Explanation of the Prayers and Ceremonies of Holy Mass, Dom Prosper Guéranger - Consecration of the Wine

The Chalice being uncovered, the Priest pronounces these words: Simili modo post coenatum est and then taking the Chalice into his hands, he continues: accipiens hunc praeclarum calicem in sanctas et venerabiles manus suas.  Notice this expression, praeclarum calicem.  How Holy Church extols this Chalice which held the Blood of the Lord, and which she is now placing in the hands of her Priest!  In the Psalm, we have the Prophet telling us: Et calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est! (Ps. xxii. 5).  Yea, truly, my chalice is inebriating! how august is it!  how glorious, how magnificent!  Mother Church finds this phrase so well suited to the Sacred Cup which is used to hold the Blood of Jesus Christ, that she now pours out her own sentiments in these very word.  The Priest continues: item tibi gratias agens.  The Priest spoke previously of this giving of thanks, when, at the consecration of the Host, he said that Our Lord, raising His eyes, gave thanks.  Then, taking the Chalice in his left hand, and blessing it with his right, he says: benedixit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes.  The Priest thou pronounces the words of Consecration over the wine, whilst he holds the chalice somewhat raised.  These are the Sacred Words: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI MYSTERIUM FIDEI QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.

Notice that the word enim comes in here just as it was at the Consecration of the Bread, to connect what precedes with what is to follow.

The Words used for the Consecration of the wine resemble those of the Gospel with some slight differences.  We have received them by the tradition of the Church of Rome, founded by St. Peter, who had himself heard Our Lord speak.  Novi et aeterni testamenti.  So then this very Chalice of ours holds the Blood of the Lord, the Blood of the New Testament, called also here, eternal, to distinguish it from the Old Covenant which was to last only till the coming of Our Lord.  Mysterium fidei.  Mystery, that means the Mystery which specially and above all others, proves our faith; for, according to the word of St. Peter, our faith must needs be proved.  And so truly is It the mystery of faith, that St. Paul, writing to Timothy, tells him, on the subject of the Eucharist, that Deacons should be pure and holy, guarding the Mystery of faith in a clean conscience: Habentes mysterium fidei in conscientia pura.  It is well known that the Holy Eucharist was given to the special custody of the Deacons, who could even administer It to the Faithful, in the absence of a Priest.  Finally, let us notice there other words: pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.  This Blood shall be shed for many, unto the remission of sins.  Our Faith is that it was shed for all, and not merely for a large number, but all would not profit of It for the remission of their sins.

Such are the words of Consecration of the Wine, the effect of which is so tremendous.  They constitute together with the Words of Consecration of the Bread, the Sacrificial Act itself.  Our Lord is the Victim, the Victim immolated on our Altar; not merely in the sense that the Holy Mass, by the mystic separation of the Body and Blood, represents and recalls to us the bloody sacrifice of Calvary; but furthermore, because of the very state and proper destination of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, under the Eucharistic Species.  Never was victim in any sacrifice, more truly slain and immolated, than is this Divine Victim of ours, as soon as the Consecration is achieved, when He who is the Splendour of God the Father, has now no other end and destination for this His Divine Glory, Beauty, and very Life, than to enter into us, there to be wholly lost and consumed.

So then, the Sacrifice is verily and indeed accomplished. God has looked upon It, and we can truly say to Him: Behold what was done on Calvary, and were it not for the immortality of Thy Son, the resemblance would be complete.  For the accomplishing of this Sacrifice, the Priest lends his ministry to Our Lord who has bound Himself to come down to be thus immolated each time any mortal man invested with the Sacerdotal dignity, holding in his hands bread and wine shall pronounce over them certain words.  But who is it that here offers the Sacrifice?  Is it the Priest, or is it Jesus Christ?  It is Our Lord Himself, in the person of the Priest, who is but one with Him; there is but this single restriction, i.e., that he would not come down on the Altar, if the Priest did not give his concurrence.  The Sacrifice, then, is but one, whether it be offered on Calvary or on the Altar.

At the words of Consecration, the Priest, while placing the Chalice on the Corporal, adds the following: Haec quotiescumque feceritis, in mei memoriam facietis.  When Our Lord said this to to his Apostles, He, thereby, gave to them, and in their persons, to all Priests, power to do what He had just done, that is to say, to immolate Him.  So that, consequently, it is not man who speaks at this solemn moment of the Consecration, it is rather Christ Himself who makes use of man for the purpose.

Such is the dread Christian Sacrifice, which takes us back to Calvary, and shows us how tremendous is the Justice of God which required such a Victim.  By itself alone, this Sacrifice could have saved millions of worlds.  But Our Lord willed that it should be perpetuated.  Having been immolated once on Calvary, He can do no more; yet, nevertheless, knowing what human weakness is, he feared lest the Sacrifice of the Cross, only once offered, might at last make little impression on the Faithful.  Before long, man would have treated the Sacrifice of Calvary as a mere historic fact, consigned to the pages of the Church’s Annals, where few even would think of seeking it.  So Our Lord said to himself: What was done once on Calvary must needs be renewed until the end of time.  See here why, in His Love, he devised this Divine Mystery, whereby He comes into the host and immolates Himself anew.  And God too sees the importance of this work, and by its very means He is moved to Compassion, and Mercy, and Pardon towards man.

Now let us next examine and find out who it is that produces this change of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord is it that operates in this mystery?  It behoves us to remember that whenever any One of the Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity acts, the other Two Persons concur in this same Act, in perfect accord.  In the Incarnation, the Son becomes Incarnate but it is the Father Who sends Him, and it is the Holy Ghost Who operates the Mystery.  In like manner, in Holy Mass, the Father sends the Son, - the Son comes down, the Holy Ghost operates Trans-substantiation, or the changing of the one substance into another.  Thus, in order to express the Action of the Holy Ghost in this Mystery, the Church in her prayer at the Oblation, called upon this Divine Spirit, as we observed, in these words: Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens, aeterne Deus, et benedic hoc sacrificium tuo sancto nomini praeparatum.

The Eastern Church has not this Prayer, in her Liturgy; but wishing, as she does, to make known to the people, the action of the Holy Ghost in this Great Mystery, after pronouncing the Words of Consecration over the Bread, the Celebrant says: O Lord, God, deign to send Thy Spirit that He may change this Bread into the Body of Thy Son; and all the people answer: Amen.  After consecrating the Wine, the Celebrant again says: O Lord, God, deign to send Thy Spirit that He may change this Wine into the Blood of Thy Son; and all the people answer Amen.  But this looks like an anomaly; for when the Priest utters each of these invocations, Trans-substantiation has already been effected.  Why then call on the Holy Spirit?  This is a remark that has more than once been made; their custom has been maintained, and this is the reason alleged.  In order not to mix the acclamation of the people with the words of the Sacred Mysteries, the Eastern Church placed after these the invocations relative to the operation of the Holy Ghost, that is to say, they occur at the very moment chosen in the Latin Church for the Elevation, when she presents the Body and Blood of our Lord, to the adoration of the Faithful.  Then it is that the Eastern Church pays homage to the Power and Work of the Holy Ghost.  This, we Latins do, beforehand, both in the Prayer: Veni Sanctificator Omnipotens, and in the Prayer: Quam oblationem, in which we say: Ut Corpus et Sanguis fiat.  Nevertheless, the Latin Church does not ask the people to approve of her Prayer by an acclamation; and in this place, would imply the recitation of this Prayer, in a loud voice.  Now, we have already explained that the Prayer of the Canon is entirely secret, and must be wholly recited in a low voice.