E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

THE CONCLUSION OF THE CANON. 119
Transubstantiation. God who once created the Body
of His Son from a Virgin, daily from bread creates the
Flesh of Christ and from wine the Blood of Christ.
God changes by the same Jesus Christ the created
gifts of bread and wine into, as we have seen, the
Heavenly gift of the Eucharist. This essential trans
formation is presented to us from three different points
of view by whom, O Lord, Thou dost always
sanctify ; bread and wine reach the highest degree of
sanctification when converted into the Body and
Blood of the all Holy God ; vivify, by consecration they
become the living Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
the foundation of all true life ; lastly bless, the bread
and wine are "blessed" in the full force of the words
when converted into the Body and Blood of Christ, in
Itself infinitely blessed, and the fountain whence flows
every blessing to us. God grants us by Jesus Christ
these gifts sanctified, vivified, and blessed as a
Sacrifice and a Sacrament, as the ransom and the
nourishment of our souls.
A much more profound sense attaches to these words
if we consider the bread and wine as representative (by
their outward appearance at least) of all natural pro
ductions. In this way Jesus Christ in Holy Mass
comes before us as the Author and Dispenser of
the gifts of nature and of grace. In early times, and
on certain feasts, immediately before the prayer, by
whom, O Lord, Thou dost always create, a blessing
was read by the priest over the fruits of the earth, which
the faithful brought with them and laid within the
sanctuary much in the same way as we now place
palms on Palm Sunday. These offerings included
amongst other things, articles of food, water, wine,
milk, honey, oil, grapes, and fruit. These offerings,