Two sacrifices of the Old Law were, before all others, representative of the Sacrifice of the Divine Redeemer. The first is that of Abraham, who, in obedience to God's command, offers his son Isaac as a holocaust; but God accepts his good-will, and spares the life of Isaac. The second very celebrated example, also in the time of Abraham, and more nearly figurative of the Eucharist, is the sacrifice of Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem).

Abraham was returning victorious, and bearing the spoils of his victory over the five kings of Upper Asia. He meets the king of Salem, who, in thanksgiving for the victory, offers bread and wine as a holocaust, exclaiming: "Blessed be Abraham... and blessed be the Most High God, by Whose protection Thy enemies are in Thy hands." (Genesis 14: 19-20) The Prophet David, St. Paul the Apostle, the Synagogue, and all Christian tradition agree that the Messiah, the Divine Redeemer, Christ Jesus, was prefigured in Melchizedek, "a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek." There is then no doubt (the Fathers of the Church and Christian sentiment are in agreement) that the Holy Christian Sacrifice of our altars was foretold and represented two thousand years beforehand in the sacrifice of bread and wine offered to God by Melchizedek.

And, therefore, as the clean oblation foretold by Malachy foreshadows the Eucharist, so does the sacrifice of bread and wine that was offered by Melchizedek foreshadow the same Sacrament.

The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist
Cardinal Gaetano De Lai