Traditional Catholicity of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Part 6
The Daily Knight | Justin Haggerty
(Mass of St John of Matha, 1666 by Juan Carreño De Miranda)
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands, Saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction. And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them: I heard all saying: To him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen. And the four and twenty ancients fell down on their faces, and adored Him that liveth for ever and ever." (Apocalypse 5: 11-14)
To further illustrate the traditional Catholicity of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the following text has been taken from the Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962:
Offering Myself With Christ
What is the source of our obligation to offer ourselves in the Mass with Christ? We have seen that the Mass is Christ's Sacrifice, that is, the Sacrifice of Calvary made present on the altar.
Now Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross was not an individual, but a social sacrifice. It was a Head of the Mystical Body that Christ consented to die. In offering and immolating Himself on the Cross, He included us in His Sacrifice. Christ was obedient to His Father in His own name, and in ours. Our Lord had a right to include, to integrate us into His Sacrifice; because we belong to Him, we are His members. He could require, therefore, that we should be obedient to His Father, as He Himself was obedient.
On our Lord's side, the Sacrifice is complete, of infinite merit. On our side, it is incomplete, finite, limited in its application.
We carry out this offering, this submission, or this immolation, with the passage of time; and also to the degree in which we do not draw back from immolating ourselves with Christ.
We understand better now St. Paul's words: "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His Body, which is the Church" (Col. 1:24). Christ's sufferings are complete in the order of satisfaction and merit, but not in the order of application.
On our side, the Sacrifice of the whole Christ is incomplete. It will terminate with the death of the last member of the Mystical Body, who adds the last thing lacking to the Passion of Christ.
Consequently, our obligation to offer ourselves with Christ in the Mass comes from our membership in Christ's Mystical Body, nto which we were introduced by Baptism.
"It is not surprising," writes Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei, "that Christians should be raised to this dignity. For by the bath of Baptism, Christians are made members of the Body of Christ the Priest; and by the 'character' which is, as it were, graven on their souls, are ordered to divine worship. They thus participate according to their condition in the priesthood of Christ Himself."
A non-baptized person may be bodily present at Mass, and may even follow the ceremonies intelligently. Yet, in the full meaning of the term, he does not "assist" at Mass; for he who truly assists has to be offered with Christ. Now to be offered with Christ, one must first have been incorporated into Christ - be the prolongation of His life. Hence, the baptismal character comprises a union with Christ, a likeness by reason of which we share in His priesthood. And by virtue of our integration into Christ, we are enabled to be offered with Him; and to share in the offering of His immolation, in His Sacrifice.
Not only is it permissible for us to be offered with Christ, but we are under obligation to offer ourselves with Him - under pain of mutilating the total Christ! For the head alone is not the total Christ. In order for the Mystical Body to be complete, both head and members are needed. This is the whole Christ, as He was offered up to God on Calvary - as He is offered each day on our altars." (Roman Catholic Daily Missal, 1962, pp. lv-lvi)
Sacred Liturgy: From the Offertory to the Preface (Ibid, pp. 859-883)
II. Mass of the Faithful
A. From the Offertory to the Preface
13. The Offertory Verse
/V. The Lord be with you.
/R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
The Antiphon at the Offertory follows.
See Proper of Mass for the Day.
This moment brings us back to our trupe place before God and purifies us. It prepares us to enter into God and share in His divine activities. The Offertory opens the door to the secrets of God and to union with Him.
As this bread on the paten and this wine in the chalice are in a state of expectancy of becoming Christ's Body and Blood, so we present ourselves to God in voluntary expectancy of a change to be made in us - an expectancy of divination.
In the Offertory, Christ unites our desires and prayers to His own offering of Himself to the Father. As our intentions are joined to the Passion of Christ, they assume the value of the Passion in the eyes of God.
14. The Offering of the Bread and Wine
Receive, O holy Father, almighty, eternal God, this spotless host which I, thine unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, for my own countless sins, offenses, and negligences, and for all here present; as also for all faithful Christians, living or dead; that it may avail for my own and for their salvation unto life eternal. Amen.
In the Agony in the Garden, Christ performed His offertory, giving Himself in advance to all the sufferings of Calvary. This is the spirit we should take from the Mass: an entire acceptance in advance of what God's grace will ask of us. The Offertory reminds us that the law of salvation is generosity without discussion.
O God, Who in creating human nature hast still more marvelously renewed it: grant that by the mystery of this water and wine, we may be made partakers of His Divinity Who vouchsafed to become partaker of our humanity, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
The wine represents the divine Nature, water represents our human nature, so that the mixing of the water and wine signifies the Incarnation of Christ; yet it also points to His Passion, in which water and blood poured from His pierced Heart. In this way the rite of commingling the water and the wine calls to mind the beginning and the consummation of the work of our Redemption.
It signifies also our mystical union with Christ by the life of grace - a divine life which is increased in us principally by our reception of the Blessed Sacrament.
Spiritually, we place ourselves and all the joys and sorrows of our lives on the altar during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, upon the Heart of our Redeemer; the Church pours this offering into the chalice of Christ's holy sacrificial Blood.
We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching Thy clemency that, in the sight of Thy Divine Majesty, it may ascend with the svor of sweetness, for our salvation and for that of the whole world. Amen.