The Alter Christus Factor

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Had never read this before. What do you all think?

Why the Priest is the alter Christus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

There is truly meaning in the ceremonies of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - the Immemorial Mass of Tradition - the Traditional Latin Mass. Consider below what each action signifies as the priest - the alter Christus - re-enacts an action by or to Our Lord as being an exposition of the Agony, Death and Passion of our Divine Lord from Holy Thursday night until forty days after His resurrection, when He gave the final command to the Apostles to go forth and preach the Gospel to the world. These reasons are taken from The Catholic Church Alone: The One True Church of Christ, Catholic Education Company, New York, 1902, page 551.

THE MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS
  1. Introibo ad altare Dei
    The priest going to the foot of the altar represents Christ going to Mount Olivet.
  2. Judica me, Deus…
    The priest commencing the Holy Mass represents Christ beginning to pray in the Garden.
you can read the rest at the link…
dailycatholic.org/2005alt.htm
 
Canto said:
THE MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS
  1. Introibo ad altare Dei
    The priest going to the foot of the altar represents Christ going to Mount Olivet.
  2. Judica me, Deus…
    The priest commencing the Holy Mass represents Christ beginning to pray in the Garden.
you can read the rest at the link…
dailycatholic.org/2005alt.htm
Click to expand...
I have seen this list before. The problem is that it is completely arbitrary and baseless. E.g.:
17. The SECRET
Code: 
The priest praying in a low voice represents Christ being mocked and spit upon.
  1. CANON Prayers

    The priest continuing to pray in a low voice represents Christ meeting His Mother.
  2. Hanc igitur

    The priest blessing the bread and wine represents Christ being nailed to the cross.
    None of those things, of course, represent, nor were they ever intended to represent, the things listed. (So the Canon represents – of all things – Christ meeting his mother?) In most cases, straight down the list, the connection is so vague as to be nonexistent. In what conceivable way, for instance could the commingling of the Particle in the Chalice represent “[Christ’s] soul going to Limbo”? Anyone care to explain for me how that symbolism works?
I’m sure the denizens of this forum would not be very happy with someone who hung an abstract painting in church and said, “Oh, but the triangle represents Christ’s baptism in the Jordan, and the squiggly line represents the Agony in the Garden, and those squares represent the Transfiguration.” That would just be ridiculous. But is it any worse than the pious nonsense in a list like this one?

Oh, and if anybody needs the actual answer as to why the priest is alter Christus at Mass, it is because the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the selfsame expiatory sacrifice of Christ that took place at Calvary, but only Christ is able to immolate himself, and only a self-immolation can be expiatory in effect. Thus, if what is going on down the road at St. Suburbia’s on Sunday morning is the one true sacrifice of Christ, then it must be Christ himself who is there offering it.
 
MarkThompson said:
I have seen this list before. The problem is that it is completely arbitrary and baseless. E.g.:
17. The SECRET
Code: 
The priest praying in a low voice represents Christ being mocked and spit upon.
  1. CANON Prayers

    The priest continuing to pray in a low voice represents Christ meeting His Mother.
  2. Hanc igitur

    The priest blessing the bread and wine represents Christ being nailed to the cross.
    None of those things, of course, represent, nor were they ever intended to represent, the things listed. (So the Canon represents – of all things – Christ meeting his mother?) In most cases, straight down the list, the connection is so vague as to be nonexistent. In what conceivable way, for instance could the commingling of the Particle in the Chalice represent “[Christ’s] soul going to Limbo”? Anyone care to explain for me how that symbolism works?
I’m sure the denizens of this forum would not be very happy with someone who hung an abstract painting in church and said, “Oh, but the triangle represents Christ’s baptism in the Jordan, and the squiggly line represents the Agony in the Garden, and those squares represent the Transfiguration.” That would just be ridiculous. But is it any worse than the pious nonsense in a list like this one?

Oh, and if anybody needs the actual answer as to why the priest is alter Christus at Mass, it is because the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the selfsame expiatory sacrifice of Christ that took place at Calvary, but only Christ is able to immolate himself, and only a self-immolation can be expiatory in effect. Thus, if what is going on down the road at St. Suburbia’s on Sunday morning is the one true sacrifice of Christ, then it must be Christ himself who is there offering it.
Click to expand...
Seriously. Some of the more “interesting” ones:
  1. The INTROIT
    The priest reading the Introit represents Christ being falsely accused by Annas and blasphemed.
  2. Lavabo…
    The priest washing his hands represents Christ being declared innocent by Pilate.
  3. The PREFACE and Sanctus
    The priest saying the Preface and the Sanctus represents Christ being preferred instead of Barrabas and condemned to crucifixion.
Really?
 
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