|
Attend Sunday Mass if you want to go to Heaven
God
gave us six days to work for ourselves, and required only one for
Himself, Sunday. Yet, we refuse to devote this one day to Him. Then, we
are surprised that God removes His protection, and leaves us alone,
struggling with our misfortunes. Why did God permit things like the 9-11
attacks to happen? Because we have abandoned Him. We profane His day; we
no longer attend Sunday Mass. If
we knew about the wonders of the Mass, we would not only hear Mass on
Sundays, but every day. Participating in the Mass is the best way to
obtain graces, mercies, and favors from God – and never did we need
these so much as today! Here are excerpts from the excellent booklet
“The Wonders of the Mass”, written in 1963 by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan,
O.P., repinted with the permission of Saint Martin de Porres Apostolate,
42 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland.
The
wonders of the Mass The
saints never speak so eloquently as when they speak of the Mass. They
can never say enough on this sublime subject, for St. Bonaventure says
that the wonders of the Mass are as many as there are stars in the
heavens and grains of sand on the seashores of the world. The
graces, blessings, and favors granted to those who assist at this Divine
Sacrifice are beyond all comprehension. The
Mass is the greatest wonder in the world. There is nothing on earth
equal to it, and there is nothing in Heaven greater than it. The
next greatest wonder is the indifference and ignorance of Catholics
regarding Holy Mass. How is it that so many Catholics do not go to Mass? The
great Sacrifice of Calvary is offered near their homes, almost at their
very doors, and they are too slothful to assist at it. The Sacrifice of
Calvary? Yes, for the Mass is really and truly the very same as the
Death of Jesus on the Cross. Why
do not mothers, why do not catechists, why do not teachers instill into
the minds and hearts of those in their charge the wonders of the Mass?
Priests are bound by the Council of Trent to do so. Protestants
may well ask those Catholics who neglect hearing daily Mass if they do
really believe that God is born on the altar, and that God dies on the
altar as He did on Calvary? If they do believe, why do they not assist
at Mass? St.
Augustine tells us that pagans and Gentiles of his time asked tepid and
indifferent Christians with bitter irony, if they sincerely believed
that the God of all mercy and goodness descended on their altars. You
Christians, they continued, accuse us of adoring false gods, but at
least we believe they are gods, and we honor them; whereas, you despise
Him whom you call the True God! No
intelligent, no enlightened Christian would fail to hear Mass if he only
knew what it was. St.
Louis and the Mass King
Louis IX of France, who labored perhaps more strenuously than any man in
his kingdom, and who was one of the best and most glorious sovereigns
who ever ruled over France, found time to hear two or three Masses every
day. Some of his courtiers suggested that he was overtaxing himself with
so many Masses. The King replied: “If
I spent much
more time in following the pleasures of the chase, or in entertaining my
friends at rich banquets, or in frequenting for several hours each day
theaters and places of amusement, you would not complain that I was
devoting too much time to pleasure. You forget, my good friends, that by
hearing Mass I not only secure for myself innumerable blessings, but I
confer the most important benefits on my kingdom, many more than I could
possibly do in any other way.” This
reply of St. Louis may be addressed to those thousands of apathetic and
indifferent Christians who could easily hear daily Mass, and do not do
so. Even were they to make a great sacrifice, they would receive
blessings and favors above their highest hopes. But, as a matter of fact,
many could hear Mass without any sacrifice, or at so trifling a cost
that their guilt in neglecting this Divine Sacrifice is, indeed,
incomprehensible. Nothing but lamentable ignorance can explain the
reason why so many Catholics neglect to hear daily Mass. By
hearing Mass, the day would become worth a thousand days to them, so
wonderful would be the graces and benefits they should receive. Far from
losing time, their business would prosper more, and they would reach a
degree of happiness that they could never otherwise hope to attain. What
is the Mass? 1.
In the Mass, the Son of God becomes man again,
so that in every Mass the stupendous Mystery of the Incarnation, with
all its infinite merits, is repeated as truly as when the Son of God
first took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. St.
Augustine: “What a sublime dignity is that of the priest, in whose
hands Christ once more becomes man!” 2.
The Mass is the birth of Jesus Christ.
He is really born on the altar each time that Mass is said, as He was
born in Bethlehem. St.
