Every sacrifice requires an offering, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is no exception.

On Sundays, at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, there is a collection, with the congregation placing our individual offerings in a basket. Today, those offerings take the form of cash or checks. In third-century Rome, St. Hippolytus tells us, they included grapes, figs, apples, and even lilies — anything that could support the community. Tertullian, writing from second-century Carthage, likewise said that the donations went toward burying the poor, supplying the wants of orphans, and providing for the homebound.

The collection is then carried up into the sanctuary, often with the bread and wine to be consecrated. Together, they represent the fruits of the earth offered by man, its steward. They also represent the spiritual offering of the faithful, the offering of our lives to Christ.

Preparation of the gifts

While the collection is taken up, the priest prepares the altar. When all is ready, he elevates first the bread, then the wine, pronouncing a blessing over each. The blessing, which begins, “Blessed are you, Lord of all creation,” echoes the blessing Jesus pronounced at the Last Supper, the blessing of the Passover meal, “Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.” It also echoes the blessing of Melchizedek in Genesis 14: 19-20.

Importantly, before pronouncing the blessing over the wine, the priest mixes into it a small amount of water. He does this in continuation of the custom of Jesus’ time, where wine was diluted before it was drunk, and as a symbol of the blood and water that gushed forth from Christ’s side on the cross (Jn 19:34).

Next, the priest washes his hands, following St. Paul’s advice in 1 Timothy 2:8, that when praying, men should lift up “holy” or “clean” hands.

Finally, with the priest, the whole congregation implores God to accept the sacrifices offered — both the priest’s and our own — and, by it, bless the world.