis et participatio fructus ejus (S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 2). All this is done already by the mere accomplishment of the Sacrifice at the consecration, but still more strikingly in the ecclesiastical rite which accompanies the sacrificial action, that is, in the liturgical celebration of Mass. From a twofold aspect, the Mass represents the entire work of redemption; for in the Eucharistic service the three offices, as well as the different mysteries of Christ are represented.

a) Christ redeemed the world, as Supreme Teacher inasmuch He announced the truths of faith; as Highpriest, inasmuch as He established peace between heaven and earth and regained for us the gifts of grace; as Divine King, inasmuch as He founded a kingdom which, although in this world, is not of this world—a supernatural kingdom of truth, of grace and of love, wherein He reigns over hearts. Christ continues to exercise His office of teacher, of priest and of shepherd over the whole world in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As in the earthly life of Christ, so likewise in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the sacerdotal operation of the Lord holds the prominent place; for the radiant central and culminating portion of the Mass lies in the Canon, in the course of which the real sacrificial act is accomplished, which secures for us reconciliation and mercy. — Before our Saviour died in sacrifice on the Cross, He taught the divine truth by word and deed; corresponding to this in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the oblation—His mystical death—is preceded by a preparation or an interior service, in which the prophetic-teaching of Christ is represented and repeated, that we may be filled with the light and wisdom of faith. “For the ministry of Jesus Christ continues to live throughout all time, and in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass moves around the earth to serve ignorant and erring humanity. In the Holy Sacrifice, wherein Christ appears as the victim which upon the altar of the cross allowed itself to be consumed by the torments of death, is seen here also as the Heavenly Teacher of men. As victim, He is veiled under the material appearances of bread and wine. His voice is concealed and yet ever present by the voice of His messengers in Holy Scripture: in the Epistles and the Gospels” (Eberhard). And, finally, as the Saviour by His sacrificial death entered into glory, as He established by means of the Cross His supernatural kingdom and eternal dominion, thus the act of Consecration or Sacrifice in the Mass is followed by Holy Communion, as the completion and conclusion of the Holy Mass, and, by means of Holy Communion, Christ as a meek king takes possession of our hearts, and as Prince of Peace extends and consolidates the kingdom of God, the dominion of grace and love in our souls.

b) The work of redemption considered historically, namely, in its gracious beginning, in its blessed progress and in its glorious completion, is also in this aspect represented in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, for it is a living memorial of all the wonders and mysteries which the redeeming love of the triune God wrought for the salvation of man. Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus; escam dedit timentibus se (Ps. 110, 4–5). The joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the Incarnation, life, death and glory of the Saviour of the world are placed before the eyes of faith in the celebration of Mass. To the presence of the Lord on the altar in the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass, the words of the prophet may be applied: Ecce Salvator tuus venit: ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus ejus coram illo. — “Behold thy Saviour cometh: behold His reward is with Him, and His work before Him” (Isa. 62, 11). Yes, the God-Man comes on the altar to sacrifice Himself for us; but where He is present, there also appears the work and the price of the redemption accomplished by Him;—with Him both are inseparably united.

In the Mass, first of all, Christ’s painful and bloody death on the Cross is celebrated and represented. Now, as in Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross all the other mysteries of redemption partly culminate and partly have their root, so must they also meet and come together in the unbloody Sacrifice of the Altar, since it is the living and real representation of the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross.²²⁵225Missae sacrificium est expressa quaedam et viva imago passionis Christi et consequenter incarnationis et aliorum Christi mysteriorum, quibus nihil altius et excellentius operatus est Deus (Suarez disp. 76, sect. 2). By the separate consecration of bread and wine, Christ’s Body and Blood are offered under the symbol of death; therefore, the altar becomes Mount Calvary, the Cross saturated with His Blood.

The wonders of the Incarnation,—of Bethlehem—are likewise repeated: the altar becomes the crib, the Infant Jesus lies concealed therein in the humble little Host.

Nor is less renewed in mysterious reality upon the altar all that transpired of the life of Christ, from Bethlehem to Golgatha. In the intervening period “three and thirty years of the Lord’s earthly pilgrimage elapsed, such years as had never before been seen on earth, years that shone out in brighter light, resplendent with grace and benediction, truth and mercy, crowned by the presence, the dwelling and journeyings of the Son of God here below” (Eberhard). p. 195This silent, humble, hidden, obedient, adorable life of prayer and sacrifice is continued by the Saviour until the end of time under the veil of the Eucharistic species for the honor of God and the welfare of man. Finally, the Eucharistic Sacrifice is also a memorial of the glory of the Lord—of His Resurrection and Ascension.²²⁶226Resurrectio et ascensio Domini eo ipso commemoratur, quod Christus sub speciebus panis et vini praesens est immortalis et gloriosus, prouti est post resurrectionem et ascensionem: ideoque in oratione post consecrationem dicitur, Missae sacrificium offerri in memoriam passionis, nec non ab inferis resurrectionis, sed et in coelos gloriosae ascensionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Müller, Theol. moral., l. 3, tit. 1, § 15, n. 11). As the risen, transfigured Saviour appeared unto His own, saying confidently to them: “Peace be to you; it is I, fear not,” so He now is and remains with us, near us and in our midst in His concealed glory and with His painless wounds, to console, to rejoice, to bless and to protect us.

