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<<  The Catechism of the Catholic Church Today!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church Today on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

 

  • The Catechism Today
  • All the Church Fathers
  • From the Scriptures

 

 

This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church states on this issue:

 

The Sacrament Of The Eucharist

 

1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

 

1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us." (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium 47)

 

I. The Eucharist - Source And Summit Of Ecclesial Life

 

1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 11) "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (Vatican II, Presbyterorum Ordinis 5)

 

1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit." (Congregation of Rites, instruction, Eucharisticum Mysterium, 6)

 

1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all. (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:28)

 

1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking." (St. Irenæus, Adv. Hæres. 4,18,5:PG 7/l,1028)

 

II. What Is This Sacrament Called?

 

1328 — 1329 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called:

  1. Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein (cf. Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24) and eulogein (cf. Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22) recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim — especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification.

  2. The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20; Revelation 19:9)

  3. The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal, when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, (cf. Matthew 14:19; 15:36; Mark 8:6, 19) above all at the Last Supper. (cf. Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 11:24) It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection, (cf. Luke 24:13-35) and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies; (cf. Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7,11) by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him. (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

  4. The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church. (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

1330 — 1332 The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection.

  1. The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, (Hebrews 13:15; cf. 1 Peter 25; Psalms 116:13, 17; Malachi 1:11) since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

  2. The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name.

  3. Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17) We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta) (Apostolic Constitutions 8,13,12:PG 1,1108; Didache 9,5; 10:6:SCh 248,176-178) - the first meaning of the phrase "communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed - the bread of angels, bread from Heaven, medicine of immortality, (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20,2:SCh 10,76) viaticum. . . .

  4. Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God's will in their daily lives

III. The Eucharist In The Economy Of Salvation

 

The signs of bread and wine

 

1333 At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lord's command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He took bread. . . ." "He took the cup filled with wine. . . ." The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine, (cf. Psalms 104:13-15) fruit of the "work of human hands," but above all as "fruit of the earth" and "of the vine" - gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and wine," a prefiguring of her own offering. (Genesis 14:18; cf. Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon) 95)

 

1334 In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the Word of God; (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3) their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God's faithfulness to his promises. The "cup of blessing" (1 Corinthians 10:16) at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.

 

1335 The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist. (cf. Matthew 14:13-21; 15:32-39) The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already announces the Hour of Jesus' glorification. It makes manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom, where the faithful will drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Christ. (cf. John 2:11; Mark 14:25)

 

1336 The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" (John 6:60) The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. "Will you also go away?": (John 6:67) the Lord's question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only he has "the words of eternal life" (John 6:68) and that to receive in faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself.

 

The institution of the [Eucharist or the Mass]

1337 The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. (John 13:1-17; 34-35) In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return; "thereby he constituted them priests of the New Testament." (Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740)


1338 The three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:17-29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-20) and St. Paul (1 Corinthians 11:24-26) have handed on to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist;
St. John, for his part, reports the words of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum that prepare for the institution of the Eucharist: Christ calls himself the bread of life, come down from Heaven. (John 6)


1339 Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the passover meal for us, that we may eat it. . . ." They went . . . and prepared the passover. And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for
I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.". . . .
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:7-20, Matthew 26:17-29, Mark 14:12-25 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

1340 By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over to his father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom.


"Do this in memory of me"


1341 The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the memorial of Christ, of his life, of his death, of his Resurrection, and of his intercession in the presence of the Father. (2 Corinthians 11:26)


1342 From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the Lord's command. Of the Church of Jerusalem it is written:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts. (Acts 2:42, 46)

1343 It was above all on "the first day of the week," Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met "to break bread." (Acts 20:7) From that time on down to our own day the celebration of the Eucharist has been continued so that today we encounter it everywhere in the Church with the same fundamental structure. It remains the center of the Church's life.


1344 Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of Jesus
"until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances, "following the narrow way of the cross,"
(Vatican II, Ad Gentes 1; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26) toward the heavenly banquet, when all the elect will be seated at the table of the kingdom.

 

IV. The Liturgical Celebration Of The Eucharist

 

The Mass of all ages


1345 As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-161) around the year A.D. 155, explaining what Christians did:

  1. On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.
  2. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.
  3. When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.
  4. Then we all rise together and offer prayers (from Chapter 67) for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.
  5. When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.
  6. Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.
  7. He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.
  8. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.'
  9. When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.

    St. Justin, Apol. 1, 65-67:PG 6,428-429

1346 The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to a fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout the centuries down to our own day. It displays two great parts that form a fundamental unity:

  1. the gathering, the liturgy of the Word, with readings, homily and general intercessions;
  2. the liturgy of the Eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine, the consecratory thanksgiving, and communion.

The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist together form "one single act of worship"; (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium 56) the Eucharistic table set for us is the table both of the Word of God and of the Body of the Lord. (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 21)

 

1347 Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table "he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them." (cf. Luke 24:13-35)

 

The movement of the celebration

 

1348 All gather together. Christians come together in one place for the Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant; it is he himself who presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration. It is in representing him that the bishop or priest acting in the person of Christ the head (in persona Christi capitis) presides over the assembly, speaks after the readings, receives the offerings, and says the Eucharistic Prayer. All have their own active parts to play in the celebration, each in his own way: readers, those who bring up the offerings, those who give communion, and the whole people whose "Amen" manifests their participation.

 

1349 The Liturgy of the Word includes "the writings of the prophets," that is, the Old Testament, and "the memoirs of the apostles" (their letters and the Gospels). After the homily, which is an exhortation to accept this Word as what it truly is, the Word of God, (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:13) and to put it into practice, come the intercessions for all men, according to the Apostle's words: "I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in high positions." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

 

1350 The presentation of the offerings (the Offertory). Then, sometimes in procession, the bread and wine are brought to the altar; they will be offered by the priest in the name of Christ in the Eucharistic sacrifice in which they will become his body and blood. It is the very action of Christ at the Last Supper - "taking the bread and a cup." "The Church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, when she offers what comes forth from his creation with thanksgiving." (St. Irenæus, Adv. Hæres. 4,18,4:PG 7/1,1027; cf. Malachi 1:11) The presentation of the offerings at the altar takes up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the Creator's gifts into the hands of Christ who, in his sacrifice, brings to perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifices.

 

1351 From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich: (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1; 2 Corinthians 8:9)

Those who are well off, and who are also willing, give as each chooses. What is gathered is given to him who presides to assist orphans and widows, those whom illness or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all who are in need.

 

St. Justin, Apol. 1,67: PG 6, 429

1352 The anaphora: with the Eucharistic Prayer - the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration - we come to the heart and summit of the celebration:

 

In the preface, the Church gives thanks to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, for all his works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. The whole community thus joins in the unending praise that the Church in Heaven, the angels and all the saints, sing to the thrice-holy God.

 

1353 In the epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his Holy Spirit (or the power of his blessing) on the bread and wine, so that by his power they may become the body and blood of Jesus Christ and so that those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit (some liturgical traditions put the epiclesis after the anamnesis).

 

In the institution narrative, the power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine Christ's body and blood, his sacrifice offered on the cross once for all.

 

1354 In the anamnesis that follows, the Church calls to mind the Passion, resurrection, and glorious return of Christ Jesus; she presents to the Father the offering of his Son which reconciles us with him.

 

In the intercessions, the Church indicates that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church in Heaven and on earth, the living and the dead, and in communion with the pastors of the Church, the Pope, the diocesan bishop, his presbyterium and his deacons, and all the bishops of the whole world together with their Churches.

 

1355 In the Communion, preceded by the Lord's prayer and the breaking of the bread, the faithful receive "the bread of Heaven" and "the cup of salvation," the body and blood of Christ who offered himself "for the life of the world": (John 6:51)

Because this bread and wine have been made Eucharist ("eucharisted," according to an ancient expression), "we call this food Eucharist, and no one may take part in it unless he believes that what we teach is true, has received baptism for the forgiveness of sins and new birth, and lives in keeping with what Christ taught."

 

St. Justin, Apol. 1,66,1-2: PG 6, 428

V. The Sacramental Sacrifice Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence

 

1356 If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a form whose substance has not changed despite the great diversity of times and liturgies, it is because we know ourselves to be bound by the command the Lord gave on the eve of his Passion: "Do this in remembrance of me." (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

 

1357 We carry out this command of the Lord by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we offer to the Father what he has himself given us: the gifts of his creation, bread and wine which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of Christ, have become the body and blood of Christ. Christ is thus really and mysteriously made present.

 

1358 We must therefore consider the Eucharist as:

  1. thanksgiving and praise to the Father;
  2. the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body;
  3. the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit.

Thanksgiving and praise to the Father

 

1359 The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.

 

1360 The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all "thanksgiving."

 

1361 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the Church sings the glory of God in the name of all creation. This sacrifice of praise is possible only through Christ: he unites the faithful to his person, to his praise, and to his intercession, so that the sacrifice of praise to the Father is offered through Christ and with him, to be accepted in him.

The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church

 

1362 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial.

 

1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men. (cf. Exodus 13:3) In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives to them.

 

1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present. (cf. Hebrews 7:25-27) "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out." (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 3; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7)

 

1365 Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:19-20) In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)

 

The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church

1366 The Eucharist is [the] sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the Cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the Cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.

