Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

56 relationship between a believer – the one making the sacrifice – and the sacrifice offered to God is Psalm 39, the full meaning of which is revealed in Christ: “Sacrifice ( sacrificium ) and oblation ( oblatio ) thou didst not desire; but thou hast pierced ears for me. Burnt offering and sin offering thou didst not require: Then said I, behold I come. In the head of the book it is written of me that I should do thy will: O my God, I have desired it, and thy law in the midst of my heart” (Ps 39: 7-9). This is exactly the part of the Psalm quoted by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews 6 , where the grammatical subject not only refers to the Person of Christ, but also identifies Him with both the Sacrifice and the Sacrifice-maker. Consequently, we have the fol- lowing text: “Wherefore when he [Christ] cometh into the world, he saith: Sacrifice ( hostia ) and oblation ( oblatio ) thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me: Holocausts for sin did not please thee. Then said I: Be- hold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God. In saying before, Sacrifices and oblations for sin thou wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law. Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: he taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth. In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once” (Heb 10:5-10). By fulfilling the proclamations of the Old Law, Christ becomes the one who makes the sacrifice ( offerre ) and Himself becomes the sacrifice ( oblatio ob- lata ). Consequently, oblatio acquires a Christological mark, and the one who makes the sacrifice ( oblatio) in union with Christ becomes His sign and makes Him present; he repeats his act of offering himself in obedience as a sacrifice to the heavenly Father. In the liturgy, the word oblatio or oblata refers primarily to the Eucharis- tic part of the Holy Mass that includes the prayer called today Super oblata (Prayer over the gifts), which was – at the time of St. Stanislaus – called Secreta according to the Tridentine Missal. 7 Oblatio / oblate is the practi- cally constant expression used in this prayer and signifies the gifts placed on the altar over which the priest recites the appropriate prayer of offering. Consequently, the word oblatio is frequently present in the prayer of the 6 It is noteworthy that the author of the Letter to the Hebrews uses the word oblatio wherever it was used in the Psalm, but he employs different words such as hostia and holocautomata in order to define the offerings. 7 If the Vulgate was the proper version of the Bible at the time of St. Stanislaus Papczyńs- ki, then the proper liturgical texts for the Holy Mass were supplied by the Tridentine Missal; the quotes for this article are taken from Missale Romanum, reimpressio editionis XXVIII . Juxta Typicam Vaticanam, Bonnæ ad Rhenum — Ædibus Palmarum MMIV (after: MRT).