Before the coming of Christ and the establishment of. Christianity, the highest and purest form of sacrifice was that of the Jewish sacrificial system, which was established by divine' revelation. Human sacrifice was outlawed, for even though the Mosaic Law contained the provision that not only the firstling of beasts and fruits, but also the first-born of men were due to Jahweh, it was expressly provided that these latter should be redeemed, not sacrificed. This offering ct the blood of an animal instead of a human life originated in the profound idea of substitution, and it has its justificatica in the prophetical references to the unique vicarious sacrifice offered by Christ on Golgctha. But as in so many other things, the human factor was the cause of a definite deterioration in the performance of the Jewish sacrificial ritual, and God had frequently to send His prophets to warn the people that their sacrifices were not acceptable te Him, and finally to declare that in the future He would not accept gifts from their hands. Instead, there would be a clean sacrifice, an unbloody oblation which would be offered to God everywhere in the world and for all time; and it is precisely in fulfilment of these prophecies that in Catholic Churches throughout the world there has been offered for the last nineteen hundred years and there will be offered until the end of the world, the Sacrifice of the Mass. To be present at this Sacrifice, to participate in it and receive the benefits therefrom, is the reason why Catholics crowd their Churches on Sunday mornings.
Of course, what most nen-Catholics find so difficult to understand is how the ceremonies that take place in a Catholic Church can properly be called a sacrifice. For answer we have but to recall the idea that in every sacrifice there are three parts, the offering of the gift, the immolation of the gift by either destruction or change, and the consumption of the victim either by fire or by eating. Now we know that the chief purpose of the advent of Christ into this world was to accomplish the work of the redemption of mankind. This He did by His suffering and death on the Cross. Through the merits of this' sacrifice of the God-man, mankind was cleansed of the stain of sin and free once mere to enter heaven,—and, of itself, this sacrifice was all that was needed for the redemption of the human race.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.