We thus behold in the Eucharistic Sacrifice not only the glorious crown of the great work of redemption, but we have also there the summary and renewal of those adorable mysteries of profound annihilation and supreme glory, which Christ once accomplished upon earth for the love of us and for our redemption. In a manner as simple as it is grand, the celebration of Mass places before the eyes of the faithful the way in which our Lord descended from the heights of heaven to visit us, through the mercies of our God (Luke 1, 78); how He did not abhor the Virgin’s womb (non horruisti Virginis uterum—Te Deum) and the hard manger (praesepe non abhorruit—Hymn. Eccl.); how as a giant He entered with joy and hastened with exultation through the thorny career of our redemption (Ps. 18, 6); how He dwelt and walked among men under the humble appearance of a servant, teaching, healing, doing good, bestowing blessings; how He, finally, descended to the lowest depths of sorrow and disgrace, and from the shadows of the tomb raised Himself to the brightest glory of heaven.

These holy mysteries, contained as in their germ in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, are fully developed and beautifully shown forth in the sacrificial rite of the Church; for in the course of the year the formulas of the Mass, alternating in due order, severally place before us and prominently represent in turn the mysteries of the great redemption. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is most intimately connected with the celebration of the ecclesiastical year; for the Holy Sacrifice finds therein its full illustration. The cycle of feast-days and holy seasons casts its refulgence and its shadows upon the altar: the silent longing and joyful anticipations of Advent, the heartfelt blessedness and the delicious peace of soul of the lovely Christmas night, the serious penitential spirit and the sentiments of bitter regret of Lent, the unspeakable sorrows and the gloom and mourning of Holy Week, the cheering glory and the Alleluias of Eastertide, the joy and supernal happiness of the grace of the Octave of Pentecost find in p. 196the liturgical celebration of Mass appropriate and touching expression. At the altar our ears are greeted at one time with the sound of doleful lamentation, at another, with the tones of joy and praise; we there behold the priest now in the color of love or of hope, and again in that of joy or of sorrow.

2. The work of redemption accomplished by Christ on the Cross is always included in a lively manner and mystically represented in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, in order to render due honor and worship to God, as well as to apply to man all the benefits and blessings of redemption. From this it follows that the Eucharistic Sacrifice must be the centre, the heart and soul of the entire liturgy, that is, of divine worship and the dispensing of grace. The principal object of the liturgical activity and efficiency of the Church consists in rendering to God in the highest all honor, adoration and glory, and to obtain for man on earth reconciliation, remission of sin and sanctification. In the liturgy praise and thanksgiving ascend to Heaven, blessing and grace descend upon earth; in the liturgy man elevates himself to God and God descends to men. The liturgy daily procures and maintains the supernatural relation, the reciprocal intercourse, the mystical communion of life and love between Heaven and earth, between God and men. This aforesaid object is most perfectly attained by the celebration of Mass,—which excels and eclipses all other acts of worship.²²⁷227In the liturgy the Eucharistic and Communion service are often designated by the words veneranda, sacrosancta commercia—and the Incarnation as admirabile commercium, to signify that by both these mysteries a real commerce and exchange is negotiated between Heaven and earth, between God and men. Cf. Secret. in Nativ. Dom. et in Domin. XVIII. post Pent. These acts are numerous and manifold; for in her liturgical worship the Church has always bestowed her heavenly treasures of grace, in form more beautiful and with a hand more lavish and has exteriorly revealed more fully and universally her interior plenitude of life. In the beauty and splendor of her liturgy, she appears as that new and heavenly Jerusalem, which the Evangelist St. John saw descending from Heaven as a bride richly adorned (Apoc. 21, 2); therein she appears as the spouse of the King, betrothed to the Lord (2 Cor. 11, 2), standing at the right hand of the King, in garments of gold, clothed round about with variety of splendor (Ps. 44, 10–14): yet the most brilliant diadem and the most precious jewel of her rich, her divine bridal attire is the exalted and elevating sacrifice of the altar. — It forms not merely the crown of her liturgy; but is also, in a certain sense, its vivifying root and noble stock. Catholic worship possesses, so to speak, the Eucharistic stamp, the Eucharistic color and the Eucharistic perfume, since all acts of worship are referred proximately or remotely to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, or are joined to it, drawing thence fresh life, power of attraction and consecration. Without the Sacrifice this noble worship would be impoverished and stunted, would fade and die away, as is evident from non-Catholic denominations. This unrivalled supremacy the Eucharistic Sacrifice obtains throughout the entire sphere of religious worship. To show this more in detail let us, in the first place, consider the divine service, that is, those acts of divine worship which relate principally to the honor of God; and secondly, the dispensation of grace, that is, those acts of worship which directly and chiefly relate to the sanctification of man.

