Anoblation is a solemnoffering,sacrifice or presentation toGod, to the Church for use inGod's service, or to the faithful, such as givingalms to the poor.
The word comes from theLate Latinoblatio (fromofferre,oblatum 'to offer'), 'an instance of offering' and by extension 'the thing offered'.
The Latin Vulgate, and following this many English versions such as the KJV, 1611, uses the word to stand for themeal offering under theLaw of Moses.
It is thus applied to certain parts of theEucharistic service inChristianliturgies. The rites of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism employ an oblation: gifts of bread and wine are offered to God.[1][2][3][4]
Liturgically speaking, there are two oblations: the lesser oblation, sometimes known as theoffertory, 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.[5]
The wordoblate 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.[5]
A similar congregation ofsecularpriests, theMissionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, was founded at Marseilles in 1815.[5]
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 1728Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences defines the annualia as a solemnMass celebrated yearly on the date of the deceased person's death.[6] 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.[7][8] The annualia could be extended to atriennial (daily mass for three years) or shortened to atrental (daily mass for thirty days) depending on the needs of the family.[8]
InMandaeism, an oblation blessed by priests is calledzidqa brikha.[9]
The last part of the preparatory communion liturgy is called the Oblation, or "Offering." The lay ministers and pastors have the honor of offering the body and blood of Jesus with statements beginning, "Take, eat," and, "Take, drink."
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Oblation".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 949.annualia.
