The extraordinary power and value of the Holy Mass

In Latin the Holy Mass is called Sacrificium. this word simultaneously means immolation and offering. The Sacrifice is a tribute offered to God alone, by one of his specially consecrated servants, to recognize and confirm the sovereignty of the Almighty over creatures.
That the Sacrifice interpreted in this way is convenient only to God alone, Saint Augustine proves it with the universal and constant custom of all peoples. "Who ever thought - he says - that sacrifices could be offered to others than to Him whom we recognize as God or who is qualified for such?". The Father himself says still elsewhere: “If the devil did not know that the Sacrifice belongs to God only he would not ask for sacrifices from his worshipers. Many tyrants have attributed to themselves the prerogatives of the divinity, very few have ordered that they be offered sacrifices and those who have dared to do so have studied to make themselves believe as many gods. According to the doctrine of St. Thomas, sacrificing to God is such a natural law that man is brought to it spontaneously. To do this Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob and the other patriarchs did not need, as far as we know, an order or inspiration from on high.
And not only did they sacrifice true believers to God, but the pagans themselves did the same to honor their idols. In the law that he gave to the Israelites, the Lord commanded them to offer him every day a sacrifice which, on large feasts, was accomplished with an extraordinary solemnity.
They did not have to content themselves with immolating lambs, sheep, calves and oxen, but they also had to offer them with special ceremonies performed by priests. During the singing of the psalms and at the sound of the trumpet, the priests themselves slaughtered the animals, skinned them, shed their blood and burned their flesh on the altar. Such were the Jewish sacrifices, through which, the chosen people gave the Most High the honors that were due to them and confessed that God is the true master of all creatures.
All peoples have put sacrifice in the number of practices reserved exclusively for the worship of divinity, thus demonstrating how it is in perfect harmony with the tendencies of human nature. It was therefore necessary that the Savior likewise instituted a Sacrifice for his Church, because the simplest common sense shows that He could not deprive true believers of this supreme force of worship, without the Church remaining below Judaism, the sacrifices of which they were so magnificent that the Gentiles came from distant countries to contemplate the spectacle and even some pagan kings, as the Holy Scripture says, provided for the huge expenses that were necessary.

Establishment of the divine sacrifice

As for the Sacrifice, as it was instituted by our Lord in his Church, here is what the Council of Trent teaches us: “In the Old Testament, according to Paul's testimony, the Levitical priesthood was powerless to lead to perfection; it was necessary, because the Father of mercies so wished, that another priest be instituted, according to the order of Melchizedek, who could make those who were to be sanctified tasks and perfect. This priest, who is Jesus Christ our God and our Lord, wanting to leave to the Church, his dear bride, a visible Sacrifice that represented the bloody Sacrifice that He had to offer only once on the Cross, perpetuated the memory until the end of the centuries and he applied his salutary virtue to the remission of our daily faults by declaring himself, at the Last Supper, a Priest constituted according to the order of Melchizedek. On the very night in which he was given into the hands of his enemies, he offered his Body and Blood to God his Father, under the species of bread and wine; He made them receive, under the symbols of the same foods, to the apostles whom He then constituted priests of the New Testament and ordered them and their successors in the priesthood to renew this oblation saying: "Do this in memory of me", according to what the Catholic Church he intended and always taught ”. The Church therefore commands us to believe that our Lord, at the Last Supper, not only transubstantiated the bread and wine in his Body and Blood, but that he offered them to God the Father thus establishing the New Testament Sacrifice in his his own person, thereby exercising his ministry as a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Sacred Scripture says: "Melchizedek, king of Salem, offered bread and wine, because he was a priest of the Almighty and blessed Abraham."
The text does not expressly say that Melchizedek sacrificed to God; but the Church understood it from the beginning and the holy Fathers interpreted it in this way. David had said: "The Lord has sworn and will not fail: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek". With St. Paul we can affirm that Melchizedek and our Lord have truly sacrificed: "Every pontiff is instituted to offer gifts and victims". The apostle himself expresses himself even more clearly: "Every pontiff, hired among men, is instituted for men in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins to God". He adds: "No one should attribute this dignity, but only the one who, like Aaron, is called by God. In fact, Christ did not glorify himself, to become pontiff, but received this honor from his Father who said to him :
"You are my Son, today I generated you: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek". It is therefore clear that Jesus Christ and Melchizedek were pontiffs and that both of them, with this title, offered gifts and sacrifices to God. Melchizedek did not immolate to God any animal, as did Abraham and the believers of the time, but by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and contrary to the use of the times, he offered bread and wine with special ceremonies and prayers, he raised them towards Heaven and offered them to the Almighty in a welcome burnt offering. Thus he deserves to be the figure of Christ and his sacrifice the image of the Sacrifice of the new law. Therefore, if Jesus Christ was consecrated a priest by God the Father, not according to the order of Aaron who immolated the animals, but according to the order of Melchizedek who offered bread and wine, it is easy to conclude that he, during his mortal life , exercised his priestly ministry by offering a Sacrifice of bread and wine.
But when did our Lord perform the priestly ministry according to the order of Melchizedek? In the Gospel, at the Last Supper, what refers to an offer of this nature is mentioned.
«While they were having supper, Jesus took some bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying:" Take and eat, this is my body ". Then, taking the cup, he gave thanks and gave them to them saying: "Drink all of them, because this is my blood, the blood of the new Covenant that will be shed, for the remission of the sins of many" ». In these words it is not said that Jesus Christ offered bread and wine, but the context is so clear that there was no need to make a formal mention of it. Moreover, if Jesus Christ did not offer bread and wine then, He never did. In this case he would not have been a priest according to the order of Melchizedek and I wonder what the language of Saint Paul would mean: "The other priests were constituted without oath, but these with the oath, because God said to him:" The Lord has sworn and will not fail: You are a priest forever ... ". these, because it lasts forever, has a priesthood that does not pass »