The Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

47. The Offering of the Host

The next preparation of the elements of the Sacrifice takes place during the Mass itself,⁴⁸⁹489The preparation of the offering, that is, the pouring of the wine into the chalice and the mixing of water in it, took place, in the Middle Age, usually before the prayers at the foot of the altar, that is, immediately after the priest had ascended the altar, and also the bread and the wine were then often offered to God not one after the other, but both together by a single prayer. Cf. the present rite of the Dominicans.—and it includes the separation, the dedication and the blessing of the bread and wine for the exalted end to which they are destined. This preliminary sanctification of the Eucharistic elements, if not essentially necessary, is yet in the highest degree just and proper.⁴⁹⁰490Per prolationem sacrorum verborum et signa crucis panis et vinum aptantur et quasi meliorantur, ut sint condigna materia, quae in corpus et sanguinem Christi convertatur. Si enim vestes et templum ac vasa ecclesiae benedicuntur et sanctificantur, ut sint apta instrumenta divini obsequii, quanto rationabilius est, panem et vinum ante consecrationem benedici, ut sint apta materia transsubstantiationis supermirabilis atque divinae. Nam et aliorum sacramentorum materiae propter reverentiam sacramenti ante usum suum sanctificantur, ut aqua baptismi vel chrisma seu oleum (Dion. Carthus. Expos. Missae art. 18). The earthly elements are to be taken from the sphere of nature into the higher order of grace, that is, they are to become holy things, before the Holy Ghost changes them into the Body and Blood of Christ. — And it has in its favor the example of Jesus Himself, who at the Last Supper, in His character of Highpriest, taking the bread and the chalice with wine “in His holy and venerable hands,” and “raising His eyes to heaven, blessed, as He gave thanks” to the Almighty Father, the earthly gifts of bread and wine, that is, He as Man fervently prayed—for that moment and for all future time—that the elements be changed, a change which He as God together with the Father and the Holy Ghost would effect not only then, but as often as the words of Consecration would be pronounced as prescribed.⁴⁹¹491The Lord celebrated the Pasch of the New Testament by blessing (εὐλογήσας, benedicens) the bread and the chalice, as also by giving thanks (εὐχαριστήσας, gratias agens) to God the Father. Both words εὐλογεῖν and εὐχαριστεῖν are not simply synonymous, but are often used to designate one and the same prayer, in so far as the blessing therein contained is connected with thanksgiving. At all events by this εὐλογεῖν or εὐχαριστεῖν we must not understand merely the uttering of the words of consecration; for there is thereby designated another act entirely different from the consecration, that is, a preparatory prayer of blessing and thanksgiving preceding the consecration, the conclusion of which are the words of the consecration. This presanctification of the elements was wholly appropriate, since their species remained after the consecration, and, in like manner, the thanksgiving also was appropriate before and during the performance of a mystery equally glorious for God as beneficial for men. (Cf. Knabenbauer ad Matth. 26, 26, and Cornely ad 1 Cor. 10, 16 and 11, 24.) — The Church, therefore, imitates the Saviour, when in the course of the sacrificial celebration up to the time of the Consecration, she repeatedly blesses the Eucharistic elements, and implores of God their acceptance, sanctification and transformation.

The Offertory of the elements begins with the offering of the Host, wherein we may distinguish the act and the prayer of the Oblation.

1. The Act of Oblation. The priest takes the paten with the Host resting thereon and elevates it, that is, he offers it as a sacrificial gift to the Lord God “who dwells in the highest,” and he does this by holding it, as it were, before His eyes, and joining to it the supplication, that the Lord would graciously accept it.⁴⁹²492In oblatione panis et vini dicuntur aliquae orationes valde tenerae, devotae ac sanctae a sacerdote, quasi spiritualiter habente in manibus thus lucidissimum et panes propositionis (Lev. 24, 7), qui in mensa Domini offeruntur. Et quamvis sacerdos satisfaciat, orationes illas eo affectu dicens, quem ipsa verba insinuant, bene ad ea attentus, tamen magis adhuc specialiter quum accipit Patenam cum hostia in manibus, debet spiritualiter in ea cor proprium ponere et corda omnium circumstantium, imo et omnium fidelium, ut ea etiam Deo offerat cum ea celsissima intentione, quod quemadmodum hostiam illam offert, quae est purus panis, ut ejus substantia destructa convertatur in corpus ipsius Christi, ita cor suum et omnium fidelium offerat, ut in eis destruat quidquid terrenum est, et convertat ac per amorem et imitationem transformet in ipsum Christum, ita ut desinant esse quod erant et vivere more antiquo, incipiant autem esse et vivere sicut ipse omnium Redemptor (De Ponte, De christ. hom. perf. IV, tr. 2, c. 12, § 1). The raising of the Host is intended to express the act of presentation. At the same time, the priest, as is conformable to the first words of the accompanying prayer, raises his eyes to the Crucifix on the altar and lowers them again almost immediately; this harmonizes with the rest of the oblation prayer, wherein he is mindful of his unworthiness and first of all offers it for his own sins. — After the conclusion of the prayer, the celebrant makes with the paten and Host the Sign of the Cross over the place on which the Host is to be placed.⁴⁹³493There is, moreover, already a cross cut in the altar-stone and anointed with chrism, when the altar was consecrated, in the very place (the middle of the altar) where the host is placed. Quod sacerdos oblata in altari deponit super crucem in consecratione altaris cum chrismate factam, hic est Christus, qui carnem suam cruci affixit (Sicardus, Mitrale l. 3, c. 6). This ceremony is intended to bring before the mind in a striking manner that the Cross and altar are holy places, where, though, indeed, after a different manner, one and the same Sacrifice was once and is now offered. The very same Body that hung upon the Cross, is laid on the altar; as the Cross was once deemed worthy to bear the atoning Sacrifice for the world, so is now the altar.

