Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/massislifeOOhaye Ghe CDass Is £ife By REV. GEORGE J. HAYE i (Dedicated to a Suffering c (o)orld i New York 1 HE PAULIST PRESS 401 West 59th Street Nihil Obstat: Iacobus H. Griffiths, S.Th.D., Censor Librorum. Brooklynii, die XXII Decembris 1942. Imprimatur : © Thomas Edmundus Mollqy, S.Th.D., Episcopus Brooklyniensis. Brooklynii , die XXVIII Decembris 1942. Copyright, 1943, by The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in the State of New York PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A. BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK, N. Y. THE MASS IS LIFE PART ONE TTOLY SCRIPTURE says that when a man knows a certain field contains a treasure, he sells all to buy that field and thus he owns the treasure. But sometimes treasure is contained in a locked case and one needs a key in order to get at the treas- ure itself. Calvary contains the Treasure which God has given to man. But it is a locked-up treasure. A key is needed so that a man may reach the treasure itself. God gave us that key. The key to Calvary is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The man who goes to Mass, is really using the only right key which fits the lock of Calvary’s treasure-case. The man who attends Mass, inherits Calvary’s treasure. The more he loves and ap- preciates the Mass, the more spiritual treasure he receives. The man at Mass is the richest man in the world, because he owns the One Thing Worth While. The Mass is the spiritual store- house of power, light, life, grace and truth. Perhaps another idea might help: Suppose that Calvary were a reservoir, filled with deliciously clear water. But the reser- voir is useless to me, the individual, unless I can get a pipe- line to lead the water into my own home. Calvary’s reservoir of spiritual graces is made practical for me and brought directly to me through a pipe-line, which is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our lay people are beginning to realize that the Mass is the Most Important Thing in their lives. Let us read their own words as they request a series of lectures on the Mass: A subject of which we know so little . . . and a greater knowledge of it would increase our appreciation and, no doubt, our daily attendance. How little I know about the Mass. . . . I’m very interested, along with the other members of my family. Pab 3 I am very much interested in the liturgy of the Church, especially the Mass. Since it is the central act of worship of the Church, ser- mons would help the layman understand it better. Surely there is so much to be told and learned about the Mass that many very profitable evenings could be spent. One topic we can never know enough about: I am certain a novena of this type (on the Mass) would be very popular in our parish. I attend daily Mass and Holy Communion and would be very happy to attend a series of lectures on the Mass. After seeing a picture on the Mass, I felt that 1 would never again miss daily Mass. I love the Mass and am looking forward to hear the talks on the Mass. We shall all love and appreciate the Mass much more. I hope you receive hundreds of letters, for we must hear more on this subject. The series of lectures strikes me as a very profitable thing for us, the parishioners. There are so many things that I’d like to know about the Mass which only a priest can tell us. Hoping you get millions of requests. I am anxious to learn more about the Mass. We must propagate a better understanding and love for the Holy Mass. It is indeed a priceless gift, but I fear most of us do not fully appreciate it. For years I have wished to have the Mass explained to me in greater detail. Recently I have heard people say that one does not hear Mass correctly unless a Missal is used. These letters are happy samples of a deeper spiritual life in our Catholic people today. It is not a surprise to see this greater love for the Mass. It is rather a surprise that the Mass has not, sometimes at least, been as much appreciated as it should have been. The Mass is The Big Thing in Life. It is the Mass that Matters. The Mass is the Greatest Spectacle on Earth, the Greatest Revolution in Lives, the Greatest Love Feast in History. Let us see what others have said about the Mass: Cardinal Newman: “To me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming as the Mass. I could at- tend Mass forever, and not be tired.” (Other converts besides Cardinal Newman find real mean- ing in life when once they know the Mass.) Page 4 Father Faber: “The Mass is the most beautiful thing this side of heaven.” (How many Catholics can say this?) St. Leonard of Port Maurice: “One Mass is worth more than all the treasures of the world.” (Strange how many look for treasure where it cannot be found and fail to look into the Catholic Church to find that treasure in the Mass.) St. John Chrysostom: “The angels surround the Altar at Mass and bow in reverence.” (That sentence would make a good meditation for Catholic late-comers at Mass.) Sacrifice in General Life and love have no meaning unless they include sacri- fice. The war reminds us of this truth; the soldier makes sacri- fices to insure love and life. To sacrifice means to give. The harder it is to give, the greater the sacrifice. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the love. Christ on the Cross gave everything in an infinite de- gree; hence His was the greatest sacrifice in the world; hence His Sacrifice contained the greatest love. “Greater love than this no man hath, than that a man lay down his life for his friend.” That one sentence shows us the connection between life, love and sacrifice. Sacrifice in religion means that I offer a gift (something dear to me) to God and God accepts what I offer. For example, I may offer my life to God in religion through the vows of pov- erty, chastity and obedience. In ritualistic sacrifice I make the offering through a real priest; one called by God. I make an offering which can be seen, to show the internal offering of my- self to God. When I offer sacrifice, I admit that God owns me completely; that He has given me life and can take it away again. In this sense all kinds of people have always offered sacrifice since the beginning of the world. All through the Old Testament, we read of the Altar of Sacrifice. Today real sacri- fice is continued only in the One True Church. A person who studies the history of sacrifice will soon become a Catholic. He will look in vain outside the true Church for the real Altar of real Sacrifice. He will only find images and shadows and arti- ficial caricatures of the real thing. Paos 5 The Mass and Calvary The Mass is essentially a Sacrifice. It is Christ’s offering of Himself to His Eternal Father in Heaven as a Victim for man’s sins. It is the very same Sacrifice as that of Christ on Calvary’s Cross. The Mass does not repeat the Sacrifice of the Cross; it is the Sacrifice of the Cross. It is a continuation of that One, same Sacrifice. The Blood of Christ was shed on Calvary, while in the Mass there is no shedding of blood; this difference does not change the nature of the Sacrifice. Never- theless the Precious Blood is just as truly present as on Calvary. On Calvary Christ is Priest and Victim. In the Mass, Christ is still Priest and Victim. In the Mass, Christ also makes use of a subordinate, secondary priest to act in His Name and by His Power. But always Christ offers the Mass as Priest and Christ offers Himself as Victim. Christ is truly, personally present on the Cross. Christ is truly, personally present on the Altar. We see symbolically that the Mass and the Cross are one and the same when we see that the Sign of the Cross is made many times during the Mass. The Purpose behind the Mass and Calvary is the same. It is