E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

CHAPTER the THIRD.
THE CONSECRATION OF THE ALTAR.
FOUR words are inseparably connected : Sacrifice,
Priest, Victim, Altar.
Sacrifice as we have seen is a supreme act of worship
offered to God alone by a lawful minister to show
God s supreme dominion and to satisfy for sins. A priest
by his ordination has the power of consecrating the
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and of absolving from
sin. A priest offers Sacrifice. The Victim is the thing
offered in sacrifice.
The altar is the place where the Sacrifice is offered.
"We call all that," says Bellarmine, "the altar where
the Victim is sacrificed that has been made by the
hands of the priest." (De Missa, vol. i. ch. xxvii.)
The altar is the most important object in the
church. The church is erected for the sake of the
altar and not the altar for the church. Remove
the altar, and the raison d etre of the church has gone.
The altar is for the Blessed Eucharist.
" In the
Blessed Eucharist," says St. Thomas,
"
there is con
tained the cause of all sanctity, therefore everything
connected with the Blessed Eucharist is consecrated ;
the priests, ministers, vestments, the vessels appertain-