‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH’

New Zealand Tablet, 26 June 1913, Page 3

‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH ’

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by ‘Ghimel.’) * : i THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS EXPLAINED: XII. PRAYERS AFTER THE CONSECRATION The priest consecrates, because he has received a command from our Lord to do so: nothing less would make him dare approach so holy a mystery. ‘Do this in memory of Me.' He knows, too, that the Sacrifice of the pure, holy, and Spotless Victim must be infinitely pleasing in God's sight. Yet he cannot for a moment forget his own unworthiness, and so immediately after the solemn act he offers up a prayer, now divided into' three parts, in which he asks the Father to accept the Body and Blood of His Divine Son, lest through sin the fruit of the Sacrifice be in any way lost. Again, he begs God graciously to accept this Sacrifice, even though a sinner has offered it, just as of old time He accepted the gifts of Abel, Abraham, and Melchisedech. Each of these devout servants of God was a figure' or type of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Abel- offered the best of his flock, a lamb, and was put to death by Cain (Genesis iv.), and in that was a figure of Christ, the Lamb of God, Who was put to death by the Jews. Abraham was ready to sacrifice - his only son, Isaac (Genesis xxii.), even as God the Father did allow His Son to be put to death for the sins of men. The sacrifice of Melchisedech was of bread and wine— a unique offering in the Old Testament—and therefore a type of the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass. ‘And now, turning. to the holy angel of Sacrifice, he begs of him to bear his offering to the throne of the Almighty, in order that all, who have shared in his oblation, may also be filled with the life-giving blessing of Heaven. This prayer is his privilege', for he is the consecrated minister of the pure Sacrifice, the immaculate Sacrifice of the Crucified Redeemer, upon which, by virtue of his office, he bestows a five-fold blessing.’_ Mention is here made of the ‘holy angel’ who carries the sacred gifts from our altar to ‘the golden altar before the throne of God,' whereon are placed the merits of the Redeemer and the prayers of the faithful. This angel . may be the ‘ Angel of Prayer,' mentioned in Tobias (xii., 12), or some special angel, perhaps St. Michael, deputed to assist at the Sacrifice, or Jesus Christ Himself, Who is called the ‘Angel (Messenger) of Great Counsel’ (Isiaas ix., 6), or perhaps even the Holy Ghost, co-operating in this Divine Mystery of Love. J ° _ The Sign of the Cross is made a number of times during this prayer, and others that follow over the consecrated elements. -Obviously the meaning is now changed. Before the Consecration, the Signs of the Cross were made to bless the bread and wine by way of preparation for the miraculous change; now it cannot be a question of the priest, a sinner, conferring a blessing on the Author of all blessings, present on the altar. They are consequently to be taken as a symbolical representation and commemoration of Christ's crucifixion, or as a mystical profession of faith in the presence of the Redeemer, particularly as the five blessings represent the five Precious Wounds. The Memento for the Dead. — ‘ Prayers are still being offered for those who are present at the Sacrifice, but not for them only. The priest says Mass in the name of the Church, and as she is the Mother of all the faithful, her love embraces all her children. Some are waging battle here on earth, some are triumphant in the glory of heaven, but others are in the abode of suffering and penance. The thousands in purgatory, whom we too often forget, are nevertheless united with us by the bonds of Christ’s redeeming love, and claim our intercession. The ancient liturgy therefore prescribed that after the memento of the living the priest should remember in general all those who have departed this life, and are doing penance for their sins, and that some should be even mentioned in particular. A final commemoration is made of the whole Church of

Christ, with special mention of certain saints, who sealed their faith with their blood, and were best 'known at the time when this prayer was composed. Thus the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all, unites under the one Head all the members of the Church, whether in heaven, on earth, or in purgatory, and whereas, before the Consecration, we invoked the saints in glory that the Divine Sacrifice might be worthily celebrated, now, after the Consecration, we rely more on the efficacy of the Sacrifice itself, and even hope to be one day of the number of God’s chosen friends in paradise (Nieuwbarn, pp. 72, 73). The prayer runs as follows. Be mindful, O Lord, of Thy servants, men and women, who are gone before us with the sign of faith, and sleep in the sleep of peace.’ Here the priest pauses to pray for those of ■ the dead he wishes specially to remember, and then continues: ‘To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and peace. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.’ To Us Sinners. After the prayer for the dead asleep with Christ, there follows a special prayer ■ for the living, for all of us sinners, that after the perilous journey of life, we may be admitted to the company of God’s elect, ‘ not-in consideration of our merit, but of Thine own free pardon.’ This prayer closes not with the usual Amen, but with the words: ‘ Through Christ our Lord,’ because the Church’s appeal for mercy moves on to a sublime prayer of adoring praise ‘By Whom, O Lord, Thou dost always create,- sanctify, vivify, bless, and grant us all these good things! Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, is to Thee, God the Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory.’ Here the Canon of the Mass ends.