2. The Oblation Prayer.

This prayer, which is as terse in composition as it is rich in thought, affords an answer to various questions that may be asked with regard to the Eucharistic Sacrifice. — Who is to receive and accept the Host? — “The holy Father, the Almighty, eternal God.”⁴⁹⁴494Pensa, cui offeras, utpote Deo Patri omnipotenti et aeterno, ex cujus bonitatis, dilectionis, pietatis, munificentiae ac beneficiorum contemplatione debes vehementi dilectione accendi, atque ex consideratione suae majestatis et aequitatis debes reverentiali timore et omni humiliatione tui ipsius repleri. Hinc ante celebrationem et in ea debes bonitatem, caritatem, liberalitatem et misericordiam Dei Patris ad homines intueri, mirari et honorare (Dion. Carthus. De sacr. altar. art. 16). The Church in the Mass generally addresses herself to God the Father, in order to unite herself to the Saviour, who on the altar offers Himself to His heavenly Father. In the full and complete sense God alone deserves the name of Father, as Christ says: “Call none your father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven” (Matt. 23, 9). Yes, God is our Father; we are and we are called His children. Through His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He has conferred upon us the dignity as well as the goods and privileges of children of God. What love has He not thereby shown us! God is not merely the best and the most liberal of fathers, but He is also the infinitely “holy Father”. Thus does the Saviour call Him in His sacrificial prayer as Highpriest (John 17, 11). Therefore, as His children, it is incumbent on us to be, after the Saviour’s example, holy in all our conduct; for we should be perfect as is our Father in heaven (Matt. 5, 48). — God, whom we may with confidence call our Father, is, moreover, the “Almighty, eternal God,” to whom, on account of His majesty and glory, the sacrifice of the most profound reverence and humble subjection is due; finally, He is the “living and the true God,” to whom alone sacrifice may and should be offered. In the liturgy the Lord is often designated as the living and true God,⁴⁹⁵495Conversi estis ad Deum a simulacris, servire Deo vivo et vero (1 Thess. 1, 9). in contradistinction to the inanimate and false gods, which are vain, powerless and full of deception. The priest offers to the “living and true God,” who created heaven and earth. The “living” God is life itself, the eternal and increated life, the source of all life: because from Him proceeds both natural and supernatural life, the life of grace and glory in the world of angels and of men. In God and from God all things live and move; out of Him there is but death. The “true” God is truth itself, the primordial and purest truth, the fountain-head of all truth. St. John writes: “We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us understanding that we may know the true God, and may be in His true Son. This (Christ) is the true Son of God and life eternal. Little children keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5, 20–21).

