We continue our Lenten journey through the prayers of Holy Mass with today’s
SUPER OBLATA:
Hostias, Domine, quas tibi offerimus, propitius intuere,
et, per haec sancta commercia,
vincula peccatorum nostrorum absolve.
Commercium is a loaded word. It means "exchange". It has a theological, not a mercantile sense, of course. Bread and wine were chosen by God, from all gifts He gave us, to be transformed into His Body and Blood.
LITERAL VERSION:
O Lord, gratiously regard the offerings which we are offering to You,
and, through these holy exchanges,
loose the chains of our sins.
This prayer underscores the ransom the Lord paid on our behalf. By the sin of our first parents, that is the whole human race at the time, the whole human race fell out of friendship with God. That was our Original Son. We continue to sin by our own actions, actual sins. By our sins we are hostage to the Enemy of the soul. Christ removes the chains binding us and, not only frees us but opens the way to a divine adoption.
