Oblation, an offering (Late Latin oblatio, from offerre, oblatum, to offer), a term, particularly in ecclesiastical usage, for a solemn offering or presentation to God.
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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.
It is thus applied to certain parts of the Eucharistic service in the Roman Church.[1] The term is also used in the liturgy of some other churches (for example, the Church of England's Eucharistic Prayer 'C').[2]
In the Roman rite, there are two oblations: the lesser oblation, generally known as the offertory, in which the bread and wine yet unconsecrated are presented, and the greater oblation, the oblation proper, forming the latter part of the prayer of consecration, when the Body and Blood are ceremonially presented.
The word oblate is 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 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, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, was founded at Marseilles in 1815.
In the fictional "His Dark Materials" trilogy, the General Oblation Board is an institution affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Its principal aim is the destruction of cosmic "dust", which is believed to be a manifestation of original sin. Led by Mrs. Marisa Coulter, one of the Oblation Board's principal activities is the implementation of intercision, a procedure in which children are separated and cut off from their companion spirit, known as a dæmon. The procedure prevents the attraction of dust, which the Oblation Board hopes will bring back earthly perfection, but in reality eliminates the essence of a true life from children's souls. In crafting the General Oblation Board, author Phillip Pullman alludes to castration and other rituals supposedly practised by the Catholic Church of this world, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.