What is offered to God the Father? — An “unspotted Host”—immaculata hostia.⁴⁹⁶496This spotlessness is frequently commented upon in the liturgy, because it is the first and essential requisite, in order that the Sacrificial Gift may be acceptable to God. By this expression the Eucharistic Sacrificial Body of Christ, as well as the Eucharistic Sacrificial bread is to be understood. That the term unspotted Host is not exclusively applied to the bread there present, but is to be referred also to the Body of the Lord soon to be present under the appearance of bread, is clearly evident from the context, as also from the comparison of this prayer with other oblation prayers, recited before the Consecration. Only the Body of Christ is that unspotted Host, which secures for us atonement of sin and salvation, for which supplication is made.⁴⁹⁷497Panis non est immaculata illa hostia pro expiatione peccatorum oblata, sed solus Christus. Itaque sensus horum verborum hic est: Suscipe, sancte Pater, immaculatam hostiam, quam ego indignus servus tuus ex hoc pane per mirabilem conversionem confecturus sum et tibi oblaturus. . . . Unde sacerdos in Offertorio orat Deum, ut acceptet hostiam a se ex hoc pane conficiendam et offerendam, et ut victima ex pane conficienda prosit sibi et aliis. Atque simul per caerimoniam illam sacrat Deo materiam remotam sacrificii ad sacrificium eucharistiae decentius peragendum (Antoine, de sacrif. Missae q. 2). — The Church, therefore, looks on the bread resting on the paten and chosen for the Consecration, as already consecrated, and in offering it has already Christ’s Body in view. Hence the priest already before (as later after) the Consecration calls the gift that he offers immaculate, unspotted; for Christ is the absolutely pure, holy and faultless Victim. The unspotted Host on the altar is, therefore, that “clean oblation”—oblatio munda—announced by the Prophet Malachias. — This offering of the Body of Christ is, in a measure, to be distinguished from the offering which takes place after the Consecration, and the difference consists in this, that here at the same time the bread is still presented and dedicated to the Lord God with the desire that He would accept it for the purpose of consecration, that is, that He would bring the oblation of the bread to its final termination by the Consecration. Consequently, the expression unspotted Host can and ought to be understood of the sacrificial bread lying on the paten,⁴⁹⁸498After the Consecration not only the Body and Blood of Christ, but also the figurative bread and wine offerings of Melchisedech are designated as immaculata hostia. Bishop Odo of Cambrai († 1113) remarks in respect to this designation (Exposit. in Canon. Miss. dist. 3): “Ab immaculata (Virgine) sumpta est haec hostia, ideo et ipsa immaculata. Et hoc loco admonemur quod panis appositus altari debet esse candidissimus et in quo nulla possit inspici macula, ut hoc appareat in figura, quod praedicatur de substantia, ut pura et immaculata videatur exterius figura, cujus substantia dicitur interius pura et immaculata. which is wholly faultless in consequence of the care taken in the selection of the prescribed materials and in its preparation. To two things therefore, namely, to the Sacrificial Body of the Lord, in spirit regarded as already present, and to the sacrificial bread soon to be changed, which is present in reality, the eye and heart of the priest are directed, while he raises on the paten the “unspotted Host” imploring its favorable acceptance by the heavenly Father.

Who performs the offering? — The priest who acknowledges himself an unworthy servant of God. The priest is God’s servant. The Lord, who “raiseth up the needy from the earth, and lifteth up the poor from the dunghill, that He may place him with princes, with the princes of His people” (Ps. 112, 7–8),—the Lord hath called him into His sanctuary, that he may serve Him there all the days of his life. But it is especially at the altar that the priest is penetrated with a sense of his unworthiness to discharge this honorable and sublime service. The humblest office in the house of God is more exalted than the greatest worldly position. Now when the priest considers his misery and frailty, his ingratitude and sinfulness, how painfully should he not realize that he is quite unworthy to serve the Most High and, above all, in the most holy Mystery of the Altar?

