"The actions performed by the priest in mass are not ridiculous gestures, since they are done so as to represent something else. The priest in extending his arms signifies the outstretching of Christ's arms upon the cross. He also lifts up his hands as he prays, to point out that his prayer is directed to [...]
"It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice, and it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice." Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church #1410 [...]
"The earth is indeed, since the Redemption, an immense temple where each moment from sunrise to sunset the Victim of Calvary is lifted up between heaven and earth by countless priests, to the glory of the Most High. A Victim essentially spotless and which keeps its sanctifying virtue even when it is offered by unworthy [...]
"Such is the dignity of this sacrament that it is performed only as in the person of Christ. Now whoever performs any act in another's stead, must do so by the power bestowed by such a one. But as the power of receiving this sacrament is conceded by Christ to the baptized person, so likewise [...]
"When the bell rings you can say: 'What is there? The Body of Our Lord.' 'Why is it there? Because a priest has been there and said Mass.'" Source: St. John Vianney, The Meditations of the Curé D’Ars
"When the bell calls you to church, if someone asked you: 'Where are you going?' you could answer: 'I am going to feed my soul.' If one asked you, pointing to the tabernacle: 'What is that golden door?' 'It is the larder, it is the storehouse of my soul.' Who is it who has the [...]
"At the Consecration, the priest does not say: 'This is the Body of Our Lord.' He says: 'This is My Body.' See then the power of the priest! The tongue of the priest and a morsel of bread makes a God. It is more than the creation of the world. Someone said: 'St. Philomena obeys [...]
"The tendency to celebrate the Eucharist only when there was an assembly of the faithful emerged in those years. According to the Council, although everything possible should be done to gather the faithful for the celebration, it is also true that, even if the priest is alone, the Eucharistic offering which he performs in the [...]
"The priest is quite aware that he cannot count on his own efforts to achieve the purposes of his ministry. Rather, he is called to serve as an instrument of the victorious action of Christ whose sacrifice, made present on the altars, obtains for humanity an abundance of divine gifts. However, he also knows that, [...]
"It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. [...]