The sacrifice of the Mass

Question 262

When and where are the bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ?

The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at the Consecration in the Mass.

Question 263

What is the Mass?

The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.

Question 264

What is a sacrifice?

A sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone, and the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord of all things.

Question 265

Is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?

The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross.

Question 266

How is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the Cross?

The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross because the offering and the priest are the same—Christ our Blessed Lord; and the ends for which the sacrifice of the Mass is offered are the same as those of the sacrifice of the Cross.

Question 267

What were the ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered?

The ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered were: 1st, To honor and glorify God; 2d, To thank Him for all the graces bestowed on the whole world; 3d, To satisfy God's justice for the sins of men; 4th, To obtain all graces and blessings.

Question 268

Is there any difference between the sacrifice of the Cross and the sacrifice of the Mass?

Yes; the manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On the Cross Christ really shed His blood and was really slain; in the Mass there is no real shedding of blood nor real death, because Christ can die no more; but the sacrifice of the Mass, through the separate consecration of the bread and the wine, represents His death on the Cross.

Question 269

How should we assist at Mass?

We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety and with every outward mark of respect and devotion.

Question 270

Which is the best manner of hearing Mass?

The best manner of hearing Mass is to offer it to God with the priest for the same purpose for which it is said, to meditate on Christ's sufferings and death, and to go to Holy Communion.

Consecration within the Eucharistic celebration

Questions 262, 263, 264

Bread and wine are consecrated within the Eucharistic Prayer. A sacrifice is an offering to God; in the Mass Christ is both priest and victim, and the Church is joined to his thanksgiving and self-offering.

One sacrifice, different manner

Questions 265, 266, 267, 268

Calvary and the Mass are one sacrifice because the same Christ offers himself. The Cross occurred once in history in a bloody manner; its saving sacrifice is made sacramentally present, not repeated, in an unbloody manner for praise, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition.

Conscious participation

Questions 269, 270

To assist at Mass means active, attentive participation in the Church's worship—not merely occupying a place. Union with the priest's liturgical action includes listening, responding, offering oneself with Christ, and receiving Communion when properly disposed.

Hebrews 9:24–28

Hebrews emphasizes Christ's once-for-all offering and prevents the Mass from being misunderstood as another crucifixion.

24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Paul joins the received Eucharistic tradition to remembrance and proclamation of the Lord's death until he comes.

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.