Christ as priest, victim and altar

[Lily_Marlene]

In one of the Eucharistic prayers (maybe # 4) recited during the Easter Season, Christ is addressed as priest, victim and altar. The first 2 are obvious. How would I explain Christ as the altar?:

blessyou:

Llily Marlene

 

[gvogt4]

Well, I am not so certain that this is in one of the Eucharistic Prayers, but Pope Benedict XVI has stated
“The intrinsic relationship between the Eucharist and the sacrament of Holy Orders clearly emerges from Jesus’ own words in the Upper Room: ‘Do this in memory of me’ (LK 22:19). On the night before He died, Jesus instituted the Eucharist and at the same time established the priesthood of the New Covenant. He is priest, victim and altar: the mediator between God the Father and His people (cf. Heb 5:5-10), the victim of atonement (cf. 1 Jn 2:2, 4:10) who offers Himself on the altar of the Cross. No one can say ‘this is my body’ and ‘this is the cup of my blood’ except in the name and in the person of Christ, the one high priest of the new and eternal Covenant (cf. Heb 8-9)”

Additionally, the Church teaches:
The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself, present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving himself to us. “For what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?” asks St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, “The altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of Christ is on the altar.” The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion in many prayers.

 

[gvogt4]

OK, a little clarification. The 2nd and 4th Eucharistic Prayers have fixed texts for their respective Preface.

EP1 and EP3 have a variety of texts that may be used for the Preface. It is in one of these that you have heard this.

 

[Titus]

OK, a little clarification. The 2nd and 4th Eucharistic Prayers have fixed texts for their respective Preface.

EP1 and EP3 have a variety of texts that may be used for the Preface. It is in one of these that you have heard this.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the preface attached to EPII is optional, I thought? I.e another may be used instead? I do know the one for EPIV is mandatory though.

 

[Lily_Marlene]

Thank you both for your interest in this topic. I consulted the Sacramentary used at daily Mass and this is what started all this pondering for me. During the Easter Season special Eucharistic Prayers (Prefaces) are to be said. The priest may chose from 5 given ones for the Easter Season. For one week our priest recited prayer V. So for one week we heard the following as part of that prayer: “As he offered his body on the cross his perfect sacrifice fulfilled all others. As he gave himself unto your hands for our salvation he showed himself to be the priest, the altar and the lamb of sacrifice.” ( The small letters referring to Christ are copied exactly from the Sacramentary).

The CCC does not enlighten me at all as to how the author of this prayer can say that Christ is the altar. Priest and lamb sacrificed are easy for my simple mind. I wish I knew who composed this prayer.

This week we are listening to a different Eucharistic Prayer more to my understanding.



Lily Marlene

 

[PhilotheaZ]

The CCC does not enlighten me at all as to how the author of this prayer can say that Christ is the altar. Priest and lamb sacrificed are easy for my simple mind. I wish I knew who composed this prayer.

I did a little Googling and found this (written by By Father Tom Margevicius), which may help you:

"… The liturgy calls Jesus Christ priest, victim and altar: As High Priest, he makes the offering (Hebrews 5:1-10). As Victim, he is the one being sacrificed, the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 13:8).

But why altar? St. Paul says we “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, our spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Since we know the Father accepts Christ’s sacrifice, we place our lives on Christ himself; he is the one through whom we sacrifice our lives. Reverencing the altar is reverencing Christ himself."

From this, we understand that WE are the sacrifice offered to the Father on Christ, the altar.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

I found a scholarly (but more complicated) explanation at this website: ewtn.com/library/theology/myoffait.htm . It is an article on the Mass by Maurice De La Taille, S.J.

Scroll down to the following section (or search for the following words on the page, using Ctrl-F):

§2. Christ As Eternal Altar

 

[Lily_Marlene]

So that all readers may also know I thank you for your response. It coincides with what was on my mind but needed confirmation. I truly appreciate your research. That’s what makes this forum so great… people in search of what is important - knowledge of Christ and our Faith with a w illingness to search.

PS. I just discovered that this Preface was the one Pope Benedict recited at the Mass at Yankee stadium.

God bless

Lily Marlene

 

[CatholicCid]

I was reading a book and remembered this question when it came to the section on Altars. A few days late, but better late then never eh . Ironically, this book was sitting right next to my computer the first time I read the OP and I had stopped reading at the end of Chapter 8. Chapter 9 started the section on Altars

From “A History of the Mass and Its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church” by Rev. John O’Brien, A.M. (Keep in mind, it’s a slightly dated book, from Pre-Vatican II and shortly after Vatican I was opened, but this portion should still be relevant).

ALTARS
According to the best authorities the word altar is formed from the Latin altus, high, and ara, a mound or elevation. It is the sacred table upon which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered.
According to rule it ought to be about three and a half feet high, three feet wide, and six and a half feet long; and to denote the perfection of our Lord, whom it is made to represent in sacred symbolism, it should be solid throughout (Bouvry, ii. 223). Before Mass may be celebrated on it, it must first be consecrated by the bishop.
…
SACRED SYMBOLISM OF ALTARS
The precise symbolism of the altar is that it denotes Christ our Lord, in accordance with what St. Paul says in his first Epistle to the Corinthians: “They drank of the spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (Bouvry, ii. 222). According to Venerable Bede, the altar is the body of Christ, or all the saints in whom a divine fire ever burns, consuming all that is flesh.

 

[benedictgal]

For clarifications sake, the preface is not the Eucharistic Prayer itself. It is the prayer before the Sanctus, thus, it is called the Preface. Here is the Preface the OP was citing:

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give You thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We praise You with greater joy than ever in this Easter season,
when Christ became our paschal sacrifice.
As He offered His body on the cross,
His perfect sacrifice fulfilled all others.
As He gave Himself into Your hands for our salvation,
He showed Himself to be the Priest,
the Altar, and the Lamb of sacrifice.

The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world,
while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory

This is actually the fifth option for the Easter Season.

Remember, too, that Jesus referred to himself as the Temple, when he told the crowds that this “Temple would be destroyed and” he would raise it up in three days. As St. John the Evangelist notes, Jesus meant the Temple of His Body.

There is a traditional Spanish hymn, Altissimo Senor, that recognizes Jesus as the simultaneous Shepherd and Lamb. While it doesn’t necessarily refer to our Lord as Priest and Victim, the idea is still the same. Those of you in Spanish-language parishes where traditional music is still used might know the hymn.

 

[Linda_Marie]

Thanks for the question and the answers. We had that prayer recently and it left me wondering as well.

 

[Lily_Marlene]

Great symbolisnm, CatholicCid. I did not think of Christ as altar and rock. It certainly has meaning. Thank you. It is never too late to give “food for thought”. The only food that satisfies and lasts.

Lily Marlene