 

(Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23; Hebrews 7:24, 27)

1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice:
"The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory." (Council of Trent (1562); cf. Hebrews 9:14,27)

 

1368 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire. She unites herself to his intercession with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ's sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.

 

In the catacombs the Church is often represented as a woman in prayer, arms outstretched in the praying position. Like Christ who stretched out his arms on the cross, through him, with him, and in him, she offers herself and intercedes for all men.

 

1369 The whole Church is united with the offering and intercession of Christ. Since he has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the Pope is associated with every celebration of the Eucharist, wherein he is named as the sign and servant of the unity of the universal Church. The bishop of the place is always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides; the bishop's name is mentioned to signify his presidency over the particular Church, in the midst of his presbyterium and with the assistance of deacons. The community intercedes also for all ministers who, for it and with it, offer the Eucharistic sacrifice:

Let only that Eucharist be regarded as legitimate, which is celebrated under [the presidency of] the bishop or him to whom he has entrusted it.

 

St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn. 8:1; SCh 10,138

Through the ministry of priests the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is completed in union with the sacrifice of Christ the only Mediator, which in the Eucharist is offered through the priests' hands in the name of the whole Church in an unbloody and sacramental manner until the Lord himself comes.

 

Vatican II, Presbyterorum Ordinis 2 § 4

1370 To the offering of Christ are united not only the members still here on earth, but also those already in the glory of Heaven. In communion with and commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, the Church offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the cross with Mary, united with the offering and intercession of Christ.

 

1371 The Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who "have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified," (Council of Trent (1562): DS 1743) so that they may be able to enter into the light and peace of Christ:

Put this body anywhere! Don't trouble yourselves about it! I simply ask you to remember me at the Lord's altar wherever you are.

St. Monica, before her death, to her sons, St. Augustine and his brother

Then, we pray [in the anaphora] for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and for us, the God who loves man.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5,9,10:PG 33,1116-1117

 

1372 St. Augustine admirably summed up this doctrine that moves us to an ever more complete participation in our Redeemer's sacrifice which we celebrate in the Eucharist:

This wholly redeemed city, the assembly and society of the saints, is offered to God as a universal sacrifice by the high priest who in the form of a slave went so far as to offer himself for us in his Passion, to make us the Body of so great a head. . . . Such is the sacrifice of Christians: "we who are many are one Body in Christ" The Church continues to reproduce this sacrifice in the sacrament of the altar so well-known to believers wherein it is evident to them that in what she offers she herself is offered.

 

(St. Augustine, De civ Dei, 10,6:PL 41,283; cf. Romans 12:5)
The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit

 

1373 "Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to his Church: (Romans 8:34; cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 48) in his word, in his Church's prayer, "where two or three are gathered in my name," (Matthew 18:20) in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, (cf. Matthew 25:31-46) in the sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the person of the minister. But "he is present . . . most especially in the Eucharistic species." (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium 7)

 

1374 The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend." (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III,73,3c) In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." (Council of Trent (1551): DS 1651) "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present." (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei 39)

 

1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:

It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.

St. John Chrysostom, prod. Jud. 1:6:PG 49,380

And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.

 

St. Ambrose, De myst. 9, 50; 52: PL 16, 405-407

1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation." (Council of Trent (1551): DS 1642; cf. Matthew 26:26 ff.; Mk 14:22 ff.; Luke 22:19 ff.; 1 Corinthians 11:24 ff.)

 

1377 The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ. (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1641)

 

1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession." (Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei 56)

 

1379 The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

 

1380 It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us "to the end,"
(John 13:1) even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, (cf. Galatians 2:20) and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.

 

John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, 3

1381 "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that 'cannot be apprehended by the senses,' says St. Thomas, 'but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.' For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19 ('This is my body which is given for you.'), St. Cyril says: 'Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is the truth, he cannot lie.'"

(St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III,75,1; cf. Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei 18; St. Cyril of Alexandria, In Luc. 22,19:PG 72,912; cf. Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei 18. )

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.

 

St. Thomas Aquinas (attributed to), Adoro te devote; translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins

VI. The Paschal Banquet

 

1382 The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord's body and blood. But the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us.

 

1383 The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from Heaven who is giving himself to us. "For what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?" (St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 5,2,7:PL 16,447C) asks St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, "The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of Christ is on the altar."
(St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 4,2,7:PL 16, 437D) The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers. Thus the Roman Church prays in its anaphora:

We entreat you, almighty God,
that by the hands of your holy Angel
this offering may be borne to your altar in Heaven
in the sight of your divine majesty,
so that as we receive in communion at this altar
the most holy Body and Blood of your Son,
we may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace.

 

Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon) 96

"Take this and eat it, all of you": Communion

 

1384 The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53)

 

1385 To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." (1 Corinthians 11:27-29) Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

 

1386 Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion: "Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea" ("Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed."). (Roman Missal, response to the invitation to communion; cf. Matthew 8:8) And in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the faithful pray in the same spirit:

O Son of God, bring me into communion today with your mystical supper. I shall not tell your enemies the secret, nor kiss you with Judas' kiss. But like the good thief I cry, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

1387 To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the faithful should observe the fast required in their Church. (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 919) Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.

 

1388 It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 916. 222 cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 917) receive communion when they participate in the Mass. (The faithful may recieve the Holy Eucharist only a second time on the same day) As the Second Vatican Council says: "That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest's communion, receive the Lord's Body from the same sacrifice, is warmly recommended." (Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium 55)

 

1389 The Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days and, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation, to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season. (Vatican II, Orientalium Ecclesiarum15; Code of Canon Law, can. 920) But the Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily.

 

1390 Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite. But "the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly." (GIRM 240) This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites.

 

The fruits of Holy Communion

 

1391 Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Lord said:
"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." (John 6:56) Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." (John 6:57)

On the feasts of the Lord, when the faithful receive the Body of the Son, they proclaim to one another the Good News that the first fruits of life have been given, as when the angel said to Mary Magdalene, "Christ is risen!" Now too are life and resurrection conferred on whoever receives Christ.

Fanqith, Syriac Office of Antioch, Vol. I, Commun., 237a-b

1392 What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh "given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit," (Vatican II, Presbyterorum Ordinis 5) preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum.

 

1393 Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink "shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins." For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins:

For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the Lord's death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins. If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is poured for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.

(St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 4,6,28:PL 16,446; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26)

1394 As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins. (cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1638) By giving himself to us Christ revives our love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him:

Since Christ died for us out of love, when we celebrate the memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit. We humbly pray that in the strength of this love by which Christ willed to die for us, we, by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, may be able to consider the world as crucified for us, and to be ourselves as crucified to the world. . . . Having received the gift of love, let us die to sin and live for God.

St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, Contra Fab. 28, 16-19: CCL 19A, 813-814

1395 By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin. The Eucharist is not ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins - that is proper to the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Eucharist is properly the sacrament of those who are in full communion with the Church.

 

1396 The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism. In Baptism we have been called to form but one body.
(cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13) The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread:" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are you respond "Amen" ("yes, it is true!") and by responding to it you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and respond "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true.

(St. Augustine, Sermo 272: PL 38, 1247)

1397 The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren:

You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,. . . . You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal. . . . God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.

 

(St. John Chrysostom, Homily in 1 Corinthians 27, 4: Perfectae Caritatis 61,229-230; cf. Matthew 25:40)

1398 The Eucharist and the unity of Christians. Before the greatness of this mystery St. Augustine exclaims, "O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!" (St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 26,13:PL 35,1613; cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium 47) The more painful the experience of the divisions in the Church which break the common participation in the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our prayers to the Lord that the time of complete unity among all who believe in him may return.

 

1399 The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. "These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy." A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, "given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged." (Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio 15 § 2; cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 844 § 3)

 

1400 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, "have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders." (Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio 22 § 3) It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. However these ecclesial communities, "when they commemorate the Lord's death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory." (Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio 22 § 3)

 

1401 When, in the Ordinary's judgment, a grave necessity arises, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick to other Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church, who ask for them of their own will, provided they give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding these sacraments and possess the required dispositions. (cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 844 § 4)

 

VII. The Eucharist - "Pledge Of The Glory To Come"

 

1402 In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us." If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace," (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus) then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.

 

1403 At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29; cf. Luke 22:18; Mark 14:25) Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 1:4; 22 20; 1 Corinthians 16:22) "May your grace come and this world pass away!" (Didache 10,6: SCh 248,180)

 

1404 The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ," asking "to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you for ever through Christ our Lord." (Eucharistic Prayer III 116: prayer for the dead)

 

1405 There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells," (2 Peter 3:13) than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is carried on" and we:

"break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ."

 

(Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 3; St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20,2:SCh 10,76)

 

In Brief

 

1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from Heaven ; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him". (John 6:51, 54, 56)

 

1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.

 

1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.

 

1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.

 

1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

 

1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

 

1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . ."

 

1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity. (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651)

 

1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.

 

1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.

 

1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

 

1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.

 

1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord". (Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei 66)

 

1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in Heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.

