All of Nature's Contribution to the Mass: Part II

The Holy Mass is offered to God through the sacrifice of Christ, united with the sacrifice of all of creation to facilitate the worship of God. Last week we took a look at the sacrifice that animals make in order to contribute to the Mass. Today, we will see how the plant world offers itself to the glory of God.

Flowers are often the most conspicuous offering of plants to God in the mass. They are often made of bouquets of cut stems, meaning the life they have to give is by definition limited. Their blooms give the rest of their life accentuating the sanctuary and adding extra beauty on the most holy days of the year. The flowers will eventually wither and die, but in their short life they gave their all to decorate God’s throne room.

Cotton and linen offer their fruits to the worship of God through being crafted into vestments to be worn and altar linens to protect the Blessed Sacrament. The vestments are primarily symbolic to aspects relating to Christ’s high priesthood. They are to be beautifully made and decorated, to further beautify the sacred action of the Mass. The altar linens are, however, purposefully more simple, as their function is primarily functional, not symbolic like the vestments. The cotton or linen to make these cloths serve God in a very important role in protecting the Precious Body or Blood of our Lord in the Eucharist from falling to the ground and being desecrated.

Wheat and grapes are sacrificed and crushed to be used in the Mass. They are broken down in order that they may be raised up in offering to God and become God himself. The bread and wine brought forth from simple wheat and grapes becomes the flesh and blood of their Creator.

Trees sacrifice their very life to provide for God by providing both wood for the construction of His Temple, and paper for the sacred texts. The Church requires the use of paper in beautifully bound books for the books used within the mass that contain the prayers that cause the bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of our Lord and the words of Sacred Scripture read during the mass. Trees have a storied history in the context of God’s Creation and Salvation. Indeed, the wood of the tree may be the most important offering of the plant, as through its use, we received salvation. The Preface Prayer prayed at Mass by the priest every September 14th is “For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth and the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered, through Christ our Lord.”