a) The celebration of Holy Mass is the most worthy and the most perfect divine service; for it procures to the Most High a worship and a veneration which millions of worlds would be incapable of rendering Him.²²⁸228Alia institutionis hujus sacramenti causa est quotidiana et jugis honoratio et glorificatio Dei Patris, imo totius superbeatissimae Trinitatis, quia in hujus sacramenti celebratione ac sumptione magnalia et beneficia Dei recoluntur, gratiarum actio Deo offertur, bonitas et majestas Omnipotentis laudatur et multiplex honor Altissimo quotidie exhibetur: imo per hujus sacramenti celebrationem ac sumptionem cultus christianae religionis praecipue conservatur, fideles ad ecclesiam conveniunt, confitentur, coadunantur. Estque sacramentum hoc incomparabile et pretiosissimum Ecclesiae militantis clenodium (Dion. Carthus. De vita Curator. art. 15). The Eucharistic Sacrifice is of itself the most glorious chant to the the praise and glory of the triune God. It is the summary of divine worship; for it is our highest adoration and best thanksgiving, our most efficacious propitiation and most powerful petition. The duty of praising God, of thanking Him, of rendering Him due honor and satisfaction, and of petitioning Him, can and must be complied with also by prayer; but how naked, poor and deficient would be this divine service, if we had not the Sacrifice of the Altar, whereby the name of the Lord is magnified and glorified among all nations! (Mal. 1, 11.) This unique Sacrifice infinitely excels in value and dignity, in power and efficacy all the many prayers of the Church and of the faithful. — Christ offers Himself on the altar by our hands and we should, as intimately united with Him as the branches are with the vine, enter wholly into His sentiments, and unite ourselves to His Sacrifice. It is only by such a union that our praise, thanksgiving, petition and atonement become meritorious and pleasing in the sight of God. The ivy-vine left to itself can but creep on the ground and must miserably decay; but if planted near a tree, it finds a support, it clings to it and climbs upwards. In like manner our divine worship would be of itself very weak and imperfect, and would hardly rise above the dust of the earth; but when in union with the worship of the Sacrifice of Christ it ascends even to Heaven. At the celebration of Mass, we say: “Behold, O Heavenly Father, to Thee we owe infinite praise on account of Thy infinite majesty; because of Thy numberless graces and benefits, we owe infinite thanks; for the innumerable offences we have committed against Thee, we owe infinite atonement; and because of our manifold needs and dangers, we owe the tribute of our humble supplication; but all our acts of praise, of thanksgiving, of atonement and of supplication, how miserable are they not, and how unworthy to be offered to Thee! Still we unite them to the Sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, propitiation and petition of Thy Son Jesus Christ, infinitely pleasing to Thee, with which we offer them to Thee, imploring Thee that for His sake Thou wilt graciously accept this our unworthy homage, with all that we are and have, and be merciful and favorable to us!”²²⁹229Martin, Das christliche Leben p. 275.

Since in the Eucharistic Sacrifice the divine history of the Redeemer and of His redemption are mystically represented, the Holy Mass, too, takes precedence in the ecclesiastical festivals. What the sun in the heavens is to all nature, shedding light and imparting warmth, the Eucharistic Sacrifice is in the house of God, beautifying and adorning its every feast with celestial splendor. Wherefore the Church of Christ celebrates the mysteries of grace by the Eucharistic Sacrifice, unto which the faithful unite their acts of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, petition, love and admiration. We likewise celebrate the mysteries, the privileges, the graces, the virtues, the glories, the power and goodness of the Virgin Mother of God by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In what way do we most worthily celebrate the annual commemoration of the Saints? By offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice in order to praise and thank God, because He is wonderful in His Saints, because He has adorned them with the greatest diversity of graces, virtues and miracles, crowned them with honor and glory, and given them to us as bright models and powerful patrons. Thus the Eucharistic Sacrifice, like a gold ring, moves around the liturgical cycle of the holy feasts and seasons. On the most pleasant of all feasts, namely on Christmas, “when the heavens are overflowing with honey, and true joy hath come to us from on high,” the Church permits her priests to celebrate three Masses, in order to express more perfectly her exceeding exultation over “this day of the new redemption of the ancient reconciliation and eternal bliss.”²³⁰230In die Nativitatis plures Missae celebrantur propter triplicem Christi nativitatem. Quarum una est aeterna, quae quantum ad nos est occulta, et ideo, una Missa cantatur in nocte, in cujus Introitu dicitur: “Dominus dixit ad me! Filius meus es tu—ego hodie genui te.” — Alia est temporalis, sed spiritualis, qua sc. Christus oritur tanquam lucifer in cordibus (2 Petr. 1, 19) et propter hoc cantatur Missa in aurora, in cujus Introitu dicitur: “Lux fulgebit hodie super nos.” — Tertia est nativitas Christi temporalis et corporalis, secundum quam visibilis nobis processit ex utero virginali carne indutus et ob hoc cantatur tertia Missa in clara luce, in cujus Introitu dicitur: “Puer natus est nobis.” — Licet e converso posset dici quod nativitas aeterna secundum se est in plena luce et ob hoc in Evangelio tertiae Missae fit mentio de nativitate aeterna. — Secundum autem nativitatem corporalem ad litteram natus est de nocte in signum quod veniebat ad tenebras infirmitatis nostrae, unde et in Missa nocturna dicitur Evangelium de corporali Christi nativitate (S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 2 ad 2). — On sorrowful Good Friday, on the contrary, when the Church with deepest compassion is entirely absorbed in her meditation and contemplation of the Cross and of her Divine Spouse, dying in torments for the sins of the world—on this great day of mourning, the Church, so to speak, forgets what is dearest and most precious to her, namely, the joy and consolation of the Holy Sacrifice, denying herself the chalice of refreshment and salvation in view of the bitter cup of sorrow which her Divine Spouse drank upon Golgotha.²³¹231In hoc sacramento recolitur passio Christi, secundum quod ejus effectus ad fideles derivatur, sed tempore passionis recolitur passio Christi secundum hoc quod in ipso capite nostro fuit perfecta, quod quidem factum est semel, quotidie autem fructum dominicae passionis fideles percipiunt, et ideo illa commemoratio fit semel in anno, haec autem quotidie et propter fructum et propter jugem memoriam... Veniente veritate cessat figura. Hoc autem sacramentum est figura quaedam et exemplum dominicae passionis. Et ideo in die quo ipsa passio Domini recolitur, prout realiter gesta est, non celebratur consecratio hujus sacramenti. Ne tamen Ecclesia ea etiam die sit sine fructu passionis per hoc sacramentum nobis exhibito, corpus Christi consecratum die praecedenti reservatur sumendum illo die, non autem sanguis propter periculum, et quia sanguis specialius est imago dominicae passionis. Nec verum est quod quidam dicunt, quod per immissionem particulae corporis Christi in vinum convertatur vinum in sanguinem. Hoc enim aliter fieri non potest quam per consecrationem factam sub debita forma verborum (S. Thom. 3, q. 83, a. 2 ad 1–2).