fourfold: to adore, to thank, to repair for sins, to petition for future needs. The Suffering Christ said Mass on the Cross. The Glorious Christ now says Mass at each Catholic Altar. The same Sacrifice; the same Priest; the same Victim, Christ, the same fourfold purpose; One and the Same. Preparation for Mass The priest at the Altar is the representative of Christ Him- self, the instrument Christ uses in coming down to earth at Mass. The priest at Mass is the bridge between heaven and earth. He brings God down to men and brings men up to God. When he stands at the Altar, he stands at the center of the universe. He performs there an Action which no angel has ever dared to do. This is the greatest power etfer given to men. The priest is also your representative before God. He goes to the Altar loaded down with his own sins, with your sins, with the sins of the whole world upon his shoulders, even Pack 6 as Christ carried the sins of all men up the hill of Calvary. Your priest will do great things each day, but all his powers and graces and blessings will flow from his Morning Mass, from the Personal Contact with Christ. Your priest prepares for The Great Sacrifice. Watch his actions; listen to his words; see how he vests himself. He is not getting ready for a mere drama or a play, or a show. Every garment he wears; the color of each garment; everything he uses; everything he says and does; all these have deep, tre- mendous, spiritual significance. You are witnessing the most real thing in the whole world: I might almost say to you the only real thing in the world. In his room or in the sacristy, the priest kneels down and directs his intention for the Mass, offering it especially for the person who has requested it by an offering. Then he washes his hands, to symbolize cleanliness of heart. The priest prepares his chalice, the vessel which is to con- tain the wine and later the Precious Blood. Into and over the cup the priest places the purificator or cloth used in cleaning the chalice. Next a round plate, usually of gold, looking like a saucer, is placed on the chalice and on this plate, or paten, will rest the bread and later the Sacred Body of Christ. To keep the dust from the Host and chalice, a square starched pall is placed over the paten. All is then covered with a veil as a protection. Over the veil is another cardboard-like square called a burse with an opening into which the corporal is placed ; the corporal is the cloth spread on the center of the Altar on which rests the Body of Christ during the Mass. The linens used in close contact with the Body and Blood of Christ must be washed by the priest before anyone else may wash them. They are washed in a special sink or sacrarium whose water empties into the ground rather than into the ordinary sewer. The priest then makes the Sign of the Cross over himself and begins to dress or vest for Mass. The different vestments are blessed by the priest before being used for the first time. Many of the vestments are representative of the former street clothes worn in Rome in the first centuries of Christianity. The vestments also convey a sermon through their symbolical Pin 1 meaning. Often you will see rather rich looking vestments, because nothing is too good for God. Amice: This was formerly a head covering; even today certain Orders like the Benedictines, Franciscans, and Domini- cans use a head covering. This vestment signifies the hope of salvation and also the cloth used to blindfold Jesus. As the priest touches it to his head and then draws it over his shoul- ders, he says: “Place upon my head, O Lord, the Helmet of salvation, that I may overcome all the attacks of the devil.” Alb: This was a long dress worn by the early Roman men; it signifies self-denial and purity of heart and also the white cloak put on Christ by Herod. As the priest draws this over his head and puts his right, then his left arm into the sleeves, he says: “Purify me, O Lord, from all stain and cleanse my heart, that washed in the Blood of the Lamb, I may enjoy eternal happiness.” Cincture: This is a cord or rope whose practical purpose is to hold the Alb in proper place; it signifies strength and chastity and the ropes which scourged Christ. While the priest is tying this cord around his waist, he says: “Gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity and extinguish in my heart all evil desire so that the virtue of chastity may ever abide within me.” Maniple: This was formerly a handkerchief hanging on the arm in warm climates; it signifies labor by work and prayer and penance and also the binding of Christ’s wrists with cords. As the priest pins this little vestment to his left arm, he says: “Grant, O Lord, that I may be worthy to bear the maniple of tears and sorrows in order that I may receive with joy the re- ward of my labor.” Stole: The priest kisses the cross on this vestment as also on the maniple and amice. This vestment is used in preaching in hearing confessions and in dispensing the other Sacraments. It signifies the Cross of Christ. As the priest places it on his back, draws it over his shoulders and crosses it right over left on his breast, he says: “Give to me, O Lord, the garment of immortality, which I have lost in the sin of my first parents, and though I all unworthily approach Thy sacred mysteries, grant that I may nevertheless merit eternal joy. Paok 8 Chasuble: This was a coat worn by the early Romans. It has the shape of a little house. It signifies charity and also the fact that the priest goes to the Altar carrying the sins of all his people. There is a cross on the front to remind the priest of his own sins, and a cross on the back to remind him of the sins of his people. Seeing the cross in front, he remembers to fol- low Christ carrying the Cross; the cross in back reminds him that he must lead all his people also to follow in the footsteps of Christ. As the priest places his head through the opening in this vestment, he says: “O Lord, Who didst say ‘My yoke is sweet and My burden is light/ grant that I may be able so to wear this vestment as to obtain Thy divine grace.” The streamlined, straight-cut chasuble with small propor- tions represents the Roman style of vestment. The more ample flowing vestment with the larger proportions represents the Medieval style. You may have noticed the different colors of the vestments. These colors vary with the feasts. Red is used on feasts of the blood-shedding of Christ and of the feasts of martyrs and feasts of the Holy Ghost. Green, which is used on most Sun- days of the year, represents a hope in future life. Violet is the color of penance and so is used particularly in Advent and Lent. Black is symbolical of death and is used in Masses for the dead. (It might be helpful to note here that there are cer- tain days on which a priest may not use black vestments. It is quite unnecessary for our people to be disturbed when they see some other colored vestments in a Mass offered for the dead; the priest must follow the rules prescribed for that day.) The color white is used to represent purity and joy and so is often associated with feasts of the Blessed Virgin; this color is also used in the funerals of little children. We should live the liturgy in our lives and practice what we see signified in the vestments, the colors, the actions, the gestures, the prayers. As you look at the Altar itself, which occupies the most important position in the church, you see that it is covered with three linen cloths, three altar cards containing prayers, a Mis- sal or Mass book, a crucifix, and two lighted candles. An altar PAm 9 boy, or server, may be seen preparing the water and wine cruets for Mass. This young boy is very important, since he represents you at the Altar and makes all the answers in your name. He will assist