 

 

  1. St. Ignatius of Antioch, (A.D. 50-107)
    Pope St. Clement I of Rome, (A.D. 60-97)
    The Didache, (A.D. 80-90)
    St. Justin Martyr, (A.D. 100-163)
    St. Irenæus of Lyons, (A.D. 125-202)
    St. Clement of Alexandria, (A.D. 150-220)
    Tertullian, (A.D. 160-218)
    St. Hippolytus of Rome, (A.D. 170-236)
    Origen of Alexandria, (A.D. 184-253)
    St. Serapion of Alexandria, (A.D. 190-211)
    St. Cyprian of Carthage, (A.D. 200-258)
    Firmilian of Cæsarea, (A.D. 210-272)
    Lactantius, (A.D. 240-c.330)
    Eusebius of Cæsarea, (A.D. c.263-338)
    The Apostolic Constitutions, (dated A.D. c. 270)
    St. Athanasius of Alexandria, (A.D. 296-372)
    Council of Laodicea, (A.D 363-364)
    St. Macarius Of Alexandria, (A.D late 3rd century-395)
    Macarius of Egypt, (A.D. c.300-391)
    St. Ephrem the Syrian, (of Edessa), (A.D. 306-378)
    St. Pacian of Barcelona, (A.D. c.310-375)
    Council of Neocæsarea, (held in A.D. 315)
    St. Hilary of Poitiers, (A.D. 315-367)
    St. Optatus of Milevis, (unknown - A.D. 384)
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem, (A.D. 315-386)
    St. Gregory of Nazianzen, (A.D. 318-389)
    St. Basil the Great, (A.D. 328-379)
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis, (A.D. 332-403)
    Pope St. Siricius, (A.D. c.334-398)
    Council of Alexandria, (A.D. 339)
    St. Ambrose of Milan, (A.D. 340-396)
    St. Philastrius of Brescia, (unknown-ca.397)
    St. Jerome, (A.D. 342-420)
    Canons Of The Apostles, (A.D. c. 400)
    St. Gaudentius of Brescia, (unknown - A.D. 410)
    Theophilus of Alexandria, (unknown-A.D. 412)
    Prudentius, (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens), (A.D. 348-c.413)
    Pope St. Innocent I, (A.D. c.350-417)
    St. Augustine of Hippo, (A.D. 354-428)
    St. Monica, St. Augustine of Hippo's mother
    St. John Cassian, (A.D. c.360 - 433)
    Sulpicius Severus, (A.D. c.363-c.425)
    St. Cyril of Alexandria, (A.D. 376-444)
    St. Nilus the Elder, (c. A.D. 385 - 430))
    Zacchaeus, (unknown - A.D. c.430)
    St. Isidore of Pelusium, (unknown - A.D. 440)
    St. Proclus, (unknown-A.D. 447)
    St. Prosper of Aquitain, (A.D. c.390-c.463)
    Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus, (A.D. 393-458)
    Victor Vitensis, (c.430-490)
    Arnobius Junior, (flourished in the 5th century, A.D. c.460)
    St. Avitus, (Alcimus Ecdicius), (A.D. c.470-525)
    Gelasius of Cyzicus, (unknown- A.D. c.492)
    Council of Tours, (A.D. 461, 567, and 755)
St. Ignatius of Antioch, (A.D. 50-107), Syrian; ecclesiastical writer, bishop, martyr. A disciple of St. John, the Apostle; he was bishop of Antioch, in which see he succeeded St. Peter, or, as others think, Evodius. He is supposed to have governed that church for about forty years. He suffered martyrdom at Rome in the year 107.

Make certain, therefore, that you all observe one common Eucharist; for there is but one body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and but one cup of union with his blood, and one single altar of sacrifice— even as there is also but one bishop, with his clergy and my own fellow servitors, the deacons. This will ensure that all your doings are in full accord with the will of God.

Letter to the Philadelphians 4 [A.D. 110]

Let only that Eucharist be regarded as legitimate, which is celebrated under [the presidency of] the bishop or him to whom he has entrusted it.

Letter to the Smyrnaeans. 8:1;SCh 10,138
Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1369

Pope St. Clement I of Rome, (A.D. 60-97), Roman; Pope from A.D. 88-97; martyr. That St. Clement was honored by the friendship of the great Apostle, St. Peter, is not doubted. There are good reasons to believe that he was designated by that Apostle as his successor in the see of Rome. The authenticity and genuineness of St. Clement's First Epistle to the Corinthians are acknowledged. We learn from Eusebius and from other writers, that it was publicly read in many churches. This second epistle is the oldest extant Christian homily we have attributed to him, (A.D. 150).

Our sin will not be small if we eject from the episcopate those who blamelessly and in a holy manner have offered its sacrifices. Blessed are those presbyters who have already finished their course, and who have obtained a fruitful and perfect release.

Letter to the Corinthians 44:4-5 [A.D. 95]

The Didache, (A.D. 80-90) the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (Didache means "Teaching") is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century.

Assemble on the Lord's Day, and break bread and offer the Eucharist: but first make confession of your faults, so that your sacrifice may be a pure one. Anyone who has a difference with his fellow is not to take part with you until he has been reconciled, so as to avoid any profanation of your sacrifice [Matthew 5:23—24].

For this is the offering of which the Lord has said, "Everywhere and always bring me a sacrifice that is undefiled, for I am a great king, says the Lord, and my name is the wonder of nations" [Malachi 1:11, 14]

Didache 14 [A.D. 70]

St. Justin Martyr, (A.D. 100-163), Samaritan; born in Sichem (Naplousia) in Palestine; a platonic philosopher, apologist, and martyr for the faith; he was a convert to Catholic Christianity in A.D. 133. He wrote two Apologies for the Christian religion, one addressed to Antoninus, the other to Marcus Aurelius. He was martyred at Rome in the year 163.

St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-161) around the year
A.D. 155, explaining what Christians did:

On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits. When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all rise together and offer prayers* for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation. When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss. Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren. He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.'

When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.

Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1345

God speaks by the mouth of Malachi, one of the twelve [minor prophets], as I said before, about the sacrifices at that time presented by you: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept your sacrifices at your hands; for from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering, for my name is great among the Gentiles" [Mal. 1:10-11]. He then speaks of those Gentiles, namely us [Christians] who in every place offer sacrifices to him, that is, the bread of the Eucharist and also the cup of the Eucharist.

Dialogue with Trypho 41 [A.D. 155]

"The oblations of wheaten flour prescribed to be offered for those who were purified from the leprosy (Leviticus 14:10), was a type of the bread of the Eucharist which our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to offer for a commemoration of the passion which He endured, that we may, at the same time give thanks to God for having made the world and all things in it for the sake of man. Whence God in speaking of the sacrifices mentioned by the prophet Malachi, then foretold concerning the sacrifices offered unto Him in every place by us Gentiles, that is of the bread of the Eucharist and of the cup in like manner of the Eucharist.

Quoted from Cabinet of Catholic Information, a collection of lectures and writings of eminent prelates and priests of the Catholic Church in America and Europe, by Rev. J.M. Lucey. Copyright Duggan Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1904, page 97.

St. Irenæus of Lyons, (A.D. 125-202), Asia Minor; bishop, missionary, theologian, defender of orthodoxy. Though by birth a Greek, he was Bishop of Lyons in the second century. He tells us that, in his early youth, he learned the rudiments of religion from St. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John the Apostle. He wrote several works, of which only a few fragments are now known, with the exception of his Treatise against Heretics which we have in five books.

He took from among creation that which is bread, and gave thanks, saying, "This is my body." The cup likewise, which is from among the creation to which we belong, he confessed to be his blood. He taught the new sacrifice of the new covenant, of which Malachi, one of the twelve [minor] prophets, had signified beforehand: "You do not do my will, says the Lord Almighty, and I will no accept a sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is my name among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty" [Mal. 1:10-11]. By these words he makes it plain that the former people will cease to make offerings to God but that in every place sacrifice will be offered to him, and indeed, a pure one, for his name is glorified among the Gentiles.

Against Heresies 4:17:5 [A.D. I89]

"Most manifestly the Lord Almighty means by these words of the prophet, Malachy, that the olden people shall cease to offer to God; but that in every place, a sacrifice and that a pure one, shall be offered to Him. Wherefore the church's oblation, which the Lord taught to be offered throughout the whole world, is reputed a pure sacrifice before God, and is acceptable to Him."

Quoted from Cabinet of Catholic Information, a collection of lectures and writings of eminent prelates and priests of the Catholic Church in America and Europe by Rev. J.M. Lucey. Copyright Duggan Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1904, page 97.

St. Clement of Alexandria, (A.D. 150-220), Greek; theologian, a scholar of Pantaenus, to whom he succeeded as head of the Catechetical School at Alexandria, Egypt. His writings display great acquaintance with the Gentile philosophy. He wrote with the express design of hiding the mysteries of the Christian religion from the Pagans, and the uninitiated, while at the same time, laboring to show the immense practical superiority of the Christian code of morals over that of every Pagan sect and system of philosophy.

"Salem is interpreted peace, of which our Saviour is described as the king, whom Moses calls Melchisedech, king of Salem, that priest of the Most High God, who gave the wine and the bread, that sanctified food, as a type of the Eucharist."

