Priest, says the Council of Trent, it is the same, Victim, the only difference is in the manner of immolation; on the cross the immolation was bloody, on our altar it is unbloody.
Now, that sacrifice of the cross was of infinite value; that of the altar is, in the eyes of God, of equal value. Let us remark, however, that the efficacy of this Divine Sacrifice is only partially applied to the dead, and in a measure known only to the justice of God. The Passion of Jesus Christ and His Precious Blood shed for our salvation are an inexhaustible ocean of merit and satisfaction. It is by virtue of that Passion that we obtain all gifts and mercies from God. The mere commemoration which we make of it by way of prayer, when we offer to God the Blood of His only-begotten Son, to implore His mercy, this prayer I say, thus strengthened by the Passion of Jesus Christ, has great power with God. St. Magdalen de Pazzi learned from our Lord to offer to the Eternal Father the Blood of His Divine Son. It was a simple commemoration of the Passion. She did it fifty times a day, and in one of her ecstasies she saw a large number of sinners converted, and of souls delivered from Purgatory by this practice. "Each time," He added, "that a creature offers to my Father the Blood by which she has been redeemed, she offers Him a gift of infinite value." If such be the value of an offering commemorative of the Passion, what must be said of the sacrifice of the Mass, which is the actual renewal of that same Passion?
Many Christians do not sufficiently know the greatness of the Divine Mysteries accomplished upon our altars; the feebleness of their faith, together with their lack of knowledge, prevents them from appreciating the treasure which they possess in the Divine Sacrifice, and causes them to look upon it with a sort of indifference. Alas! they will see later on, with bitter regret, how they have deceived themselves. The sister of St. Malachy, Archbishop of
