Q: In preparing to preach this Sunday (Body & Blood of Christ) I noticed something in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that points to what I think is an error (by whoever was responsible for the Roman Missal) in the words of the Consecration. Paul reminds the Corinthians of Christ’s words at the last Supper (found only in Luke 22:19: “do this in memory of me.” Luke places the blessing of the bread after the blessing of the cup). In the letter, Paul makes the statement twice — once each for the Body and Blood. In the Missal, the priest elevates the bread, then elevates the cup. “Do this in memory of me” is said only once, during the elevation of the chalice, but BEFORE the rubrics say to place the chalice on the corporal. That makes it appear that only the chalice should be remembered.
My question is, does it not make more sense to say the words AFTER the chalice is set down? In that way, the rembrance incorporates (no pun intended) BOTH the Body and Blood of Christ?
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A: I don’t advise messing with this part of the Mass. You want the consecration to take place as prescribed. Doing it otherwise would cause unnecessary questions among some of the faithful.
The words of consecration are a conflation of many biblical texts, not a direct citation of any one of them. See my book At the Supper of the Lamb.