16. The Essential Characteristics of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Page-117

Christ 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 every where 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.

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The 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 manneer, 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 incontrast 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.¹ Now, the Church cannot celebrate without a priest; he is ordained to be the representative of men (constituitur pro hominibus Heb. 5, i), 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 subordi-nate minister; the Church, on the contrary, celebrates in the person

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1 Datum est hoc sacrificium universae Ecclesiae, ut ipsa illud offerat, quatnvis per sacerdotes, quibus potestas offerendi specialiter commissa est, ut dicit Trid.; et ideo sess. 22. cap. 6 addit, Miss ae 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).

of 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 operate). ¹

  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" (i 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.² 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 (sacriftcatio vel immolatio Tiostiae)?

      a) The Eucharistic Sacrificial action (actio sacrifica) consists
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1 In Missa duo est considerare, sc. ipsuni sacramentum quod est principale et orationes quae in Missa fiunt pro vivis et mortuis. Quantum ergo ad sacramentum non minus valet Missa sacerdotis mail 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 miuisterium Christi. Unde etiam quantum ad hoc est fructuosa non solum oratio sacerdotis peccatoris in Missa, sed etiam omnes ejus orationes, quas facit in ecclesiasticis omciis, in quibus gerit personam Ecclesiae, licet ejus orationes privatae non sint fructuosae (S. Thorn. 3, q. 82, a. 6;. 2 Cum 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 subvemunt eumque adjuvant (Lambrecht, De ss. Miss, sacrif. pars 3, c. 3, 3).

in 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.^l 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.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
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1 Partes alicujus rei compositae aliae sunt essentiales, aliae integrantes: sine partibus essentialibus res non est tails 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 utriusquespeciei , consecratae sumptiouem, quaea sacerdote fit in Missa (De Augustinis S. J., De re sacramentaria, lib. 2, p. 3, art. 6).
2 Aliud 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). ).

liturgies 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 (Greek, 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."¹
 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 singulars), and of a higher and mysterious order.²

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1 First Sermon for Easter Sunday.
2 Deus hoc sacrificium instituit modo extraordinario et singular! aliis victimis et sacrifices non communi (Mastrius disp. 4, q. 4, a. 1, n. 72).

Page-122 . Dogmatical and Ascetical Part.

2 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.¹ 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.² 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.³ Sacrifice is, indeed, an exterior symbolical sign of

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1 Exhibetur 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).
  ² Quantum 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.)
  ³ Cum Christus sit principalis offerens, dum in se ipso facit repraesentationem propriae mortis se offerendo Patri, declarat affectum se totum tradentis in obse

15. The Essential Characteristics of the Eucharislic Sacrifice. Page-123

the 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 twofold 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.¹ 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 bloodshedding, 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
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quium Patris, qui est interius sacrificium, atque adeo oblatio externa cum ilia repraesentatione mortis declarat hunc affectum et ideo hujusmodi repraesentatio est sufficiens destructio pro sacrificio: nam ilia tantum destructio requiritur, quae possit declarare interius sacrificium (Pasqualigo tr. 1, q. 43, n. 4).
   ¹ Christus Dominus vi consecrationis tanquam verus Agnus et victima sistitur in altari sub speciebus panis et vini, et in quodatn 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 Xarrie, De euchar. c. 4, 1, n. 620).

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simplicity 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.¹

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
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   ¹Cfr. Pasqualigo tr. 1, q. 42 44. Billot, De sacram. 1, 556 seqq.

26. The Relation of the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Sacrifice of the Cross. Page-125

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. ^l

1 6. The Relation of the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Sacrifice of the Cross.

