Mass Talks 16: The Consecration

We have been leading up–in our series of talks on the Mass–to the highpoint and central moment of the Mass, the Consecration. There’s a logical connection between God’s Word (as we say) and the Eucharist; and it’s this: the priest’s power to change bread and wine into Christ is due to the words of Christ. At this point in the Mass, no longer does the priest use prayers composed by the Church, but the very words of Jesus: “this is my Body; this is my Blood.” Put those words in the mouth of a validly ordained priest who intends to consecrate the species of bread and wine and the ‘magic’ of the Mass takes place. ‘Magic’ is, of course, the wrong word here because this is reality and not deception. It was non-believers of the Mass who coined the magical term “hocus-pocus” as a mockery and a corruption of the Latin hoc est corpus (this is my Body). But at least even those detractors of the Catholic religion did recognize that the heart of our faith and the key moment of our worship is the Consecration–a fact that I’m not sure even all Catholics would be able to articulate today, so ignorant have they become. In any case, today we want to take a closer look at this pivotal action of the Mass.

I’d like to start with a point already made, namely about the words used. In the hymn, Pange lingua, Saint Thomas Aquinas says that the Word-who-became-flesh changes bread into His flesh by a word–a nice literary touch that indicates the transformation. Here we see that it is Christ Himself who is the principal priest of the Mass since His words are being used by a man who–literally–impersonates Christ. If these words were altered there would be risk that the Consecration would not occur and that the bread and wine would remain as they were before. For validity, then, these things are necessary: this must be a validly ordained priest of the Church. He must use the formula of words that are prescribed. His intention must be to do the thing the Church intends to happen by this action (namely to consecrate). Finally, he must use the right material (or ‘matter’): wheat bread (without any compromising additions) and real wine made from grapes. Accidental difference don’t matter. The bread may be made from whole wheat or bleached flour; the wine may be red or white, dry or sweet; but the elements must be pure and uncorrupted. It does not matter (for validity’s sake) whether the priest is a good or a bad one, whether he’s in a state of grace or not, whether the Mass is said reverently of perfunctorily. The Eucharist ‘happens’ all the same (even though how a priest says Mass matters a great deal on his own conscience).

The actions that accompany this rite focus on the primary significance of this moment. The priest bows low because he is himself prostrate before this mystery. The bell is rung to silence all other activity and to salute the Lord’s presence. The host and the chalice are shown to the people by an elevation of the species–and this for a double purpose. First, this ‘showing’ is meant to elicit an act of faith. You should look up at the Host and the chalice and say, “My Lord and my God.” The merit in that is that you are acknowledging a truth that’s beyond what your eyes see. “Blessed are they who have not seen [me], but yet believe,” as our Lord said. On the priest’s part, his act of faith is made by his genuflection before the Eucharist, an act that would be idolatry if it were not truly the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But there’s a secondary reason for the lifting of the species, one that rarely gets any notice. It’s the fact that if one would ask, ‘exactly when does the moment of the sacrifice take place?’, the answer would be, ‘at the very moment the Consecration is made.’ Therefore, even before the priest says words to that effect (“Lord, we offer you this pleasing sacrifice...”) it has already been made. Jesus has offered Himself to God the Father in the moment of the Consecration. Thus, the priest’s ‘lifts up’ as Christ ‘offers up’. So, the Consecration is not only for making the change over, the transubstantiation, from bread and wine to Christ’s Body and Blood, but it is also the sacrificial action of the Mass which has a parallel to the moment our Lord bowed His head on the cross and gave up His spirit. This is the death of the Lord that is mystically renewed at the Mass. As we say in the chant after the consecration: Mortem tuam annuntiamus, Domine, We proclaim your death, Lord. Saint Paul wrote the Corinthians: “Whenever you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (11:26). Protestants who deny that the Mass is a sacrifice need to come to grips with that Scripture. The Mass re-present’s Christ’s sacrificial death. This is the reason why we have altars: for sacrificing something. This is the reason why the crucifix must be near the altar: to make the connection between the Lord’s physical death on Calvary with His mystical death in the Mass. ‘Mystical’ here means that Jesus does not die again in each Mass, but that His death is represented through the Consecration. This is why we have two distinct acts here: first, the bread is consecrated and then the wine. A priest can’t say in a single phrase: ‘this is my body and my blood.’ Blood separate from the body signifies that someone is dead. It is only later in the Mass, when the priest drops a small portion of the host into the Precious Blood, that the Resurrection is signified, putting them ‘back together,’ as it were. Our Lord’s death and resurrection are symbolized in the Mass. What are not symbols in the Mass are His Presence (for it is real) and His sacrifice (for He is truly offered up anew). It’s important to keep distinct what is real and what is symbolic in the Mass.

My last word on a subject that deserves more extensive treatment concerns the matter I wrote about in my pastor’s column today. When the moment of Consecration comes, you ought to be dead still: not fidgeting about, not walking to the restroom, not looking elsewhere. It ought to be the moment of hushed silence when all drop to their knees. The moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Nothing else should matter then. God’s coming down from heaven; angels are adoring Him; Christ is being offered to the Father to atone for our sins. And we?

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And in fear and trembling stand.
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage.....to demand.