made, the Sacrifice of one who laid down his life for us. As we have already adored him present in his sacred Body, so we now adore him present in his precious Blood, which was the price of our redemption. The consecrated gifts are now on the Altar, and Our Lord's own words have been said. Although we cannot express in words all that this means, the Priest continues in the rest of the prayer to express some of its implications.

THE PRAYER OF OBLATION

The Holy Mass is a Sacrifice offered to God for four purposes. In it (i) we offer him worship, since sacrifice is the recognition of his supreme dominion; (ii) we offer him our thanks, as indeed we specially show by our use of the word "Eucharist" or "thanksgiving;" (iii) we offer him propitiation for sin, which is an offence to his divine majesty; and (iv) we offer him a sacrifice of entreaty, that he may give us the blessings we need.

All these four themes are to be found in the Prayer of Oblation with which the Canon continues. The Priest asks God to accept that which is "our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving," because the worship and thanks we give are part of the offering of Our Lord Himself present under the sacramental veils. Then he prays, on behalf of the whole Church of God, that the fruits of the passion and death of Our Lord may be obtained in the remission of sins. Next, he prays for our offering of "ourselves, our souls and bodies," in virtue of our union with Christ, whose own self, soul and body, are offered to his Father, and beseeches God that his grace and blessing may be imparted to all who partake of this Sacrifice.

It is not through any merits of our own that we dare approach God with offerings. In penitence, the Priest beats