The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-12-10
FIRST PRAYER AFTER coNsEcRA
40. TlON

In the conservation of the Mass,
the real and substantial offering of the
body and blood of Christ is completed.
The PRAYERS which follow the conse-
Grafton confirm the sacrificial oblation
of Christ by repeated verbal offerings
In the conservation, Christ offers Him.
self as a victim to His heavenly Fa-
Their on behalf of mankind. In the
prayers after the conservation, the
priest in the name of the Church, Of
fers Christ as our own victim, through
words and ceremonies, under different
aspects and for different purposes, to
impress us more wildly with the OBJ
lation of Christ in the conservation
and to add external solemnity to the
sacrifice
Today we shall explain the first
prayer after the conservation. 1t is
composed of three parts: Where
fore, o Lord, these Thy servants, and
likewise Thy holy people, calling to
mind the blessed passion of the same
Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, together
with His resurrection from the grave
and also His glorious ascension into
heaven, offer unto Thy excellent maj
esty, of Thy gifts and presents, pure
victim, a holy victim, an immaculate
victim: Thy holy bread of eternal life
and the chalice of everlasting saliva
ton Upon which do Thou vouch-
safe to look with propitious and Sc
rene countenance, and accept them as
Thou didst vouchsafe to accept the
gifts Of Thy just servant Abel, and
the sacrifice of our patriarch, Abra-
800 ham, and that which the high priest
Melchisedechy offered unto Thee, holy
sacrifice, an unspotted victim. g.
God, command these to be carried by
the hands of Thy holy angel to Thine
altar on high In the presence of Thy
divine majesty, that as many Of us as
shall, by partaking of this altar, re-
ceive the most sacred body and blood
of Thy Son, may be filled with all
heavenly blessing and grace. Through
the same Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Wherefore since Christ, Thy Son,
ordered these things to be done in
His memory, 1--WE, Thy servants" Thy
priests, dedicated and consecrated to
Thy service in a special manner, and
likewise Thy holy people, the rest of
the faithful
"The Faithful"
The faithful are called the people
of God because in baptism they were
made adopted children of Cod They
a=afe. spoken~ef ras holy, becauses they
are called to a holy life and profess
the faith of Jesus Christ. Many thou
sands are actually holy by the eminent
purity of their Christian lives.
Calling to mind the blessed passion
of the same Christ, thy Son, our Lord
together with His resurrection from
the grave and also his glorious ascen,
sion into heaven The passion, res
direction and ascension of Christ are
mentioned in particular because they
were more eficacious in bringing
about our redemption and glorifcation
than any other facts in the life OF
Christ. BY His passion, Christ re
deemed us from everlasting death; by
His resurrection, He gave us the firm
hope of rising again; by His ascen
sion, He reopened the gates of heaven
and showed us the way to the heaven
ly paradise.
"Offer unto thy excellent majesty
of thy gifts and presents" BY these
we mean the bread and wine which
through the conservation, become the
body and blood of Christ "A pure vic
tim, a holy victim, an immaculate vic
tim q hnl u Of OF oil ~
the chalice of everlasting salvation"
"A pure VICTIM" unlike the impure
victims of the pagan Worship; "a holy
victim" unlike the offerings of the
Mosaic law which had no power tt
sanctify the soul; therefore, the vic
tim is immaculate or spotless, and as
I such, worthy to take away the sins
of the world. Therefore, Christ, the
victim of our sacrifice, is victim a
once pure and purifying, holy anc
sanctifying, spotless, and taking ava!
the sins and stains of our soul 9Th,
holy bread of life and the cIalice o
everlasting salvation for as the
priests of the Old Law sustained thei
earthly life by partaking of the vic
tins offered under the law of Moses
SO do Christians in similar manne
partake of the divine victim of thu
Mass to nourish their spiritual life an,
thus to attain to life everlasting.
"The Five Wounds"
Whilst saying this prayer, the prizes
makes five crosses over the body an,
blood of Christ. What is the signif
cation of this? The crosses made owe
the bread and wine before the conse
Grafton are meant as blessings; thos
made here could not be taken in tina
sense, since it would be uncalled TO
to bless Christ, Himself the source o
all blessings These crosses are mad
to remind the priest that, at that par
of the, Mass, he stands in the presenc
of Him who suffered in the sacrific
of the cross. The five crosses viii
recall to mind Christ's five wounds
In the second part of the prayer
we ask God to accept the pure an
holy victim we offer Him. as He az
cepted the victims offered by Abe
Abraham and Melchisedech. Does tn
priest doubt that God could do any
thing but accept the body and bloc
of Christ? Does the priest think tina
these gifts could be less agreeable t
~ - I.o1T I,eoI "