Strom. L. t iv. n. 25, jp. 637.
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Tertullian, (A.D. 160-218), North African; ecclesiastical writer, Christian apologist and lawyer, son of a centurion and contemporary of St. Irenæus, a native and citizen of Carthage. The zeal and ability with which he defended the Christian cause, and vindicated its faith and discipline, have immortalized his name, though it has suffered by his adoption, around the year A.D. 200, of some of the Montanist's errors, whose cause he is thought to have supported until his death. His works are numerous, and are written with great ability and erudition, but in an harsh style.

"What sacrifice is that from which we withdraw without the peace?" . . . In like manner also, very many think that, on the days of the stations, they ought not to be present at the prayers of the sacrifices, because when the body of the Lord has been received, the station must be broken up. Does then the Eucharist break up a service devoted to God? Does it not the more bind to God? Will not thy station be the more solemn, if thou standest also at the altar of God? When the body of the Lord has been received and reserved, both are saved, both the participation of the sacrifice, and the fulfilment of the service. If the station taketh its name from the model of war (for we are also soldiers of God), surely no joy, or sorrow, that comes upon the camp, cutteth short the stations of the soldiers."

De Orations, n. 14, pp. 135-6.
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"But to you be there no ground for going forth which is not solemn. Either one sick among the brethren is visited, or the sacrifice is offered, or the word of God is ministered. Any of these is matter of gravity and sanctity, for which there is no need of any remarkable dress, at once studied, and unrestrained."

De Cultu Femin. I. ii. n. xi. p. 155.
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St. Hippolytus of Rome, (A.D. 170-236), Roman; bishop and martyr, probably a scholar of St. Irenæus of Lyons.

"It is not lawful for a deacon to offer up sacrifice. Christ, having become man for our sakes, and offering up to Him, the God and Father, the spiritual sacrifice before His passion, to us alone did He give commission to do this after His ascension; we offering up according to His appointment, a pure and unbloody sacrifice, set apart bishops, and priests, and deacons."

Quoted from Cabinet of Catholic Information, a collection of lectures and writings of eminent prelates and priests of the Catholic Church in America and Europe by Rev. J.M. Lucey. Copyright Duggan Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1904, page 97-98.

Origen of Alexandria, (A.D. 184-253), Alexandrian; born in Egypt, philosopher, theologian, writer.

"We offer up to the God of all, our prayers through His only-begotten Son: to whom we first address them, beseeching Him, who is a propitiation for our sins, to present, as a high priest, both our prayers, and sacrifices, and intercessions to the God who is above all."

T. i. l. viii. Adv. Cels.
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"When thou shalt see the Gentiles come unto the faith, churches being built, altars being sprinkled, not with the blood of animals, but hallowed with the precious blood of Christ; when thou shalt see the priests and Levites ministering, not the blood of goats and oxen, but the word of God through the grace of the Holy Spirit, then say that Jesus, after Moses, has received and holds the headship."

T. ii. Hom. ii. in Jos. p. 400, col. 2.
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"I will not gather together their meetings for blood-offerings" (Psalm 15:4)

These words are manifestly those of one above the many, and of no other than Christ; for when He gathers, He gathers not meetings for blood-offerings. . . . Another (Aquila) interprets thus: "I will not pour forth their libations of blood-offerings, but I will deliver over to all men new mysteries, and an unbloody sacrifice."

T. ii. Sel. in Ps. 15, p. 598.
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St. Serapion of Alexandria, eighth bishop of Antioch, (A.D. 190-211), known principally through his theological writings.

Accept therewith our hallowing too, as we say, "Holy, holy, holy Lord Sabaoth, Heaven and earth is full of your glory." Heaven is full, and full is the earth, with your magnificent glory, Lord of virtues. Full also is this sacrifice, with your strength and your communion; for to you we offer this living sacrifice, this unbloody oblation.

Prayer of the Eucharistic Sacrifice 13:12-16 [A.D.350]

St. Cyprian of Carthage, (A.D. 200-258), North African; bishop; biblical scholar, martyr.

Writing to Celerinus, whose relatives had been martyred:

"We always, as you remember, offer sacrifices for them as often as we celebrate the sufferings and days of the martyrs in the anniversary commemoration."

Quoted from Cabinet of Catholic Information, a collection of lectures and writings of eminent prelates and priests of the Catholic Church in America and Europe by Rev. J.M. Lucey. Copyright Duggan Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1904, page 98.

To the bodies also of all those, who, though they were not put to the torture in prison, nevertheless depart by the outlet of a glorious death, let a more zealous watchfulness and care be given. For neither their resolution, nor their honor, is the less so as to prevent them too from being classed amongst the blessed martyrs. . . . Finally, note also the days on which they depart, that we may celebrate commemorations of them also amongst the memories of the martyrs. Although our most faithful and devoted brother Tertullius, in accordance with the rest of that solicitude and care which he exhibits towards the brethren in every attentive labor of love (and who in his neighborhood is not wanting in attention to the bodies of the dead), has written, and still writes and signifies to me the days on which, in prison, our blessed brethren, by the issue of a glorious death, pass to immortality; and here are celebrated by us for commemorations of them, oblations and sacrifices, which we will speedily, with the Lord's protection, celebrate with you."

Ep. xxxvii. Ad Clerum, pp. 114-16.
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"It is assuredly the great honor and glory of our episcopate to have granted peace to martyrs; that so we, as priests who daily celebrate the sacrifices of God, may prepare sacrifices and victims for God."

Ep. liv. ad Cornel, p. 172.
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Firmilian of Cæsarea, (A.D. 210-272), Cappadocian; bishop, contemporary of Gregory Thaumaturge, ardent admirer of Origen; remembered for the moral support he gave St. Cyprian of Carthage on the issue of baptizing heretics.

"And this woman [possessed, as he describes her, by an evil spirit], who had already, by the wiles and deceits of the devil, devised many things to deceive the faithful, amongst other things with which she had deluded many, frequently ventured on this also, to pretend, and with no contemptible invocation, to consecrate bread, and to celebrate the Eucharist, and she offered sacrifice to the Lord, without the mystery (sacrament) of the accustomed public prayers."

Ep. lxxv. {inter op. S. Cypr.) p. 306.
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Lactantius, (A.D. 240-c.330), was an early Christian author, the goal of his writings was to present Christianity in a form that would be attractive to philosophical pagans.

The Catholic Church is therefore the only one that retains the true worship. This is the source of truth; this the dwelling-place of faith; this the temple of God, which whosoever enters not, or from which whosoever departs, he is an alien from the hope of life, and eternal salvation. No one ought to flatter himself by means of obstinate disputation; for life and salvation are at stake, which, if not prudently and sedulously looked to, are lost and utterly destroyed.

But, as every sect of heretics thinks itself above every other Christian, the Catholic Church, it is to be known is the true Church wherein are Confession and penitence, which wholesomely heal the wounds and sins to which the weakness of the flesh is subject.
Thus much, in a few words, have I set down by way of admonition, lest any one desirous of avoiding error become entangled in a greater error, whilst ignorant of the shrine of truth."

Divin. Inst. L. iv. c. 30.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 43-44

Eusebius of Cæsarea, (A.D. c.263-338), appointed Bishop of Cæsarea in A.D. 314, Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist, scholar of the Biblical canon who was deeply embroiled in the Arian controversy.

"Who but our Savior alone delivered to His votaries to celebrate unbloody and rational sacrifices. For this cause over the whole inhabited earth, altars have been erected, and there have been consecration of churches and liturgies truly hallowed of rational and intellectual sacrifices are offered to God."

Quoted from Cabinet of Catholic Information, a collection of lectures and writings of eminent prelates and priests of the Catholic Church in America and Europe by Rev. J.M. Lucey. Copyright Duggan Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1904, page 98.

Having contended, from the example of Melchisedech, and of others, that the primitive religion resembled that of Christ in many of those particulars wherein our Savior modified, or changed the law of Moses, he applies this remark, amongst other matters, to sacrifice, and proceeds to show that the Jewish prophets had foretold the change:

"Malachi at the same time addresses the following to those of the circumcision, and prophesies the same of the Gentiles, saying: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Almighty God, and sacrifices I will not receive from, your hands; for from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name has been glorified amongst the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a clean oblation." (Malachi 1:10-11) For, that there is in every place incense and sacrifice offered up to God, what else does it signify but that, not in Jerusalem, nor in that place, separately, but in every place, and in every nation, there would be offered up to the Supreme God incense, through prayers, and that sacrifice which is called clean, not by means of blood, but by pious actions. And Isaiah cries aloud and proclaims, at once prophesying and declaring, "There shall be an altar to the, Lord in the land of Egypt, and the Lord shall be known to the Egyptians, and He shall send them a man that shall save them, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall make sacrifices, and shall vow vows to the Lord, and perform them, and they shall return to the Lord, and He shall be entreated of them, and heal them." (Isaiah 19) . . . Moses passes a law that an altar and sacrifices be established in no other part of the earth, save in Judea only, and in one city only of that country; whereas the prophecy says that an altar would be built to the Lord in this land of Egypt, and that the Egyptians themselves would offer sacrifices to the God of the prophets, and no longer to their ancestral gods, . . . and they no longer make their vows to many lords, but, according to the sacred word, to the one only Lord, and to Him, throughout the whole inhabited world, there has been raised an altar of bloodless and rational sacrifices according to the mysteries of the New Testament."

Demons. Evang. l. i. c. 6, pp. 19, 20.
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The Apostolic Constitutions (or Constitutions of the Holy Apostles), dated A.D.c 270, is a Christian collection of eight treatises which belongs to genre of the Church Orders.

