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“The Incredible Catholic Mass” is truly an incredible book about the most incredible reality in our midst – the Catholic Holy Mass. This book is highly theological, but not written in a dry, theological tone, but aimed directly at the average reader.
The Book “The Incredible Catholic Mass” was written by Fr. Martin von Cochem, O.S.F. (1625-1712) was a German Franciscan Priest and learned theologian. He wrote some 21 books. This one is by far the most popular of his works and universally acknowledged as the best.
“The Incredible Catholic Mass” is fundamentally an explanation of the essence of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This book shows what the Holy Mass actually is in itself and how we may offer it with the Priest in the most intelligent and effective manner. This will bring the greatest possible benefit to ourselves, those we pray for, the souls in Purgatory, the Universal Church and the society in which we live. The Holy Mass is a direct line to the “heart of God” because we have as intercessor and mediator in the Holy Mass none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself.
There will be no legitimate petition you cannot obtain from Almighty God when praying at the most Holy Mass. Grasping this power and making it you own is simply a matter of first learning what you have at your disposal in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and then applying that knowledge with Faith. There are some seventy-seven benefits; blessings, graces and merits you can gain by devotedly participating at the Most Holy Mass. If the people really knew about the Most Holy Mass, our Catholic Churches would be full every day at Mass-time.
Permission was granted to edit and condense "he Incredible Catholic Mass" by Mary Francis Lester, TAN Books & Publishers PO Box 424 Rockford, IL 61105-0424. The complete version of the “The Incredible Catholic Mass” Book (453 pages) is available from www.Tanbooks.com or call 1-800-437-5876. EucharisticDisciples.weebly.com
The Incredible Catholic Mass – Chapter 13
HOLY MASS IS THE NOBLEST SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING
For God the Father is our Creator: He has given us our five bodily senses and made us sound of limb; He has created our soul after His own image, cleansed it by the operation of the Holy Spirit in the laver of Baptism, purified it and chosen it for His spouse. He has appointed to each one of us an Guardian Angel for our protection; He sustains us as His children, forgives us our sins in Confessions, feeds us with His Sacred Body and Blood in Holy Communion.
In addition to all this He adds another, a stupendous benefit. When by reason of our sins we had come under the dominion of Satan. He ransomed us from that slavery by His own Son, Christ wished to impress upon us the magnitude of that benefit when He said: “God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son” (John 3:16), not only to take upon Him our nature, but to suffer a cruel death for us.
Since we have received benefits so innumerable from the hand of God, we are bound to requite them fittingly. We are under the greatest obligation to our God: if we make Him no return, we are guilty of the lowest ingratitude and incur a grievous sin.
Now the noblest offering of praise is the Holy Mass. If it were not for the Sacrifice of the Mass, we should have nothing in the whole world wherewith we could adequately render thanks to God for the benefits we have received from Him. Christ, therefore, had this object in view when He instituted the Mass, namely, to provide us with an efficacious act of thanksgiving whereby to express our gratitude towards God.
Therefore, when you hear Mass, unite you heart and your will to the heart and will of Chris and give God thanks with all your powers. And in order that this giving of thanks my be the more efficacious and acceptable, offer to the Eternal Father that superabundant thanksgiving which His divine Son, under the species of bread and wine, offers to Him, for all the benefits He has bestowed upon you.
Christ offers this infinite thanksgiving to His Father for you, if you hear Mass devoutly: He gives it to you for your own, and as such you can offer it to almighty God. Do this and the thanks you will render to God will be no finite and human thanksgiving: it will be infinite and divine.
We may truly say that in Holy Mass we are made rich in Christ Jesus, so that no grace is wanting to us.
HOLY MASS IS THE NOBLEST SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING
For God the Father is our Creator: He has given us our five bodily senses and made us sound of limb; He has created our soul after His own image, cleansed it by the operation of the Holy Spirit in the laver of Baptism, purified it and chosen it for His spouse. He has appointed to each one of us an Guardian Angel for our protection; He sustains us as His children, forgives us our sins in Confessions, feeds us with His Sacred Body and Blood in Holy Communion.
