Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

58 sanctum vitæ ætérnæ, et Calicem salútis perpétuæ.” 12 Thus, in the liturgy of the Holy Mass, the oblatio , or sacrificial gift of bread and wine, becomes the sacrifice of Christ – the Host, “the Holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of eternal salvation;” what is material takes on a spiritual dimension; what is the fruit of the work of man’s hands becomes spiritual food and drink; that which is human becomes divine by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the institution of Christ and with human cooperation. Oblatio as the paradigm of Christian spirituality according to St. Stanislaus In the teaching of our Father, St. Stanislaus, the oblative character of Christian spirituality stands out most prominently in his treaty dedicated “to people in all walks of life” in the Church entitled, Mystical Temple of God ( Templum Dei mysticum ). The very title of the book evokes a temple understood as a place of Christian worship, in which offertory gifts ( obla- tiones ) are made. The opening chapters of this treatise, which reminds us of the liturgical actions of the Eucharistic part of the Holy Mass, clearly refer to oblative spirituality. Particularly important are the following: Chapter III, entitled The Altar of the mystical temple ; Chapter IV, entitled The Sacri- fice (sacrificum) of the Mystical Temple that includes a proposal of Practice I of a Daily Offering ( Praxis I Oblationis quotidianae ); Chapter V, The Priest of the Mystical Temple , and Chapter VI, entitled The Victim (victima) of the Mystical Temple . Other chapters invoke the church’s furnishings (e.g., The Windows of the Mystical Temple ), selected liturgical functions (e.g., The Dedication of the Mystical Temple ), or characteristics of the church, such as the material (e.g., The Cleanliness of the Mystical Temple ) and – primarily – the spiritual (e.g., The Immortality of the Mystical Temple ). The central role in the structure of the treatise in question is played by the chapters that directly depict the entire Christian life as a liturgy of sacrifice, i.e. the offering of spiritual sacrifices to God by the faithful. There is a clear reference, including the use of identical words, to that part of the Holy Mass when the priest makes the offering ( oblata) . The basis for St. Stanislaus’s concept of oblative spirituality is a conviction that man is a mystical temple of God, and “[...] the Heart of man, especially of a devout one, is the Altar of God the Most High. For, just as God veiled in the most 12 MRT , pp. 338-339.