Besides, in speaking of the advent
of the Messiah the same prophet says: "And he shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the
offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in
the days of old and as in former years," Mal. 3:3, 4. Here in the
spirit the prophet foresaw the sons of Levi - i.e. evangelical
priests, says Jerome - about to offer sacrifices, not in the blood
of goats, but in righteousness, as in the days of old. Hence these
words are repeated by the Church in the canon of the mass under
the influence of the same Spirit under whose influence they were
written by the prophet. The angel also said to Daniel: "Many shall
be purified and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do
wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand." And again:
"The wise shall understand; and from the time that the daily
sacrifices shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh
desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety
days," Dan. 12:10, 11. Christ testifies that this prophecy is to
be fulfilled, but that it has not been as yet fulfilled, Matt.
24:15. Therefore the daily sacrifice of Christ will cease
universally at the advent of the abomination - i.e. of Antichrist
- just as it has already ceased, particularly in some churches,
and thus will be unemployed in the place of desolation - vz.
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