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

   1. Jesus Christ left to His Church in the Eucharist a true and real Sacrifice, "that by means of it that bloody Sacrifice, which He once offered on the Cross, may ever be represented and its remembrance be preserved until the end of the world, and its healing power be applied and spent for the remission of those sins daily committed by us."² According to the doctrine of the Church, the Holy Mass
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     1 Cfr. Neues Pastoralblatt fur die Dioc. Augsb., Jahrg. 1876, p. 259.
     2 Visibile sacrificium, quo cruentum illud, semel in cruce peragendum, repraesentarelur, ejusque memoria in finem usque saeculi permaneret, atque illius salutaris virtus in remissionem eorum, quae a nobis quotidie committuntur, peccatorum applicaretur (Trid. sess. 22, cap. 1). According to the teaching of St. Thomas, the essence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice consists in the immolatio Christi; therefore, the Sacrifice of the Eucharist is also an imago repraesentativa, repraesentatio, figura quaedam et exemplum dominicae passionis, that is, a living likeness of the Passion of Christ, the actual representation of the Sacrifice of the Cross,

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is not a mere memorial of sacrifice (nuda commemoratio sacrificii in cruce peracti), but a true memorial sacrifice, that is, a real sacrifice endowed with a commemorative character (sacrificium commemorativum). The Mass is not a mere shadowy copy, but the living and essential representation of the Sacrifice of the Cross.
a) That the celebration of the Eucharist is the representation of the sacrificial death of Christ, is evident even from the words of the institution. Our Lord Himself calls the Eucharistic Sacrifice the giving of His Body and the shedding of His Blood. In making choice of these words, He would not merely signify the true Sacrifice of His sacramental Body and Blood, but He would, at the same time, designate that the mode and manner of this Sacrifice by the mystical shedding of blood under the separate species should represent symbolically the violent separation of His body and blood, the real shedding of His blood on the Cross. He then gives to His Apostles and to their successors in the priestly office the command and the power to celebrate the Eucharist in remembrance of Him. The Apostle explains and proves this command, by adding that the celebration of the Eucharist is of itself always an actual announcement of the death of Christ and must, therefore, be perpetuated among Christians until our Lord shall return in glory at the consummation of time to judge the world (I Cor. 11, 26).
    b) The sacramental offering of the Body and Blood of Christ on the altar is frequently styled in tradition the figure, the representation, the symbol (typus, figura, imago, signum, symlolum) of the passion and sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross. Gaudentius expresses himself happily on this subject: "Christ willed that His benefits should be permanently imparted to us; He willed that souls should be sanctified by the representation of His own passion (per imaginem propriae passionis). Therefore, He commissioned His faithful disciples, whom He ordained the first priests of His Church (quos primos Ecdesiae suae constituit sacerdotes), unceasingly to celebrate these mysteries of eternal life, which all priests should celebrate in all the churches of the universe until He returns from heaven, in order that the priests themselves and all believing nations also may have a copy (a true representation) of the passion of Christ (exemplar passionis Christi) daily before their eyes, may bear it in their hands, receive it into their mouths and hearts and thus by this celebration the remembrance of our redemption may ever be indelibly impressed on their minds."¹ St. Gregory the Great writes: "The Eucharistic Sacrifice preserves in a unique manner the soul from eternal perdition, as it renews mystically the death of the onlybegotten Son of God (nobis mortem Unigeniti per mystennm reparat). For although Christ be risen from the dead, He dieth no
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and, consequently, it is, moreover, at the same time, the applicatio et participatio fructus dominicae passionis, namely, the application and participation of the fruitsof the Sacrifice of the Cross. Cfr. S. Thorn. 3, q. 83, a.
¹ et 2. 1 Sermo 2.

16. The Relation of the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Sacrifice of the Cross. Page-127

more, and death has no longer dominion over Him, yet in His immortal and imperishable life He is sacrificed anew for us in this mystery of sacred oblation (pro nobis iterum in hoc vnysterio sacrae oblationis immolatur). Let us, therefore, consider attentively all that this Sacrifice (sacrificium) is for us, since for the remission of our sins it represents continually the passion of the only-begotten Son of God (pro absolutions nostra passionem Unigeniti Filii semper imitatur)."^l In a similar sense, the words of consecration separately spoken over the bread and wine, which cause Christ's Body and Blood to be present under the separate species, are designated as a spiritual, reasonable and incorporeal sword, by which the Victim is slain upon the altar. Hence St. Gregory of Nazianzum addresses the following petition to Amphilochius: "Delay not to pray for me, when by the word (of consecration) you call down the Word (= the Son of God), when by an unbloody separation you slay the Body and Blood of the Lord with the sacrificial knife of His Word (greek for Word)