For whom does the priest offer the Sacrifice? — In the first place, for himself, then for all present and, finally, for all Christians. — The celebrant, therefore, first offers the unspotted Host as a sacrifice of propitiation for his own sins, to obtain remission of all guilt and punishment; upon the altar there is, indeed, the very Body in which the Saviour bore our sins on the Cross and atoned for them by His death (1 Peter 2, 24). The priest knows full well that he is not (as he should be) holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, but that he is encompassed with infirmity; therefore, must he, in the first place, offer sacrifice for his own sins and afterward for those of his people (Heb. 7, 26).⁴⁹⁹499Christus Dominus noster, qui aeternitate sacerdotii sui omnes tibi (Deo) servientes sanctificat sacerdotes, quoniam mortali carne circumdati, ita quotidianis peccatorum remissionibus indigemus, ut non solum pro populo, sed etiam pro nobis (sacerdotibus) ejusdem te Pontificis sanguis exoret (Sacrament. Gregor.). He confesses his sins and faults and negligences to be “innumerable”.⁵⁰⁰500Tu Christi sacerdos considera temetipsum, quis sis, h. e. quam defectuosus et fragilis in natura . . . quam culpabilis in vita, quam innumerabilibus vicibus quotidie peccans, saltem in venialibus, per omissionem et commissionem, per interiorum et exteriorum incustodiam sensuum, per irrefrenationem linguae, per inexemplaritatem et scandalum, per cogitationes inutiles, per distractiones, levitates, negligentias etiam in divinis, per immoderantias cibi ac potus, per inordinatas circa quaecunque creata affectiones. In his et consimilibus multis adverte te quotidie toties esse culpabilem ac peccantem, ut nequeas numerare, nec singula possis attendere, imo exorare indigeas et exclamare ad Dominum: Delicta quis intelligit? Ab occultis meis munda me (Dion. Carthus, De sacramento altaris serm. 3). Delicta quis intelligit? (Ps. 18, 13.) Who can understand and take a note of all sins?⁵⁰¹501P. Roothaan S. J. distinguishes in his Annotations to the Exercitia spiritualia of St. Ignatius the peccata et offensiones et negligentiae of our Oblation prayer in the following manner: a) Peccata quaevis, seu gravia seu levia, sive cogitationis sint, sive verborum sive operum sive etiam omissionis. Peccata, intelligo culpas proprie sic dictas. b) Offensiones, culpae minus proprie dictae, seu involuntariae, in quas scilicet offendere fragilitatem nostram in tot tamque variis vitae hujus casibus pronum est, ferme ut per viam salebrosam incedenti frequenter offendere seu impingere vel nolenti accidit. Et tamen, cautius incedendo, offensiones hujusmodi minuere Dei famulus potest et debet. c) Negligentiae eae, quae ad rationem quidem peccati omissionis non pertingunt, sed in actiones nostras irrepere, easque si minus vitiare omnino, tamen imperfectas minusque acceptas Deo reddere solent, suntque profecto innumerae, sive intentionis puritatem et intensionem spectes sive modos omnes, quibus actiones nostras ornari ac perfici in Dei conspectu decet, pro mensura luminis et gratiae nobis a Domino communicatae. The possibilities of failing and stumbling are incalculably numerous. Who is not terrified at the facility and at the danger of committing sin! Even the just man falls seven times a day, and we all fail in many things. The more brightly the light of grace shines in the soul and the more delicate the conscience grows, the more clearly does man perceive the errors and guilt, the remissness and imperfections, the deliberate and indeliberate faults of his life.⁵⁰²502Impossibile credo secundum statum viatoris, quod aliquis unum diem vel septimanam transeat sine remorsu venialis; tamen quod totum annum transeat, hoc habeo magis pro impossibili, et vix credo, quod fuerit hoc donum in aliquo nisi in Christo et ejus Matre; et ideo unusquisque vel habet conscientiam vel debet habere et omni hora petere: Dimitte nobis etc. Vix enim est, quod homo aliquamdiu sit in vita ista sine veniali, tum propter frequentiam, quia strepitus vitiorum et peccatorum venialium semper insonant auribus cordis nostri; tum propter ignorantiam, quia in multis venialiter peccamus et ignoramus, et non consideramus; tum propter adhaerentiam, quoniam venialia ista sunt magnae adhaerentiae, maxime quando habetur affectio circa aliquod terrenum: et ideo, quantumcumque sit perfectus, corde debet recognoscere et ore confiteri, se peccatorem esse. (S. Bonav. IV, dist. 17, p. 2, a. 2, q. 1 ad 4.) Though even his sins be but trivial, they are still many and in their number lurks the danger. See you not how the little drops swell the streams and tear up the earth? All the sins incident to the very living of this wretched life of ours, the priest would daily atone for and efface by the Sacrifice of the Altar.⁵⁰³503Non solum lavit Christus nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo, quando sanguinem suum dedit in cruce pro nobis, vel quando unusquisque nostrum mysterio sacrosanctae passionis illius baptismo aquae ablutus est, verum etiam quotidie tollit peccata mundi. Lavat itaque nos a peccatis nostris quotidie in sanguine suo, cum ejusdem beatae passionis ad altare memoria replicatur, cum panis et vini creatura in sacramentum carnis et sanguinis ejus ineffabili Spiritus sanctificatione transfertur, sicque corpus et sanguis illius non infidelium manibus ad perniciem ipsorum funditur et occiditur, sed fidelium ore suam sumitur in salutem (Beda Venerab. lib. 1, homil. 14). — The priest, in the second place, offers and prays expressly for all present, that is, for all those who are devoutly assisting at the divine service and who are uniting in the Holy Sacrifice; such persons, consequently, partake of a more special and abundant share in the fruits of the Sacrifice. — Like the loving, solicitous Mother she is, the Church forgets none of her children; she, therefore, permits the priest to offer and pray for all the faithful who belong to the communion of saints and who still stand in need of assistance, consequently, for all her children, whether “this present world yet retains them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them stripped of their mortal bodies,”—whether they still are combating on earth or suffering in purgatory.

