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The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is substantially the same as the bloody sacrifice of the cross, and was instituted by our Lord at the Last Supper on the first Holy Thursday evening, just as He was entering upon His Passion. Then it was that He changed bread and wine into His most holy Body and Blood, and offered them in sacrifice, giving at the same time to His apostles and their successors the power and the command to continue this sacred action in memory of Him to the end of time.

The Mass is, therefore, a daily renewal of the Passion of Christ and an application to our souls of the fruits thereof. It is offered for four specific ends: (1) as a supreme act of adoration of the Divine Majesty;  (2) as a most acceptable act of thanksgiving;  (3) as a most potent satisfaction for appeasing God’s offended justice;  (4) as a most powerful means of obtaining all blessings for soul and body.