John Damascene: “If anyone wishes to know how the bread is changed
into the Body of Jesus Christ, I will tell him. The Holy Ghost
over-shadows the priest, and acts on him as He acted on the Blessed
Virgin Mary.” St.
Bonaventure: “God, when He descends upon the altar, does no less than
He did when He became man the first time in the womb of the Virgin
Mary.”
St.
Augustine: “In the Mass, the Blood of Christ flows anew for sinners.” 4.
Nothing
on this earth, nothing in Heaven itself gives more glory to
God and obtains more benefits for us than a single Mass. 5.
By the Mass, we offer to God the
greatest praise, the greatest glory He could possibly desire. We give
Him most perfect thanks for all the benefits He has bestowed on us. We
make more reparation for our faults than by the severest penances. 6.
We can do nothing better for the
conversion of sinners than offer for them the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass. If mothers would only hear and get Masses said for their erring
children, and wives for their husbands, how happy their families would
be! 7.
No prayers, no suffrages, no matter
how fervent, can help the Holy Souls as the Mass. Oh, let us think of
the Souls in Purgatory. Among them may be our dear father and mother and
friends. We can help them most easily, we can relieve their awful pains
most efficaciously, by hearing Mass for them. What
the saints say of the Mass To
make still more manifest what we have just stated, we shall quote the
very words of the saints and holy doctors. St.
Lawrence Justinian: “There is no prayer or good work so great, so
pleasing to God, so useful to us as the Mass.” St.
Alphonsus: “Even God Himself could do nothing holier, better, nor
greater than the Mass.” St.
Thomas teaches that the Mass is nothing less than the Sacrifice of
Calvary renewed on the altar, and that every Mass brings to men the same
benefits as the Sacrifice of the Cross. St.
John Chrysostom: “The Mass has just the same value as Calvary.” St.
Bonaventure: “The Mass is a compendium of all God's love, of all His
benefits to men, and each Mass bestows on the world a benefit not less
than what was conferred on it by the Incarnation." The
benefits of the Mass St.
Thomas, the prince of theologians, write wonderfully of the Mass. “The Mass,” he says, “obtains
for sinners in mortal sin the grace of repentance. For the just, it
obtains the remission of venial sins and the pardon of the pain due to
sin. It obtains an increase of habitual (sanctifying) grace, as well as
all the graces necessary for their special needs.” St.
Paul the Hermit stood once at the church door as the people entered. He
saw the soul of one man, a great sinner, in such a state of horrible
corruption that it appalled him. Moreover, he saw a devil standing by
his side who seemed to have complete control of him. On leaving the
church, he saw the same man so completely changed that he called him
aside and asked him confidentially if he was sorry for his sins. The
poor man at once confessed that he had committed many and very grave
sins, but during the Mass he had read in his prayer book, “If your
sins are as red as scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.” “I
began at once to ask God to pardon and forgive me, and I am very sorry
for my sins, and I wish to go to Confession at once.” St.
Paul saw that by his act of sincere sorrow, the man was, by the infinite
merits of the Mass, pardoned of all his sins. Our
Lord said to St. Mechtilde: “In Mass I come with such humility that
there is no sinner, no matter how depraved he be, that I am not ready to
receive, if only he desires it. I come with such sweetness and mercy
that I will pardon my greatest enemies, if they ask for pardon. I come
with such generosity that there is no one so poor that I will not fill
him with the riches of my love. I come with such heavenly food as will
strengthen the weakest, with such light as will illumine the blindest,
with such a plenitude of graces as will remove all miseries, overcome
all obstinacy, and dissipate all fears.” What
words of divine comfort — words of God Himself. If we heard nothing
else about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, are not these words alone
sufficient to fill us with faith and confidence in the Divine Mysteries. It
obtains for us a happy death The
crowning grace of our life is a holy and happy death. What avails it to
have had a long and happy life, to have enjoyed all the comforts which
riches can give, all the honors the world can bestow, if in the end we
die a bad death? An unhappy death means a never-ending eternity of
misery and woe. We
can only die once, and if we die badly, there is no possibility of
remedying the mistake. A bad death plunges a man into the fires of hell
forever and forever. It is consequently of the utmost importance that we
do all in our power, that we use every means possible, to secure a happy
death. Holy
writers recommend various excellent methods thereby we may make our
salvation certain, and all these we should use to the best of our
ability. All agree, however, that the best and easiest of these means is
the frequent assistance at Holy Mass. Do
not miss Mass The
obligation to hear Mass on Sundays and holy days is very grave, and to
fail in the fulfillment of this duty on these days, without sufficient
reason, is a mortal sin. Not only does the sinner thereby lose important
graces, which he may never again receive, but God may also punish him
severely, as has frequently happened. The
following fact happened near Rome. Three businessmen went to a fair at
Cisterno, and after having transacted satisfactorily their business, two
of them prepared to return home on Sunday morning. The third pointed out
to them that they could not thus hear Mass. They laughed at his words,
and replied that they could go to Mass some other day. So saying, they
mounted their horses, and set out on their return journey. Their
companion heard Mass, and then proceeded to follow them. What was not
his consternation on learning that both his friends had been killed on
the road, victims of a dreadful accident! How
to hear Mass with profit 1.