For what purpose is the Sacrifice offered? — That to all “it may be available unto eternal life,” that is, that the Sacrifice may apply to them the benefits and blessings of Redemption, not merely for time, but for all eternity. Salvation (salus) is the ideal and the sum of all the good things that Christ brought into the world, for we acquire possession of these goods when we obtain salvation. This salvation begins for us here below in receiving pardon, and is completed in the other world in beatitude. Now, on the altar there flows the universal and inexhaustible fountain of salvation, whence all spiritual gifts come to us. Hence the priest prays that the Eucharistic Sacrifice may be unto all so efficacious a means of salvation, that they may attain to glory of soul and body in eternity.⁵⁰⁴504After the offering of the host the paten, when the Mass is not a solemn one, is concealed under the corporal until after the Pater noster (cf. Microl. c. 10). In solemn Masses, however, the subdeacon holds the paten enveloped in the veil that hangs from his shoulders. The original and peculiar reason for keeping it thus covered is, because the paten (as also the chalice), being a blessed and sacred object, should, as far as possible, be withdrawn from profane gaze (cf. Lebrun p. 3, a. 6).

48. The Offering of the Chalice

In a manner similar to the Host, the chalice also is dedicated and offered to the Heavenly Father;⁵⁰⁵505That the Oblation prayer of the chalice is always addressed to the Father, is manifest from the Mozarabic Missal, in which the prayer is as follows: Offerimus tibi, Domine, Jesu Christi Filii tui calicem humiliter implorantes clementiam tuam, ut ante conspectum divinae majestatis tuae cum odore suavitatis ascendat. Per eundem Chr. (Migne 85, 528). but the offering is preceded by the preparation.

1. Preparation of the Chalice.

a) This comprises the pouring of the wine into the chalice, as well as the mixing of it with a little water which was previously blessed by the Sign of the Cross.⁵⁰⁶506John Beleth (in the twelfth century) writes on the subject: Tum vero aqua benedicitur, quando admiscetur vino; sed haudquaquam vinum, quoniam peculiarem suam exspectat benedictionem (Rationale c. 41). The symbol of mixing the wine and water is here to be considered, in order to arrive at the reason and the meaning of the use of the Sign of the Cross, which is omitted only in Requiem Masses. — It is asked why the Sign of the Cross is made over the water only and not over the wine, and why in Requiem Masses the blessing of the water also is omitted. The most reliable explanation rests on the symbolical meaning to be found in the mingling of the wine and water. The wine symbolizes Christ, who has no need of a blessing and to whom no advantage accrues from His union with the people; hence the wine is not blessed. The water symbolizes the faithful, who greatly need divine grace and to whom accrues, from their union with Christ, the greatest gain. This is expressed by the use of the Sign of the Cross that is made over the water before it is mingled with the wine.⁵⁰⁷507Vinum in hoc loco Christum significat, qui nulla eget benedictione; aqua populum qui in hac vita nequit esse sine peccato, propter quod indiget benedictione Dei, ut reddatur dignus ad unionem cum Christo. Ad hoc igitur significandum aqua benedicitur, quando vino admiscetur (Durand. l. 4, c. 30, n. 21). The Sign of the Cross, therefore, does not apply so much to the water itself, as to the people signified by the water.⁵⁰⁸508The former rite had not this signification; it was differently constituted, as the cross was not made over the water, but the water was poured into the chalice in the form of a cross: Archdiaconus infundit (aquam) faciens crucem (= in modum crucis) in calice (Ordo Rom. I, n. 14). — The Ordo Rom. XIV, c. 72, had the rubric: demum (after pouring the water into the wine) signat super calicem semel. — This, consequently, explains why the Sign of the Cross is omitted in Requiem Masses. The whole Requiem Mass rite, for instance, aims at giving to the departed souls the greatest possible assistance, hence much is omitted which refers to that fruit which those present, namely, the living, generally derive from the Mass. Thus, for example, the celebrant at the Introit makes the Sign of the Cross not over himself, but over the book, which here in a certain way represents the suffering souls, and at the conclusion of the Mass he does not bestow the blessing on those present. For the same reason, at the Offertory he omits to bless the water, that is, the people symbolized by the water.

b) The prayer recited at the mixing of the water with the wine is as follows:

