Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/682

 when He  said:  “This  is  My  Blood  of  the  New  Testament.”  I institute a new and  eternal  Covenant,  and  in  confirmation  of  it  I give  my  own Blood as  a sacrifice,  to  be  drunk  by  you. The blood  of  victims  with which Moses  sprinkled  the  people  of  Israel  could  not,  of  itself,  deliver men from  sin,  and  make  them  pleasing  to  God,  for  its  whole  efficacy lay in  its  being  the  type  of  the  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus,  which  taketh away the  sins  of  the  world. That which  Moses  did,  as  a visible  type, our Lord  did  in  reality. By giving  His  Precious,  Sin-cleansing  Blood, He instituted  the  New  Covenant  of  grace  which  redeemed  man,  and by the  Sacrament  and  Sacrifice  of  His  Body  and  Blood,  He  gave  him a lasting memorial  of  His  love,  and  an  inexhaustible  source  of  grace.

The true  Paschal  Lamb. Now  you  can  understand  why  our  Lord instituted the  Blessed  Sacrament  immediately  after  the  Paschal  feast. The Jewish  Paschal  lamb  was  the  most  perfect  type  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament. Our Lord  first  ate  the  typical  Paschal  lamb,  and  by  so  doing closed the  Old  Testament:  having  done  so,  He  instituted  the  Blessed Sacrament, the  true  Paschal  Feast,  and  with  it  instituted  the  New  Testament of  grace:  thus  at  the  Last  Supper  we  see  shadow  and  substance together, type  and  antitype. Jesus Christ,  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  is our  Paschal  Lamb,  because  He  first  sacrifices  Himself  for  us,  and  then gives Himself  to  us  as  our  Food;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the words: “Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have mercy on  us”,  are  said  in  the  Mass  just  before  the  priest’s  Communion. The Jewish  Paschal  lamb  was  sacrificed  and  eaten  first  as  a means  and then as  a memorial  of  the  deliverance  from  the  bondage  in  Egypt: our Paschal Lamb  is  sacrificed  and  eaten  as  a perpetual  means  and  memorial of our  deliverance  from  the  slavery  of  sin  and  Satan,  and  in  thanksgiving for  the  grace  of  Redemption.

Types which  find  their  fulfilment  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  as  the Food  of  our  souls:  i.  The  Tree  of  Life  in  the  garden  of  Paradise;  2. The Paschal lamb;  3. The manna  in  the  wilderness;  4. The wonderful  food of Elias. * 5. Our  Lord  Himself  prefigured  the  Blessed  Sacrament  by two  miracles:  when  He  changed  the  water  into  wine,  and  multiplied the loaves  and  fishes.

Types which  find  their  fulfilment  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass:  1. The  sacrifice  of  Melchisedech; 2. The unbloody  sacrifices  of  the  Old Law, especially  the  meat-offerings.

''Prophecies which  have  been  fulfilled  by  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass: 1. The  prophecy  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  David  (Ps.  109,  4):  “The Lord hath  sworn,  and  He  will  not  repent. Thou art  a priest  for  ever according to  the  order  of  Melchisedech.”  2. The prophecy  of  Malachias  (Mai.  1,  11):  “In  every  place  there  is  sacrifice;  and  there  is  offered to My  name  a clean  oblation.”

The Feast  of  Corpus  Christi.  The  Blessed  Sacrament  being  the Church’s most  precious  treasure,  and  the  centre  of  all  her  worship  of