An oblation is a solemn offering,

sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

or presentation to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, to the Church for use in God's service, or to the faithful, such as giving alms to the poor. The word comes from the

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

''oblatio'' (from ''offerre'', ''oblatum'' 'to offer'), 'an instance of offering' and by extension 'the thing offered'.

Bible use

The Latin Vulgate, and following this many English versions such as the KJV, 1611, uses the word to stand for the meal offering under the

Law of Moses The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Heb ...

Ecclesiastical use

It is thus applied to certain parts of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

ic service in

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

liturgies Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a community, communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, ...

. The rites of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism employ an oblation: gifts of bread and wine are offered to God. Liturgically speaking, there are two oblations: the lesser oblation, sometimes known as the offertory, in which the bread and wine, as yet unconsecrated, are presented and offered to God, and the greater oblation, the oblation proper, in which the Body and Blood of Christ are offered to God, the Father. The word oblate is also an ecclesiastical term for persons who have devoted themselves or have been devoted as children by their parents to a monastic life. Oblate is more familiar in the Roman Catholic Church as the name of a Religious Congregation of secular or diocesan priests, the Oblate Fathers of St. Charles. They are placed under the absolute authority of the bishop of the diocese in which they are established and can be employed by him on any duties he may think fit. This congregation was founded in 1578 under the name of Oblates of the Blessed Virgin and St. Ambrose by St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan. A similar congregation of secular

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, was founded at Marseilles in 1815.

Annualia

In Catholicism, annualia were a specific type of oblation made for a deceased person by their family, though sources disagree on the nature of the offering. The 1728 '' Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'' defines the annualia as a solemn

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

celebrated yearly on the date of the deceased person's death. Other sources state that the annualia comprised a series of Masses performed each day for a year on behalf of the deceased, at the behest of their family, who would pay a stipend to the clergy member performing the rites. The annualia could be extended to a (daily mass for three years) or shortened to a (daily mass for thirty days) depending on the needs of the family.

Mandaeism

Mandaeism Mandaeism (Mandaic language, Classical Mandaic: ),https://qadaha.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nhura-dictionary-mandaic-english-mandaic.pdf sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnosticism, Gnostic, Monotheism, ...

, an oblation blessed by priests is called '' zidqa brikha''.

References

{{TridentineLatinMass , state=collapsed Religious rituals

Bible use

Ecclesiastical use

Annualia

Mandaeism

See also

References