Finally, all that the faithful do for and give to His service, is referred principally to the worthy celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. For what purpose are all those magnificent churches and altars built, dedicated and furnished with every imaginable adornment that art and nature can produce? Principally for the celebration of Holy Mass. For what purpose are the gold and silver sacred vessels and the magnificent vestments? Chiefly for the celebration of the Mass. For what purpose the lights that burn on the altar, the flowers that exhale their perfume, the clouds of incense that fill the sanctuary—for what else than to honor and to place before our eyes the majesty of the Eucharistic Sacrifice?

It must not be forgotten, in fine, that the Eucharistic Sacrifice is an inexhaustible source of holy thoughts and pious emotions—always refreshing, comforting and quickening both mind and heart.²³²232Hoc Ecclesiae sacramentum, quoniam assidua sui repraesentatione memoriam innovat, fidem auget, spem roborat, charitatem confirmat, non superfluum, sed valde necessarium est... Solvit quidem et plene tollit peccata mundi Agnus Dei in cruce immolatus; nec tamen idcirco, ut dixi, superfluus est in altari oblatus. Et ut in teipso hoc dicas, adverte quicumque haec legis, teque ipsum interroga, quando magis movearis, si tamen quod profiteris firmiter credis, utrum quando dicitur: Christus olim inter homines apparuit; an quando dicitur: Christus nunc inter homines conversatur; quando dicitur: Olim in cruce pependit; an quando dicitur: Nunc in altari offertur: utrum, inquam, te magis moveat et ad admirandum et amandum accendat ejus praedicata absentia quam demonstrata praesentia? Sed scio quia non diffiteris, quod verum est, magis humana corda moveri praesentibus quam absentibus rebus... Movetur igitur magis ad praesentem quam ad absentem, movetur magis ad visum quam ad auditum Christum, movetur ad admirandum, movetur ad amandum, quo amore amanti generatur remissio peccatorum... Non est ergo superfluum Christi corporis et sanguinis sacramentum, quo vivacior memoria excitatur, quo ferventior dilectio provocatur, quo plenior peccatorum remissio comparatur. Non est superfluum, quia non tantum per id quod Deus est, sed etiam per id quod homo est, nobiscum est usque ad consummationem saeculi (Petrus Venerab. Tractatus contra Petrobrusianos [Migne tom. 189, p. 813]). At the altar all the rays of heavenly truth and grace meet as in a focus: who is there that can approach this glowing hearth, without being inflamed with ardent devotion and fervent love of God? The altar on which the God-Man day after day offers Himself before our eyes and by our hands, is the holy hearth where faith, hope and love are enkindled and inflamed, where the spirit of prayer is enlivened and devotion is aroused and ascends to Heaven itself. “The fire on the altar shall always burn,” God said in the Old Law (Lev. 6, 12). But in reality it is upon our altars that God has enkindled a fire that shall never be extinguished. All the mysteries and truths hidden in the Sacrifice of the Mass and which appeal to the heart with a wonderful force from the altar, call forth the spirit and words of prayer. Is it difficult to raise ourselves in thought to Heaven, to lift our mind to God, although the earth as a leaden weight ever drags us downward, when in the Mass Heaven descends to us, when our God and Redeemer stands before us, humbly veiled under the appearances of bread and wine? Christ descends under the mean appearances of material food, with which our thoughts and cares are concerned, that silently and gently He may wean us from those thoughts and cares, and raise our hearts heavenward. We are in a wonderland of mysteries, where under the shadow of foreign appearances the Manna of life eternal grows and the waters of salvation rush along. Our Lord and Saviour is there awaiting the tribute of our adoration. Behold! the Church raises aloft the Cross of the Redeemer, crying unto us: “You are poor sinners, altogether destitute of honor before God,” and she points out to us the avenging hand of justice raised above our life and our sins. Then we strike our breast; our conscience awakes, accuses and convicts us, so that we exclaim: Through my fault! And we bow our head under the weight of the reproaches and accusations of our thoughts. But we do not sink into the abyss of despair. The night, through the mercy of God, has become light. For “Peace to men of good will” the angels sang; and over the Cross this peace embraced impending justice and disarmed it. We have before us Christ’s Body and Blood, which prove to us the great love of God and wrest from our hearts a thanksgiving full of joy.²³³233Vere dignum et justum est... tibi debitam servitutem per ministerii hujus impletionem (Sacrificial celebration) persolvere, quia non solum peccantibus veniam tribuis, sed etiam praemia petentibus impertiris. Et quod perpeti malis operibus promeremur, magnifica pietate depellis, ut nos ad tuae reverentiae cultum et terrore cogas et amore perducas (Sacrament. Gregor.). As our Saviour has given us the most encouraging assurance in the words: “If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you” (John 16, 23), our courage must then be boundless, when we hold in our hands Christ, the well-beloved Son Himself, when we pray to Him and He Himself prays for us. Then our gaze falls upon the great community of those who are united with us at the sacred family table of Jesus Christ, upon His holy Church, upon our brothers and sisters gone before us and detained in the purification and expiation of purgatory, upon all for whom Christ died. Our heart, enlarged to embrace them all in view of the love of Christ, includes them in our prayers. Thus naturally prayers crowd each other within us and on our lips. Prayer finds forcible expression in the numerous ceremonies performed by the priest: in bowing, kissing the altar, in the sign of the Cross, in genuflecting and in many other symbolical actions. The Church would do violence to herself and act contrary to the current of her feelings, if she did not thus in a variety of ways reveal the spirit of prayer. Who would not be moved on beholding in the spirit of faith our wounded Saviour stretched on the hard wood of the Cross, His body bruised and torn, His blood poured out, and all the love blazing out from His wounds? Hence it is not surprising if these lively sentiments burst forth into unceasing prayers and into a multitude of ceremonies surrounding the Holy Sacrifice, down even to the color of the sacerdotal vestments. These are not mere empty forms, they are whole-souled customs, in which the ever youthful and fresh emotions of our Church find expression. These noble and holy sentiments manifest themselves in the ancient prayers and chants woven into the Rite of the Mass: in prayers which for their sublime simplicity cannot be surpassed, in choral singing, which resounds through the halls of the Church as melodies from a better world. They are prayers and chants that bloom in an eternal youth, ever full of the vigor of life, ever attractive as does all that emanates from the mind of the highly gifted human soul when filled with God.²³⁴234Cf. Eberhard, Kanzelvorträge 1, 369 etc.