Having spoken of the Jewish priesthood, the writer says:

"You therefore, O bishops, are in these days, to your people, priests, Levites, the sacred ministers in that sacred tabernacle, the holy Catholic Church, and have your station at the altar of the Lord your God, and offer unto Him the rational and unbloody sacrifices, through Jesus Christ, the great High Priest. You are, to the laymen amongst you, prophets, rulers, and leaders and kings; the mediators between God and those who believe in Him; the receivers and heralds of the word; the skilled in the Scriptures; the voices of God, and the witnesses of His will."

Lib. ii. c. xxv.
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"Neither do we suffer laymen to perform any of the sacerdotal functions, such as sacrifice or baptism, or the imposition of hands, or the greater or lesser blessing; for let no one assume to himself the honor, but he who has been called of God. For, through the imposition of the hands of the bishop, such like dignity is given; but he who has not had it committed into his hands, but has seized it for himself, shall undergo the punishment of Ozias."

Lib. l. iii. c. x.
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St. Athanasius of Alexandria, (A.D. 296-372), Egyptian; bishop, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. He was present, as an assistant to St. Alexander of Alexandria, at the council of Nicea who he succeeded in A.D. 326. During more than forty years he was the champion of orthodoxy, and suffered much severe persecution from the Arian party.

"I will not gather together their meetings for blood-offerings." (Psalm 15) When I gather together, says He, meetings from amongst the Gentiles, I will not gather them by means of blood-offerings: that is, I will not arrange that I shall be approached by the worship of the Law, but rather by means of praise and the unbloody sacrifice."

Expos, in Ps. t. i. P. 2, p. 817.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 425

"I will go into Thy house with burnt-offerings." (Psalm 65), Thy heavenly to wit, and with spiritual burnt-offerings. But these, he says, O Lord, are Thine; but ours are these, — to enter into the temple and to sacrifice eucharistic gifts."

Exp. in Ps. lxv. t. ii. Nova Coll. Montf. p. 99.
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Council of Laodicea, (A.D 363-364), was a regional synod of approximately thirty clerics from Asia Minor in Laodicea, Phrygia Pacatiana.The major concerns of the Council involved regulating the conduct of church members. The council expressed its decrees in the form of written rules or canons.

"If thou art present at Mass, keep a guard over thy thoughts and senses, and stand with trembling before the most high God, that thou may be worthy to receive the body of Christ and the blood, and may cure thy passions."

Reg. ad Mon. n. 37, p. 323.
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"It is needful that they refrain on the sabbath, and on the Lord's day, on account of the spiritual sacrifice being offered up to the Lord on these days."

Galland. T. vii. Resp. Canon. p. 349.
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St. Macarius of Alexandria, (late 3rd century - A.D. 395), also known as Marcarius the Younger, an extreme ascetic and disciple of St. Anthony ; he died, at an extreme old age, in the year 395., numerous miracles were ascribed to him. He presided over five thousand Nitric monks.

"If thou art present at Mass, keep a guard over thy thoughts and senses, and stand with trembling before the most high God, that thou may be worthy to receive the body of Christ and the blood, and may cure thy passions."

Reg. ad Mon. n. 37, p. 323.
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"It is needful that they refrain on the sabbath, and on the Lord's day, on account of the spiritual sacrifice being offered up to the Lord on these days."

Galland. T. vii. Resp. Canon. p. 349.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 441

Macarius of Egypt, (A.D. c.300-391), also known as Macarius the Elder and the Lamp of the Desert was an Egyptian Christian monk, hermit and priest. contemporary with St. Athanasius, and the friend of the great St. Anthony, died at the advanced age of ninety, after passing sixty years in the desert.

"As, in this visible Church, unless first the lectures, the psalmody, and whatever else follows according to ecclesiastical order have preceded, it is not the appointed course for the priest to consummate the divine mystery of the body and blood of Christ; so, on the other hand, though all the ecclesiastical regulations be complied with, but the mystic Eucharist of the oblation by the priest, and the communion of the body of Christ take not place, the ecclesiastical rite has not been completed, and the divine worship of the mystery is imperfect."

Ascet. de Charit. n. 29, p. 207, Galland. T. vii.
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St. Ephrem the Syrian, (of Edessa), (A.D. 306-378), Syrian; born in Nisebis, deacon, hymnist, poet. His works were even during his own lifetime almost all translated into Greek, and were, as St. Jerome informs us, held in such high estimation, as to be read in some churches after the Holy Scriptures. We have his life by St. Gregory of Nyssa.

"Who can adequately celebrate the potency and excellence of the sacrifice, seeing that it is so great, that no language can reach its holiness? Whoever carefully examines the books of Moses, will thence derive perfect conviction, that as soon as the high priest, Aaron, took the censer, and fled suppliantly to the altar, he expelled from the army of the Israelites a most fearful pestilence; so grateful that is, most bountiful God, was the sweetness of that incense, as instantly to appease Thy wrath. These things being so, lo! our priesthood offers unto Thee a like gift; cause, therefore, that, by virtue of it, the pestilence that afflicts Thy servants, be dispersed. The sweet odors that we burn to Thee, ought not certainly to be less acceptable to Thee, than those which Aaron of old offered. And as, by the benefit accruing from them, the pestilence was driven away from Israel, against which Thy wrath was justly and deservedly enkindled; so also, by the aid of these, let there be utterly repelled from Thy Church all schisms and contentions, which, in a lamentable manner, break up her unity. Let also the singular excellence of this oblation be of benefit to our forefathers, who, having openly confessed Thy name, have, in Thy hope, departed this life; that, when Thou shalt again revisit this earth, they may happily enter with Thee into that rest which is full of delight."

T. iii. Syr. Paraen. 61, p. 528.
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"Oh the incredible miracle, the ineffable power, the tremendous mystery of the priesthood! ... It ascends without hindrance unto the Heaven of heavens; it gloriously and easily takes its stand in the midst of the angels and the incorporeal spirits. And why do I say in the midst of the powers above? It becomes the familiar of the Lord of angels, and of the Creator and giver of light. . . . What language shall I use, or what words of praise? for the gift of the dignity of the priesthood transcends both language and thought. And this, in my opinion, is what Paul, struck with amazement, insinuates, when he says, "Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways." (Romans 11:33) It flies aloft from earth to Heaven, most swiftly bearing unto God our petitions, and intercedes with the Master on behalf of His servants. Let us, my brethren, penetrate clearly into this mystical and tremendous subject; since without the venerable priesthood remission of sins is not granted to man. . . . The priesthood confidently soars aloft from earth to Heaven, even until it gazes on Him who is the invisible, and prostrate prays for the servants to their Master, bearing the tears and groans of its fellow-servants, and fervently bearing also to its own Master prayer and penitence; imploring pardon, and pity, and mercy from the merciful King, in order that the Spirit the Paraclete may at the same time descend and sanctify the gifts which lie to open view on earth; and when the fearful mysteries of complete immortality have been offered by means of the presiding priest who makes intercession for all, then do souls draw nigh, receiving purification from their stains by means of the tremendous mysteries. You see, beloved of God, how the two things on earth are not operative, unless the heavenly decree supervene and sanctify the gifts. Thou hast seen the glorious wonder-working; thou beholds the sacred dignity how easily it cleanses away the stains that are upon souls. ... Oh the ineffable power that has vouchsafed to dwell within us by means of the imposition of the sacred hands of priests."

T. iii. Gr. De Sacerdotio, p. 1-3.
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St. Pacian of Barcelona, (A.D. c.310-375), bishop of Barcelona, Jerome praises his eloquence, learning, chastity, and holiness of life. He is also remembered from a phrase from one of his letters: "My name is Christian, my surname is Catholic.".

"Who but our Savior alone delivered to His votaries to celebrate unbloody and rational sacrifices. For this cause over the whole inhabited earth, altars have been erected, and there have been consecration of churches and liturgies truly hallowed of rational and intellectual sacrifices are offered to God."

Quoted from Cabinet of Catholic Information, a collection of lectures and writings of eminent prelates and priests of the Catholic Church in America and Europe by Rev. J.M. Lucey. Copyright Duggan Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York, 1904, page 98.

Council of Neocæsarea, (held in A.D. 315), in NeoCæsarea, Ponus. Its principal work was the adoption of fifteen disciplinary canons, which were subsequently accepted as ecumenical by the Council of Chalcedon, 451.

If a presbyter who had formerly sinned with his body should be promoted, and should confess that he had sinned before ordination, let him not make the oblation; abiding however in the rest of (his offices), on account of his diligence in other respects. . . .
But if he confess not, and cannot be clearly convicted, he is to be left at liberty in that matter."

Can. ix. col. 1481, t i. Labb.
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St. Hilary of Poitiers, (A.D. 315-367), French; husband, theologian, bishop of Poiters around A.D. 355, and Doctor of the Church. Referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" and the "Athanasius of the West.". He was obviously a firm supporter of St. Athanasius.

"Thy tribunes (Constantius) made their way to the holy of holies, and forcing for themselves a path through the people, with every kind of cruelty, have dragged priests from the altar. Dost thou think, thou wicked king, that thy sin is less than the impiety of the Jews? They indeed shed the blood of Zacharias, but thou, as far as was in thy power, hast torn from Christ those who are incorporated with Christ."

