Chapter
II.- Sacrifice in general and in its various aspects.
1. In order to unveil
the nature of sacrifice in its full reality, we must turn to its very
origin. Sacrifice began with Creation.
Previously sacrifice was not possible, though there did exist a
form of priesthood in the glorification of God within Himself.
2. God, who is
infinite fullness, inextinguishable volcano of every perfection, supreme
happiness within Himself, and who could have existed forever.without other
beings, nevertheless did not wish to keep this happiness to Himself, - but
moved by the most ardent impetus of His infinite love, He wished rather to
reveal and spread His happiness beyond Himself for other beings to share
in His superabundance. To
produce such a loving explosion of His nature and to extend the radiance
of His divinity beyond Himself it was necessary to create beings with
capacity to share and delight in the hidden riches of His essence.
3. In consequence of
this creation there was formed a neces-sary bond linking the creature to
the Creator, - given the supreme dominion of the Creator over His work and
in turn the absolute dependence of the work on the Creator.
This relation of depend-ence demanded its proper expression??.
one that would acknowledge and proclaim the sovereign greatness of
the Creator and the littleness of His handiwork, - which, on the part of
God is a right He cannot renounce, that right of His to be acknowledged
and glorified, - and which, on
the part of the creature, is the primary duty to render to his Maker the
utmost filial homage of adoration, submission and gratitude.
Such an act expresses the fundamental idea of sacrifice, that prime
act of religion proper to the intelligent being, engaging all his powers
and faculties, his senses and imagination, his mind and heart, his whole
being.
4. Immediately after
the creation of the Souls of Christ and Mary, the Supreme Maker of all
things created simultaneously all the angelic spirits, sublime images of
God, countless in number and variety, all incorporated into the Mystical
Soul of the Church. Given the
trial of their love and fidelity, - which was necessary to confirm them in
eternal glory, - the trial that required the recognition and complete
acceptance of the Divine supremacy of the Word made Flesh, as well as of
the Queenship and dominion of Mary over the angelic orders, and which
included the rendering to them of due homage, - there originated among the
angels a battle spiritual and transcendental.
The Most Divine Soul of Christ and the Divine Soul of Mary
intervened mightily and decisively to help and sustain those who humbly
submitted to the will of God. These
then overcame the trial, and thus con-firmed in grace, were immersed in
the abyss of eternal contempla-tion of the essence of God in perpetual
oblation and unending adoration as holy victims
in most loving and spiritual sacrifice.
5. As crown of the
visible creation and epitome of all the orders of being, the Creator
formed the first man out of the earth, breathing into him an immortal soul
to make him capable of knowing and loving God and of rendering Him homage
in the name of the whole visible creation, vested bodily, as he was, from
the moment of his creation in the state of glory, and enjoying the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost, all in virtue of the state of Original
Justice. Before original sin
man was able to satisfy efficaciously the deepest need of his being: that
of adoring God in spirit and in truth, rendering to the Creator homage
both of himself and of the whole visible creation, of which he was lord
and master, - there being yet no sin of his that could prevent his praises,
thanksgiving and supplications from penetrating the heavens.
Whilst he continued to enjoy the freedom of the children of God,
man retained perfect dominion over himself as well as over the visible
creation, and he felt no need to subject his spiritual acts to the
elements of the world and to place his divine homage in a gift taken from
these elements.
6. Thus from the heart
of man there ascended to God a sacri-fice of most perfect adoration,
noble-minded gratitude and ferv-ent supplication: the three interior acts
that summarize all the religion of that terrestrial paradise, admirable
resume of all the intercourse of the innocent rational creature with God,
in most perfect harmony, language sublime, rapturous communion in-timate
and unhindered with that continual praise whose fragrance moved to
tenderness the very heart of God. O the riches and happiness of that earthly paradise, true
countenance of God on earth! O
delightful and constant intimacy with the Divine Souls of Christ and Mary,
divine espousal whose spiritual bond is so perfect and interior that forms
but a single Mystical Soul which is the life, sustenance and breath of the
Church, paradise of sacraments and grace.
7. However the
infinite offence of sin came to shatter that blessed harmony and
delightful intimacy with God and with the souls of Christ and Mary; the
divine light was eclipsed and the visible creation was filled with
uncleanness; man was de-spoiled of his precious gifts, - not least, that
of bodily glory, - and was immersed in a miry abyss of utmost disgrace,
unable by himself to find salvation.
8. There was none but
God who, through an act of infinite mercy, could take pity on the weakness
and misery of the crea-ture, - none but God who, through expiation
proportioned to the offense, could redeem mankind and free the race of men
from degradation. As the offence was infinite, the expiation had also to be so.
Man, however, finite in nature, - and become even more so through
sin, could not of himself accomplish the expiation required by divine
Justice. Such expiation only
God made man could accomplish. Therefore,
immediately after the fall and before due punishment was imposed there was
announced and prom-ised a saviour to come, fruit of the Woman who would
crush the head of the serpent and free mankind from slavery under the
devil, restoring to him grace and the right to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore, in order to redeem mankind, the promised Saviour, Our
Lord Jesus Christ, had to be an infinite victim, victim as man, and
infinite as God, - such being the fundamental quality of the sacrifice on
which would depend the salvation of mankind.
And it was not God's plan that this should occur imme-diately after
the first sin. Rather, there
would pass much time for man to realize fully his infidelity to the
Creator, so that through the state of existence on earth to which sin had
reduced him, he might in some measure expiate the offence against his God
and Father.
8. For the time being,
the Creator was content to receive and to exact symbolic or figurative
sacrifices. And in such wise
all the worship of the Old Testament was to be carried out until the
fullness of time and the moment determined by the Father to send His
Divine Son to take flesh in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary and then
to proclaim a new law, that of the Gospel, and a new divine worship, the
Sacrifice of Himself.
9. It remains for us
now to fix well and clearly the true and proper idea of sacrifice.- the
better to establish this doctrine, as well as to derive more profit and
instruction from this treatise.
10. Affirming that all
true and proper sacrifice requires of necessity an interior act of
offering to God, in the circum-stances and with the dispositions that He
demands, we conclude with this concept: That sacrifice is every work or
act of reli-gion performed to unite ourselves with God in holy community.