the priest in the Great Sacrifice of the Mass which is now to begin. Mass Begins Your priest comes to the Altar and genuflects. This is an act of worship to God and also expresses the creature’s humility as he offers half his height to God. The Great Sacrifice of the Mass begins with the significant reminder of Calvary: the Sign of the Cross. The prayers at the foot of the Altar are the prayers of the Jews in exile, as they longed for the temple at home; these prayers also express sorrow for sin and hope in God. One prayer, the Confiteor, is like an Act of Contrition. The priest strikes his breast during this prayer and says, “It is my fault,” as he blames himself for his sins, his bending body shows humility of his soul. The altar boy says the same prayer for you; that you, too, are sorry for your sins. The priest then says a prayer of pardon for sins; this prayer is a sacramental and hence may wipe away your venial sins. Like Christ, the priest goes uphill; to the hill of the Beati- tudes, to teach the world the meaning of real happiness; to the hill of Tabor, to be changed into another Christ; to the hill of Calvary, to carry the sins of men. After climbing the Altar steps the priest bends down with love to kiss the Altar which represents Christ. The five crosses on the Altar represent the five wounds of Christ. Ordinarily the whole Altar Table is consecrated ; if such is not the case, at least a consecrated Altar Stone is necessary when Mass is said in the Latin rite. Among the Orientals, Mass is said on the corporal or antimensium. The Altar Stone contains the relics of martyrs; reverence is paid the martyrs when the priest kisses the Altar. Going to the right side of the Altar, the priest reads the In- troit prayer. This prayer gives the keynote of the day’s feast. Then he walks to the center and there says the Kyrie Eleison. The words are Greek. They mean “Lord, have mercy on us.” Nine times we hear this cry for mercy; it gives us a good idea Pun 10 of the necessity of perseverance in prayer. Three times in honor of the Father, three times in honor of the Son, and three times in honor of the Holy Ghost. The Kyrie is followed on certain days (not always) by the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. This means “Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to men of good will.” Notice that peace to men comes only after glory is given to God. Turning about, the priest says the Dominus Vobiscum. It means “The Lord be with you.” This greeting was given to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. The priest uses it eight times during the Mass. He prays that the Lord may be with you in trouble and trial and always. Going again to the right side of the Altar, the priest says the Collect or Oremus prayer. Oremus means “let us pray.” It shows the corporate worship in the Catholic Church, where we all pray together at Mass. The word “Collect” means that the prayers of all are collected together and offered up as one prayer. We must remember that St. Alphonsus said that one prayer of the Mass (like this) is worth more than a hundred rosaries said privately. The priest during this prayer extends his arms like a beggar, that God may be more inclined to heed his pleading. How often God hears men’s prayers! How seldom man obeys God’s wishes! Time of Enlightenment From the Epistle to the Credo The beginning of Mass consists of a series of prayers. This second period gives us food for thought in a period of mental and spiritual starvation. The priest reads the Epistle (standing at the right side). The Epistle means a “letter.” Here we listen to the reading of the letters of St. Paul and also of some of the early prophets. Going to the center, the priest bends low and says the Prayer of Isaias. As an angel applied a burning coal to the tongue of Isaias to enable him to speak the pure truth of God, so the priest prays to read the Gospel well. The Gospel is begun by a triple Sign of the Cross. On the forehead, to show that he thinks the thoughts of Christ. On the lips, to show that he speaks the words of Christ. On the Pack 11 heart, to show that he loves the things that Christ loves. And you should be able to say the same. The Gospel itself is the Great Message of Joy or Good News. During the Gospel Christ preaches. We stand at this time to show that we are listening and ready to defend the truth of the Gospel. On Sundays after the Gospel, the priest preaches. He heeds the words of Christ Who says to him: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations.” Again we might remind you that the sermon is a sacramental. Hence, when you are attentive to the words of the priest, you may obtain the pardon of some or all of your venial isins. (That’s another good motive for keeping awake.) After learning the truths of God from the Epistle and the Gospel, we express our belief in these same truths when the priest says the Credo. The word “Credo” means “I believe.” The Credo is a summary of the principal truths of religion. We stand in respect for the faith which we hold more dear than life. At one moment in the Credo we genuflect in honor of the Incarnation, the mystery of God’s coming to the world to save men. This profession of faith is the connecting link between the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful. In the early days of the Church, converts under instruction were only permitted to attend Mass up to the Credo. The latter portions of the Mass were attended by those who were fully instructed and baptized. Offertory (Our Gift to God) Remember the words of the early Wise Men at Christmas time: “Let us go to see Him and offer Him our gifts.” That should be our attitude when we come to Mass; not only to get but to give. In the early days of the Church, a real proces- sion was held at this point of the Mass. The people came to the Altar rail carrying their gifts: bread and wine, candles and incense. A certain amount of these things were necessary for the Mass; whatever remained was put aside and used to sup- port the priests and the poor. Our collections today have Paob 12 the same purpose as these early processions; the present method being more efficient and less noisy. Our present method, how- ever, makes our people seem to forget the important idea of “offering” in the Mass. People who complain of collections have no understanding of the Mass in which they are to take a real, active part. We make three offerings of great importance. We offer bread, wine and ourselves. Each offering will be changed at the Consecration. At the Consecration we shall offer Christ and ourselves. The bread used at Mass is unleavened or unfer- mented. In most cases today the bread is made by nuns. The wine must be made of pure grape. The great Mystery of the Mystical Body of Christ is in- volved in the Offertory. Many grapes make up one wine. Many wheat grains make one bread. We, although we are many, are all made One in Christ. Even the few drops of wa- ter, representing ourselves, added to the wine, representing Christ, symbolize our Oneness with Christ in the Mystical Body. Another great Mystery is involved: The Mystery of Labor and Suffering. Bread is the symbol of labor. Wine is the symbol of suffering. Wheat grains are crushed to make bread. Grapes are crushed to make wine. Even incense is burned be- fore it gives a beautiful odor. Even so, the beauty of our char- acter comes out in labor and in suffering. When the priest holds up the paten with the host and the chalice with the wine, we, too, must offer up our daily labor and sufferings. The workingman, the invalid find a meaning to life in the Mass! We might well call the Altar a bargain-counter, where a divine exchange is made. We give up the human and get back the divine. We give up man and get back God. The world has never