The foregoing prayer, which occurs in the ancient Sacramentaries as a Christmas Collect,⁵⁰⁹509Self-evidently these words are there wanting: per hujus aquae et vini mysterium. contains in part the mystical meaning of the mingling of the water and wine. In it we beg for that participation in the divine nature of which St. Peter writes: “By Christ He hath given us very great and precious promises, that by these we may be made partakers of the divine nature (divinae consortes naturae)” (2 Peter 1, 4). This participation in the divine nature is an exceedingly consoling and elevating mystery. It consists in this, that poor, frail human nature, by the communication of heavenly gifts and graces, is elevated to a supernatural state, endowed with inestimable riches and clothed with incomparable beauty. Hence the holy Fathers speak of a deification of man (deificatio), whereby they understand a supernatural, mystical, blissful union with and resemblance to God. “They in whom the Holy Ghost dwells become deified” (θεοποιοῦνται).⁵¹⁰510S. Athanas. Epist. 1 ad Serap. n. 24. The virgin martyr Agnes referred to these gifts of grace when, full of enthusiasm, she spoke of her heavenly Spouse: “With sparkling and glittering gems hath He covered my breast, with golden garments hath He clothed me, with artistic and precious jewels hath He adorned me,—and, moreover, He hath shown me incomparable treasures, which are to be mine, if I remain true to Him.” — To participate in the divine life, in the divine glory of Jesus Christ, we, therefore, pray, saying: per hujus aquae et vini mysterium, that is, by the mystery which is represented by the present mingling of water and wine. This mystery is manifold: at one time it represents the Incarnation, as also the passion and death of the Saviour (the issue of water and blood from Christ’s pierced Heart),—hence the beginning and the conclusion of the work of redemption. These two mysteries are the original source of all grace for us: only because the Son of God assumed human nature and sacrificed His life in death for us, have we been made the children of God, co-heirs and associates in the glory of Jesus Christ. — Another mystery (signified in the mixing of wine and water) is the mystical union of the faithful with Christ—principally as accomplished in the reception of the Eucharist.⁵¹¹511Under the form of bread the Body is given to thee, and under the form of wine the Blood is given to thee, that, by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, thou mayst become one body and blood with Him (σύσσωμος καὶ σύναιμος αὐτοῦ). In this manner we also become Christ-bearers, in that His Body and Blood are distributed throughout our members. Therefore, according to the blessed Peter, we become partakers of the divine nature (S. Cyrill. Hierosol. IV, Cat. mystag. n. 3). By this union with the Head, divine life diffuses itself throughout the members, as from the stock of the vine the vivifying and fructifying sap flows on to the branches. The more intimately we become incorporated with Christ by means of the holy Sacrament, the nearer we draw to the fountain of all graces, and the more plentifully are they diffused in our soul.

That we may be the more readily heard, we gratefully acknowledge, in support and confirmation of the above petition, the exceedingly great mercy the Lord has shown us in the boon both of our creation and of our redemption.⁵¹²512Ipse erit reformator tuus, qui fuit formator tuus (S. Aug. Enarr. in Ps. 103, n. 4). — Duo sunt, quae principaliter attendere debet humana circumspectio: dignitatem suae conditionis et excellentiam suae reformationis. Dignitatem suae conditionis, ut peccare timeat; excellentiam redemptionis, ut gratiae redimentis ingratus non existat (Ivon. Carnot. serm. 22). Therefore, we implore that the work which God has wonderfully begun, He may mercifully complete in us by imparting to us the divine life of grace here below and of glory hereafter.⁵¹³513Grace is the beginning, the principle and the root of glory, and glory is the completion, the blossom and the fruit of grace. Gratia et gloria ad idem genus referuntur; quia gratia nihil aliud est quam quaedam inchoatio gloriae in nobis (S. Thom. 2, 2, q. 24, a. 3 ad 2). In a wonderful manner did God make the dignity of man’s being: He made man the king of the visible world, setting him but a little below the angels, with honor and glory He crowned him; for He did not leave human nature in Paradise in its lowliness, poverty and imperfection, but He enriched and adorned it with supernatural gifts. From this blissful height man precipitated himself into the depth of sin and misery; then God in a still more wonderful manner restored him and raised him up from his fall. God’s love, wisdom and power are incomparably more gloriously displayed in the redemption than in the creation of the world. Nihil nobis nasci profuit, nisi redimi profuisset, sings the Church. “Of what avail would it have been for us to be born, unless the regeneration had been added?”