b) Among the ordinances for the dispensation of grace which principally and immediately relate to the sanctification of man, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass holds, in many respects, the most prominent place. This is based on the relation which the Sacrifice of the Mass bears to the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Sacrifice of the Cross is the original source of all grace; for from the Sacrifice of the Cross all the blessings of redemption proceed and all the means of grace draw their virtue and efficacy. Now, in the Sacrifice of the Mass the inexhaustible source of grace and salvation of the Sacrifice of the Cross is transferred from the past to the present, from a distance it is brought nearest to us. For this reason and under this aspect, the Eucharistic Sacrifice can, in a certain sense, be designated as the source of the grace-giving sacraments and sacramentals.²³⁵235Missae sacrificium non quidem uti sacramenta, immediate institutum est ut gratiam ex opere operato conferat, sed fontem constituit unde sacramenta vim suam hauriunt, et thesaurum bonorum, quibus miseriae fidelium ex omni parte subvenitur: hic obtinent peccatores gratiam sese disponendi ad conversionem, hic succurritur insufficientiae adorationis et gratiarum actionis quas Deo offerimus, hic satisfit pro peccatis, hic impetrantur quaecunque bona sive temporalia sive spiritualia. Atque idcirco, quemadmodum sacrificium crucis est opus salutis nostrae consummativum et prima origo omnis sanctitatis et justitiae, ita sacrificium Missae est praecipuum medium meritorum crucis applicativum et proinde totius oeconomiae gratiae centrum (Lambrecht, De ss. Missae sacrificio p. 5, c. 1, § 4).

