the altar which Mary has built, the virgin mother who gave her flesh, so that this flesh, which is a representation of the altar, may be consumed, consecrated by the fire of divine love which descends upon it, and which, in the case of our Lord, is the second person, the Son of God himself, who unites the human nature offered by Mary in the oneness of the divine person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore he is the perfect altar, and he also is the sacrifice, because he offers his sacred humanity as a sacrifice in which our propitiation for our sins, so that the breach may be healed through his selfless love. His body is consumed on the cross. And there, through this consummation on the cross, it becomes acceptable to the Father in the resurrection and the ascension.

[01:09]

So our Lord himself and our Lord's life and the work of redemption is the altar and the sacrifice which heals the breach between God and man. So our Lord Jesus Christ really is the one who is first of all represented in our altars. As the Roman Pontifical says, the altar is Christ. Now when you apply this to our altar, you see how the Church consecrates this altar in a solemn liturgy. The altar is not only holy because it has the tabernacle, in which the Eucharistic speeches are preserved. But the altar is holy on its own, through the consecration that it has received from the bishop. And when we follow a little this consecration, then you can see how the similarity and likeness of Christ and the altar is really based on it.

[02:16]

The altar is treated in this way that first an ablution takes place with a special blessed water, Gregorian water as we call it, and the altar is washed with this water. And after this washing, then the altar is anointed with the oil of catechumens and with the most precious of all oils, with the chrism, so the altar becomes really an anointed one, as Christ, the very name Christ, means the anointed one. And then after the altar is in this way anointed, then the sacrifice is offered on it. There are five crosses which are chiseled into the stone surface at the top of the altar, and these five crosses, according to the liturgist, liturgists represent the five wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[03:19]

And then on these five crosses, there is some incense put, and then there is wax tape put on the form of the cross, and all this is then kindled. And then when these five little fires are burning on the altar top, this bishop in front of it kneels down with all his assistants and all the bystanders and they sing the veni sanctus spiritus com holy spirit and then after that the altar is covered with white linen and this white linen again is as it were the baptismal garment the new and heavenly consecrated being which the altar has received through that blessing. So there the altar stands before you, and the linen, I wanted to add this to, represent at the same time the faithful.

[04:27]

It is that fullness which the risen Christ then draws to himself. You see, the consecration of the altar is really a repetition of the whole work of redemption of Christ. There the altar is washed, and that reminds you of our Lord's baptism in the Jordan. And then the altar is anointed with the Holy Spirit, and that reminds you of the descent of the Holy Spirit over our Lord's after this baptism in the Jordan, where he is declared really formally the Son of God in whom I am well pleased. And after that, then, the fire of sacrifice in the form of the cross is kindled on the altar, a representation of his holy passion and of his sacrifice on the cross. And then he is clothed with white linen, a picture of the resurrection, of the glory that he receives in the Assumption, and of the precious mantle of the body of Christ, of the Church, of the faithful, who are united to him in the celebration through the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost.

[05:45]

That is, therefore, the precious garment with which the glory of the Lord is clothed. and which is woven out of the many thousands of threads of baptized souls. So you see how beautiful the altar stands there before you as an image and a picture and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you are in it. You are symbolized in the stones of the altar. You are symbolized in the steps on which the priest ascends to the altar. That is your readiness. That's your willingness to offer sacrifice. And then you are represented also in the top of the altar, because in that top of the altar there is the Holy Sepulchre, the relics of the saints. They represent again the holy people, the church. Christ and the church are one in our altar, and that also is expressed in the white linen as the symbol of the redeemed faithful. So the altar is for you a living symbol of that unity between God and man which has been created through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

[06:55]

And therefore that is, my dear friends, there is the root of your devotion to the altar and of your happiness in serving him. And you also can right away see the application for your own life. What would it be? What would it serve you? For what purpose would you labor in order to keep the altar clean and holy and adorned with flowers? if this altar were not also a picture of your own life and of your own heart. See, the things that have happened to the altar in the consecration of the altar also happened to you. You have been washed as the altar has been washed in your baptism. You have been anointed as the altar has been anointed in your sacrament of confirmation. You always present to God the five wounds, that means the imitation of Christ, the cross of Christ, that you carry on your shoulders, and you offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass, these kernels of incense that are offered on the altar.

[08:09]

You enter into it with your willingness to give up your selfishness and to enter into that selfless love of our Lord. And you are the ones who then also are clothed with the white linen of those souls. For example, your children, your own family, husband and wife, that you lead into eternity, into the eternal life, and with which you help the church to expand. You have your spiritual daughters and sons that have received life through your goodness and your love and charity. And therefore that is your veneration and your devotion to the altar. It forms your life, becomes a form of your life. You renew your baptismal vows when you see the altar. You implore the fullness of the Holy Spirit to descend upon you. You declare your willingness to offer sacrifice to God in an order of sweetness.

[09:16]

You are surrounded by those whom you have led to God, to the knowledge of God and into the life of God as parents and as zealous Christians who are not satisfied with saving their own souls but who also take care of others and bring them to Christ and into the life sheepfold of the church. Therefore, the altar really is a symbol of your own heart. Through his baptism and through his confirmation, every Christian heart is a living altar on which the spiritual sacrifices are offered. And therefore, my dear friends, when you serve the altar here on earth, also think of the heavenly altar, there that we see and has been shown to us in the apocalypse, the heavenly altar which is the glorified Christ. And serving him here on earth, you also lay the foundation of your heavenly life.

[10:21]

You are transported, as it were, already into that heaven, into that new world of which the altar, that means the worship and the glorification of God, are really the center. Therefore, my dear friends, members of the Alt and Rosary Society, continue your service with great love for God and with a great feeling also of that deep satisfaction, that happiness that comes to you when you feel that you are close to the sacred spot there where God and mankind meet in the purity of selfless love. Therefore, consider your own life as a constant building the altar. Your life in your family, the education of your children, what else is it but building the altar? Each child is one of the stones with which you build the altar of God.

[11:24]

And therefore, so the unity of your family is the unity of your altar. And that altar then, which represents the meeting place between God and man, which represents our Lord Jesus Christ, and which represents your own salvation, that also is the place then where you are being nourished, where you receive the divine food. The altar is not only the place where we offer sacrifices to God, but it's also the place where divine gifts descend upon us. And the greatest of all divine gifts is the holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that bread which descends from heaven, and that you receive from the altar. The altar is the table, the family table, around which the Christian family is united in one love, in one body, in one flesh, in our Lord Jesus Christ.

[12:31]

And therefore, revere and have your devotion to the altar also in this way. Receive and look and think of all the gifts that you have received there and therefore your devotion to the altar is also gratitude to the altar. I remind you of a beautiful old prayer that priests in the Eastern liturgies say when they have accomplished their service on the altar. The priest addresses the altar, and he says, Now, dear altar, I have accomplished the service at you, and now I have to leave you. but I leave you only in space. I don't leave you with my heart. Therefore, may I see you again then in heaven on that heavenly altar of which you are a symbol of likeness and likeness and where we offer eternal sacrifice and eternal worship in the communion of saints to the Lamb and to our Heavenly Father in the unity of

[13:41]

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