From many grains, from many grapes
Melchisedech king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He pronounced this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you” (Gen 14:18‑20).
* * *
Offering of the bread
The priest, standing at the altar, takes the paten with the bread and, holds it slightly raised above the altar with both hands, saying in a low voice,
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you:
fruit of the earth and work of human hands,
it will become for us the bread of life.
If, however, the Offertory Chant is not sung, the priest may say these words aloud.
We may respond, “Blessed be God for ever.”
Then the priest places the paten with the bread on the corporal.
* * *
The first Christians used ordinary bread at Mass, but it was of the best available, marked with a cross or some other symbol of Christ. From about the ninth century, azyme bread began to be used, recalling the unleavened bread Jesus used at the Last Supper.[1]
* * *
The more we think about it, the clearer it becomes: God could not have chosen anything simpler to symbolize our personal surrender to him. Bread is the most eloquent symbol of human existence. To earn your bread means to make a living. Are we mistaken in discovering in this sacramental medium our Lord’s intention of linking the Holy Eucharist to the most humble of our life’s activities?
The little piece of bread on the paten represents, poetically, the union of man’s work with the earth, a natural element. Because “there is no scrap of bread which does not call to mind the hard work of ploughing and sowing, the moist brow of the reaper, the weariness of the arms which have threshed the corn, and the grunts of the baker who kneaded the dough close to the scorching oven.”[2]
Therefore, when we offer bread as a participation in Christ’s sacrifice, we intend to offer also all the beauty and goodness of nature united to our own work.
At this moment, we recall the Gospel episode of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish. Here in the Mass, Christ is going to feed, with the food of immortality, all who are willing to accept him. But, as in the Gospel scene, he wants us to put in whatever we have got. The boy in the Gospel parted with the few loaves and fish that he had, even though he could not believe his meager contribution would solve anything. The Apostles themselves remarked, “What is that among so many?” (Jn 6:9).
Offering of wine
After he has offered the bread, the celebrant, stands on one side of the altar, pours wine into the chalice, and adds to it a little water, saying,
By the mystery of this water and wine
may we come to share in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
We ratify this supplication with a movement of our heart.
The priest goes again to the center of the altar, takes the chalice with both hands, and, holding it slightly raised above the altar, says,
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you:
fruit of the vine and work of human hands
it will become our spiritual drink.
If the Offertory Chant is not sung, the priest may say these words aloud.
We may respond, “Blessed be God for ever.”
Then he places the chalice on the corporal. Bowing in an attitude of profound humility, offering not only these gifts but also our self‑oblation, he says,
With humble spirit and contrite heart
may we be accepted by you, O Lord,
and may our sacrifice in your sight this day
be pleasing to you, Lord God.
This prayer is taken from the song of the three companions of Daniel who were thrown into the furnace (Dan 3:39‑40). The priest speaks in his own name and in those of the faithful, and asks God to accept the sacrifice about to be offered. God should find in us true humility and sincere repentance for our sins.
At this moment, the priest may incense the gifts placed upon the altar and then incense the cross and the altar itself, so as to signify the Church’s offering and prayer rising like incense in the sight of God. Next, the priest, because of his sacred ministry, and the people, by reason of their baptismal dignity, may be incensed by the deacon or another minister.[3]
* * *
It was an ancient custom to take the wine mixed with water, which the chalice of Jesus in the Last Supper contained. The Church retained this gesture to symbolize the sanctification of the Christian, which is accomplished through his union with Jesus Christ. The water becomes the symbol of ourselves: our lives, with our weaknesses.
Have you stopped to think what happens to the drops of water mixed with the wine? They are absorbed by it and then become inseparable from it. So does Jesus absorb us. The drops of water are of negligible worth; they are not even enough to quench anyone’s thirst. Yet, they will end up being divine blood! And all that because they let themselves be mixed with the wine and be dissolved in it, thus manifesting self‑denial, personal renunciation.
At this moment, we grow in our desire to offer ourselves in total self‑surrender, as the few drops of water in the chalice have reminded us. So we will be able to become one with Jesus Christ after the Consecration.
Footnotes:
[1]We call hosts the pieces of unleavened bread for Communion. Originally, “host” (from Latin hostire, to strike) referred to any animal about to be sacrificed. Hence, among some Orientals, it is called “the lamb,” and also “the seal,” for it carried a sign or mark. On the other hand, the consecrated host is called “the First Born” and “the Blazing Coal,” among them.
[2]Georges Chevrot, Our Mass (Collegeville‑Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1958), p. 98.