witnessed such a striking bargain as this. The poor are most welcome at Mass. God wants the offerer more than the gifts we offer. That is why a poor man who gives himself is better than a rich man who only gives his money and not himself. St. Gregory the Great says: “He who gives what he has, gives little; he who gives what he is gives much.” The poor find a meaning to life in the Mass! Pag* 13 From Offertory to Consecration In the early days of the Church the people carried their gifts to the Altar. The priest, after receiving these gifts, washed his hands. Today, the priest washes the thumb and index finger of each hand because these fingers will hold Christ. In a Solemn High Mass, the priest washes both hands because washing of the hands is necessary after handling the thurible, but symbolically it might suggest inner purity of heart. At the center of the Altar, the priest says a special prayer in honor of the Blessed Trinity. When he turns to the people, he again asks all to join in the social or corporate worship of the Church. He says: “Pray, Brethren. ,, The next prayer is called the Secret prayer because it is said silently by the priest. A Great Silence follows the Offertory and is broken only seven times by the priest as the Great Silence of Calvary was broken seven times by the High Priest, Christ. The Preface prayer is a hymn of praise and thanks. The Sanctus prayer reminds us of the Holiness of God. Three times the word “holy” is repeated in honor of the Blessed Trinity. The bending of the body of the priest during this prayer expresses the humility of the creature before God, the All-Holy Creator. Three prayers are said right after the Sanctus. The first is for priests and all believers. (How few people ever pray for priests! ) The second is for friends and parishioners. The third is for all the saints. The priest then places his hand over the chalice and host, as the Jewish priests in the Old Testament placed their hands on the victim to be offered. This action shows that man places his sins on the Victim to be offered in place of man. Christ is our Victim Who died for our sins. Consecration The Most Solemn Moment in life has come. Like Christ and with the power of Christ received in valid ordination, the priest says: “This is My Body” over the bread, and “This is My Blood” over the wine. It looks like bread and wine as Pack 14 does the electric rail look the same even after the current is passed through. But while the electric rail is the same, the bread and wine no longer remain bread and wine but are sub- stantially changed. Now Christ Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, is present on our Altar of Sacrifice. The God Who made the sun, moon and stars, can certainly do this, too. Here is God’s Gift to Man; God’s Gift of Himself. On our Altar is the silent, obedient, patient Christ, uncom- plaining—moved here and there by the priest. On our Altar is the Bread of Angels, the Food of strong men or Saints. On our Altar is the Living Christ with His forceful, magnetic per- sonality. This is not a mere picture of Christ, not a lifeless photograph, not a dead body; this is the Living Christ. If you can introduce non-Catholics to Christ on the Altar during Mass, sooner or later the Personality of Christ on the Altar makes its silent but unforgettable impression on their hearts and they are converted. I am thinking of one man in par- ticular who went to Mass for twelve years before being con- verted; but he was converted. “Thou hast conquered, O Gali- lean.” Christ won. Christ does not die at Mass. He died only on the Cross of Calary. In the Mass, He is truly present but does not die. To symbolize, however, the real death of Christ on the Cross, the separate consecration of bread and then of wine represent the violent mystical death of Christ at Mass. The appearance of death at Mass satisfies the full definition of real sacrifice. I see a real Vision at the Consecration. Faith shows me a ladder upraised and traffic going on between heaven and earth. I see Calvary’s treasure chest opened up and men being en- riched thereby. I see Calvary’s reservoir overflowing individual souls all over the world. I see Christ taking one giant step from heaven to earth to be with men. I see the influence of one Consecration felt all over the world, in purgatory and in heaven. I see the upraised Host and Chalice when I am in trouble, when tempted, after sin, in prosperity. I see four elevations each second of the day throughout the world. I see the Personal Consecration in my daily life. (That I shall study in Part Two.) Page IS From Consecration to Communion A prayer is said for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. (How few remember their dead by having Masses said for them!) Another prayer is said for all sinners and the priest strikes his own breast to include himself. Then an action takes place known as the Little Elevation, when the priest holds the Host over the Chalice of Precious Blood. Here we have a picture of Christ Enthroned, Christ the King to Whom is due all honor and glory. The “Our Father” follows. This is the table- prayer of communicants, the prayer taught by Christ Himself. After this prayer, the priest breaks the Sacred Host, even as Christ did at the Last Supper. A particle of the Host is then placed into the Chalice. In this action we see symbolized the resurrection of Christ, the whole Christ, Body and Blood. The “Agnus Dei” prayer addresses the gentle and kind Christ, the Lamb, and asks for mercy and forgiveness and peace. (Peace comes after forgiveness.) The three Com- munion prayers which follow are appropriately for Peace, for Perseverance and for a worthy Communion. (If the world only knew how closely Peace and Communion are connected.) Communion When Christ multiplied the loaves of bread, He said: “The Bread that I will give (notice the future tense) is My Flesh.” “He that eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has everlasting life (notice the present tense). He that eats this Bread shall live forever.” Remember that the Jewish audience said: “This saying (eating another’s flesh) is hard,” and they walked away from Life. Jesus turned to His favorite Apostles and said: “Will you also go away?” Here the Eucharist seems to be the test of Discipleship. St. Peter nobly answers: “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” And we also add: “If not to Christ, to Life, to whom shall we go?” In the Our Father we pray for “our daily bread.” Holy Communion ought to be our Daily Bread. There should be daily Communion, or daily Union with God. And when the evening of life draws near, again we want our Daily Bread, Paox 16 our Viaticum, the Food of travelers and pilgrims, the Food of those on the road to their eternal Home. This is Love at its Highest Peak, when God comes into the human heart. “ Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friend.” Love is Complete when we are One with Christ. God the Father looks down from heaven and He is well pleased with me, because He sees Christ in me. And I develop the atti- tude of seeing Christ in my neighbor. We are all brothers and sisters of Christ. We all form one mystical Body. We are all equal. We all share the democracy of the Communion rail. Those in mortal sin may not receive Holy Communion. Their souls are dead. As one would not try to feed a corpse, a dead body, so one does not try to feed a soul in mortal sin, a dead soul. Are you worried about preparation for Communion? Be- sides a good life, the best preparation for Communion is atten- tion at Mass and frequent Communion. Are you lazy? Think of “Your Host” in the ciborium, waiting for you and for no one else. Do you want to be a saint? St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi says: “One Communion made well is enough