Liber. Contr. Const, n. xi. p. 571.
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In the next historical fragment, Hilary gives the Arian accusations against the Catholics, and especially against St. Athanasius, and amongst the other calumnies:

"Presbyters were by him (Paul, bishop of Constantinople) dragged naked to the forum, and that, — a thing to be told with tears and sorrow, — he profaned openly and publicly the consecrated body of the Lord, which he hung round the necks of priests. "

Ex op. Hist. Fragm. iii. (Decr. Syn. Sard.) n. 9, p. 653.
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St. Optatus of Milevis, (unknown - A.D. 384), bishop of Milevis, Numidia, in Africa; from Augustine's writings we can assume Optatus was a convert; he is best known for his opposition to the heresy of Donatism.

"And now in this place may also be justly condemned that falsehood of yours, with which the sacrifices are daily tainted by you. For who can have a doubt that you cannot possibly omit what is a legitimate thing in the mystery of the sacraments? You say that you offer to God for the Church that is one; this very thing is a part of the falsehood, for you to call that one, of which you have made two: and you say that you offer to God for that one Church which is spread throughout the whole world. What if God should say to each of you,

"Why do you offer for the whole Church, when you are not in the whole Church?"

De Schism. Donat. l. ii. n. 12.
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St. Cyril of Jerusalem, (A.D. 315-386), Palestinian; ordained by Maximus, he was made bishop of Jerusalem in A.D. 345; scholar and Doctor of the Church. None of his writings have been preserved to us, except eighteen catechetical instructions addressed to catechumens, and five mystagogic discourses addressed to neophytes.

Then, we pray [in the anaphora] [part of the Mass] for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and for us, the God who loves man.

Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1371
Catech. myst. 5,9,10:PG 33,1116-1117 [A.D. 350]

Then, having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual hymns, we beseech the merciful God to send forth his Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before him, that he may make the bread the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ, for whatsoever the Holy Spirit has touched is surely sanctified and changed. Then, upon the completion of the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless worship, over that propitiatory victim we call upon God for the common peace of the churches, for the welfare of the world, for kings, for soldiers and allies, for the sick, for the afflicted; and in summary, we all pray and offer this sacrifice for all who are in need.

Catechetical Lectures 23:7-8 [A.D. 350]

St. Gregory of Nazianzen, (A.D. 318-389), Cappadocian; archbishop, theologian, Doctor of the Church.

"I will also keep my tongue pure for the pure sacrifices, whereby I unite the Mighty King to beings of clay: for, from no alien tongue, and impure mind, will I send up to the pure the life-bearing sacrifice."

T. ii. Carm. liv. p. 129.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 4

St. Basil the Great, (A.D. 328-379), Cappadocian; bishop of Cæsarea in A.D. 369, theologian, monk. Studied in Palestine, Constantinople, and Athens. Many of the subsequent years of his life were spent in the deserts of Egypt and Libya. His character and works have gained for him the surname of "the great".

Then, we pray [in the anaphora] [part of the Mass] for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and for us, the God who loves man.

Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1371
Catech. myst. 5,9,10:PG 33,1116-1117 [A.D. 350]

Then, having sanctified ourselves by these spiritual hymns, we beseech the merciful God to send forth his Holy Spirit upon the gifts lying before him, that he may make the bread the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ, for whatsoever the Holy Spirit has touched is surely sanctified and changed. Then, upon the completion of the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless worship, over that propitiatory victim we call upon God for the common peace of the churches, for the welfare of the world, for kings, for soldiers and allies, for the sick, for the afflicted; and in summary, we all pray and offer this sacrifice for all who are in need.

Catechetical Lectures 23:7-8 [A.D. 350]

Question: "Can one that is not purified from every defilement of soul and body eat the body and drink the blood of the Lord without danger?

St. Basil answers: "Seeing that, in the law, God decreed the severest punishment against him that has dared, in a state of uncleanness, to touch the holy things, it is written typically for them, but for our instruction, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, etc." (Leviticus 22:1-3) If a threat so grievous be set down against those who rashly approach to what is sanctified by men, what shall one say against him who has dared against such and so great a mystery? For in the same proportion as "There is here something greater than the temple" according to Christ's declaration, in that same proportion is it more grievous and fearful to dare to touch, with the soul in a state of defilement, the body of Christ, beyond what it is to touch goats or oxen; agreeably to that saying of the Apostle, "Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread, or drink ths chalice of the Lord unworthily etc." (1 Corinthians 11) And he says, setting forth the judgment as more complete and fearful by the repetition, "Let a man prove himself, etc." (1 Corinthians 11:28-9). Now, if he who though only in a state of uncleanness has so fearful a judgment, how much more does he who is in sin, and yet dare attempt against the body of the Lord, draw down upon himself a more dreadful judgment? Let us, therefore, be cleansed from all defilement, and so approach the holy things, that we may escape the judgment of those who slew the Lord, seeing that Whosoever eateth the bread, or drinketh the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall, be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:27)

L. ii. de Baptismo Quaest. 2-3, T. ii. P. ii. pp. 927-29.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 438-440

St. Epiphanius of Salamis, (A.D. 332-403), Palestinian; bishop, abbot, scholar.

"The priesthood was transferred to that order which was before that of Levi and Aaron, unto that which was according to the order of Melchisedech, as it is now administered in the Church, from Christ even unto these days; the race not being chosen by succession of blood, but the type sought for being virtue."

T. i. Adv. Hæres. (55), p. 470.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 442

Pope St. Siricius, (A.D. c.334-398), an active Pope, involved in the administration of the Church and the handling of various factions and viewpoints within it; author of two decrees concerning clerical celibacy. The decree of A.D. 385 stated that priests should stop cohabiting with their wives.

"All we priests and levites are bound, by an indissoluble law, to give, from the day of our consecration, our hearts and bodies to sobriety and chastity, if we would be, in all things, pleasing to our God, in those sacrifices which we daily offer."

Ep. i. ad Himer. n. 9, Galland. T. vii. p. 535.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 441-442

Council of Alexandria (A.D. 339) one of several councils held in the year 339, in defense of Athanasius of Alexandria and centered around the Arian heresy..

"Our sanctuaries, as always, so now are pure, being most venerable by the alone blood of Christ, and by our worship of Him."

Epist. Synod, col. 538, Labb. t. ii.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 467-468

St. Ambrose of Milan, (A.D. 340-396), German; reluctantly made bishop in the A.D. 374., Doctor of the Church. He closed a great and glorious career in A.D. 396. We have his life by Paulinus.

We saw the prince of priests coming to us, we saw and heard him offering his blood for us. We follow, inasmuch as we are able, being priests, and we offer the sacrifice on behalf of the people. Even if we are of but little merit, still, in the sacrifice, we are honorable. Even if Christ is not now seen as the one who offers the sacrifice, nevertheless it is he himself that is offered in sacrifice here on earth when the body of Christ is offered. Indeed, to offer himself he is made visible in us, he whose word makes holy the sacrifice that is offered.

Commentaries on twelve Psalms of David 38:25 [A.D. 389]

"In the matter of such a festival (Easter) we ought not to fluctuate in a mere vain opinion, but having ascertained the true time of celebrating it, the love of all the brethren should so conspire as to offer up on the same night sacrifice in every place for the Lord's Resurrection."

T. ii. Ep. 23, Epis. per Æmil. Constit. n. i. p. 881.
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St. Philastrius of Brescia (also Philaster or Filaster), (unknown-ca.397), Spanish;;Bishop of Brescia, he was one of the bishops present at a synod held in Aquileia in A.D. 381. St. Augustine met him at Milan about A.D. 383. He composed a catalogue of heresies (Diversarum Hereseon Liber) about A.D. 384.

"But what say you to the fact, that Melchisedech, in the time of Abraham, foreseeing the mystery of Christianity, offered sacrifice four hundred years before the Jews had even a name . . .? That thou mightest understand that everything in Christianity, be it faith, or life, or sacrament, is not of a temporary nature, but determined on, and announced, yes even celebrated from the beginning of the world."

De Hæres. n. 82, Galland. T. vii. p. 502.
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St. Jerome, (A.D. 342-420), Dalmatian; born in Strido; priest, hermit, abbot, biblical scholar, translator and Doctor of the Church. In an age distinguished by men of the greatest eloquence and learning, St. Jerome, especially in all matters connected with the Sacred Scriptures, was then preeminent, and has probably never since been equalled.

"Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech"; our mystery is denoted by the word "order"; that not by immolating irrational victims through Aaron, but bread and wine, that is, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus, being the oblation (offered up)."

T. iii. Quaest. Hebr, in Genes, col. 329.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 2, Page 447

"Now, if laymen are ordered to refrain from their wives for the sake of prayer, what is to be thought of a bishop, who has daily to offer up spotless victims for his own sins, and those of the people? Let us read again the books of Kings, and we shall find that Abimelech the priest . . . .would never have given David and the young men the show-bread which he had at first refused, had he not learned that they had refrained from all commerce with their wives on that day, and the two preceding days. There is as great a difference between the loaves of proposition, and Christ's body, as there is between a shadow, and (real) bodies, between an image and the verity, between patterns of things to come, and those very things which were prefigured by those patterns. Let the mind that is about to make the body of Christ, be free not only from an unclean act, but from every indecent glance, every wandering of the mind."