[3]GIRM, no. 51; GIRM3, no. 75.
* * *
Offering of the bread
The priest, standing at the altar, takes the paten with the bread and, holds it slightly raised above the altar with both hands, saying in a low voice,
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you:
fruit of the earth and work of human hands,
it will become for us the bread of life.
If, however, the Offertory Chant is not sung, the priest may say these words aloud.
We may respond, “Blessed be God for ever.”
Then the priest places the paten with the bread on the corporal.
* * *
The first Christians used ordinary bread at Mass, but it was of the best available, marked with a cross or some other symbol of Christ. From about the ninth century, azyme bread began to be used, recalling the unleavened bread Jesus used at the Last Supper.[1]
* * *
The more we think about it, the clearer it becomes: God could not have chosen anything simpler to symbolize our personal surrender to him. Bread is the most eloquent symbol of human existence. To earn your bread means to make a living. Are we mistaken in discovering in this sacramental medium our Lord’s intention of linking the Holy Eucharist to the most humble of our life’s activities?
The little piece of bread on the paten represents, poetically, the union of man’s work with the earth, a natural element. Because “there is no scrap of bread which does not call to mind the hard work of ploughing and sowing, the moist brow of the reaper, the weariness of the arms which have threshed the corn, and the grunts of the baker who kneaded the dough close to the scorching oven.”[2]
Therefore, when we offer bread as a participation in Christ’s sacrifice, we intend to offer also all the beauty and goodness of nature united to our own work.
At this moment, we recall the Gospel episode of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish. Here in the Mass, Christ is going to feed, with the food of immortality, all who are willing to accept him. But, as in the Gospel scene, he wants us to put in whatever we have got. The boy in the Gospel parted with the few loaves and fish that he had, even though he could not believe his meager contribution would solve anything. The Apostles themselves remarked, “What is that among so many?” (Jn 6:9).
Offering of wine
After he has offered the bread, the celebrant, stands on one side of the altar, pours wine into the chalice, and adds to it a little water, saying,
By the mystery of this water and wine
may we come to share in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
We ratify this supplication with a movement of our heart.
The priest goes again to the center of the altar, takes the chalice with both hands, and, holding it slightly raised above the altar, says,
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you:
fruit of the vine and work of human hands
it will become our spiritual drink.
If the Offertory Chant is not sung, the priest may say these words aloud.
We may respond, “Blessed be God for ever.”
Then he places the chalice on the corporal. Bowing in an attitude of profound humility, offering not only these gifts but also our self‑oblation, he says,
With humble spirit and contrite heart
may we be accepted by you, O Lord,
and may our sacrifice in your sight this day
be pleasing to you, Lord God.
This prayer is taken from the song of the three companions of Daniel who were thrown into the furnace (Dan 3:39‑40). The priest speaks in his own name and in those of the faithful, and asks God to accept the sacrifice about to be offered. God should find in us true humility and sincere repentance for our sins.
At this moment, the priest may incense the gifts placed upon the altar and then incense the cross and the altar itself, so as to signify the Church’s offering and prayer rising like incense in the sight of God. Next, the priest, because of his sacred ministry, and the people, by reason of their baptismal dignity, may be incensed by the deacon or another minister.[3]
* * *
It was an ancient custom to take the wine mixed with water, which the chalice of Jesus in the Last Supper contained. The Church retained this gesture to symbolize the sanctification of the Christian, which is accomplished through his union with Jesus Christ. The water becomes the symbol of ourselves: our lives, with our weaknesses.
Have you stopped to think what happens to the drops of water mixed with the wine? They are absorbed by it and then become inseparable from it. So does Jesus absorb us. The drops of water are of negligible worth; they are not even enough to quench anyone’s thirst. Yet, they will end up being divine blood! And all that because they let themselves be mixed with the wine and be dissolved in it, thus manifesting self‑denial, personal renunciation.
At this moment, we grow in our desire to offer ourselves in total self‑surrender, as the few drops of water in the chalice have reminded us. So we will be able to become one with Jesus Christ after the Consecration.
Footnotes:
[1]We call hosts the pieces of unleavened bread for Communion. Originally, “host” (from Latin hostire, to strike) referred to any animal about to be sacrificed. Hence, among some Orientals, it is called “the lamb,” and also “the seal,” for it carried a sign or mark. On the other hand, the consecrated host is called “the First Born” and “the Blazing Coal,” among them.
[2]Georges Chevrot, Our Mass (Collegeville‑Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1958), p. 98.
[3]GIRM, no. 51; GIRM3, no. 75.