Faubourg Saint Patrice - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

observing the Holy Communion ritual instead of participating, Bloom's position as an
Outsider is reinforced (Gifford 91). This position is again highlighted when he sits as the
others kneel, a posture he will repeat in "Hades" when he takes one knee while his
companions take two (3.416-7; 6.587). Watching the communicants, Bloom attempts
to understand the sacrament by drawing an analogy to his Jewish heritage:
Something like those mazzoth: it's that sort of bread: unleavened
shewbread. Look at them. Now I bet it makes them feel happy.
Lollipop. It does. Yes, bread of angels its called. There's a big idea
behind it, kind of kingdom of God is within you feel. (5.358-61)
Bloom's musings serve a dual purpose: first, to provide an outside perspective on the
Catholic mass and its effect on the worshippers; and, second, to serve as one of several
examples of Bloom's apparent consubstantiation with Stephen, who, at approximately
the same time, contemplates the simultaneous transubstantiation of the Eucharist
throughout Dublin churches. As he walks along Sandymount strand, Stephen's protean
thoughts also dwell briefly on the Eucharist: "And at the same instant perhaps a priest
round the corner is elevating it. Dringdring! And two streets off another locking it into
a pix. Dringadring! And in a ladychapel another taking housel all to his own cheek.
Dringdring!" (3.120-1). While Stephen theorizes on the theological aspect of the
Eucharistic rite and imagines himself as the priest he envisioned as a youth--"see him me"
(3.114)--Bloom is concerned with its "narcotic" effect, describing it as a "lollipop," and
how it "makes them feel happy."
Watching the worshippers return from the communion rail, he reflects on their
"blind masks" and their "blind faith," describing the communicants as almost automaton
in their devotion (5.353; 5.367). Moreover, he then suggests that the Eucharist may
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