to make a saint.” Do you want to begin heaven on earth? Remember that we have in Communion everything that makes for the essential joy of heaven. Are you sick? St. Theresa says: “The Eucha- rist is a great medicine for bodily infirmities.” Are you un- grateful? Remember that a thanksgiving after Communion wins greater graces for you and happiness, too. After Communion After the thanksgiving prayers and orations following Com munion, you see the priest says “Ite Missa Est” or “Go the Mass is finished.” Before going, you see the whole beautiful picture of the Mass in review. How your heart was stirred! Everything was so meaningful! Hymns, paintings, statues, drama, gesture, sign language, the odor of incense, folded hands, bowed head, bent knees, face to the ground, striking of the breast, the kissing of the Altar, outstretched arms, down- cast eyes, eyes raised to the crucifix, people standing, sitting, Pagz 17 kneeling, the bell for attention, the Sacred Host and Chalice held aloft. What an important contact was made; meeting your Redeemer, Saviour, Judge, The Way, The Light, The Truth, The Life. You attended a banquet, a sacrifice, a friend’s funeral, a wedding of your soul with Christ, a love feast, a masterpiece of drama, a revolution in personal lives. You saw the central act of Christianity and its very heart; you saw the life-beat of Christ in human lives and also the center of the Sacraments. And now you are told officially to go. But where? You must go to defend the Church, the truth, the moral law out in the world. You must go to your appointed duties and respon- sibilities and obligations in life. You must go to work and pray for the salvation of others. You must go to teach the language of love to all souls everywhere. You must go to sing your Mass in your daily life. You must go out to your home and office and factory and by your good example say Mass for those with whom you come into contact. You leave Mass and you live Mass. You radiate Christ wherever you go. Lest you be without courage in your noble mission, the priest turns around to give you the Blessing of Christ. This is followed by the Last Gospel. After low Mass, the prayers after Mass are said by priest and people according to the Holy Father’s intention for the conversion of Russia. (Our people are not to leave Mass, except where there is a serious reason for doing so, before the priest has gone into the sacristy.) Sunday Mass keeps us in a good spiritual condition for seven days only. The spiritual pep and iron and vitamins and sun-tan for the soul are to be had only from the Mass. Those who steal a few minutes of Mass-time each Sunday soon fall into serious debts with God. The Mass gives us our spiritual allowance or spending money of graces for one week. We need every moment of the Mass. Each Sunday finds us with God’s Big Family. We can come with little interest and take home little grace or we can come with great interest and take home great spiritual treasures. Let us learn to use a Missal—that is the real way to assist at Mass, saying the same prayers as the priest, with the priest. Page 18 Principles Drawn from a Study of the Mass 1. The Mass and Calvary are One and the Same. 2. The Mass is Life; our souls die without it. 3. Nothing in life is so important to us as the Mass—the greatest form of prayer. 4. The Mass causes a silent but real revolution or conver- sion in lives. 5. The Mass is the Ladder of Holiness. 6. A Mass-less week is a lifeless, loveless week. 7. The Mass gives us Christ, our God, and hence is a pre- view of Heaven. 8. Christians today should again attend daily Mass and Communion. 9. The Mass unlocks the meaning of life, love and sacrifice. 10. The Mass unlocks the great mystery of suffering. Pag* IV PART TWO The Cross of Suffering Patience in Suffering is the Mass of Life prolonged through- out our day in our personal lives. Under the term “Suffering” we include work, trials, annoyances, inconveniences, mental, physical and spiritual pain. To live the Mass of Life one must accept these different forms of Suffering with Patience. The Sacrifice of the Mass will be said until the end of the world; and Suffering will also go on until the end of the world. The Sufferings of Christ are continued to the end of the world as long as a single Mass is said and as long as a single member of the Mystical Body remains to suffer here on earth. We mean to say that Christ suffers in His Mystical Body at Mass and throughout the day. Christ suffers in your suffering and mine, because we are One with Christ. And even as we said that a Mass-less week is a life-less, love-less week, so we can say that a Cross-less week is a life-less, love-less week. The Mass and the Cross are Life. At the Offertory of each Mass we must not come empty- handed. We must have something to give. God wants our patience in suffering more than anything else, because, when we give that, we give ourselves. And that is real sacrifice. We must get ready for tomorrow morning’s Mass today. Every little trial and cross and suffering is patiently accepted today and tomorrow morning when the priest holds up the paten, we have something to place beside the host as our personal offer- ing. In other words we must “keep fit” for tomorrow’s Mass; today’s offering becomes tomorrow’s Offertory; today’s sacri- fice becomes tomorrow’s Sacrifice of the Mass. St. Paul in saying “I die daily,” gave us a happy expression for daily Mass and daily Suffering. How strange it is that we forget that the Mass and the Cross in life are so intimately P*n* 20 connected. As the Cross of Christ and the Mass are One; so might we in an infinitely lesser sense say that the Mass and my personal cross are One. There is some truth in this state- ment when my cross becomes my Mass of Life. The Consecration of the Mass is also a consecration in my life. Every Consecration must find me changed for the better. There must be a change in my life and habits—a real moral transformation or conversion. Every Consecration must teach me Christ Crucified and myself crucified. My crucifixion is the suffering that confronts me each day. Like Christ I must be crucified, but patient also as He was. Unless I suffer with Christ today, I cannot enjoy tomorrow’s Mass with Christ. Unless I understand sacrifice in my personal life I shall hardlv understand the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Understanding u day’s Mass, I shall the better understand today’s sufferings. The more I understand the Mass, the more personal sacrifice will there be in my daily life. A man who sincerely stands at Calvary’s Consecration never returns home the same man. A man who sincerely stands at the Consecration in the Mass never returns home the same. In each case, the man goes home to live a consecrated life, a life of sacrifice, a life of patient suffering with Christ on the Cross. The Priesthood of the Faithful Involves Sacrifice and Suffering Through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, in- delible characters are imprinted on the Christian soul, deputing the person for worship. While this sharing is in a much dif- ferent sense than in an ordained Priest, nevertheless it is in a true sense. In some small but real way you are the lay priest- hood. You share at Mass in the offering and in the whole sacri- fice. You cannot exercise this sacrificing power by yourself but only in union with an ordained priest, Christ’s minister through Holy Orders. The ordained priest is the divinely con- stituted mediator who stands between the people and God of- fering sacrifice. Without the official priest of the Church, the laity cannot offer the sacrifice. Pag* 21 The official priesthood and ritualistic sacrifice always go together. If we admit the truth of the lay priesthood, prop- erly understood as above, then