2. The Oblation of the Chalice.

a) The Act of Offering. — The priest raises the chalice, as though he would present it to God; but here the celebrant does not cast down his eyes, as at the offering of the Host, but he keeps them fixed on the Crucifix all the while that he is offering the chalice. The reason lies in the accompanying offering prayer, with which this raising of the eyes harmonizes, since the prayer contains the petition that the sacrificial offering “may ascend as an agreeable odor” to the throne of the Most High, and since, moreover, the offering prayer does not peculiarly and expressly remind the celebrant of his unworthiness. Before the priest puts down the chalice,⁵¹⁴514During the Middle Age the chalice was (not as now put behind the host, but) placed to the right, that is, towards the Epistle side, near the host, by which was symbolically indicated, that blood and water flowed from the right side of our Lord. Ita juxta Romanum Ordinem in altari (panis et vinum aqua mixtum) componenda sunt, ut oblata (i. e. hostia) in corporali posita, calix ad dextrum latus oblatae ponatur, quasi sanguinem Domini suscepturus, quem de latere dominico profluxisse credimus (Microl., De eccles. observat. cap. 10). — This practice continued in the Roman Church until the fifteenth century, while in other places the present rite was introduced still earlier, ut Christi stantis ante crucem memoria haberetur, or rather, ob majorem securitatem, ne calix tam facile effundi posset. — Ista sacramenta modo vario ponuntur in ara—; Oblati panis dextra tenet calicem—In cruce pendentis quoniam latus Omnipotentis—Dextrum sanguinem vulnere fudit aquam. — Non reprehendendum si panis in anteriori—Parte locatur, habens posterius calicem. — Illius ordo prior tenet intuitum rationis—Posteriorque favet usibus Ecclesiae (Hildeb. Turon. Versus de myster. Missae). he makes the Sign of the Cross with it over the altar, to signify that in the chalice and upon the altar that same Precious Blood is offered which was shed on the wood of the holy Cross.

b) The Offering Prayer.

As the above prayer shows, “the Chalice of salvation”⁵¹⁵515Cf. Ps. 115, 4. Calix salutaris (ποτήριον σωτηρίου) = chalice of safety or of salvation, salutary chalice, calix salutifer. is here offered. Although the Chalice now contains merely the wine mixed with water, it is yet called the chalice of salvation, that is, a chalice bringing salvation, for the reason that the sacrificial wine will soon be changed into the sacrificial Blood of Christ. — In the offering of the chalice there is, at the same time, contained the petition that the Lord would change the wine into Christ’s Blood, and graciously and agreeably accept this Blood from our hands.⁵¹⁶516According to an Ordo Missae of the beginning of the twelfth century the priest says here—hence before the consecration—at the offering of the chalice: Offerimus tibi, Domine, Jesu Christi Filii tui sanguinem. Humiliter imploramus clementiam tuam, ut ante conspectu (!) divinae majestatis tuae cum odore suavitatis accedat (!). These two ideas are comprised in the words that “the Chalice may ascend as a sweet odor” to Heaven. Only the consecrated chalice is truly a “chalice of salvation,” as it contains that divine Blood which was shed on the Cross as a sacrifice and a ransom.⁵¹⁷517Orat sacerdos, ut calix oblatus “in conspectu divinae majestatis cum odore suavitatis ascendat,” cum illo scil. mystico odore, qui ex ipso calice, cum consecratus fuerit, suavissime exspirat (Bona, Rer. lit. l. 2, c. 9, § 5). It is only the chalice changed into Christ’s Blood that is truly an odor suavitatis (ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας). The chalice becomes the sacrificial cup in which the Precious Blood of Christ, this source of salvation and life, gushes forth new and fresh every day. In the chalice we offer that sacred Blood which once flowed through the members of the Saviour’s body, and which gave Him strength to love, to labor and to suffer for us,—that divine Blood which throughout eternity flows in and out of the Heart of Jesus. In the chalice is offered that Blood which has brought eternal salvation to all the elect; for in heaven the blessed stand around the throne of the Lamb of God, singing unto Him: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in Thy Blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth” (Apoc. 5, 10).