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

     The words of the Saviour and of the Apostles, the teaching of the Fathers and the prayers of the liturgies, the conviction and acknowledgment of the faithful, place it beyond doubt that the celebration of the Eucharist has also for object to bring before our eyes and to represent to us Christ's sacrificial death, in order that the memory thereof may always be preserved fresh and living in all hearts.²
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¹Dialog. 1. 4, c. 58.
² Notandum, quia quotidianum nostrum sacrificium idem ipsum dicit (S. Chrysostomus) cum eo, quo Christus semel oblatus est in cruce, quantum at ean-

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2 A painting or a crucifix may represent the Lord's death on the Cross; but this is a merely figurative and, consequently, an imperfect representation of that divine sacrificial drama, once enacted on Mount Calvary. Quite different, infinitely more complete and actual, is the bloody sacrifice of Christ represented by the Mass. It is, namely, the real and objective, the living and essential representation of the Sacrifice of Redemption accomplished on the Cross.^l The reason for it lies in the inmost nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, as it was instituted by Christ. Upon the altar appear the same Priest and the same Victim as upon the Cross. For in the Eucharist Jesus Christ offers Himself, His Body once immolated on the Cross and His Blood once shed on the Cross, with all the merits there acquired, in an unbloody yet in a real and true manner. We should, moreover, consider the way and manner in which Christ's Body and Blood are to be offered. This consists in the mystical shedding of blood, that is, in the separate consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The separate species, under which Christ's Body and Blood are rendered present by virtue
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dem veram hie et ibi corporis Christ! substantiam: quod vero nostrum quotidiatmm illius semel oblati dicit esse exemplum, i. e. figuram vel formam, non dicit, ut hie vel ibi essentialiter alium Christum constituat, sed ut eundem in cruce semel, in altari quotidie alio modo immolari et offerri ostendat: ibi in veritate passionis, qua pro nobis occisus est, hie in figura et imitatione passionis ipsius, qua Christus non iterum vere patitur, sed ipsius verae memoria passionis quotidie nobis iteratur. . . . Non ergo est in ipsius Christi veritate diversitas, sed in ipsius immolationisactione, quae dum veram Christi passionem et mortem quadam sua similitudine figurando repraesentat, nos ad imitationem ipsius passionis invitet et accendat, contra hostem nos roboret et muniat, et a vitiis purgans et virtutibus condecorans, vitae aeternae nos idoneos ac dignosexhibeat (Alger. De sacramentis corp. et sanguin. domin., 1. 1, c. 16, n. 109).
   ¹ Triplex habemus memoriale passionis, sc. in scripto, in verbs et in sacramento. In scripto, ut quando passio describitur vel narratur per scripturam, vel quando imaginibus exprimitur; et hoc est memoriale quasi mortuum et habet fieri ad visum, qui apprehendit magis de longinquo. In verbo, utpote cum aliquis verbotenus narrat passionem Christi; et illud partim est vivum, partim mortuum. Vivum est in corde bonorum praedicatorum, sed mortuum in corde tepidorum et malorum; vel vivum in corde et cogitatione, non vivum in voce; et hoc est ad auditum, auditus autem non ita apprehendit de longinquo. In Sacramento vero est memoriale, cum ipsum corpus Christi significatur et continetur in specie panis et sanguis in specie vini; et hoc est memoriale vivum, quia ipse Christus seipsum ibi praebet, offerens nobis corpus, quod pro nobis fuit occisum, et sanguinem, qui pro nobis fuit effusus, et hoc est ad gustum, qui de proximo apprehendit, ut jam non quasi speculatione , sed quadam experientia passionis ejus memores simus. Si ergo accendit affectum nostrum passio descripta, et amplius ferventer praedicata; multo magis inflammare et amcere debet in hoc sacramento expressa. Et hoc absque dubio facit, si quis sensum habet et ilium convertit ad hoc sacrainentum. Ille ergo est, qui ex hoc sacramento efficaciam reportat, qui se convertit; ille vere audit Missam, non qui tantum verba dicit vel audit sine devotione, sed qui ad hoc memoriale totam mentis intentionem convertit (S. Bonav. 4, dist. 12, p. 2, a. 1, q. 1 ad 3).

