Historia i znaczenie przygotowania darów ofiarnych

Abstract

The preparation of offerings a is part of the liturgy of the Mass being preparatory to the Eucharistic liturgy. For many centuries, Christians have brought bread and wine together with other gifts to the altar. In Sacramentum Caritatis (SC) Pope Benedict XVI questions the possible treatment of this rite as a kind of “break” between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (SC No. 47). Unfortunately, such understanding of this rite can exist in some environments. Nevertheless, the gesture of offering bread and wine on the altar has its profound meaning: in the bread and wine we bring to the altar, Christ the Redeemer accepts the whole creation to transform it and offer it to the Father (SC No. 47). In this way, the two elements of human life are appreciated: work and the very life of man in the created world. In order not to stop the rite only at the level of external signs, but to involve the human heart, it is necessary that the participant in the Eucharist accepts the world created as a gift from God, and they fulfil their work and their entire existence as a gift to God. The liturgical formation for celebrating this rite should be accompanied by the formation of life as a gift given to God from humans themselves. At the time of laying bread and wine on the altar, a man should submit with them everything that is brought by his life and the lives of others, that is the hardships of work, family life, joy, as well as pain and suffering. All this in the eyes of God, through the rite of the preparation of the offering, acquires a special value because it is united with the redeeming sacrifice of Christ through the celebration of the Eucharist (SC No. 47).