we must also admit the truth of the lay person’s real but subordinate participation in the sacrifice of the Altar. Here we do not mean sacrifice in the sense of mortification. We refer to the official sacrifice of the Church, offered by the official priest of the Church; in which sacrifice the laity join with their representative, the validly ordained priest. Again we repeat for clarity, that without the official priest of the Church, the laity cannot offer the official sacrifice of the Mass. The lay priesthood then, participates in offering the One Supreme Sacrifice to God in the morning Mass. So much for the sharing in the official worship. But the spirit of sacrifice, in the sense of mortification, must continue in the lives of priest and people throughout the day. In other words they must complete in their lives the Passion of Christ. They must dip their sacrificial life into the sacrificial Blood of Christ at the Consecration. They must come to the Altar with hands full of sacrifices. To the laity we say this: Even as your priest suffers be- cause he sacrifices, so, too, you. Everyone who sacrifices, suffers. (We refer here not to the official Sacrifice of the Mass, but to the minor sacrifices or mortifications of our daily life.) Your suffering becomes a real minor sacrifice in your daily life, when it contains love. Without love your daily suffering is meaningless agony. You are to voluntarily make sacrifices in your life. If you refuse, you will suffer just the same, and more, sooner or later. By running away from one cross, you run right into a bigger one. The Problem of Evil or the Mystery of Suffering A Christian must be an optimist. The world is pessi- mistic in the face of suffering. People see slums, accidents, wars, diseases, samples of hell on earth, and they ask Why? Why must these things be? Many seeing it, have given up belief in God. Why does God permit suffering and evil? A Page 22 good God cannot allow such things. If there is a God, He must be wicked. How can one reconcile the two apparent contradictions of a good God and evil in the world? The Christian is an optimist. He believes that the good far outweighs the evil in the world. One toothache in a few years, one accident in a lifetime, ten years’ prosperity and a year’s unemployment. The Christian is not a fool; he does not deny the problem of evil; he says that the world over- paints the bad side of the picture. He knows that God can draw good out of evil; many are saved for all eternity because of some good sickness. He knows, too, that trouble makes many unreasonable and liable to exaggerate; men blame on God many things which are direct results of their own evil ac- tions. The Christian knows that worry about future troubles harms us and helps not. He knows that even sorrow has sweetness when it contains love; remember the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross. The Christian knows that God never permits more than we can bear; that there is a silver lining behind every cloud. The optimism of the Christian is honest; it admits that while we do not see the purpose, there may still be a purpose. Christian optimism sees the good side of things and is opposed to the “gloomy gus” attitude. Re- member what the poet said: “Two men looked out through their prison bars; the one saw mud and the other stars.” It all de- pends upon whether one is looking up or down. The Christian looks up into the Face of God, gets His answer and is happy. Suffering Through Sympathy A Christian has a duty to show sympathy towards others in suffering. Why? Because he is to see in others the Image of God; and in suffering people he is to see the image of Christ Crucified. If you stand outside one of our big general hospitals, notice the expression on the faces of the people who walk out. You see in those faces the traces of deep suffering; a suffering through sympathy on the faces of relatives and friends of sick people within. Suffering, like the Mass, shows us that all are brothers under the skin; all are One with the Suffering Christ. Page 23 Our own personal experiences of suffering makes us kind to others in suffering. We remember our past pains, and crosses and especially the lonesomeness which usually attended these crosses. Then, too, we remember the little acts of kindness towards us when we were in pain. The kind word, the smile of the priest, a little gift, the cup of cold water, the pillow smoothed and arranged to our comfort. We remember those things and we do to others what we would like them to do to us. We adopt a mission of smiles and cheerfulness and kindness and service towards others. Only one who has suffered, can sympa- thize. After we leave our daily Mass, having stood at Calvary’s Cross, we ought to have this attitude: “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting.” With that conviction, we visit the homes for the poor; we go to the can- cer homes, and the homes for the tubercular and crippled. Yes we go to the homes of mental defectives. Everywhere we seek out the poor and the afflicted. We search for Christ Crucified in His Mystical Body. And the poorer the person and the greater the affliction, the more expansive our love and the more zealous our service; because “whatever you do to these, the least of My brethren, you do to Me.” “I was sick and you visited Me.” We serve the poor and the afflicted and we serve Christ Himself. We lift a cup of water and it is to the Lips of Christ. We bandage a wound and it is a Wound in the Body of Christ. We smile and we are smiling at the suffering Christ. Christ lives on the Altar and Christ lives His Suffering Life in afflicted men and women. Our kindness is directed to the body through the corporal works of mercy. We feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and the sick. Our kind- ness is directed to the soul through the spiritual works of mercy. We warn sinners; we instruct those in ignorance; we give advice to those in doubt; we comfort those in sorrow. Our sympathy finds motives for instilling Patience in the sick. We suggest confidence in God. We remind the sick that they are not suffering alone, but with Christ on the Cross. We recall for them the wonderful promises of heavenly rewards Page 24 after the short fight of life. We ask the sick to use their ill- ness as a payment for past sins. We show them the finger of Providence; the hand of a kind Father in Heaven; the wisdom of God. We maintain that suffering can be a most useful voca- tion, in which one can help save the world from sin and its tragic results; a vocation in which one can win souls for Christ and in which one can do more than in any other, except the Priesthood. The priest at the Altar and the lay-priest in pa- tient suffering are the redeemers of the world; the co-redeemers with Christ, completing the Passion of Christ till the end of time. We shall never be able to show real sympathy unless we get to know someone who stood at the Cross. To know sorrow, we must know the Mother of Sorrows. To know sympathy we must know the Mother Mary who attended the world’s most tragic deathbed scene. “Thine own soul a sword shall pierce.” She knows and understands because she has been through it all from beginning to end. Mary sees Christ in suffering men and women and hence she must be most interested in them. As Mother of men she will help us; as Mother of GOD she can help us. O Mother of Sorrows pray for a suffering world. Let us not forget Good St. Joseph, the Patron of a Happy Death. We, too, like him, would all love to die in the sweet embrace of Jesus and Mary. Why Suffering? Adam and Eve were the first human beings to commit sin. They disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. That sin of theirs was followed by a life of suffering and by death. Ever since, men of all ages