The first condition for hearing Mass well is to understand
thoroughly the infinite sanctity of the Holy Sacrifice and the graces it
obtains. To this end, we must read, not once, but many times, this
article on the Mass. The
Mass is a stupendous mystery. Our minds, on the other hand, are weak and
slow to understand. Therefore, we must read frequently and ponder
seriously on the wonders of the Mass. One Mass heard with understanding
and devotion obtains for us more graces than a hundred, than a thousand
Masses heard carelessly and in ignorance of what the Mass is. 2.
We should make it an inviolable rule to arrive at church some minutes
before Mass commences, firstly, in order to be prepared and recollected
when the priest comes on the altar, and, secondly, to avoid causing
distraction to others. 3.
We should not only hear Mass, but we should offer it with the priest.
Moreover, we should have the intention of hearing and offering all the
Masses being said at the same time all over the world. In this way, we
receive a share in these innumerable Masses! The
cross We
at once notice that the crucifix is on every altar, that the priest's
vestments are all marked with the Sign of the Cross, that the priest
commences the Mass with the Sign of the Cross, that he makes this holy
sign very many times during the Mass. Why? To make clear to us that the
Mass is really and truly the Sacrifice of the Cross, that in the Mass
Christ is crucified, sheds His Precious Blood, and dies for us. We must
have no doubt that we are really assisting at the Sacrifice of the
Cross. Prayers
at Mass We
may use any prayers that we wish and that help us most, but it is
generally admitted that it is best to use a prayer book, and follow, as
closely as we can, the Mass with the priest. The
Confiteor. When the priest
bends down at the beginning of the Mass and says the Confiteor, we, too,
should unite ourselves with Jesus in His Agony, should humbly confess
our faults, and ask pardon for them through the merits of Christ's agony. We
then follow the various prayers with the celebrant. At
the Sanctus, we should
remember that the Angels come down to assist at Mass in multitudes, and
that we are in the midst of them, and we should join our voices with
theirs in adoring and praising God. They present our prayers to God. At
the Consecration, we should be
filled with the deepest reverence and love, for Jesus is really born in
the hands of the priest, as He was born in Bethlehem. When the priest
lifts up the Sacred Host, we should look on our God in an ecstasy of joy,
as the Angels look on Him in Heaven, and say, “My Lord and my God.” At
the Consecration of the Precious Blood, we
must remember that all the Precious Blood that Jesus shed on Calvary is
in the chalice, and we should offer it to God with the priest for God's
glory and for our own intentions. It is well to place ourselves, our
sins, all our intentions, our dear ones, the souls in Purgatory in all
the chalices being ,at this moment, offered to God in every part of the
world. We
must be full of holy awe and love from the Consecration to the
Communion. We are in the midst of countless adoring Angels. It
is indeed a sign of woeful ignorance to manifest irreverence, to look
around or speak during this most sacred time. It is much worse to leave
the church, to abandon God dying on the altar for us. Nothing but the
gravest necessity should induce one to go away until, at least, the
Communion of the Priest. Remember:
the day you hear Mass is worth a thousand days to you, that all the
labors and work of a day, or a week, or a whole year, are nothing in
comparison with the value of one Mass. Fr.
Paul O'Sullvian This article was published in the March-April, 2002 issue of “Michael”. |
3.