If we consider the Sacrifice of the Mass chiefly as a means of grace,²³⁶236Alia causa institutionis Eucharistiae est copiosa et multiplex et misericordissima subventio indigentiae nostrae. Hujus quippe dignissimi celebratio ac sumptio sacramenti est nobis quotidianum contra quotidiana nostra peccata remedium, infirmitatis ac fragilitatis nostrae praesidium ac munimen, paupertatis nostrae ditatio, passionum dejectio, expugnatio vitiorum, confirmatio et auctio gratiarum: imo ineffabiles utilitates ex hoc sacramento nostris proveniunt animabus (Dion. Carthus. De vita Curator., art. 15). it is inferior, indeed, to the Sacraments, inasmuch as it cannot, as they do, directly efface sin and impart sanctifying grace; but in other respects the Sacrifice excels them, since by the Sacraments only certain graces and those merely for the recipient are obtained, while the Mass can obtain directly or at least indirectly all divine graces and blessings, and those not only for the one who celebrates, but also for others, in whose behalf it is celebrated.²³⁷237Suarez disp. 76, sect. 3, n. 4. Consequently, the efficacy of the Mass is more universal and comprehensive than that of the Sacraments. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is truly a means of salvation; for it has great power to avert all evil from us and to procure for us all goods, all kinds of benefits and blessings. The Mass reconciles God’s justice and leads us to the treasury of graces, by which we are disposed worthily to receive the Sacraments and to obtain sacramental graces. In this manner the Eucharistic Sacrifice tends to the possession, increase and preservation of sacramental grace; but in how far has it its origin in the Holy Sacrifice?

The chief blessing of grace is contained in the holy Sacraments. The Sacraments are “stars that light up the firmament of fallen humanity, well-springs in the desert of the pilgrimage of life, miracles of the love of God, mercies of Jesus Christ.” They obtain those graces which correspond to and relieve the general constant necessities of Christian life. Their efficacy consists essentially in removing the curse of sin and in infusing into the soul the grace of sanctification. They were instituted by Jesus Christ to produce and awaken, to preserve and strengthen, to heal and restore, to increase and perfect the higher, supernatural life of the soul, that mystical life of grace of the children of God. The Sacrifice of the Cross is the primary source, which, at the altar in the Mass, gushes forth anew day by day, to re-fill continually the channels of the Sacraments which bring to us the saving waters of redemption. Inasmuch as on the altar the same Sacrifice is offered as was offered on the Cross, we may designate the Mass also as the Sacrificial source whence flow the Sacramental streams of grace and salvation.²³⁸238Vere ac necessario (Eucharistia) fons omnium gratiarum dicenda est, cum fontem ipsum coelestium charismatum et donorum, omniumque sacramentorum auctorem, Christum Dominum, admirabili modo in se contineat, a quo, tanquam a fonte, ad alia sacramenta, quidquid boni et perfectionis habent, derivatur (Catech. Rom. p. 2, cap. 4, q. 40, n. 2). Or the Mass may be regarded as a daily rising sun of grace, whose pure, white rays of light are refracted sevenfold in the Sacraments, and thus form p. 204the golden peace-bow which connect the riches of Heaven with the poverty of the earth. — The relation of the Sacraments to the Sacrifice of Christ is mystically indicated, inasmuch as from the pierced Heart of the Saviour on the Cross flowed forth a stream of water and of blood. The water flowing from the side of Christ symbolizes the water of baptism, which cleanses from sin; the stream of blood refers to the blood of Christ, wherewith the soul in the Sacrament of the Altar is nourished and strengthened unto life eternal. In these two Sacraments the others are comprised, since Baptism is the beginning, the Eucharist the term and consummation of them all. Hence by the flow of blood and water from the Heart of the Crucified is mystically indicated that the Sacraments draw their power from the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross, and consequently, also from the renewal of this sacrificial death on the altar in the Mass.

The Sacramentals are also means of salvation, but in a weaker sense and in an essentially different manner from the Sacraments. The Sacramentals have been instituted by the Church. As the divine institution of salvation, the Church has received from Christ the mission and the power to impart in full measure not merely to man, but also to nature the blessings of redemption, and to make all things new. We know that in consequence of sin the entire creation is in mourning and misery, enslaved and liable to perish—and, therefore, longs to be freed from the thraldom of corruption and, along with the children of God, to be glorified in liberty (Rom. 8, 19). This final renovation and transformation of all creation is begun, or anticipated, by the use of the Sacramentals, which are destined to remove as far as possible the consequences and misery of sin, not merely among men, but throughout the domain of created nature; for this also pertains to perfect redemption, and, therefore, belongs to the effacing of the guilt of sin and to the interior sanctification, which is effected by the Sacraments. Through the merits and intercession of the Church, the Sacramentals acquire a special power to remove the curse of sin, to destroy the dominion of Satan or to render it harmless, to free from manifold wants, to impart temporal welfare and blessings, to obtain for us the divine protection and assistance, to dedicate and sanctify persons and objects destined to the service of God.

The Sacramentals are divided into exorcisms, blessings and consecrations; their salutary effects extend to mankind and to the work of their hands, as well as to objects of nature. The Church employs her exorcisms over man and irrational creatures, to expel from them the influence of the evil spirit who by sin has obtained power to injure and ruin us and our belongings. Man and objects in nature withdrawn from evil influence are then dedicated and sanctified for the service of the Lord. The blessings obtain for man both spiritually and corporally and for all that belongs to him or serves to his use, the divine protection against evil and the divine favor for all that is good and salutary. — The Church blesses and p. 205consecrates to God not alone persons, but also inanimate things: thus she blesses or dedicates, or consecrates churches, cemeteries, altars and bells, crosses and pictures, candles and incense, water and oil, the vessels and articles for Holy Mass, the vestments of the priest, candles for the feast of the Purification, the ashes of Lent, the palms of Holy Week, etc. She blesses what is necessary for the support of the body: food and medicine, cattle and the fruits of the field; as well as the requirements of human society: weapons and tools, houses and ships, bridges and streets. In brief—there is scarcely an important requisite of the natural and supernatural life to which the Church denies the protection and blessing of her Sacramentals.²³⁹239Cf. Laurent, Christolog. Predigten II, 100–103. Like the Sacraments the Sacramentals are also connected with the Eucharistic Sacrifice and source of blessings, from which they, in a certain sense, draw their salutary efficacy; for on the altar in the Holy Mass that stream of blood and water from Golgotha continues to flow, in whose flood the earth, the sea, the starry firmament, in a word, the universe is cleansed, that is, touched with the blessing of Redemption and led on to its future transformation: Unda manat et cruor: terra, pontus, astra, mundus quo lavantur flumine! (Hymn. Eccl.).

