Chapter 22

The Mass Appeal of a Magic Wafer

No discussion of the pagan influence on early Christianity or more specifically
Christmas would be complete without delving into the very meaning and origins
of the word itself. The name Christmas is a derivative of the Old English name
Cristes Maesse (Christ-mass), meaning the Mass of Christ, first found in 1038.

ìThe word ëMassí comes from the Latin missa or ëdismissalí

of those assembled, first the catechumens after the Service

of the Word and the whole congregation at the end.î 1

The Mass is a very unique ritual in the Roman Church, and the midnight Mass
at Christmas is the most revered in all of Catholicism.

According to Catholic Law, the Mass is a sacrifice identical to the sacrifice of
Christ on the cross.

ìIn the New York Catechism we readÖThe Mass is the same

sacrifice as the same sacrifice of the cross.î 2

ìThe Council of Trent declared: ëThe sacrifice [in the Mass]

is identical with the sacrifice of the CrossÖíî 3

It was on the cross that Jesus died for the sins of mankind. However Catholic
Canon (law) states that the magic wafer is not only divine but completes what
Christ began on the cross.

ì[It is] in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that ëthe work

of our redemption is accomplished.íî 4

For the Mass, small round wafers of unleavened bread and a goblet of wine
are set on an altar before the people. A priest recites special incantations over
the wafers and the wine, and it is believed that these prayers transform them
into the literal flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The changing of the wafers and wine is called transubstantiation.

After the small round wafers have been magically transformed into the actual
flesh and blood of Jesus, it is called the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is the most sacred symbol in all of Catholicism!

ìThe EucharistÖis the most precious possession which

the Church can have in her journey through history.î 5

(emphasis mine)