Who offers the Chalice of salvation? Offerimus—“we offer”, says the priest here, while at the offering of the Host he said Offero—“I offer”. It makes no great difference, whether the singular or plural number be used. The priest stands at the altar as the representative and authorized agent of the Church; therefore, he offers the Host, as well as the Chalice, in the name of all the faithful, and they, especially those who are present, offer in conjunction with the priest.⁵¹⁸518St. Cyprian says, that the Christians assemble in common with the brethren and celebrate with the priest of God the Divine Sacrifice (in unum cum fratribus convenimus et sacrificia divina cum Dei sacerdote celebramus. — Cfr. De Orat. domin. c. 4). Already the apostle (1 Cor. 10, 16) writes: “The chalice of benediction which we bless,” that is, consecrate; in this the faithful are included, who assist at the Sacrifice, and, by the Amen they say, make the prayers of the priest, as it were, their own. This participation of the faithful in the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is now made expressly prominent, when it is said in the plural: “We offer”, and this is frequently the case in the Canon. — But why just at the offering of the Chalice is the co-operation of the faithful expressed? The reason for it we find usually in the incident where by the mingling of the water with the wine in the Chalice, the union of the faithful with Christ in the Communion of Sacrifice has just been symbolically represented, and this union is, therefore, now suitably expressed in the offering of the Chalice. It is also affirmed, that the plural offerimus—“we offer”, refers to the priest and deacon, who in Solemn High Masses offers the Chalice with the celebrant and recites the prayer with him.⁵¹⁹519The deacon is at the same time the representative of the people and the consecrated assistant of the priest; in the first quality, he brings to the priest the matter of the Sacrifice; in the second, he supports the priest in the oblation of the chalice and assists him, after the completion of the Sacrifice, in the distribution of the sacrificial food, so that the last function has its foundation in the first (Scheeben III, 607). — Paratus debet esse diaconus progredi cum sacerdote ad sacrificium altaris, ad martyrium, ad evangelizandum. Experire certe utrum idoneum ministrum elegeris, cui commisisti Dominici (corporis et) sanguinis consecrationem—non ad conficiendum, sed ad assistendum. Quia sicut secretarius altaris particeps est confectionis Eucharistiae cum sacerdote; non quia sumat vel conficiat nec quod hoc sine eo non possit fieri, sed quia celebrius et in majori reverentia conficitur corpus Domini cum praesentia, ministerio et testimonio illius (Petr. Cantor. Verbum abbreviat. c. 60).

We offer the Chalice “for our salvation and for that of the whole world.” Holy Mass is, in the first place, a means of grace and salvation for the children of the Church, who most of all receive in bountiful measure of the fruit of the Sacrifice. But they who do not belong to the communion of the Church, are by no means entirely excluded from the blessing of the Sacrifice. The Church prays and offers that all may be saved, and may attain unto the knowledge of the truth. Countless blessings daily flow from the altar and diffuse themselves over the vast expanse of the earth. In the Mass, as on the Cross, Christ is, moreover, “the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for those also of the whole world” (1 John 2, 2). If this “sacrifice for sin” were no longer left us, what else would remain for the world “but a certain dreadful expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire which shall consume the adversaries?” (Heb. 10, 27.) Although the Lord sees that “great as is the wickedness of men on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart is bent upon evil at all times,” yet He no longer says: “I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth” (Gen. 6, 5–7); for He promised, that no flood should henceforth come to destroy all flesh, and that He would no more curse the earth on account of man (Gen. 9, 15). But why? Because the Lord God “scents the sweet savor of the Sacrifice” (Gen. 8, 21), that is offered daily on thousands and thousands of altars “for the salvation of the world.”⁵²⁰520Odor suavitatis (= odor suavissimus) is a figurative expression, often occurring in the Old Testament. “To ascend as a pleasing odor” is to say, that God takes pleasure in the offering and graciously receives it. Unceasingly does the Church offer “Christ’s Sacrifice from the rising to the setting of the sun, every day and at every hour, without interruption and without end. As the sun moves around the earth, and as he advances in his course, shedding light and life, so also in the same round with him daily travels the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, diffusing around the earth as it is offered up spiritual life in the Church and in its members. At the morning’s dawn, priests ascend the altar to offer the Holy Sacrifice, hour after hour other priests succeed them and to these others still in every country wherein the Church has followers, and the offering of Sacrifice goes on until the daily cycle is completed and to the last link is joined the first in the sacrificial chain and the perpetual Sacrifice continues anew. This is the true eternal fire that is never extinguished, the sacrificial fire which burns day and night in the sanctuary in honor of the Almighty. This is the eternal Highpriesthood, the perpetually offered Sacrifice of the Highpriest. Without ceasing does it go up to Heaven, and without ceasing does God come down to the altar to become present in the Sacrament for our sakes, that we all and each one in particular may be partakers of this Sacrifice, and with it and in it of the whole plenitude of grace. Unceasingly does the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass fasten an eternally new bond between heaven and earth, between God and man. Truly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a worship of God, such as He is deserving of, a divinely ordained, true and perfect divine service of adoration and subjection to God, of contrition and reconciliation, of praise and thanksgiving, and of the glorification of the Saviour invisibly and yet visibly enthroned among us on the altar; a divine service ever renewed and continued to the end of the world, when He shall come again in judgment amid the clouds of heaven with power and majesty” (Geissel).