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complishment of His divine will; the granting of all
good things, spiritual as well as temporal ;
under which our forgiveness is assured ; help
the conditions
in the hour
of temptation and deliverance from all evil. This last
request is formulated by all the faithful in token of as
sent to the priest s supplication, which is concluded in
a low voice by the final response Amen.
The Libera nos which the priest says in a low voice is
but the development of the last petition of the Pater
nosier. What we ask, for the priest continues to speak
with God in the name of all, is, that we may be deliv
ered from all evils, past, present and future. We
expect this through
the intercession of the blessed Vir
gin Mary, of the holy Apostles, Peter, Paul and Andrew ,
mentioned as representatives of the apostolic college,
in a word, of all the saints, that through them we may
obtain peace, the fruit of freedom from sin. This word,
peace, will recur again with remarkable insistence in the
prayers which follow. The Church wishes to remind
us how often our Lord promised peace to His apostles.
Then the breaking of the Host is accomplished. The
priest, as the representative of Jesus Christ the invi
sible Head of the Christian family, thus prepares the
distribution of the Divine Food, the breaking being a
true symbol of union, as Saint Paul teaches us (I Cor.,
x, 17) For we, being many, are one bread, one body,
all that partake of one bread.
A portion of the Sacred Host is put into the chalice
to mark the real union of the Body and the Blood of
Jesus Christ in >.the Blessed Eucharist, the true living
bread come down from heaven, the source of life for
all those about to receive It.
This accumulation of mysteries in a material act which
seems very simple is truly fruitful in its teaching. It