““Since it was no mere death from suffocation that Jesus suffered, but a bloody death, in which His veins were emptied of their blood, this condition of separation must receive visible representation on the altar. This condi tion is fulfilled only by the double Consecration, which brings before our eyes the Body and Blood in the state of separation and thus represents the mystical shedding of the Blood. It is this consideration that suggested to the Fathers the idea, which was adopted into some litur gies, of the double Consecration as a two-edged " mys tical sword." Thus St. Gregory of Nazianzus says: " Hesitate not to pray for me, . . . when with bloodless stroke thou separatest the Body and Blood of the Lord, employing speech as a sword." 21””