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of the words of consecration, that is, mystically immolated, are symbols of the violent and bloody death of Christ on the Cross.^l The separation of Christ's Body and Blood takes place on the altar of course, not in reality, but only in appearance: for the Eucharistic Victim can no longer be slain in a bloody (physical), but only in an unbloody (mystical) manner.² This mystical immolation, therefore, in consequence of which the Divine Victim under the two species appears "as if slain" (tanquam occisus), is well calculated to represent Christ's Body and Blood in that form of separation which took place on the Cross.³ By this mystical blood-shedding, which brings the real shedding of blood on the Cross vividly to view, the Eucharistic Sacrifice becomes, in a most perfect manner, a memorial Sacrifice.

     The distinct consecration of the elements of bread and wine, the separate representation of the Body and Blood of Christ under the two species, that is, the mystical shedding of blood, is, in virtue of the institution by Christ, absolutely necessary, not merely for the lawful, but also for the valid celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. If culpably or inculpably but one substance is consecrated, then Christ is indeed present under one species, but the Sacrifice is not accomplished, because an essential characteristic and requisite, namely, the twofold consecration, is wanting.⁴ Hence it is of divine ordination, that both elements bread and wine must always be
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¹ Consecratio utriusque specie! valet ad repraesentandam passionem Christi, in qua seorsim fuit sanguis a corpore separatus: unde et in forma consecrationis fit mentio de ejus effusione (S. Thorn. 3, q. 76, a. 2 ad 1). Ipsum corpus et sanguis Domini, ut sunt sub illis speciebus (panisetvrni), signa sunt ejusdem corporis et sanguinis, ut fuerunt in cruce; repraesentat enim Eucharistia passionem Christi (Bellarm. De sacramento Eucharist., 1. 2, c. 15).
² Quod consecratio ex vi verborum ponat sub una specie corpus, non autem sanguinem, et sub altera specie sanguinem, non autem corpus, miuime probat, consecrationem esse actionem realiter destructivam Christi, sed solum quod sit mystica mortis ejus repraesentatio: quia consecratio uon pertingit ad causandam illam separationem inter corpus et sanguinem Christi in se, sed solum in sacramento, h. e. in signo et repraesentatione (Salmant. disp. 13, dub. 2, n. 38).
³ Consecratio est maxime expressa significatio sacrificii crucis, quatenus per earn ex vi verborum seorsim ponitur sub specie panis corpus Christi velut occisum et sub specie vini sanguis velut effusus: unde haec separatio, quantum est ex vi verborum, passim dicitur mystica Christi mactatio et immolatio (Platelius, Synopsis tot. curs, theol. P. 5, cap. 4, 6, n. 469;.
⁴ Ut hoc mysterium absolute et simpliciter sit verum sacrificium, prout a Christo est institutum, essentialiter requiritur utriusque speciei consecratio. . . . quia de essentia hujus sacrificii est expressa repraesentatio mortis et passionis Christi; sed haec intrinsece requirit consecrationem utriusque speciei. . . quando sanguis statim post corpus separatim consecratur, quasi in viva imagine repraesentatur ipsa effusio sanguinis et consequenter separatio animae a corpore, quae ex effusione sanguinis secuta est; nam (ut Scriptura interdum loquitur) vita hominis in sanguine est et ideo solet anima per sanguinem repraesentari (Suarez disp. 75, sect. 6, n. 7). Cfr. Salmant. De Euch. sacr. disp. 4, dub. 5, n. 92.