Answer: Daniel 11: 31: “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”

Daniel 8: 13: “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”

We believe that a close examination will show that the Abomination of Desolation is the Papacy, but that the blasphemous doctrine of the Mass is the cornerstone, the special defiling error that made Papacy the Abomination of Desolation. We find prophetic statements in the two quoted passages: (1) that imply that the doctrine of the Mass was being taught before the Abomination of Desolation was set up, and (2) that show clearly that the Mass is separate and distinct from the Abomination. Let us examine these two verses with the use of bracketed comments:

Daniel 11: 31: “And arms shall stand on his part [powerful, heady, power-graspers would arise out of Papacy as it was developing early in the Gospel Age], and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily [continual] sacrifice [This was done by substituting the bloodless sacrifice of the Mass for Christ’s sacrifice, which has continual or unceasing efficacy. The doctrine of the Mass, which is a corruption of the Lord’s Supper, is the teaching that the priest creates anew out of bread and wine, Christ’s actual body and blood, that is, His humanity, and sacrifices Him afresh for the sins of the baptized, living and dead. We find mention of certain phases of this blasphemous teaching as early as in the Council of Constantinople, 381 A.D.], and [thereafter] they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate [Papacy was set up or placed in civil jurisdiction nominally by Justinian’s decree in 533 A.D. and actually by the overthrow of the Ostrogothic monarchy in 539 A.D.].”

The same two things as to the Mass and the Abomination of Desolation are shown in Daniel 8: 13. The context shows that the “little horn” (v. 9), Papacy, became exceedingly great, even unto controlling the host of heaven, the entire Church, and it caused some of the host of the shining lights to fall to the earth, and trod them under foot (v. 10). It greatly magnified itself and arrogated to itself honors, dignities, titles and prophecies that belong to Jesus Christ, the true Chief, Prince and Head of the Church. It took away from Him the continual sacrifice, by substituting the Mass, and thus the base of His sanctuary was overthrown (v. 11).

The host, the people, were given over to Papacy, against the continual sacrifice, by reason of transgression, that is, they were given up to Papacy to tread upon (see vs, 10, 13), together with the continual sacrifice; and treading under foot was done through or by means of transgression. Papacy cast the Truth down to the ground and its doings prospered (v. 12). The question of v. 13  shows the priority of the Mass and the distinction between the Mass and the Abomination of Desolation: “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily [continual] sacrifice [its unceasing efficacy being set aside by the substitution of the Mass], and the transgression of desolation [the Abomination of Desolation], to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”

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