have learned from sad experience that sin is an expensive pastime and a dangerous pastime; because sin is paid for by suffering. If we know sin, we know the roots of suffering, because every seed of sin grows into a plant of suffering. We say, then, that suffering is necessary first because of the Justice of God . If sin means that we turn to creatures and away from God, this is the blackest ingratitude to God. Be- cause of our turning our backs on God, we have an apology to Pack 25 make to God. At the same time, because we preferred crea- tures to God, in our apology to God we must turn our backs to creatures and to worldly pleasure. This turning away from creatures is often accomplished through suffering. The Justice of God demands that debts of honor due to Him must be paid . In sinning we refused God His due share of honor. Consequently, there must be a “making-up” for the in- sult. There must be a balance sheet of suffering for sin. The Scales of God’s Justice demand that while sin pulled down one side, suffering must pull down the other side to make a perfect balance. The Divine Cash Register shows the amount of respect to God taken out by sin and the amount put back by suffering. Heaven’s scoreboard shows the errors or sins and the home runs or sufferings. Secondly, suffering is necessary because of the abuse of free will in man. When God gave us free will—He gave us the re- sponsibility that goes with it. Our wills should freely choose God and not sin. If we abuse our free wills by a bad choice, choosing sin instead of God, the sad responsibility is ours. All evil comes from man f s abuse of free will; from man f s abuse of the good things of life. Time can be good, but man abuses time by spending it in idleness and commits sin. Food and drink are good, but men overeat and drink too much, thus ruining their health and committing sin. While some sickness comes without our fault, many other illnesses come through some fault of our own, through sin. Even the wars of today can be traceable to the great sins all over the world. We see that sin is paid for by suffering ; hence sin is a dan- gerous and expensive pastime. It is better, however, to suffer here than hereafter. That is why we should take with patience the trouble which comes to us. That is why we should inflict on ourselves other little sufferings, e.g., giving up certain worldly pleasures; in order that suffering now, we might not suffer for all eternity hereafter. Sin is an expensive pastime. You pay for it by suffering. There shall always be suffering in the world, because there shall always be sin in the world: Original sin (of Adam and Eve) and all the other many sins that men commit. Pm 26 Why Must the Innocent Suffer? The answer in part is that there are no really innocent people among us, i. e., those who are without sin of some kind or other, even though it be venial sin. Who of us can claim to be entirely innocent? Who of us can say, “We have suffered too much for our venial sins”?—when the saints considered one venial sin a greater calamity than all physical ills com- bined. Christ and His Blessed Mother alone would have the right to say: “Why must the innocent suffer?” And strangely enough they never asked that question. The really innocent do not mistrustfully question the ways of Divine Providence. Besides, we must remember that the answers to the gen- eral problem of suffering include the particular problem of the suffering of the innocent. Let us for a moment, class those in venial sin as “the inno- cent.” It is true then, that the innocent must often suffer, e. g., many innocent soldiers, sailors and other people are suf- fering much in this present war, because of the great sins of others. We must remember that Christ suffering in His phys- ical Body, once and for all won the graces of redemption for the whole human race. And yet we know, too, that Christ in His Mystical Body, the Church, continues the work of re- demption through suffering until the end of the world. It seems most logical that He, the Innocent One, the Head of the Mystical Body, should in an especial way associate with Him- self in this work of redemption members of the Mystical Body who are somewhat innocent. Those in mortal sin are hardly the likely ones to be associated with Christ in applying the merits of redemption through the medium of the Mystical Body. The sufferings of those who are trying to lead good lives, form a more fitting sacrifice to be joined to the all-sufficient Sacri- fice of Christ; the blood of the innocent could more properly be mystically offered with the Blood of Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Those who suffer with Christ will be crowned in glory with Christ. Christ offers the innocent a higher place in heaven, to be won by patient suffering in imi- tation of Him. Page 27 Sufferings of Christ The greatest true love story ever told is the story of God’s love for men. Christ came down from heaven to earth in order to suffer and die for men, because He loved men and wished them to be saved. The death of Christ on the Cross was a criminal’s death; hence most insulting. It took place on a public hill which all could see from afar. Around the Cross itself there was a sin- ful irreverent crowd, cursing and swearing. The circumstances were such as to cause great suffering to an innocent Man. More painful, however, were the physical sufferings. The thorns in the Sacred Head scraped against the skull and bones and nerves, causing a dizziness and terrific headache from loss of blood. The blood coming from the wounds caused by the thorns would run down into those Sacred Eyes, causing a sensation of blindness. The Lips and Mouth were parched dry with thirst one of the greatest human sufferings; His Mouth was as dry as desert sand. In His Hands and Feet there was a scraping of nails against some nerve at every least move. The weight of a good-sized man thrown only on Hands and Feet must have torn the Flesh apart. His position on the Cross, a doctor has said, led to a great difficulty in breath- ing, poor circulation of the blood and violent cramps of the muscles. The greatest sufferings of Christ were mental and spiritual. There was the great shame felt as a result of being only half- clothed. There was the terrific heartache following upon the thought of the loss of so many souls. The betrayal of Judas; the denial of Peter; the cowardice of the other Apostles—all these facts caused mental suffering. Then there crowded in upon the Saviour’s Mind and Heart all the sins of the entire world from beginning to end. He could see mentally the thieves, drunkards; the impure, the unkind; the Mass-missers. Besides all this, the sorrow in the hearts of John and Mary caused great sorrow in the Sacred Heart of Christ. Oh—there was the ingratitude of so-called friends; churches would often Page 28 be empty throughout the day;, spoiled Catholics would flirt with temptation, occasions of sin and with sin itself; there would be seldom a word of thanks or appreciation. Seeing this, how can we ever say that God does not under- stand our troubles and sufferings. Christ on the Cross experi- enced every human suffering in some way or other, and all together at one time. He seems to say to you: Out of love for you, I carry the Real Cross; out of love for me, you must carry relics or splinters of the True Cross. Because every human suffering is a splinter of His Cross. We said that the answer to suffering is sin. Now we add that the answer to Chrises Sufferings is Hatred for sin and Love for you. My Share of Suffering Today Very likely you all heard the story of the boy complaining to his Guardian Angel about his big cross. The Angel invited him to try some of the others. After trying a few and finding them very heavy, he was glad to take up his