T. vii. Comm,. in Ep. ad Tit. col. 712 (misp. for 702).
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Canons Of The Apostles (A.D. c. 400) the Apostolic Canons or Ecclesiastical Canons of the Same Holy Apostles is a collection of ancient ecclesiastical decrees concerning the government and discipline of the Early Christian Church, first found as last chapter of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions and belonging to genre of the Church Orders. Thought to have been really compiled by the Apostles, whilst, by others, it is repudiated, and referred to the close of the fifth century.

"If any bishop or presbyter offer any other things at the altar, besides that which the Lord ordained for the sacrifice ... let him be deposed. . .Neither let it be allowed to bring anything else to the altar at the time of the holy oblation, excepting oil for the lamp, and incense."

Can. iii. col. 26, t. i. Labb.
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St. Gaudentius of Brescia, (unknown - A.D. 410), Italian; became bishop around A.D. 387, theologian and author of many letters and sermons, held in high esteem by the people of Brescia.

There are two reasons wherefore He appointed the sacraments of His body and blood to be offered under the appearance of bread and wine.

First, that the spotless Lamb of God might deliver a clean victim to a cleansed people; to be offered without burning, or blood, or broth, that is without juices from flesh, and a victim which might easily be procured and easily offered by all men.

In the second place, as we know that bread which is made out of many grains of wheat, which reduced to flour, must needs be made with water, and brought to perfection by fire, therein is reasonably apprehended a figure of the body of Christ, who, as we know, was made into one body, kneaded out of the mass of the whole human race, a body perfected by the fire of the Holy Ghost, for He was conceived of the Holy Ghost.

In like manner the wine of His own blood, gathered together out of many bunches, that is grapes of the vine planted by Himself, is expressed in the wine-press of the cross, and by its own virtue ferments in the capacious vessels of those who receive with a faithful heart. You who are going forth from the bondage of Egypt, and of Pharaoh, the devil, receive with me with all the eagerness of a religious heart this sacrifice of the passover of the Saviour, that our inmost bowels may be sanctified by onr Lord Jesus Christ Himself, whom we believe to be in His own sacraments."

De Pasch. Observ. Tr. ii. pp. 947-48. T. v. Bibl. Maxim. SS. PP.
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Theophilus of Alexandria (unknown-A.D. 412), patriarch of Alexandria from A.D. 385 until his death in 412, regarded as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

"The things that are offered up for the sake of sacrifice, let the clerics divide, after that has been consumed which is needful for the mysteries and of those things let not any catechumen eat or drink, but only clerics, and the faithful brethren who are with them."

Can. vii. Galland. T. vii. p. 606.
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Prudentius, (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens), (A.D. 348-c.413), Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis, now Northern Spain. He probably died in Spain, as well. The hymn Salvete, flores Martyrum, is by this writer.

"Thus may we venerate her (St. Eulalia's) bones, and the altar that is placed over them; she looks down upon them, placed as they are under the feet of God."

Carm. in S. Eulal. Ruinart. Act. Martyr, p. 500.
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Pope St. Innocent I, (A.D. c.350-417) was pope from (A.D. 401 to 417), he lost no opportunity in maintaining and extending the authority of the Roman See as the ultimate resort for the settlement of all disputes.

"As is becoming and chaste and praiseworthy, the Church should by every means hold, that priests and levites have no commerce with their wives, seeing that they are engaged in the necessary duties of the daily ministry. For it is written, "Be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy."

[Having quoted the example of the priests of the old law, he continues:]

How much more, from the day of their ordination, ought those priests and levites to preserve chastity, whose priesthood or ministry is not by (carnal) succession, and over whom a day passes not, wherein they are not engaged either in the divine sacrifices, or in the duty of baptizing. For if Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Abstain for a time that you may give yourselves to prayer", and enjoin this in fact upon laymen, how much more ought priests, — whose office it is to perpetually pray and sacrifice, — to refrain from such connection."

Ep. ii. ad Victr. n. 12, Galland. t. viii. p. 549.
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St. Augustine of Hippo, (A.D. 354-428), North African; born in Tagaste in A.D. 354, baptized in Milan in A.D. 387, ordained a priest in A.D. 391 and appointed bishop of Hippo in A.D. 395, Augustine is one of our greatest theologians. His numerous works display genius of the highest order, and have ever had great weight in the Christian churches. He is also a Doctor of the Church.

This wholly redeemed city, the assembly and society of the saints, is offered to God as a universal sacrifice by the high priest who in the form of a slave went so far as to offer himself for us in his Passion, to make us the Body of so great a head. . . . Such is the sacrifice of Christians: "we who are many are one Body in Christ" The Church continues to reproduce this sacrifice in the sacrament of the altar so well-known to believers wherein it is evident to them that in what she offers she herself is offered.

St. Augustine, De civ Dei, 10,6:PL 41,283
Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1372

"That true mediator . . . whereas in the form of God He receives sacrifice together with the Father, with whom also He is one God, yet, in the form of a servant, He chose rather to be, than to receive, sacrifice, lest, even on this account, any one might think that sacrifice was to be offered to any creature. For this cause also He is a priest, Himself the offerer, Himself also the oblation. Of which thing He wished the sacrifice of the Church to be a daily sacrament: which (Church), whereas she is the body of Him who is the head, learns to offer herself through Him. Of this true sacrifice the ancient sacrifices of the saints were manifold and various signs, seeing that this one sacrifice was typified by many sacrifices. ... To this chiefest and true sacrifice all false sacrifices have given way."

T. vii. L. x. c. xx. col. 410-11.
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St. Monica: St. Augustine of Hippo's mother, before her death, to her son, St. Augustine and his brother.

Put this body anywhere! Don't trouble yourselves about it! I simply ask you to remember me at the Lord's altar wherever you are.

Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1372

St. John Cassian, (A.D. c.360 - 433), ordained a deacon by St. John Chrysostom and a priest in Marseilles, a Christian theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern Churches for his mystical writings. He is known both as one of the "Scythian monks" and as one of the "Desert Fathers". His opinions on grace being in opposition somewhat to those of St. Augustine and the Church, caused him to be opposed by St. Prosper..

"The lifting up of my hands as evening sacrifice." (Psalm 140:2) In which place he may also be understood to speak of that true evening sacrifice, which was delivered in the evening, by our Lord and Saviour, to the Apostles when at supper, when He instituted the sacred and holy mysteries of the Church."

L. iii. c. iii. p. 24, t. vii. Bibl. Maxim.
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Sulpicius Severus, (A.D. c.363-c.425), a Christian writer and native of Aquitania. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.

"Arborius testifies that he had seen Martin's (of Tours) hand, whilst offering sacrifice, covered in some way with the most precious gems, and shining with a purple light, and had heard the noise of the gems, as they touched each other when he moved his right hand."

Dial. iii. n. x. Galland. t. viii. p. 417.
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St. Cyril of Alexandria, (A.D. 376-444), Egyptian; bishop, theologian and Doctor of the Church. He succeeded Theophilus in the patriarchal see of Alexandria, in A.D. 412, and was the great champion of orthodoxy against Nestorius, against whom the general council of Ephesus was called, in A.D. 431 and in which St. Cyril presided.

"The table that held the loaves of proposition signifies that unbloody sacrifice, by which we are hallowed when we eat that bread which is from Heaven, that is, Christ."

lb. I. xiii. p. 457.
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"Not only has the Gospel been preached throughout the Roman empire, but its light has also furthermore penetrated into the nations of barbarians. And hence there are everywhere churches, pastors and teachers, catechumens and hierophants — (a priest in ancient Greece), and divine altars, and the Lamb is intellectually sacrificed by holy priests, even amongst Indians and Ethiopians: And this is what was clearly expressed by the voice of another prophet, "And in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice.'

T. iii. Comm. in Sophon. p. 617.
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St. Nilus the Elder, (c. A.D. 385 - c. 430) (also known as Nilus of Sinai, Neilos, Nilus of Ancyra), Syrian, was one of the many disciples and fervent students of St. John Chrysostom; an eyewitness of the martyrdom of Theodotus.

"That marvellous priest John (St. Chrysostom), that luminary of the great church of Byzantium, yea rather of the whole world, being keen-sighted, often saw the house of the Lord not even deprived or left, for an hour even, by the guardianship of angels, and this especially during the time of the divine and unbloody sacrifice, a circumstance which he, filled with awe and gladness, narrated privately to his true spiritual friends. For, he says, when the priest begins to make the holy oblation, many of the blessed powers suddenly descend from Heaven, clothed in bright robes, with their feet bare, with their eyes intent, but with their faces cast down; moving round the altar with reverence and quietness and silence, they stand around until the completion of the dread mystery; then scattering themselves throughout the venerable house (of God), each of them here and there cooperating, aiding, and giving strength to the bishops and priests and to all the deacons present, who are administering the body and the precious blood. These things do I write, that knowing the fearful nature of the divine liturgy, you be neither yourselves careless, heedless of the divine fear, nor allow others to talk or whisper during the oblation."

Lib. ii. Epist. ccxciv. p. 266.
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Zacchaeus, (unknown - A.D. c.430), name of a fabricated writer under which he defends Christianity. His real name seems to be Evagrius, who flourished in the late 4th century.

