A Treasure To Be Shared

Mass - Bloodless Synonym for Christ's Eternal Sacrifice for the Salvation of Souls The first offertory prayer of Divine Worship discloses the sacrifice of the Mass as an act in which Christ’s once‑for‑all oblation is made present and lovingly offered to the Father through the Church’s hands. Its language emphasizes that the gifts set upon the altar—“holy bread” and “chalice of salvation”—are not merely symbolic tokens but the very matter through which the faithful join themselves to Christ’s self‑giving. The prayer frames the offering as both propitiatory and participatory: propitiatory, because it looks to the Cross as the singular source of reconciliation; participatory, because the faithful unite their intentions, labours, and lives to Christ’s perfect sacrifice. This offertory thus reveals the Mass as a living movement of ascent, in which earthly gifts are taken up into the heavenly worship. It also underscores the priest’s mediating role, asking that the sacrifice be accepted ...

Divine Worship: the Missal, the Missal of the Personal Ordinariates, retains the older set of offertory prayers (in the vernacular) and also includes in a separate section the shorter offertory prayers (Form II) found in the Novus Ordo Missal of Pope Saint Paul VI. The longer offertory prayers capture the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Our sacrifice - offerings of bread and wine that represent us - our hopes, our needs, our lives - is joined to the prayer of Jesus to the Father in the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine are accepted by Jesus and become by the power of the Holy Ghost the very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. See article :  https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/transubstantiation-for-beginners The one sacrifice of Christ on Calvary is made present in every valid Mass. Time and eternity meet. The congregation becomes present to the banquet of Jesus and the Apostles when Jesus established the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Or...

DIVINE WORSHIP | THE OFFERTORY (FORM I) Form One restores to the Mass the longer prayers one would encounter, though not hear (unless one is a Deacon or server near to the action), in the older Mass, the 1962 Missal, commonly called the Tridentine Mass or Usus Antiquior. Latin enthusiasts would probably recognize much of the hieratic English translation of the Latin found in their pew missals. The text of Divine Worship, though, presents some particularly beautiful and legitimate adjustments to the language of the Offertory prayers retained in and received from the Anglican Patrimony. + + + Standing at the altar, the Priest takes the paten with the bread and holds it slightly raised above the altar with both hands, saying in a low voice: Receive, O holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, this spotless host, which I, thine unworthy servant, now offer unto thee, my living and true God, for my numberless sins, offences, and negligences; for all here present; as also for the faithful in...

And receiving the thurible, he censes the offerings, the cross, and the altar in the customary manner. A Deacon or other Minister then censes the Priest, the Ministers, and the People. The Priest, standing at the side of the altar, washes his hands, saying in a low voice: Psalm 26:6-12 I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord; and so will I go to thine altar: that I may show the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth. O shut not up my soul with the sinners, nor my life with the blood-thirsty: in whose hands is wickedness, and their right hand is full of gifts. But as for me, I will walk innocently: O deliver me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth right; I will praise the Lord in the congregations. (Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.) The Mass is saturated with Holy ...

Divine Worship: The Offertory (Form I) Then he takes the chalice, and offers it, slightly elevating it and saying in a low voice: We offer unto thee, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching thy mercy, that it may ascend in the sight of thy divine majesty as a sweet smelling savour for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen. Commentary The priest offers God, on our behalf, the wine that God will be changed into the very Blood of Christ. Aware of the truly awesome reality at his hands, the priest calls upon God to extend His mercy so that the offering will be accepted by God and transformed by Him, becoming the "sweet smelling savour for our salvation". Though, not only for us, but for the salvation of the whole world. Our hope is in the Lord. Later in the Mass we will hear: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENES...

Divine Worship: The Offertory (Form I) Standing at the altar, the Priest takes the paten with the bread and holds it slightly raised above the altar with both hands, saying in a low voice: Receive, O holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, this spotless host, which I, thine unworthy servant, now offer unto thee, my living and true God, for my numberless sins, offences, and negligences; for all here present; as also for the faithful in Christ, both the quick and the dead, that it may avail for their salvation and mine, unto life everlasting. Amen. Commentary The priest-celebrant rightly acknowledges the sovereignty of God and immediately acknowledges his own unworthiness. Spoken in a low voice, this prayer ensures the priest-celebrant is not putting on airs to impress anyone, for no one but God, and perhaps the MC or a deacon, may hear the words spoken sotto voce. The priest-celebrant is not reminding God of anything God does not already know, namely our utter dependence upon Him for...