own little cross once again. Each one has his own cross , because man must co-operate with Christ in paying up for sin . God in His kindness meas- ures the cross to the shoulder , to the strength and courage of the individual person. At Mass where Christ is the Victim offered up, He gives me strength to be a daily victim offered up with Him. That is why St. Paul says that “I die daily,” or, in other words, I have a Little Death each Day through some suffering or other. That suffering with Christ on the True Cross, we said, becomes our splinter of the True Cross. Man co-operates with God in wiping out sin by suffering. Last year I remember going to a man afflicted with a disease which was eating away his flesh. After giving him the Sacra- ments I tried to comfort him. But he turned to me and then pointed to a picture on the wall. It was the picture of Christ crowned with thorns. The man said: “Father, see what He has done for me; now it’s my turn to do something for Him.” My turn today! Fagi 20 Perhaps someone will say:. What is my Cross? It is cer- tainly not of wood. At one time it may be an awful headache or toothache or any physical pain. It may be your boss, your partner at work, a lost paper, stolen money, a train missed, a cold or overheated workroom, a crowd pushing on the subway; worry over money or sick children or ungrateful friends. Any one of these pains is blessed when you accept it patiently as God’s Will, and it then becomes a relic of the True Cross. The Cross blesses your day. Those splinters of suffering and pain of much more value than gold are around you all day long. All you must do is accept them from God’s kind Hands. After a while you almost begin to love these splinters as much as the Saints loved them. Poor me! What is my day without a cross? It means losing contact with the graces of my cruci- fied Saviour. Let us delight in picking up these splinters of the True Cross in our daily life, thus fulfilling our obligation. The Sacrament of Suffering Holy Scripture says that when gold is put into fire, it is purified, because fire burns away all that is worthless From your reading you know that a farmer must dig and plough into the hard ground, before it is useful for planting. And the planted seed must die before flowers and fruits are produced. You know that incense must be crushed and burned before it gives its best odor. If you want to make wine you must first crush the grapes . If a doctor wants to heal a deep sore, he must cut deep . All this we admit as common sense. And yet when God purifies our souls by suffering, we are slow to admit that the same common sense must hold in religion as well as in other things. There never was any doubt in the minds of the Saints but the exceptionally good health may be harmful to holiness. You see the very strong feel that they do not need God. There is the great danger of big strong men becoming hard and cruel and proud. On the other hand, any priest will tell you from experience that suffering when patiently accepted, builds up manliness, Page 30 and strong character and real holiness. And after all isn’t holiness the thing for which we must strive, since God Him- self said: “This is the Will of God, your sanctification”? God wants to make a Masterpiece Painting of every man’s life. He finds that there are certain weak points in certain characters; and He takes the Brush of Suffering and paints over those weak spots to make a perfect picture. Every man is in God’s Hands like a block of hard marble. God wants to carve a beautiful statue out of that hard marble and uses suffering as His chisel. Suffering then does not make us weak but strong . That is why St. Paul could say: “When I am weak, then am I strong,” as if to say: “When I have sufferings and appear weak, then am I doing great work for God and am strong in His Eyes.” St. Augustine says that: “Suffering makes us kind, humbles the proud, purifies the heart, gives light to those whom self love has blinded, bestows graces and blessings.” Suffering makes hard faces become kind and sweet and adds real beauty to a character. Suffering acts a little like the Sacrament of Penance because it, too, helps to wash away small sins. Suffering is the proof of our loyalty to God. The Cross is the only real test of our virtues. Anyone can be a fair weather Catholic, following Christ when the going is easy and com- fortable. But fair-weather Catholics are never wanted, be- cause they have not the courage to follow a Crucified Christ with a cross on their own shoulders. The Cross is the ruler, the measuring rod of holiness. One who carries the Cross can- not compromise with the truth; he cannot accept watered-down doctrines; he must live on the strong meat of Christ’s suffering, and not like the milk-fed babies who must have ease and com- fort and beautiful words of comfort. The true religion of Christ was always a man’s religion; and even women in their hearts and souls admire a man’s religion; a religion which is unafraid to teach that everyone must carry a cross; unafraid to teach that suffering can build up character and holiness. Be proud to suffer with Christ and become a saint. Rather suffer with Christ than feast with the world. The greatest sufferers have the greatest power for good. Page 31 Answers, Attitudes, Principles Drawn From a Study of the Cross 1. Answers: a—The answer to suffering is sin; sin is the cause of suffering. b—The answer to the sufferings 'of Christ is hatred of sin and love of men. c—The answer to our suffering is love of Christ and hatred of sin. 2. Attitudes: a—Our attitude to Christ’s sufferings is one of sorrow. b—Our attitude to our own suffering is one of patience, c—Our attitude to the sufferings of others is one of sym- pathy. 3. Principles: a—Sin is paid for by suffering; hence sin is the most ex- pensive and most dangerous pastime, b—There shall always be suffering, because there shall always be sin (original and actual) ; hence the less sin in the world, the less suffering, c—Every person must carry a cross (that is, suffer). “Un- less you take up your cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.” d—My Cross—is a toothache or headache, a bad heart, high blood pressure, blindness, deafness, an over- heated room, a missed train, a lost paper, stolen money, hard work, death in my family, etc. e—God will reward us not for the big things we did in life but for the sufferings patiently borne, f—Suffering in patience is the short cut, sure way, to holiness. g—Life and love are meaningless without sacrifice and suffering. h—One who has suffered can sympathize, i—If you have not much personal suffering, learn to suf- fer voluntarily with others through sympathy, j—If you have much personal suffering, learn to forget it by suffering with others. k—The sick person who cannot go to Mass, must live the Mass of Life through patient suffering with Christ on the Cross. Page 32 For the man’s pocket and the woman’s purse— a compact, popular little Mass Book. 2 ,000 ,000 have been sold. THE MASS BOOK A VEST-POCKET PRAYER BOOK The purpose of this MASS BOOK is to pre- sent in the simplest form the Prayers that are the most useful in the devotional life of a Catholic. It gives the Mass Prayers al- most exactly as they are said by the Priest at the altar. It adds, moreover, such rubri- cal directions as are needful for one who is not thoroughly familiar with the Mass to follow the Priest intelligently and with de- votion. The explanations of the essential Doctrines of the Church, and the ordinary devotional practices that are interspersed throughout the book, may be found of very great value to non-Catholics, as well as to all classes of Catholics. Both prayers and explanations have been drawn only from authorized sources. 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