"Though the Jews immolated victims after the manner of the Gentiles, yet were they taught to offer that to God which they had previously been in the habit of rendering to idols. ... At length they hear the prophet, "To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your sacrifices, saith the Lord," (Isaiah 1:11-15) That is, not by these piacular sacrifices are your crimes to be purged away: but he prophetically points out the nature of that purification which was to be in our baptism, saying, "Wash you, be clean." (Isaiah 1:16); that is, when the time of that visitation shall arrive, cleave to the sacraments of the spiritual laver. . . . The change, therefore, announced in such terms, was by Christ effected by an alteration for the better, and instead of worthless victims of animals and birds, the heavenly gift of the faithful is celebrated by a pure oblation, and we are defended against all the snares of the assaulting enemy, by having the spiritual sacrifice commingled with us, and that declaration of God the Father is accomplished in Him who took upon Himself our manhood, "Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech."

Cons. Zach. et Apoll. l. ii. c. vii. Galland, t. ix. pp. 227-8.
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St. Isidore of Pelusium, (unknown - A.D. 440), a disciple of St. John Chrysostom, he was born in Egypt to a prominent Alexandrian family. He became an ascetic, and moved to a mountain near the city of Pelusium, in the tradition of the Desert Fathers; known to us for his letters, written to Cyril of Alexandria, Theodosius II, and a host of others. His letters display great judgment, precision, and learning.

"If thou wouldst truly offer a gift to God, do not despise the mediator of the gifts, whose ministering hands God, in His love for man, has vouchsafed to make use of; for a priest, even though he be, as you say, defiled by a kind of heedless way of living, of which he shall abide the righteous judgment, is still an angel of the Almighty, both by the hierophancy of the divine initiation (or, perfection), and by his ministering to the salvation of many."

L. i. Ep. cccxlix. p. 92.
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St. Proclus, (unknown-A.D. 447), a friend and disciple of St. John Chrysostom, he was placed on the patriarchal chair of Constantinople in 434. He appears to have been wise, moderate, and conciliatory, desirous, while strictly adhering to Orthodoxy himself, to win over those who differed from him by persuasion rather than force. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox church.

"And indeed of old, my beloved, the mystery of the Passover was by (the ordinance) of the law mystically celebrated in Egypt; it was symbolically signified by means of the immolation of the Lamb; but now, by the (ordinance of) the Gospel, we spiritually celebrate the resurrection -- festival of the passover. There, indeed, a sheep from the flock was sacrificed, but here Christ Himself, the Lamb of God, is offered up: "there a sheep from the fold, but here, instead of a sheep, that good shepherd who laid down His own life for the sheep: there a sign of the sprinkled blood of an irrational creature, was the safeguard of a whole people; but here Christ's precious blood is poured out for the salvation of the world; that we may receive the remission of our sins. There the first-born of the Egyptians were slain, but here the many-born brood of sins are cleansed away by means of confession. There Pharaoh, with his dread army, were sunk in the sea; here the spiritual Pharaoh, with all his power, is drowned by means of baptism. . . . The Jews, after passing through the Red Sea, eat the manna in the desert, but now they who come forth from the pool (of baptism) eat that bread which came down from Heaven: for it is His voice that says: "I am that bread which came down from Heaven."

Orat. xiv. In sanctum Pascha, pp. 663-64, T. ix. Gallandii.
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St. Prosper of Aquitain, (A.D.c.390- c.463), a Christian writer and disciple of St. Augustine, as well as the friend and secretary of Pope Leo I. He was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle. Prosper was a layman, but he threw himself with ardour into the religious controversies of his day, defending Augustine and propagating orthodoxy.

"As you should keep in mind what you offer, and to whom you offer to, so you should keep in mind where you are offering.

For, without the Catholic Church there is no place for the true sacrifice."

Sentent. ex op. S. Aug. n. xv. col. 545.
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Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus, (A.D. 393-458), Greek; an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria (A.D. 423-457). He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms. His friendship for Nestorius embroiled him, for a time, with his great contemporary, St. Cyril of Alexandria.

"For Melchisedech was a priest of the Most High. . . . For he was a type of the Lord's priesthood for which cause he in return gave loaves and wine to Abraham, as having been, perhaps, accustomed to offer these to the God of all; for it was befitting that even in this the type should be set forth."

T. i. Quaest. lxiv. in Genes, p. 77.
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Victor Vitensis, (c.430-490), also known as Victor of Vite, an African bishop of the province of Byzacena (called Vitensis from his See of Vita); he wrote "The history of persecution of the African province, and Hunirici Geiserici times of the kings of the Vandals". This is mainly a contemporary narrative of the cruelties practised against the orthodox Christians of Northern Africa by the Arian Vandals.

Describing the Vandalic persecution, he says:

"No place was allowed us anywhere in our grief for praying, or for immolating, so that the prophecy was manifestly fulfilled, "Neither is there, at this time, prince, nor prophet, nor leader, nor place for sacrificing to Thy name." (Daniel 3:38)

De Pers. Afric. L. i. jp. 677, T. viii. Bibl. Maxim.
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Arnobius Junior, (flourished in the 5th century, A.D. c.460), also known as Arnobius the Younger, Christian priest or bishop in Gaul, author of a mystical and allegorical commentary on the Psalms, first published by Erasmus in 1522, and by him attributed to the elder Arnobius.

"He, through the sacrament of bread and wine, was made a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech, who alone amongst the priests offered up bread and wine, when Abraham returned victorious from battle."

Comm. in Psalm cix.p. 301, t. viii. Bibl. Maxim.
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St. Avitus, (Alcimus Ecdicius), (A.D. c.470-525), a Latin poet and Anti-Arian archbishop of Vienne in Gaul, born of a prominent Gallo-Roman senatorial family

"There is a custom, in the churches of the principal cities in those districts, to offer up at the beginning of the Mass a supplication mingled with the divine praise: a supplication which is answered by the united voices of the people with so much devotion and earnestness, that they believe, and not without reason, that every petition of the sacrifice that follows will be acceptable when preceded by this devotional service."

De Pers. Afric. L. i. p. 667, T. x. Galland.
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Gelasius of Cyzicus, (unknown- A.D. c.492), son of a priest of Cyzicus, he was an ecclesiastical writer who wrote in the Roman province of Bithynia in Asia Minor about A.D. 475 to prove against the Eutychians, that the Nicene Fathers did not teach Monophysitism.

"Again also here, at this table let us not abjectly attend to the bread and to the chalice which lie before us; but, lifting up our mind, let us with faith understand, that there lies upon that sacred table the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, sacrificed in an unbloody manner by the priests, and veritably receiving His precious body and blood, believe that these are the symbols of our resurrection. For, for this cause we receive not much, but a little, that we may know that we (partake) not for repletion, but for sanctification."

Hist. Concil. Nicaen. Labbe, t. ii. p. 234.
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Council of Tours, (A.D. 461, 567, and 755), one of three councils held in Tours, France during the patristic age, in A.D. 461, 567 and 755.

"Whereas, then, continency is prescribed to a layman, that, giving himself wholly to prayer and petitioning God, he may be heard, how much more is it enjoined to priests, or levites, who ought to be at every moment, secure in cleanness and purity, prepared; lest they be compelled either to offer sacrifice, or to baptize, if the necessity of the time require it?"

Can. i. col. 1050, Labb. t. iv.
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Our Savior, in leaving to us His Body and Blood, under two distinct species or kinds, instituted not only a sacrament, but also the sacrifice; the commemorative sacrifice, distinctly showing His passion and death until He comes in glory. As the sacrifice of the cross was performed by a distinct effusion of His blood, so is that sacrifice is commemorated and re-presented on the altars in Catholic parishes symbolically. The separate acts of the priest [consecrating the leavened wheat bread into His Body, then subsequently consecrating the grape wine into His Precious Blood] represent death because if you separate your body from your blood, you will die. The actions of the priest at Mass bring forth the reality of Calvary. Jesus, therefore, is here given not only to us, but for us; and the Church is thereby enriched with a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice. We say propitiatory because it re-presents, in a lively manner, the passion and death of our Lord, and is peculiarly pleasing to our eternal Father, and thus more effectually applies to us the all-sufficient merits of the sacrifice of the cross.

 

 

The Church's Scriptures that support the [Eucharist or the Mass]:


The Mass foretold in the Old Testament:

10 Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you," Says the Lord of hosts, "Nor will I accept an offering from your hands. 11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations," Says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 1:10-11

Matthew's Account of the Last Supper:

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."


Matthew 26:26-29

Mark's Account of the Last Supper:

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Mark 14:22-25

Luke's Account of the Last Supper:

13 And they went, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover. 14 And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 20 And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Luke 22:13-20

St. Paul proclaims and catechizes on the Mass.

16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

 

1 Corinthians 10:16-21

Abuses of the Lord's Supper

17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you meet together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.


1 Corinthians 11:17-22

St. Paul proclaims and catechizes on the Mass.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

 

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Partaking of the Lord's Supper unworthily.

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

 

1 Corinthians 11:27-30

If the Eucharist were just a symbol, why does Paul say, "That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died." If the Eucharist is just a symbol it shouldn't have effected them.

From the author of Hebrews.

1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.


Hebrews 5:1-4

 

10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.


Hebrews 13:10-12

 

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