Therefore, while Christ’s Sacrifice is the fountain-head of all the blessings of redemption, the Sacraments and Sacramentals should be regarded as brooks and rivulets which convey to all who are well disposed the inexhaustible blessings of that Sacrifice. This connection of the sacramental means of salvation with the Holy Mass is expressed and sanctioned in various ways in the liturgy of the Church. At the ordination of priests, the Church says: Sacerdotem oportet offerre, benedicere, baptizare . . . — “It behooves the priest to offer Sacrifice, to bless, to baptize . . .,” and at the consecration of bishops, she says: Episcopum oportet . . . consecrare, offerre . . . — “It behooves the bishop to consecrate, to offer sacrifice.”²⁴⁰240Pontif. Roman. Here the power of offering sacrifice is placed in the closest relation with the power of blessing and consecrating. The administration of the Sacraments and the Sacramentals is intrusted to the same persons (priests and bishops), who are called and authorized to offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice; for the power of administering the Sacraments and the Sacramentals has, so to speak, its source in the higher and more eminent power of celebrating Mass. Because priests and bishops offer sacrifice, they can and may in the name of Christ and of the Church dispense graces and blessings: the power of blessing is, so to speak, the outcome and extension of the power of offering sacrifice, an accessory to the divine service. — The connection of the sacramental graces and the means of grace with the Eucharistic Sacrifice is, moreover, indicated by the fact that many liturgical formulas of blessing are inserted in the Missal,—and still more so and especially by the regulation of the Church requiring that the p. 206administration of the Sacraments and Sacramentals should take place, as much as possible, in connection with the Mass. Thus the Sacrament of the Altar is consummated and prepared during the celebration of Mass and should also, as much as possible, be then received and administered.²⁴¹241The interior relation between the Sacrifice and the Sacrament of the Eucharist finds a manifold expression in the liturgy. Wherever possible the Communion is to be given intra missam statim post communionem sacerdotis celebrantis, and only ex rationabili causa is it to be administered extra missam. In the latter case the stole of the priest to be used is not always white, but it should be of the color of the actual Officium diei, that is of the color corresponding to the Mass of the day, so that at least by the color of the stole the Holy Communion may be characterized as participatio sacrificii, as the partaking of the Sacrificial Food (Rituale Romanum et S. R. C. 12. Mart. 1836). — The time of day for distributing Communion (except per modum viatici) appears to be limited to the hours when (vi rubricae vel indulti) it is permitted to celebrate Mass (ab aurora usque ad meridiem). S. R. C. 7. Sept. 1816. According to St. Alphonsus (l. 6. n. 252) the sententia communis formerly went so far as to say that the distribution of Holy Communion per se loquendo was permitted at any time of the day—except noctu et sub vesperis, i. e. in extrema diei parte. — On the feast of Christmas as the midnight Mass (post mediam noctem) Holy Communion may be distributed only in places where an Apostolic indult expressly allows it, or an existing custom sanctions it (S. R. C. 23. Mart. 1866;—3. Dec. 1701 et 16. Febr. 1781). — In Holy Week from the time that the Blessed Sacrament is removed on Holy Thursday until the Communion of the High Mass on Holy Saturday the Eucharist may not be given to those who are in good health (those who are grievously ill may receive it per modum viatici). After the High Mass of Holy Saturday it may be given everywhere, but during that Mass only in such places in which the custom of receiving it prevails (consuetudo) (S. R. C. 23. Sept. 1837 et 7. Sept. 1850). Minor Orders and especially the holy Orders are conferred on clerics at the altar and during the celebration of Mass. In connection with the Mass the material of many Sacraments is blessed;—thus baptismal water on Holy Saturday and on the eve of Pentecost, the holy oils on Holy Thursday.²⁴²242The Mass in question is called in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory Missa chrismalis. As it was preceded by a Missa ad reconciliationem poenitentium and followed by a Missa serotina vel vespertina, the feria V. in Coena Domini belonged formerly to the poly-liturgical days. Immediately before Mass the blessing of the candles, of the ashes and palms takes place. The coronation of the Pope, the clothing and profession of religious persons, the anointing of kings, the consecration of churches and altars are rites and ceremonies most closely connected with the celebration of Mass. — In the Eucharistic Sacrifice originates also the sacredness and sublime dignity of the Catholic priesthood, which imprints on the soul at ordination the ineffaceable sacerdotal character. The grades by which the ministers of the Church step by step ascend to the highest, that is, to the episcopal dignity, are chiefly distinguished according to the power concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass. The first, namely, Minor Orders, empower the cleric with a more remote participation in the service of the altar; while the sub-deaconate and deaconship have closer intercourse with the Holy Sacrifice and permit a closer assistance in its celebration. The priest possesses the power to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, that is, to celebrate the Sacrifice of the New Covenant, which imparts to him an indescribably sublime dignity. Finally, the bishop is raised and exalted above the simple priest, in this that he possesses this heavenly power of sacrifice not only for himself, but also to communicate it to others, and propagate it by the sacramental ordination of priests.

3. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is, therefore, the soul or life of the entire divine worship, the sun that illumines all religious celebrations, the heart that gives pulse to all sacramental cult, the fountain-head of the whole ecclesiastical life of grace—in short, it is the centre of the Catholic liturgy. If the Catholic liturgy is a mighty stream, with its sweet salutary waters cleansing, sanctifying, vivifying, fructifying, beautifying, transforming, inundating the entire Church, all this is due to the holy fountain of the Mass, which ceases not to flow on the altar, and to diffuse the vigor of life throughout all the members of the mystical body of Christ. Every grace, every consecration, every blessing issues from the depths of the Sacrifice of Christ. Under the influence of the celestial light and supernal heat which radiate anew daily from that sun of grace, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, all creation tends towards its final consummation and eternal transfiguration.

The Sacrifice of the Mass is and remains the centre of the Christian religion, the sun of spiritual exercises, the heart of devotion and the soul of piety. Hence “that ever new, never-failing power by which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass attracts all Catholic hearts and gathers Catholic nations around its altars. Already before the dawn of day, before the morning flush enters our churches, the bells ring out their summons to the Holy Sacrifice; and soon here and there a light appears at the window; over the crisp snow steps are hastening to the house of God, whilst the moon still looks down from heaven. ‘Happy does he rise at early dawn who strives after what is good!’ Everywhere the Holy Mass retains this magnetic power of attraction, whether celebrated within the marble walls of St. Peter’s at Rome, in gorgeous vestments, amid thousands of brilliant lights, encompassed with the master-pieces of Christian art and adorned with its fairest festal robe of flowers and blossoms; or whether it be celebrated without pomp in a poor wooden shed, or under a canopy of branches of trees, erected by the hands of the new converts around the missionary celebrating the holy mysteries;—a striking proof that Catholics do not worship the exterior but the substance, and that it is not the charm of religious pageantry but the reality which attracts them. Who has not from childhood the sweetest and purest recollections of the celebration of the Mass, even though he witnessed it in only a poor village church! And this magnetic attraction is not of to-day, nor was it but of yesterday, nor will it perhaps to-morrow die away. It is not the fictitious power of novelty. More than fifteen centuries ago the Holy Sacrifice drew p. 208our fore-fathers around the altar with a power that overcame all the terrors of persecution, which often broke in upon the peaceful celebration of Holy Mass. Thus St. Dionysius of Alexandria, who lived in the third century, relates: ‘Though hunted after and persecuted by everybody, even then we did not omit the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. In every place, wherever we, torn from each other, bore our numerous trials, the field, the desert, the ship, the habitations of animals served us as temples for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice.’ When the storm of persecution raged throughout the whole world, the stream of grace and benediction poured from the Holy Mass celebrated in the Catacombs, or underground caverns; just as at a much later period this Holy Sacrifice, persecuted by Protestantism, took refuge in the garrets. But even in this dire extremity the attractive power of the Mass was not weakened. Catholics went down into underground dens, into the Catacombs, and climbed up under the rafters of houses, to pray for those whose hatred had driven what was most holy to them to the most wretched nooks, and who were giving themselves airs in edifices reared by Catholic piety.”²⁴³243Eberhard, Kanzelvorträge I, 317.

What should not the Holy Sacrifice, therefore, be for us priests, and what should not we priests be for the Holy Sacrifice? The priesthood was instituted for the Eucharist. Our priestly life is made up of duties connected with it. To this end we have been chosen out of the world and separated from it. The seal of Jesus Christ is stamped upon us; the spirit and the ways of the world, and even the permissible things of the world should be for us what they are not for others. By the chisel of the Holy Ghost an invisible character has been engraved on our soul, in order that we may forever be the property of the Blessed Sacrament. What are we, and what should we be? Once only did Mary draw the Eternal Word down from heaven, whilst every day we priests draw Him down from heaven to earth. She carried Jesus in her arms until He had reached the age of boyhood, but for us He prolongs His childhood throughout our lifetime. Can we look into the face of our Mother and tell her that in this respect we are greater than she was, and not think on the sanctity that our awe-inspiring office requires of us? Oh, how happy would the long martyrdom of our spiritual life be, if we but aspired to priestly holiness! The attraction of the Eucharist should be our vocation, our ecclesiastical spirit, our joy. The fires of hell can not in all eternity burn out the sacerdotal character imprinted on our soul in ordination; but the splendors of heaven will make that sacred character shine out with so much the greater lustre.²⁴⁴244Cf. F. Faber, The Blessed Sacrament.