Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Mass (ritual)

MASS, in Roman Catholic theology and ritual, “the perpetual sacrifice of the new covenant, in which the body and blood of Jesus Christ are really and truly offered to God under the species of bread and wine.” According to the “Catechism of the Council of Trent,” the Sacrifice of the Mass was instituted by our Lord at His last supper (Luke xxii: 19); it must be offered to God alone; was signified in Malachi i: 11; is the same sacrifice with that of the Cross; there is one priest of both, for the celebrant uses not his own words, but those of Jesus Christ; it is a sacrifice of praise and propitiation, and available for the living and the dead. There is an obligation on all Christians of the Roman Obedience to hear mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation.