Benedictine Booklets, 15^ each

Devotion to the Most Holy Trinity

What Is God?

Devotion to the Holy Spirit

Little Devotions to the Holy Infant Jesus

Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague

The Holy Eucharist, Our All

God with Us

Eucharistic Miracles

Eucharistic Heart-talks with Jesus

My Daily Visit
Your Mass and YOU
God Himself, Our Sacrifice

My Daily Companion at Mass
Communicate Frequently and Devoutly

Novena of Holy Communions

Communion Devotions in Union with Mary

The Way of the Cross
From Olivet to Calvary

Devotion to the Precious Blood

Devotion to the Holy Face

True Veneration of the Sacred Heart

Enthronement and Night Adoration

Six Discourses on the Enthronement

Come, Let Us Adore

All for Thee, O Heart of Jesus
The Guard of Honor and the Holy Hour

From Earth to Heaven

More Precious than Diamonds

Prayer, the Great Means of Grace

(Continued on inside back cover)

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri



4* 4*

«*•

Your Mass

and YOU

*

*

*§*

f *
4* 4*

‘That in all things God may be glorified.’

Holy Rule of St. Benedict

Nihil Obstat: Gulielmus J. Blacet, J.C.L.

(Censor Librorum

Imprimatur 4< Joannes P. Cody, S.T.D.

Administrator Apostolicus et Ordinarius

Sancti Josephi

April 10, 1956

1st Edition, August, 1956 All rights reserved

25,000

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri



'7 have greatly desired to eat this Pasch with

you, before I suffer" (Luke 22:15).

As this picture reminds us, the Mass

is the mystical renewal of the Last Supper

and the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice

of Calvary.



Your Mass and YOU

MONG the many means of sanctifi-

cation which our Savior left to us

in His Church, the holy Sacrifice of the

Mass holds a most prominent and import-

ant place. This is so because of the rich

treasures of grace which flow from it to

the souls of those who devoutly participate

in its celebration. “The sanctification of

our soul,” says Father Garrigou-Lagrange,

O.P., “is found in a daily increasing inti-

mate union with God—a union of faith,
confidence and love. Hence, the most

exalted act of religion and of Christian

worship
,
namely

,
the participation in the

Sacrifice of the Mass , is one of the greatest

means of sanctification . To each interior

soul the Mass must be every morning the

eminent source
,
as it were, from which flow

the graces needed in the course of the day,

—the source of light and warmth, resem-
bling in the spiritual order the rising of the

sun in the natural order” (The Three Ages

of the Interior Life , Vol. 1).

3



Though the Mass Is Infinite, Its Effects

in Us Depend on Our Co-operation

But, although the Mass itself is a most

perfect and unfailing source of sanctity,

the measure of our participation in it de-

pends on the degree of perfection with

which we assist at its celebration and thus

draw from this fountain of grace and sal-

vation. “Its fruits are inexhaustible,” says

the saintly Abbot Marmion, “but they are

in great part measured by our inward

dispositions. In every Mass there are in-

finite possibilities for us of perfection and

holiness; but the measure of graces we re-

ceive is the measure of our faith and of our

love” (Christ
,
the Life of the Soul , p. 252)

.

We must be careful to distinguish,

therefore, between the effects which the

Eucharistic Sacrifice is capable of produc-

ing and those which it really produces
,
lest

we expect too much from the Mass con-

sidered in itself (ex opere operato
,
as theo-

logians express it), and overlook its effects

ex opere operands—those produced by our
co-operation.

A food may be ever so rich in minerals

and vitamins; but unless a person eats

4



that food, and does so in a proper man-

ner, he cannot benefit by its health-giving

substances. A spring may give forth in

abundance water that is rich in medicinal

properties
;

but unless a person drinks

deeply from that spring, he will derive no

benefit from it. A medicine may be ever

so excellent, but it will not effect a cure

unless properly received into the system

of the sick person. So, too, in the spiritual

life. The means of spiritual health—that
is, of sanctification—which Our Lord has
provided, are numerous and most perfectly

adapted to impart His Divine life to our

souls. But unless we make proper use of

them, they must fail of their effects in our

regard or fall far short of the effects they

might have produced. If, then, we wish

to partake in fullest measure of the sanc-

tifying fruits of the Mass, we must endeav-

or, with the help of grace, to participate

in it in as perfect a manner as possible.

Why the Mass Is So Wonderful

and Powerful

The excellence of the Sacrifice of the

Mass, considered in itself

,

and, consequent-

ly, its intrinsic power of producing the

5



effects it is intended for, derives, according

to the Council of Trent, from the fact that

it is substantially the same sacrifice as the

Sacrifice of the Cross. It is offered by the

same Priest
,
who actually continues to offer

Himself through the ministry of men or-

dained for this purpose. There is the same

Victim
,

truly present on the altar. The

only difference consists in the manner of

the offering. Whilst on the Cross there

was a bloody immolation, in the Mass there

is a sacramental oblation, through the sep-

aration—not physical but only sacramental
—of the Savior’s Body and Blood, by vir-
tue of the double consecration. The Sav-

ior’s Blood, without being shed physically,

is nevertheless shed sacramentally.

Some authors, instead of saying “sacra-

mentally” prefer to say “mystically,” which

means “mysteriously.” Both expressions

are correct. The first, however, seems to

have this advantage: It recalls the fact that

Jesus instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice,

not only in order to continue or represent,

throughout the centuries, the substantial

reality of His Bloody Sacrifice, but also in

order that it might be to us a perpetual

Memorial, a perpetual reminder of what

6



He did for our Redemption, and of the per -

manence in His Heart of the Interior Dis-

positions that prompted Him to do what

He did in the course of His whole earthly

existence, but particularly on Calvary.

These interior dispositions were a burning

love for the Father and for men. This

twofold love—which in reality is only one

,

the love of God—was the root and source
of His obedience to the will of His Father.

The Father had laid out for Him, even in

its minutest details, a program of life most

terrifying to the human nature of Christ.

On the perfect execution of this program

depended mankind’s redemption. Jesus

fulfilled that program in such perfect en-

tirety that not even one iota was overlooked.

And He did so with the perfect interior

disposition of the most burning love, from

the moment of His incarnation until His

last breath on Calvary.

Now, in the Holy Eucharist Jesus still

has the same interior dispositions: He has

the same love for the Father, the same will-

ingness to do always the will of the Father,

no matter what sacrifices it may demand

of Him. And He has the same love for

men
,
the same readiness to shed His Pre-

7



cious Blood, in the same excruciating phys-

ical reality as He did on Calvary, if this

were necessary for the salvation of even

one single soul, if it were convenient, and

if the Father demanded or at least allowed

it. On the altar He, so to say, goes as far

in the real re-enactment of the Bloody Sac-

rifice of Calvary as the Father allows Him

to
,
and stops only when the Father stops

Him as He stopped Abraham on the holy

mount.

The Mass, therefore, in one aspect, is a

memorial, or a reminder: (1) of the histor-

ical fact of Christ’s Passion and Death on

the Cross; (2) of the interior dispositions

of love, zeal and obedience which prompted

His self-oblation to the Father, for His

glory and for the salvation of the world,

from the first to the last moment of His

earthly life, and which He renews and con-

tinues in the Mass; and (3) of His readi-

ness to drain once more all His Heart’s

Blood for our salvation. This readiness

to die again for our redemption is signified

by the sacramental separation of His Body

and Blood in Holy Mass.

Thus we see why the expression “sacra-

mental oblation” is so well chosen. “Sac-

8



ramental” is derived from “sacrament.”

Every sacrament is an outward sign that in

some manner signifies what the reception

of the sacrament produces in the soul.

That ever permanent and living interior

oblation which Christ makes of Himself is

signified and recalled to our memories in

the Mass by the separation of the two kinds

of sacramental species. And we may add,

in truth, that this separation, precisely be-

cause it reminds us of the interior disposi-

tions of Christ in our regard, reminds us

also of the fact that in heaven He does not

cease pleading for us. (Heb. 7:25.)

St. Paul’s words could be paraphrased

in the following manner: Ready to die

again and again for us, Christ continuously

renews the interior offering of Himself to

the Father to this purpose; but, being pre-

vented by the eternal decrees of the Father

from putting into effect His willingness, He

continuously presents His Precious Blood

and His five Holy Wounds to the Father

as a memorial of what He did for us in

obedience to His Father’s will, and asks

His Father to apply to us the fruits of His

Passion and Death. In Holy Mass, He

speaks to us through the mystical language

9



of the memorial He has left to us, thereby

enkindling love in our hearts and inviting

us to offer ourselves in union with Him,

to the same purposes for which He died on

the Cross.

Here it is well to call to mind that when

Christ offered Himself on the Cross, He

did so as our Substitute, as our divinely

appointed and accepted Representative,

and that, therefore, in reality He offered

us with Himself. And one of the reasons

why He instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice

was to give to each one of us an oppor-

tunity to ratify by ourselves what He did

on Calvary in our name, so that, being

priest and victim with Him, in Him and

through Him, we might in this manner re-

ceive the fruits of the shedding of His

Blood.

Our Sharing Is Measured by

Our Interior Dispositions

This leads us to the consideration of

the distinction pointed out in a previous

paragraph between the effects of the Mass

ex opere operato and ex opere operands.

The interior oblation which Christ

makes of Himself, and which is, as it were,

10



the Soul of the Sacrifice of the Mass, re-

ceives an infinite value from the Divine

Person of the Word-made-Flesh, who is the

principal Priest and Victim, continuing

His immolation under a sacramental form.

It has the same ends as the Sacrifice of the

Cross, namely, adoration, thanksgiving, ex-

piation or propitiation, and petition. It

has also the same effects. But, whilst these

effects, considered in their immediate re-

lation to God
,
are always produced infal-

libly and in their fulness (particularly ad-

oration and thanksgiving) those effects

(particularly satisfaction and petition) are

realized in each one of us only in a limited

measure. This limitation comes primarily

from the eternal decrees of God regarding

the application of the Mass to us, and

secondarily (to an extent that would fright-

en us if we knew it and thus realized our

responsibility) from our FREE WILL,

namely, from our interior dispositions. The

fruits of the Mass are applied to us in the

measure of our interior dispositions—that
is, of those dispositions our souls possess

when we come to Mass, and of those with

which we assist at Mass. And this is just

what we should well understand if we wish

11



to know why Holy Mass is one of the

greatest means of sanctification, and how

we should assist at its celebration if we

wish to make an effective use of it as such.

Interior and Exterior Preparation

Since the proper interior dispositions

of faith and devotion are so vital for a

fruitful participation in the Holy Sacrifice,

the first concern of one who wishes to draw

rich treasures of grace from the Mass must

be the preparation of his mind and heart

for this sacred function. Whoever wishes

to draw water from a fountain must bring

with him an empty vessel in which to carry

away the water; and he who wishes to

draw much water must bring a large vessel.

Now, the vessel with which we draw from

the spiritual fountain of Holy Mass is a

fervent and recollected heart. And the

more fervent and recollected our heart, the

greater will be the measure of grace we

will draw from this heavenly fountain.

Is it not worth while, then, to use every

endeavor, to make every effort, so to dis-

pose ourselves that we may assist at this

sublime act of sacrifice with the greatest

devotion, giving ourselves up to it with our

12



whole mind and heart and body, as Christ,

the Victim and High Priest, gives Himself

up to it wholly?

In the decrees of the Council of Trent

(Sess. 22), the Church impresses on us the

dispositions with which we should assist

at Holy Mass in these words: “If we must

needs confess that no other work can be

performed by the faithful so holy and Di-

vine as this tremendous mystery itself,

wherein that life-giving Victim is daily im-

molated upon the altar by priests, it is also

sufficiently clear that all industry and dili-

gence is to be applied to this end, that it

be performed with the greatest possible in-

ward cleanness and purity of heart and

outward show of devotion and piety.”

We ought, then, to begin our prepara-

tion for Mass as soon as we arise in the

morning, by trying to keep our minds free

from worldly, disturbing and distracting

thoughts as much as possible, and making

frequent use of ejaculatory prayers to keep

our hearts turned to God. This, of course,

we cannot do if we engage in frivolous or

worldly conversation, laugh boisterously,

listen to worldly music, or indulge in other

noisy and distracting amusements. We

13



must try to preserve this recollection of

heart even when doing our necessary du-

ties, and also on our way to church, bear-

ing in mind the dignity and grandeur of

the sacred function in which we are about

to take part.

Doubtless it is to a want of such prepa-

ration that one may attribute the lack of

devotion and the indifference and careless-

ness with which so many assist at Holy

Mass; likewise, the reprehensible behavior

of those who let their gaze wander cu-

riously around the church and even go so

far as to talk and laugh in this sacred

place. Modesty and simplicity in dress

also becomes those who would assist at the

Divine Sacrifice with proper dispositions

and not hinder others from doing so.

Having thus prepared the way, one

may hope that God will give him the grace

of a very fruitful participation in the Holy

Sacrifice.

Essential Disposition, Union with

Christ, Priest and Victim

Since the Mass is not merely a form of

prayers and ceremonies, but substantially

the same Sacrifice as that of the Cross, the

14



essential and indispensable part of a fruit-

ful assistance at Mass consists in uniting

oneself as closely as possible with our Lord

Jesus Christ
,
who in the Mass as on the

Cross is the true Priest and the true Vic-

tim, offering Himself to His Heavenly Fa-

ther in both sacrifices for the same ends.

This union may be attained in various

ways.

The saintly Benedictine Abbot, Dom

Columba Marmion, a most enlightened di-

rector of souls, says on this subject: “It is,

then, a most excellent manner of assisting

at the Holy Sacrifice, to follow with the

eyes, the mind and the heart what is pass-

ing at the altar, and to associate ourselves

with the prayers the Church places at this

sacred moment on the lips of her ministers.

When, with deep reverence
,

lively faith,

ardent love and true contrition for our

sins, we thus unite ourselves to Christ

—

Priest and Victim—in His Sacrifice, Christ,
who dwells in us, takes all our intentions

into His Heart and offers perfect adora-

tion and full satisfaction for us to His Fa-

ther, and renders Him worthy thanks-

giving, and His prayer is all-powerful. All

these acts of the Eternal High Priest, by

15



which He renews upon the altar His immo-

lation of Calvary, become ours.

“At the same time that we give to God,

through Christ, all honor and glory, abun-

dant graces of light and life are poured

down upon us and on all the Church. Each

Mass truly contains all the fruits of the

Sacrifice of the Cross. But, if we wish to

avail ourselves of them

,

we must enter in-

to the dispositions and sentiments of the

Heart of Jesus when He went to offer Him-

self on Calvary. Then the Eternal High

Priest takes us with Him into the Holy of

Holies, unto the throne of the Divine Maj-

esty, to the very source of all grace, of all

life and all beatitude.” (Christ
,
the Life of

the Soul

,

Ch. 7.)

The eminent Dominican theologian, Fa-

ther Garrigou-Lagrange, in The Three Ages

of the Interior Life, writes: “In order

to assist well at Mass, with faith, con -

fidence, true piety and love, one may fol-

low it in various manners. One may be

attentive to the liturgical prayers, generally

so beautiful and full of unction, elevation

and simplicity. One may also remember

the Passion and Death of the Savior, of

which the Mass is the Memorial* and con-

16



sider oneself as being at the foot of the

Cross with Mary, John and the holy wom-

en. Or one may apply oneself to ren-

dering to God, in union with Jesus, the

four duties which are the ends of sacrifice:

adoration, reparation, petition and thanks-

giving. Provided one PRAYS, even piously

reciting the Rosary, one assists in a fruit-

ful manner at the Mass. . .

“But whatever the method one follows,

it is important to insist on one cogent

thing: We must above all else unite our-

selves profoundly to the oblation of the

Savior
,
the principal Priest . With Him we

must offer Him to His Father, remember-

ing that this oblation pleases God more

than all sins displease Him. We must also

offer ourselves each day more and more

intimately; we must offer particularly the

pains and contrarieties which we are al-

ready bearing and those which will present

themselves during the day. Thus under-

stood, the Mass is a fruitful source of sanc-

tification, of graces ever new.”

No Set Rules for the Faithful

Although the Church has prescribed

for her priests, as her official representa-

tives in offering the adorable Sacrifice, a

17



set of “rubrics” which they must follow

strictly in celebrating Holy Mass, and has

ordained that they adhere to the formula

of prayers in the missal without any per-

sonal additions, she has never prescribed

any set rules for the faithful in assisting

at Mass. She makes no hard and fast rule,

because, with the wisdom of her Divine

Founder, she knows that there are great

diversities of gifts and diversities of char-

acters among her children. She therefore

leaves entirely unfettered their free will, in

order that each may apply himself in the

manner best suited to his spiritual, mental

and physical endowments.

But she does give evidence in the

prayers and ceremonies of the Mass, of her

desire that the faithful co-operate actively

with the priest in the celebration of the

Holy Sacrifice. Repeatedly during the

course of the Mass the priest turns to the

people, and extending his arms, says:
“
Do-

minus vobiscum—The Lord be with you,”
and the people answer, through their rep-

resentative, the server, “Et cum spiritu tuo

—And with thy spirit.” What else does
this signify but a close union between the

priest at the altar and the people of the

18



congregation? In the prayer following the

Sanctus the priest says: “Be mindful, 0

Lord, of Thy servants N. and N., and of all

here present. . . for whom we offer, or who

offer up to Thee this Sacrifice. .
.” The

meaning of these words is too obvious to

be mistaken.

Again, during the Offertory the priest

turns to the people, and extending and

then bringing together his hands, invites

them to help him in offering the Holy Sac-

rifice: “Orate, Fratres— Pray, brethren,
that my sacrifice and yours may be accept-

able to God the Father Almighty.” After

the elevation of the Chalice he prays:

“Wherefore, 0 Lord, we, Thy servants, as

also Thy holy people. . . offer unto Thy

most excellent Majesty. . .” Here the priest

says in so many words that not he alone,

but all the holy people of God with him,

offer this pure holocaust.

The Use of the Missal

Following this implied wish of the

Church, pastors and spiritual directors of

souls encourage the use of the missal as an

excellent means for the faithful to follow

with mind and heart the ceremonies and

liturgical prayers with the priest at the al-

19



tar, and thus enter into an active participa-

tion in the celebration of the Mass. This

method of assisting at Holy Mass is advo-

cated especially by proponents of the so-

called “liturgical movement,” which seeks

.to awaken the faithful to a realization of

their mystical priesthood and their duty

of taking an active part in the Mass and

in the prayer life of the Church.

For those who are capable of employ-

ing it properly, this method seems indeed

one of the best calculated to achieve an

intimate union of the soul with the sacra-

mental oblation of Christ. Care must be

taken, however, that there be not a mere

mechanical repetition of prayers and for-

mulas, bereft of the vivifying soul of de-

vout intention and sustained attention.

This method is especially to be recom-

mended because of the fact that the Mass

is not merely a form of prayer, but an act

of worship and a sacrifice; and therefore

those who assist at Holy Mass ought prop-

erly to offer the Divine oblation together

with the priest, as is indicated by many of

the prayers of the missal. For, the privi-

lege of offering to the Divine Majesty the

sacred and sublime Sacrifice of the Mass is

20



not the prerogative of priests alone, but

belongs to the faithful also—to men, wom-
en and children—not, indeed, of them-
selves, but through the instrumentality of

the priest ordained for that purpose. Thus

we may truly say there are three celebrants

of the Mass: First of all, there is the great

High Priest, the chief Sacrificer, Christ

,

who Himself offers every Holy Mass to His

Heavenly Father. Then there is the offi-

ciating priest

,

who immolates the Divine

Victim; and lastly there are the faithful

present at the Holy Sacrifice, who have the

power of offering it conjointly with the

priest. Certainly this is one of the great-

est graces granted to the children of the

Church.

St. Peter lays stress on this prerogative

of the Christian when he says: “You are a

chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy na-

tion, a purchased people. . .” And again

:

“Be you yourselves as living stones. . . a

holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”

(1 Pet. 2:9,5). This mystical priesthood

is conferred on the faithful at baptism,

when they become members of Christ and

of His Mystical Body, the Church.

21



This sharing of the faithful in the cele-

bration of the Mass is popularly designated

as “concelebration.” In using this term,

however, we must do so relatively, because

the co-operation of the faithful assisting at

Mass may by no means be placed on the

same plane as the action of the celebrating

priest, who has been ordained to this pur-

pose and officially represents Christ and

His Church, and acts in their name.*

However, from the fact that the Church

earnestly desires that those assisting at

Mass take an active part in the oblation, it

does not necessarily follow that she desires

the people to use the same official prayer

formulas as the priest for that purpose. If

she desired this, she would not oblige the

priest to say certain of those formulas in

silence, when there are among the faithful

(for example, among converts from pa-

ganism) many who, not being able to read,

*
:

It goes without saying also that the

concelebration of the people is something

far inferior to the concelebration of sev-

eral priests saying Mass together, as in the

Eastern rite, or the concelebration of new-

ly ordained priests at the Ordination Mass

in the Latin rite.

22



and not hearing what the priest says, would

find it impossible to say the prayer said by

the priest. Obviously, the thing she desires

most is that the faithful enter into the spirit

of the prayers of the liturgy, whether they

use the actual prayer formulas employed

by the priest, or others of their own choos-

ing or making.

Let us consider, for example, the Con-

fiteor
,
which is recited at the foot of the

altar at the beginning of Mass as an act

of contrition to obtain purity of heart for

the worthy celebration of the Holy Sacri-

fice. If, instead of repeating the words of

the Confiteor, a person makes a sincere

and humble act of contrition from his heart

in his own words
,
he assuredly does some-

thing just as pleasing and meritorious in

the eyes of God and in the eyes of the

Church as one who devoutly repeats the

actual words of the Confiteor; and certain-

ly he acquires more merit than one who

repeats the words of the Confiteor in a

thoughtless and mechanical manner. So it

is with all the other prayers which form a

part of the Holy Sacrifice.

However, using the missal seems to be

the most logical and we might say the most

23



commori’Sense method of assisting at Holy

Mass. The prayers of the missal are un-

surpassed in richness of content and depth

of meaning, and we should not lightly set

them aside to use other prayers which may

appeal more to our sentimentality.

There is also another great advantage

in the use of the missal in that it brings

to us the distinctive spirit of the Sunday

or feast day or the mystery which the Mass

commemorates. The prayer service of the

Mass, we know, consists of two parts: the

so-called common of the Mass, which re-

mains always the same, and the proper
,

which varies for each Sunday or feast day

or for each day of the week in certain ec-

clesiastical seasons. This is a great help

in our spiritual life because it enables us

to live in closer union with the Church and

the mysteries of our holy Faith.

Those Catholics who are sufficiently well

instructed in the use of the missal to do so

intelligently and with spiritual profit should

then, by all means, adopt this method of

participating in the holy Sacrifice of the

Mass. Yet even when the missal method

has been adopted, some prudent directors

of souls advise that from time to time one

24



put aside the missal and formulate one’s

own prayer—for instance, at the Offertory
—or contemplate Our Lord’s interior obla-
tion from the moment of His incarnation

to His last breath on the Cross, or just His

interior oblation on Calvary and in the

Mass. The purpose of such a recommen-

dation is to break the monotony—if one
may so speak—of using one method ex-
clusively and thus preventing it from be-

coming routine or mechanical.

Use the Method that Best Suits YOU

However, let us repeat that while the

use of the missal is certainly one of the

most excellent means of uniting with the

priest at the altar and with Christ, the Di-

vine High Priest, it is not essential to a

perfect participation in the Holy Sacrifice.

Because of undue stress sometimes placed

on the use of the missal, some people have

come to believe that they must use a missal,

or at least a prayer book, in order to satis-

fy the obligation of hearing Mass. This

is by no means true. If it were, the Church

would certainly have made a formal decla-

ration to that effect. But she has not, and

could not reasonably do so, because in

25



many instances it would be impossible of

fulfilment. Be at peace, then, if for some

reason you do not find the missal method

the best suited to your particular needs,

and use that method which best accords

with your spiritual taste.

If you are unable to use a missal, you

may be able to use, with great profit, a

prayer book containing the ordinary

Mass prayers together with other suitable

prayers, in the spirit of the Mass. The

practice of private devotions
,
however, such

as novenas to the saints, or litanies, etc.,

is not to be encouraged, because there is

danger, in reciting such prayers during

the Mass, that the union with the obla-

tion of Christ on the altar will be broken

—a union so essential for a fruitful parti-
cipation in the Holy Sacrifice. It is be-

cause of this danger that many spiritual

directors and shepherds of souls discour-

age the recitation of the Rosary during the

Mass and of private prayers which by their

nature might easily divert a person’s at-

tention from what is being done at the

altar.

Although the practice of saying the Ro-

sary during the Mass is quite common,

26



and this form of prayer does lend itself

more readily to union with the Holy Sac-

rifice than many other devotions, it is,

nevertheless, not the ideal way of assisting

at Mass, generally speaking. For some

persons it may indeed be a very good and

even the best way. By meditating, for

example, on the Sorrowful Mysteries and

associating those mysteries with the Sacri-

fice of the Mass, which is a remembrance

and a renewal of Christ’s sufferings and

death, a person may be closely united with

the oblation of the Divine Victim on the

altar. But even then he certainly ought to

interrupt his prayer at least at the princi-

pal parts of the Mass—the Offertory, the
Consecration and the Communion—and de-
voutly unite with the priest in appropriate

acts of adoration and oblation.

Co-Victims with Christ

As our Lord Jesus Christ is not only

the High Priest offering the Mass, but also

the Victim offered , so those who assist at

the Holy Sacrifice should be not only

“priests” but also “victims.” If, therefore,

we wish to partake in fullest measure of

the fruits of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

27



we should not only offer the sacrifice of

Christ in union with Our Lord Himself and

the officiating priest, but also offer our-

selves in union with Him. The closer we

are united as victims to Christ, the Divine

Victim, the more perfectly shall we cele-

brate Holy Mass and the more fully shall

we partake of its fruits.

In his Encyclical “Mediator Dei,” is-

sued in 1947, Pope Pius XII stressed this

truth in the following words : “In order that

the oblation by which the faithful offer the

Divine Victim in this Sacrifice to the Heav-

enly Father may have its full effect, it is

necessary that the people add something

else, namely, the offering of themselves as

a victim.

“This offering, in fact, is not confined

merely to the liturgical Sacrifice. For the

Prince of the Apostles wishes us, as living

stones built upon Christ, the cornerstone,

to be able, as
4

a holy priesthood, to offer

up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God

by Jesus Christ
5

(1 Pet. 2:5). St. Paul

the Apostle addressed the following words

of exhortation to Christians, without dis-

tinction of time:
C

I beseech you therefore...

that you present your bodies, a living sac-

28



rifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your spirit-

ual service’ (Rom. 12:1). But at that

time especially when the faithful take part

in the liturgical service with such piety

and recollection that it can truly be said of

them: ‘whose faith and devotion is known

to Thee’ (Canon of the Mass), it is when,

with the High Priest and through Him, they

offer themselves as a spiritual sacrifice,

that each one’s faith ought to become more

ready to work through charity, his piety

more real and fervent, and each should

consecrate himself to the furthering of the

Divine glory, desiring to become as like

as possible to Christ in His most grievous

sufferings.”

The Mass Must Also Be OUR Sacrifice

As already mentioned, on the Cross our

Savior offered Himself alone; but as Head

of His Mystical Body He associated with

His oblation that of all the future members

of that Mystical Body, which is the Church.

We could not make this oblation with Him

then because we were not yet born; but He

gives us the opportunity now
,
and desires

that we do so in the holy Sacrifice of the

Mass. The Mass is the means He provides

29



for each one of us and for all generations

to the end of time, to unite ourselves with

Him in that great act of love and self-sur-

render which He offered on the Cross.

The Mass, then, is our Sacrifice in a

twofold sense; first, because we offer it

together with the priest and through his

hands, and secondly, because in it we make

(or should make) the offering of ourselves

in union with the offering of Christ and

the Church. Thus we become “Co-victims”

with the Divine Victim and are offered by

Him and with Him to the Heavenly Father.

In us are then fulfilled the words of St.

Paul: “I exhort you, therefore, brethren,

by the mercy of God, to present your

bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing

to God—your spiritual service” (Rom.
12 : 1 ).

“Living” the Mass

As members of the Church, we shall

enter into the Sacrifice of the Mystical

Body and give glory to God, not simply

by being observers nor even by a most pre-

cise recitation of the liturgical prayers, but

only in proportion as we offer ourselves

as co-victims with Christ, the Head of the

30



Church; that is, in so far as we prefer

God to ourselves and the world by a whole-

hearted love, expressing this preference

by gifts of renunciation when opportunities

present themselves.

The following words of Abbot Marmion

will help us to understand better what is to

be the character of our self-oblation : “We

must be united to Christ in His immolation

and offer ourselves with Him; then He

takes us with Him, He immolates us with

Him, He bears us before His Father, in

odorem suavitatis (as a sweet odor). It

is ourselves we must offer with Jesus

Christ. If the faithful share, through bap-

tism, in the priesthood of Christ, it is, says

St. Peter, that they may ‘offer up spiritual

sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus

Christ
5

(1 Pet. 2:5). . . But in order that

we may be accepted by God, the offering

of ourselves must be united to the offering

Christ made of Himself upon the Cross

and renews upon the altar. Our Lord sub-

stituted Himself for us in His immolation;

He took the place of us all, and that is

why, when He died, we, in principle, died

with Him. . . For this mystical death to

take place effectually in each one of us, we

31



must unite ourselves to His Sacrifice on

the altar. And how are we to unite our-

selves to Christ Jesus in this character of

victim? By yielding ourselves, like Him,

to the entire accomplishment of the Divine

good pleasure. It is for God to dispose

fully of the victim offered to Him
;
we must

be in this essential attitude of giving all

to God, of making our acts of self-renuncia-

tion and mortification, of accepting the

sufferings and trials of each day for love

of Him. . . That is to offer ourselves with

Jesus. Let us offer the Divine Son to His

Eternal Father and offer ourselves with

the ‘holy Host’ in the same dispositions that

animated the Sacred Heart of Christ on

the Cross: intense love of His Father and

of our neighbor, ardent desire for the sal-

vation of souls, and full abandonment to

all that is willed from on high, above all,

if it contains what is painful and vexatious

to our nature. When we do this, we offer

God the most acceptable homage He can

receive from us.” (Christ
,
the Life of the

Soul.).

Another spiritual writer expresses it

thus: “If the Mass is to be My Sacrifice

together with Christ’s, then I must bring

32



My offering. What is it to be? The obli-

gation of making a total offering of my

will to God is beyond question. The mo-

tive of my sacrifice, therefore, requires a

permanent disposition of complete love or

preference for God by the unrestricted sur-

render of my will to His. . . I must strive

for the total elimination of merely selfish

motives of conduct in order to conform to

and be assimilated by the Divine Victim

of the altar. . . The gradual accomplish-

ment of this preference for God will de-

pend on the purification and supernatural
%

direction of my intention in the everyday

round of doings and endurings. . . I must

learn the habit of performing my daily ac-

tivities to please God
,
so that my everyday

round of duties and enjoyments unfolds in

the atmosphere of the supernatural life.

“The only way to acquire any habit is

by practice. Unless I understand this, I

shall fail to see the significance of the Mass

as My Sacrifice and as a way of life, and

I shall assist at it rather as a witness than

as a participant and co-victim. Unless I

realize that the test of victimhood is not

enthusiasm for liturgical forms, but an un-

reserved personal love for God expressed

33



in my conduct; not an external formality,

but an inner vitality
,
that will make con-

tact with the meaning and life of the litur-

gy, the Mass and the activity of my daily

life will be two distinct and unrelated

events.” (Rev. D. Mooney
,
O.F.M.)

Symbols of Our Union with Christ

The union of our self-oblation with that

of Christ is beautifully symbolized by the

mingling of water and wine at the Offer-

tory—the wine representing Christ and the
water ourselves. It is also expressed by the

prayer accompanying this action, which

asks that “through the mingling of this wa-

ter and wine we may become partakers of

His Divinity who vouchsafed to become

partaker of our humanity.”

The offering of bread and wine signi-

fies not only the oblation of Christ, into

whose Body and Blood these gifts are

presently to be transformed, but also the

offering of ourselves. A gift symbolizes

the person who offers it, and in offering a

gift, we offer ourselves. We cannot ac-

tually place ourselves on the altar, so we

offer bread and wine as substitutes
,
to rep-

resent the offering of ourselves, with all

34



that we are and have, to God, in recogni-

tion of His supreme dominion over our

persons and our possessions.

When the priest takes the host into his

hands and offers it up to God, we should

make the offering with him, and at the

same time lay upon the paten our own host

—the host that is ourself: our body with
all its organs and members, our soul with

all its powers, our mind with all its thoughts,

our will with all its movements, our heart

with all its affections; our daily life, with

our labors, our sufferings, our struggles,

our efforts, our prayers, our good works,

our talents, our health. This oblation we

should place also in the chalice; and as

there is a special symbolism attached to

the wine, namely that of charity or Divine

love, the wine may be regarded as symbol-

izing all efforts and actions inspired by

Divine love, and all the pains and suffer-

ings accepted in that same love. The will

being the seat of love, the offering of the

wine may symbolize the offering of our

will to the will of God. (See prayer
,
page

63.)

When we thus offer ourselves with all

that we are and have in union with the

35



Sacrifice of Christ, He blends our sacrifice,

poor and worthless though it be in itself,

with His own infinitely holy, valuable and

pleasing Sacrifice, and offers it to the

Heavenly Father, and thereby bestows on

our sacrifice a dignity and a value of in-

finite worth. By the infinite perfection of

His Sacrifice He supplies for all that is

wanting to ours. He thus endows it with

sublime merit and makes it supremely wor-

thy of being offered to the Heavenly Father

and of being repaid by Him with untold

blessings.

Then, as the bread and wine are trans-

formed into something wholly different

from what they were before, so too our

lives must be consecrated and transformed.

We must be as persons offered to God, con-

secrated, raised above the status of mere

natural human beings, and brought close

to God; our whole moral sense and life

must be turned toward God in union with

Christ and the Sacrifice He offers. We

must have the earnest intention of correct-

ing our faults, of overcoming our evil in-

clinations and of replacing them with good,

virtuous habits. Then when we leave the

church at the end of Holy Mass we will re-

36



joice in the thought that we have been

offered together with Christ and that all

that befalls us during the day has already

been sanctified and presented to God as

an oblation at our morning Mass. In the

strength of this offering we will face our

daily tasks with new joy and courage, and

our Mass will be not just a matter of a half

hour’s or an hour’s worship in the morn-

ing, but a true way of life , prolonged and

continued throughout our daily activity.

Often throughout the busy day, we will

raise our heart heavenward for a few mo-

ments to renew the oblation made at the

Offertory of the Mass, in union with all

the members of Christ’s Mystical Body and

with all the Masses being said throughout

the world. Our every heartbeat, every

breath, will be offered for the glory of

God, “through Jesus, with Jesus and by

Jesus” in the Mass. All day long we will

place upon the paten or drop into the chal-

ice our labors, our prayers, our sufferings,

our trials, our acts of self-denial, of charity,

of zeal and patience; all our human acts

will be lifted up and mingled with the

Blood of Christ in His holy oblation. Thus

our trials and crosses, offered in union

37



with the Divine Victim, will become means

of purifying our soul and expiating our

sins; our joys and consolations, united

with the oblation of Christ on the altar,

will be sanctified and ennobled and made

meritorious for heaven. Then the Mass

will become for us truly a fountain of all

heavenly blessings and graces and an un-

failing source of sanctification.

What Being a “Victim” Means

The word “victim” is for many a fear-

some word, because in their mind it im-

plies suffering, sacrifice, the endurance of

painful trials and afflictions. To offer them-

selves as victims, they fear, means to invite

sorrows and sufferings of all kinds. This,

however, is a mistaken idea, unless, of

course, one offers oneself expressly as a

victim of expiation, which would naturally

involve suffering and sacrifice. But to be

a victim to God in the ordinary sense sim-

ply means to make an entire offering of

oneself to His Divine Majesty—to dedicate
all that one is and all that one has and does

to His honor and glory. It means the gift

of oneself to God in a loving surrender to

His Divine Providence, with a ready ac-

38



ceptance from His hands of whatever it

may please Him to send, whether pleasant

or unpleasant to nature. It is in the sacri-

fice or the giving of oneself that the essence

of victimhood lies. Thus one can be just

as truly a “victim” in health, in joy and in

consolation as in sickness, in sorrow and in

suffering, although the sacrifice is doubt-

less more meritorious when it involves suf-

fering, provided the suffering be borne in

the right disposition.

The angels in heaven are victims of

Divine love in that they offer themselves

to God unceasingly in a loving sacrifice

of adoration, praise and thanksgiving.

Adam, in the Garden of Eden, before his

fall, was in a state of perpetual sacrifice.

He offered himself to God, whom he ac-

knowledged as his supreme Lord, and gave

thanks for all the blessings bestowed upon

him, at the same time entreating God, no

doubt, to continue to bestow His benefits.

And after his fall, Adam continued to be

a victim, but thereafter a fresh obligation

was laid upon him and upon all his pos-

terity, namely, that of expiation.

But the unique and infinitely perfect

Victim is our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only

39



was He a Victim from the first to the last

moment of His mortal life, but He con-

tinues to be so in the Holy Eucharist, and

also in heaven, where He reigns in glory.

For all eternity He will remain in a sacri-

ficial state before His Heavenly Father, be-

cause He will continue always to be a

“creature” in so far as He is man, and

therefore cannot cease from offering His

Father adoration, praise and thanksgiving,

which are the essential acts of every crea-

ture’s worship. He will not be eternally

a victim of expiation, since there will be

nothing left to expiate after the general

judgment; nor a victim of supplication,

since there will remain no blessings to pray

for, when the elect are in possession of

every good; but He will always be a vic-

tim of adoration and thanksgiving, and we

shall all, including Mary and also the an-

gels, be united with His eternal sacrifice

as victims of adoration and thanksgiving.

In offering ourselves as victims in union

with the Sacrifice of Christ, we are not

called upon to give up our lives or to

change their exterior course (unless that

course be evil), but to dedicate them to

God and to change them interiorly so that

40



they may be worthy to be united with the

Sacrifice of Christ. Just as the wheat and

grapes are ground in the mill and the press

to become fit material for the Sacrifice, so

too our lives must be “ground” in the mill

of self-discipline and made conformable to

the Christian ideal in order that we may

worthily be offered with Christ.

There is a special significance for us in

the fact that the host used by the priest at

Holy Mass is made of the finest flour, and

is of unleavened bread. To be offered as

hosts with Christ, we must, as St. Paul says,

purify our lives by “purging out the old

leaven.” The leaven stands for all that is

not good and true, all that is not according

to the Christian spirit. We must seek in

our mind, in our will, in our heart, in our

intentions, all that is selfish, base, sensual,

uncharitable, worldly, all that is not abso-

lutely worthy of a good and true Christian,

and then endeavor to root it out and to

supplant it with Christlike virtues. Each

day we must strive to become more like

our Divine Model, so that our “victim,”

our “host,” may bear an ever greater re-

semblance to the pure host offered by the

priest. Being thus gradually transformed

41



into the likeness of Jesus, we shall become

in truth “other Christs,” as every Christian

should be.

It stands to reason that our first con-

cern, if we wish to participate as fully as

possible in the treasures of the Mass, must

certainly be to be united to Christ by sanc-

tifying grace
;
for how can anyone presume

to join the oblation of himself with that of

the spotless Lamb of God if his soul is de-

filed with sin, and therefore at enmity with

God? We should therefore purify our soul

frequently in the sacrament of penance and

by fervent acts of love and contrition, and

thus dispose ourselves for the reception of

the graces flowing from the Mass.

Holy Communion, the Fruit

of the Sacrifice

The fullest and most complete partici-

pation in the Holy Sacrifice is achieved in

the reception of Holy Communion, which

is the fruit of the Sacrifice. At the Offer-

tory and the Consecration we give Christ

to God
;

at the Communion, God gives

Christ to us. And with Christ, the Divine

Victim and High Priest, we receive the

fulness of Divine grace. This is expressed

42



in the third prayer following the Consecra-

tion, in which the priest says: “Grant, we

beseech Thee, 0 Almighty God, that as

many of us as shall partake of the most

sacred Body and Blood of Thy Son at this

altar may be filled with every heavenly

blessing and grace.” It is the wish of the

Church that the faithful receive Holy

Communion each time they assist at Holy

Mass (unless, of course, they assist at more

than one Holy Mass in a day) . If for

some good reason they cannot receive

Communion sacramentally, they should at

least do so spiritually
,
with the ardent de-

sire of being united most intimately with

Christ, the Victim on the altar.

Holy Communion is the crowning and

completion of the Sacrifice. It is the Sac-

rifice-Banquet, at which our Lord Jesus

Christ becomes the Food of souls, the heav-

enly Bread which maintains and increases

the Divine life of sanctifying grace in them.

In this sacrificial Banquet, Our Lord be-

stows on us the fruit and blessing of the

Sacrifice-Oblation. Therefore, everyone

who wishes to participate in fullest measure

in the fruits of the Mass and to be united

to Christ in it as perfectly and completely

43



as possible, should approach the Holy Table

at the Communion of the Mass. All too

many of the faithful seem to forget the in-

timate relationship that exists between the

Mass and Holy Communion. Many com-

municate outside the time of Mass;

others again assist at Holy Mass without

any thought of receiving Holy Communion

;

while for many, the Mass is merely the set-

ting of their devotions for Communion.

We shall not dwell here on the wonder-

ful effects of Holy Communion, for that

would be beyond the scope of our subject.

Suffice it to say, that the ideal way of par-

ticipating in the Holy Sacrifice is to par-

take of the Sacrifice-Banquet, and thus, by

a personal and most intimate union with

the Divine High Priest and Victim, to be

made partaker in fullest measure of the

fruits of the adorable Sacrifice.*

*Many excellent books and pamphlets are avail-

able for those who wish further instruction and

inspiration on the wonderful effects of Holy Com-

munion and other aspects of this holy Sacrament.

Our two booklets — “A Novena of Communions”
and “Communicate Frequently and Devoutly” are

both very helpful. Price, 15^ each. Order from:

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri

44



Our sharing in the riches of the Mass

increases with each new Mass at which we

assist with fervor and devotion. As often

as we offer the Holy Sacrifice in the right

dispositions, so often we receive its fruits

and increase our spiritual wealth. That is

one of the reasons why many of the saints

had such an ardent love for the Mass. Per-

haps, too, it is one of the reasons why they

became saints!

What is more, our share in the merits

of Christ can increase with each Mass be-

cause by each Mass we become more re-

ceptive. We come each time, as it were,

with a larger container (to use a rather

crude example) to carry away its blessings;

for the Mass not only fills our souls with

the gifts of God, but it enlarges their spirit-

ual capacity. Assistance at the Holy Sacri-

fice increases charity in us, strengthens our

virtue, roots out sins, and thus develops our

supernatural inclinations. In this way it

creates within us a greater capacity to re-

ceive God. Surely, then, we ought to assist

at Holy Mass as often as we can. We must

not forget, however, that it is not how often

we attend, so much as how well we attend,

that increases our spiritual store.

45



Sharing in the Mass is not like sharing

in worldly riches. Our share in the Mass

is not lessened by the fact that many others

share it with us. Whether we are one of a

few or one of many does not matter. Our

share is always measured by our spiritual

capacity for receiving.

However, our attitude in assisting at

Mass should not be “What do I gain?”

but rather, “What can I give?” for our

first interest should be the honor and glory

we can give to God. But God in His good-

ness has so closely bound up our welfare

with His glory that in seeking His glory

we also insure our own welfare.

At Mass with Mary

The Blessed Virgin Mary is our best

and truest guide for a worthy and fruitful

assistance at Holy Mass. Although she is

the model of every virtue, she is in a spe-

cial way the model of a true Eucharistic

life. Since the Mass is the renewal of the

Sacrifice of the Cross, in the name of

Christ, by the Church, we may say that

Mary stands at the altar during the Holy

Sacrifice as she stood at the foot of the

Cross, and offers her Divine Son to the

46



Heavenly Father with the same perfect

dispositions with which she offered Him on

Calvary.

What Mary’s dispositions were when

she assisted at Holy Mass may be gathered

from the teaching of the Church on the

Mass and its function with regard to the

Christian life. Mary, whose knowledge

of the things of God and of the Christian

truths was so perfect, thoroughly under-

stood the Sacrifice which was re-enacted in

her presence. And certainly Our Lord

owed it to Himself and to His Blessed

Mother to give to her, the holiest member

and the most richly endowed of all His

creatures, a realization of the conditions

required to perform as perfectly as possi-

ble this supreme act of religion.

We may be sure, then, that through

her Immaculate Heart, the Holy Sacrifice

was offered in the most perfect manner

possible for the four ends of Sacrifice: ad-

oration, thanksgiving, atonement and peti-

tion. How different our attention at Mass

would be if we placed ourselves in the com-

pany of Mary and tried to imitate her deep

faith and her ardent love. Let us ask this

best and holiest of Mothers to teach us how

47



to assist at Mass in the most perfect man-

ner and to derive from it the richest and

most lasting fruits.

The Bond of Union with Others

In offering the holy Sacrifice of the

Mass, we must not lose sight of the fact

that we are offering it, not merely as in-

viduals, but as members of a community,

of a “family” — the family of God, which
is the Church. We join in the combined

oblation of “all faithful Christians,” and

our offering is intimately bound up with

the offerings of our fellow-Catholics, espe-

cially those who are offering the Sacrifice

with us. Though each person offers his

own gift, all are united in the one gift—the
bread and wine, which represent the gifts

of all. And just as we are made one with

Christ, the Divine High Priest and Victim,

in offering the Mass, so too we are united

and made one with all the members of His

Mystical Body, of the entire Church.

This is clearly shown by the use of the

plural pronouns we and our which occur

so often in the prayers of the Mass: “we

offer,” “we beseech Thee,” “receive our

oblation,” etc. Our union with the other

48



members of the Church and of the con-

gregation is symbolized by the union of

many grains of wheat and many grapes to

form the bread and wine of the Eucharistic

Sacrifice. The wheat grew in many differ-

ent places, and so did the grapes; but they

were brought together and ground into

flour and baked into bread, and pressed

into wine; and all became united in fur-

nishing the matter for the Holy Sacrifice.

In the same way, all the members of a

congregation, and of the whole Church,

are joined in a unity far superior to the

unity of the grains of wheat and the grapes

in the bread and wine of the Sacrifice.

This is not brought about by the Offertory

alone, but by the whole Sacrifice of the

Mass, and is climaxed at the Communion

in those who partake of the Sacrifice-

Banquet and are unified by the “one bread”

which is the Body of Christ.

The natural conclusion to be drawn

from this fact is that we must also be united

in mind and heart with our fellow-Catho-

lics, especially with those offering the Holy

Sacrifice with us; and not only with our

fellow-Catholics, but with all our fellow*

men, for all are God’s children, all were re»

49



deemed by Christ, and all are destined for

heaven, though not all will win the grace

of salvation. If, then, we wish to please

God and to honor Him in the best manner

possible, and to draw the highest degree of

benefit from the Mass, we must put into

practice not only the first of His great

commandments—to love Him with our
whole mind and heart and strength—but
also the second, to love our neighbor as

ourselves. We must practice this precept

in our daily lives and dispel from our heart

and mind all enmities, all aversions, all

dissension—everything that could be an

obstacle to our union with our neighbor

(and this means also the members of our

own family), and so also to our union

with God. We must be solicitous for our

neighbor’s temporal welfare and eternal

happiness as well as for our own, and be

mindful of this especially when we assist

at Holy Mass; for it is there that we have

access to God’s treasure-house of grace in

a very singular way, and can win countless

graces for ourselves and for others.

Necessity of Proper Instruction

From all that has been said, we may

50



see how important it is to be properly in-

structed in order to assist at Holy Mass

with the greatest possible benefit to our

souls. We should know what the Mass is,

which are its most important parts, and

what part we are supposed to take in its

celebration. It is from a lack of spiritual

insight that so many people derive but

little benefit from the Mass. To many, the

time of Mass is a time of weariness, and

the hearing of it a tiresome obligation to

be suffered and endured with listless bore-

dom rather than used and enjoyed with

the utmost devotion and spiritual profit.

Because they do not appreciate the true

meaning and value of the Mass, nor under-

stand what part they are to take in this

Divine function, they assist in a very im-

perfect manner; they “day-dream” away

the sacred time of Mass, and thus this

richest source of grace and blessing re-

mains for them a “sealed-up fountain.”

They leave the Holy Sacrifice, one might

almost say, empty-handed, and it produces

little or no effect in their lives. And, sad

to say, all too often a mere nothing, a

trifling pretext, a worthless excuse, keeps

them away altogether.

51



How different it would be if they knew

how to profit by this stupendous Sacrifice,

how to appreciate the treasures of the Mass,

how to make the Mass the sun and center

of their lives! Then might they confident-

ly expect to obtain abundant strength to

bear their daily trials and to overcome

their evil inclinations and sinful habits;

then would they experience a marked in-

crease in virtue and a rapid progress to-

ward Christian perfection, together with

many other blessings.

Holy Mass holds out for us the great

gift of personal union with Christ, not only

through Holy Communion, but through the

Sacrifice itself. If we well understood the

intimate relation between our Divine Lord

and those devoutly assisting at Holy Mass,

and the consequent blessings to souls, we

would make every effort to acquire the

knowledge and the dispositions requisite

for a proper participation in its celebra-

tion. We would no longer speak of “hear-

ing Mass,” or “attending Mass,” realizing

that we have a much more important and

intimate part to play when we assist at the

Holy Sacrifice.

For the Catholic who understands well

52



what his relation to the Mass should be,

preparation for the Mass becomes, one

might say, his chief concern in life. He

knows, in the first place, that he has been

created to know, to love, to serve and adore

God, and that such a homage is offered in

its fulness at the altar in the oblation of

Christ in the adorable Sacrifice of the

Mass. He knows that as a member of the

Mystical Body of Christ, (the Church) he

must bend every effort toward co-operating

in the acts of worship which the Church

performs in union with Christ, her Head,

especially the offering of the Mass. Rising

above self-interest, he seeks in the first

place God’s honor and glory, and it is to

this end that he tries to make his partici-

pation in the Mass more and more perfect,

so that he may render an ever more perfect

service to the Divine Majesty.

Dear lovers of the Sacred Heart! make

use of the time of Mass as the most pre-

cious time of your whole life. Make use

of Jesus Crucified, who at Mass is all yours.

Through Him and with Him and in Him

offer your prayers and make the sacrifice

of your passions and evil habits. Give

Him your life’s service, your interests and

53



needs, your work and all your cares and

troubles of daily life. Pray for sinners,

for the Church, for the Pope, for the trou-

bled world, for the poor souls in purgatory.

As your devotion for Holy Mass increases,

so will your life, with its daily round of

labors, troubles and trials, become easier

to bear; for in each Mass Jesus Himself

is given to you, and with Him are given all

things else.

The Greatest Thing in the World

\V T HAT answer would you, as a Catho-
** lie, give to the question: “What is

the greatest thing in the world? If you

cannot give the correct answer, you are

missing something powerful, beautiful, ut-

terly priceless. There is a “treasure hid-

den in a field,” and you are walking by it.

There is a “pearl of great price,” and you

refuse to take it. There is a “fountain of

life,” and you do not drink of its living

waters. If you cannot give the right ans-

wer to this question, you have missed the

great heart and center of Catholicity

—

you have missed the meaning of the Mass!

54



For Catholics, the greatest thing in all

their lives and in all the world should be

the Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is too

little known, too little loved, too little

leaned upon. The tremendous Thing that

happens morning after morning on the

altars of Catholic churches throughout the

cities and countries of the world ought to

be better appreciated by Catholics than it

is. No Catholic should miss seeing, know-

ing and fully understanding, insofar as it

lies within his power, what this momen-

tous Thing is, this Thing that is so fa-

miliar and yet so unknown among many

Catholics.

Only by thought and reflection can we

come to know the Mass. Have you who

read these lines ever really thought about

it, or have you come to anything like a

realization and understanding of this sa-

cred Mystery? The Sacrifice of Christ, the

Sacrifice of the Altar, is the Sacrifice of

Calvary
,
the Sacrifice of the Cross. Cal-

vary is the Mountain of Redemption, the

peak whereon the gates of heaven were

thrown open to mankind. Yes, on Cal-

vary, and in Calvary, we discover the tow-

ering importance of the Mass. The Mass

55



is Calvary. It is Calvary perpetuated in

an unbloody Sacrifice. It is Calvary carried

down the centuries and re-enacted in every

land of the earth. There, precisely, the

greatness of the Mass lies revealed—in
its closeness to, in its oneness with Cal-

vary. When the priest bows low over

bread and wine and whispers the words of

Consecration, there, present beneath the

appearances, is the Crucified in the act of

offering Himself to God the Father as our

Victim. In the midst of men is the living

Christ, offering His sacred Body and Pre-

cious Blood to the Father as the most

perfect Sacrifice of adoration, thanksgiving,

atonement and supplication.

We share in this offering of Christ

when we assist at and participate in the

Mass. Through the Mass we give infinite

adoration, thanksgiving, atonement and

supplication to God, because in union with

our Divine Savior we offer to God the sac-

rifice of an infinite Victim. When we

participate in Holy Mass it is as if we

were with the Blessed Virgin, St. John

and Magdalen at the foot of the Cross, at

the very fountainhead of all salvation and

redemption.

56



Everything comes to us from our Heav-

enly Father through His Divine Son, Jesus,

in whom He has placed all the treasures

that men can desire. This Jesus is present

upon the altar with His treasures, offering

Himself for us to the glory of His Father,

rendering Him the most perfect homage,

and applying to us the supreme efficacy

of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Oh, if we

but knew the Gift of God! If we but real-

ized from what a treasury we might draw

for ourselves and all those dear to us by

participating daily in Holy Mass!

We all have many needs—needs of
body and soul—yet how little we think of
drawing upon the great treasure-house of

the Mass! We call upon our favorite

saints, we storm them with novenas, we

visit their shrines and present to them our

urgent petitions. We ask the priest to pray

for us because of his office as mediator

with God in our behalf. But we forget

that on the altar is our Divine Mediator

—
“always living to make intercession for

us,” supporting our supplications by His

infinite merits, lending to our feeble peti-

tions the power of His almighty prayer

in Holy Mass. When, with deep reverence,

57



lively faith, ardent love and true contri-

tion, we unite ourselves to Christ Jesus,

the Eternal Priest and Victim, in His Eu-

charistic Sacrifice, He takes all our inten-

tions into His Heart and offers perfect ad-

oration and full satisfaction for us to His

Father. He presents to Him all our needs,

and His prayer is all-powerful.

The holy Sacrifice of the Mass was in-

stituted by Our Lord Himself as the su-

preme act of worship. To participate in

it is the Catholic’s most exalted privilege.

Love of it is the test of his religion. It

is the chief of all his helps, the principal

source of all his graces. God Himself could

not devise anything more sacred, anything

more powerful than the Mass. And it goes

on through all time in order that each one

of us may, individually and most effec-

tually, partake of and profit by the bless-

ings of the Redemption on the Cross.

One Out of 168 — or 24?
There are 168 hours in every week, and

each hour is God’s gift to us. He gener-

ously gives us these 168 hours and then He

begs for just one hour to be returned to

Him by attendance at Sunday Mass. How

58



sad that it should be necessary for the

Church to make attendance compulsory

under pain of sin! If all Catholics had

a proper understanding of the priceless

worth of the Mass, our churches would be

thronged not only on Sundays, but on every

day of the year. No sacrifice would be

considered too great to make daily attend-

ance possible, and instead of giving—per-
haps even grudgingly—one hour out of
168, they would deem it their greatest gain

to give at least one hour out of every 24.

Happily, there are fervent Catholics

who do appreciate the priceless treasure

which is theirs in the Mass. Each morning

finds them at the foot of the altar, uniting

with the Divine Victim in His all-holy Sac-

rifice. They are the multimillionaires who

have learned the secret of amassing riches

which no thief of time can take from them.

They are free men and women who are

not enslaved by passing worldly interests,

human considerations, insignificant sacri-

fices. They are the earth’s great ones who

are blessed because they see the things

that the world cannot see. They are souls

who know and appreciate the Greatest

Thing in the world. Are you one of them?

59



Offerings to Make at

Holy Mass

At the Beginning of Mass

y TERNAL FATHER, I offer Thee the^
Sacrifice wherein Thy dear Son Jesus

offered Himself upon the Cross, and which

He now renews upon this altar, to adore

Thee and to render to Thee that honor

which is Thy due, acknowledging Thy su-

preme dominion over all things and their

absolute dependence on Thee, for Thou

art our first Beginning and our last End;

to give Thee thanks for countless benefits

received; to appease Thy justice provoked

to anger by so many sins, and to offer

Thee worthy satisfaction for the same; and

finally, to implore Thy grace and mercy

for myself, for all those who are in tribu-

lation and distress, for all poor sinners,

for the whole world, and for the blessed

souls in purgatory.

Indulgence of 3 years for devoutly making

this act at the beginning of the Mass. A ple-
nary indulgence once a month, under the usual

conditions, if this act has been recited on all

Sundays and holydays of obligation for a

month. (“Raccolta,” 68.)

60



Offering of the Mass for Various

Intentions

1. Atonement

MY GOD, I offer Thee this Holy Mass

and all the Masses being celebrated

today throughout the world, in honor of

the Most Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin

Mary, St. Joseph, my Guardian Angel and

my Patron Saint, to the Divine Justice of

God, in atonement for all sins of thought,

word, action and omission by which I my-

self and all others have ever offended Thee.

2 . Thanksgiving

AMY GOD, I offer Thee this Holy Mass
^ and all the Masses being celebrated
today throughout the world, in honor of

the Most Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin

Mary, St. Joseph, my Guardian Angel and

my Patron Saint, in thanksgiving for the

numberless blessings received from Thy in-

finite Goodness: my creation, my Catholic

Faith, my baptism, my confirmation, the

forgiveness of my sins so often in confes-

sion, and my many Holy Masses and Com-

munions; for my good parents, my many

years of life thus far, my Christian up-

61



bringing, my good health and happiness,

and the many other blessings showered on

me by my good and loving Father in heav-

en. And I wish in a similar way to thank

Thee for Thy infinite goodness to all the

members of the Mystical Body of Christ,

especially of those who are near and dear

to me.

3. Petition

/"A MY GOD, I offer Thee this Holy Mass
and all the Masses being celebrated

today throughout the world, in honor of

the Holy Spirit, and of Mary, His immacu-

late Spouse, of St. Joseph, my Guardian

Angel and my Patron Saint, to obtain the

Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the vir-

tues of patience and resignation to God’s

holy will in all things. I also ask, through

the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, for

myself, for all who are dear to me, and for

all Christians, the graces we need and all

that is required for our temporal welfare

and happiness today and every day of our

lives. Especially I pray Thee to grant to

the just the grace of perseverance; to sin-

ners, that of a perfect conversion; and to

all the faithful (including myself, my rela-

tives and friends), the grace of receiving

62



the last sacraments, with the proper dis-

positions, and of dying a death precious

in Thy sight.

The Gift of ONESELF at the Offertory

MY GOD, upon the paten with the
^ Host which the priest is now offering,
I place the host that is myself: my body

with all its organs and members; my soul

with all its powers; my mind with all its

thoughts; my will with all its acts; my

heart with all its affections; my daily life

with its labors, sufferings, and struggles;

my efforts to practice virtue, my prayers

and good works
;
my successes and failures

;

my joys and sorrows; my talents and my

health. In union with all who are offering

this Holy Mass, I give all to Thee without

reserve, through Jesus, with Jesus and in

Jesus, for Thy honor and glory. Amen.

My God, in union with the priest and

all who are here present, I offer Thee the

Chalice and place in it this same complete

oblation of all that I am and have. Trans-

form me by Thy Divine Power and make

me no longer live for myself but for Thee

and Thy glory, through Jesus Christ, Thy

Son, our Lord. Amen.

63



Books and Booklets on the Mass

The following literature will prove help-

ful to anyone wishing to gain a better un-

derstanding and appreciation of the Mass:

The Treasures of the Mass— A devotional
explanation of all the prayers and cere-

monies of the Mass, in simple, glowing

language. Designed to make assistance at

Mass a source of joy and great spiritual

profit. 128 pages (large size) only 50$.

God Himself Our Sacrifice— Briefly ex-
plains the value and grandeur of the Mass,

in which all the Mysteries of the Life, Pas-

sion and Death of Christ are renewed. 15$

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri

The Meaning of the Mass— by Rev. Paul
Bussard and Felix Kirsch, O.F.M., Cap. A

very fine explanation of the Mass and all

its prayers and parts, together with ques-

tions for classroom or study group use.

Published by: P. J. Kenedy & Sons,
12 Barclay Street, N. Y. City. Price $1.00.

My Mass— by Rev. Joseph Putz, S.J.,
150 pages, $1.50. — A book intended to
help Catholics follow the Mass intelli-

gently, by active participation. An excel-

lent guide toward making the Mass the

center of a vigorous and fruitful spiritual

life. Published by The Newman Press,

Westminster, Md.



Benedictine Booklets, 150 each

(Continued from inside front cover)

Indulgenced Prayers and Aspirations

Rays of Catholic Truth

Do You Know the Church?

How to Find the True Church

Fountains of Salvation

Confession, the Sacrament of Mercy and Peace

Confession, Its Fruitful Practice

United in Christ (On Matrimony)

Through Death to Life (Extreme Unction)

Sacramentals

Assist the Souls in Purgatory

Devotion to Mary

Under Mary’s Mantle

To Jesus through Mary

Devotion to the Mother of Sorrows

Mary’s Seven Sorrows

The Rosary, My Treasure
Heart of Our Mother and Queen

The Mysteries of Mary

’Neath St. Michael’s Shield

Our Heavenly Companions

Go to Joseph

Devotions to St. Joseph

St. Jude Thaddeus, the Great Helper in Great

Need & St. Rita, Advocate of the Impossible

St. Benedict, the Beloved of God

St. Anthony, the Wonder-Worker

(Continued on back cover)

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri



Benedictine Booklets, 15^ each

(Continued from inside back cover)

St. Nicholas de Flue

Good St. Anne

In the Footsteps of St. Scholastica

St. Gertrude the Great

St. Therese of the Child Jesus

St. Philomena, Pray for Us

Why Not Make Your Home Ideal?
Magnificence of the Love of God

The Goodness of Our Savior

Conformity to the Will of God

Pathways to Peace

Words of Consolation for the Sick & Afflicted

All Ye Who Mourn

Miscellaneous

Message of the Sacred Heart, 10$

Live Your Faith, 10$

Pius X, Pope of the Eucharist, 10$

Life of St. Euphrasia Pelletier, 10$

Little Peter, 10$

Gems from the Liturgy for the Feasts of Our

Lord (Part 1 & 11), each booklet, 20$

Heart-talks with the Man of Sorrows, 20$

Daily Companion for Oblates, 20$

Liturgical Novenas for All the Feasts of the

Blessed Virgin Mary, 25$

The Treasures of the Mass, 50$

Sister Mary Fortunata Viti, O.S.B., $1.00

Reduction for quantities. Postage extra.

Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration

Clyde, Missouri