CCC

1090 "In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with him in glory."

1370 To the offering of Christ are united not only the members still here on earth, but also those already in the glory of heaven. In communion with and commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, the Church offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. In the Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the cross with Mary, united with the offering and intercession of Christ.

1371 The Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who "have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified," so that they may be able to enter into the light and peace of Christ:

Put this body anywhere! Don't trouble yourselves about it! I simply ask you to remember me at the Lord's altar wherever you are.

Then, we pray [in the anaphora] for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ sacrificed for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and for us, the God who loves man.

1372 St. Augustine admirably summed up this doctrine that moves us to an ever more complete participation in our Redeemer's sacrifice which we celebrate in the Eucharist:

This wholly redeemed city, the assembly and society of the saints, is offered to God as a universal sacrifice by the high priest who in the form of a slave went so far as to offer himself for us in his Passion, to make us the Body of so great a head. . . . Such is the sacrifice of Christians: "we who are many are one Body in Christ" The Church continues to reproduce this sacrifice in the sacrament of the altar so well-known to believers wherein it is evident to them that in what she offers she herself is offered.

1404 The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ," asking "to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you for ever through Christ our Lord."

CCC

1090 « In terrena liturgia caelestem illam praegustando participamus, quae in sancta Civitate Ierusalem, ad quam peregrini tendimus, celebratur, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens, sanctorum minister et tabernaculi veri; cum omni militia caelestis exercitus hymnum gloriae Domino canimus; memoriam sanctorum venerantes partem aliquam et societatem cum iis speramus; Salvatorem exspectamus Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, donec Ipse apparebit vita nostra, et nos apparebimus cum Ipso in gloria ».²³

1370 Christi oblationi coniunguntur non solum membra quae adhuc hic in terris sunt, sed etiam illa quae iam sunt in caeli gloria: Ecclesia, in communione cum beatissima Virgine Maria et eiusdem, sicut etiam omnium sanctorum omniumque sanctarum, faciens memoriam, Sacrificium offert eucharisticum. Ecclesia in Eucharistia, cum Maria, est quodammodo iuxta crucem, oblationi Christi unita et intercessioni.

1371 Sacrificium eucharisticum offertur etiam pro fidelibus defunctis, « pro defunctis in Christo, nondum ad plenum purgatis »,³³⁹ ut Christi lumen et pacem ingredi possint:

« Ponite [...] hoc corpus ubicumque: nihil vos eius cura conturbet; tantum illud vos rogo, ut ad Domini altare memineritis mei, ubiubi fueritis ».³⁴⁰

« Deinde [in anaphora] et pro defunctis sanctis Patribus et Episcopis, et omnibus generatim qui inter nos vita functi sunt [oramus]; maximum hoc credentes adiumentum illis animabus fore, pro quibus oratio defertur, dum sancta et perquam tremenda coram iacet victima. [...] Et nos pro defunctis, etiamsi peccatores sint, preces Deo offerentes, [...] Christum mactatum pro peccatis nostris offerimus, Deum amicum hominum cum pro illis tum pro nobis propitiantes ».³⁴¹

1372 Sanctus Augustinus in synthesim mirabiliter hanc redegit doctrinam quae nos incitat ad participationem semper magis completam in nostri Redemptoris sacrificio quod in Eucharistia celebramus:

« Tota ipsa redempta civitas, hoc est congregatio societasque sanctorum, universale sacrificium [...] [offertur] Deo per Sacerdotem magnum, qui etiam Se Ipsum obtulit in passione pro nobis, ut tanti Capitis corpus essemus, secundum formam servi. [...] Hoc est sacrificium christianorum: "Multi unum corpus in Christo" (Rom 12,5). Quod etiam Sacramento altaris fidelibus noto frequentat Ecclesia, ubi ei demonstratur, quod in ea re, quam offert, ipsa offeratur ».³⁴²

1404 Ecclesia scit iam nunc Dominum in Sua venire Eucharistia, et ibi Eum in medio esse nostri. Tamen haec praesentia est velata. Hac de causa, Eucharistiam celebramus « exspectantes beatam spem et Adventum Salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi »,³⁹² orantes « ut [in Regno Tuo] simul gloria Tua perenniter satiemur, quando omnem lacrimam absterges ab oculis nostris, quia Te, sicuti es, Deum nostrum videntes, Tibi similes erimus cuncta per saecula, et Te sine fine laudabimus ».³⁹³