In addition to all this He adds another, a stupendous benefit. When by reason of our sins we had come under the dominion of Satan. He ransomed us from that slavery by His own Son, Christ wished to impress upon us the magnitude of that benefit when He said: “God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son” (John 3:16), not only to take upon Him our nature, but to suffer a cruel death for us.
Since we have received benefits so innumerable from the hand of God, we are bound to requite them fittingly. We are under the greatest obligation to our God: if we make Him no return, we are guilty of the lowest ingratitude and incur a grievous sin.
Now the noblest offering of praise is the Holy Mass. If it were not for the Sacrifice of the Mass, we should have nothing in the whole world wherewith we could adequately render thanks to God for the benefits we have received from Him. Christ, therefore, had this object in view when He instituted the Mass, namely, to provide us with an efficacious act of thanksgiving whereby to express our gratitude towards God.
Therefore, when you hear Mass, unite you heart and your will to the heart and will of Chris and give God thanks with all your powers. And in order that this giving of thanks my be the more efficacious and acceptable, offer to the Eternal Father that superabundant thanksgiving which His divine Son, under the species of bread and wine, offers to Him, for all the benefits He has bestowed upon you.
Christ offers this infinite thanksgiving to His Father for you, if you hear Mass devoutly: He gives it to you for your own, and as such you can offer it to almighty God. Do this and the thanks you will render to God will be no finite and human thanksgiving: it will be infinite and divine.
We may truly say that in Holy Mass we are made rich in Christ Jesus, so that no grace is wanting to us.
The Incredible Catholic Mass - CHAPTER. 3B
77 Graces and Fruits to be derived from Devoutly Attendance at Holy Mass.
From "The Incredible Catholic Mass" By: Fr. Martin von Cochem Tan Book Publishers.
Remember, O Christian, if you live in mortal sin you are a prey of the devil, a slave of Satan. Whereas if you are in the state of grace, you are the spouse of Jesus Christ, beloved by Him, amply provided by him with all the means that are conducive to your salvation. How numerous are the graces and benefits this loving Bridegroom offers to you in Holy Mass! How numerous the means he places within your reach of acquiring virtue, of insuring your salvation! Every time you hear Mass in the state of grace, with devout attention and in a spirit of recollection, Our Lord, of His loving-kindness, makes you to participate in no less than 77 graces and fruits. Well may you marvel at this; it is, however, true, as we shall proceed to show. An enumeration of these graces may, perhaps, assist you to believe in and recognize them.
1. For your salvation, God the Father sends His beloved Son down from Heaven.
2. For your salvation the Holy Spirit changes bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ.
3. For your sake the Son of God comes down from Heaven and conceals Himself under the form of the Sacred Host.
4. He even abases Himself to such an extent as to be present in the minutest particle of theSacred Host.
5. For your salvation He renews the saving mystery of the Incarnation.
6. For your salvation He is born anew into the world in a mystic manner whenever the Holy
Mass is celebrated.
7. For your salvation He performs upon the Altar the same acts of worship that He performed
when on earth.
8. For your salvation He renews His bitter passion in order that you may participate in it.
9. For your salvation He mystically renews His death, and sacrifices for you, His
precious life.
10. For your salvation He sheds His Blood in a mystic manner, and offers it up for
you to the Divine Majesty.
11. With this precious Blood He sprinkles your soul and purifies it from every stain.
12. For you Christ offers Himself as a true burnt Offering, and renders to the
Godhead the supreme honor, which is its due.
13. By offering this act of worship to God you can make reparation for the glory,
which you have failed to give Him.
14. For you Christ offers Himself to God as a Sacrifice of praise, thus atoning for
your omissions in praising His holy name.
15. By offering to God this oblation, which Christ offers you, gives Him greater
praise than do the Holy Angels.
16. For you Christ offers Himself as a perfect Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, making
compensation for all failures on your part to render thanks.
17. By offering to God Christ's act of Thanksgiving you can make ample
acknowledgment of all the benefits He had bestowed on you.
18. For you Christ offers Himself as the all-powerful victim, reconciling you to the
God Whom you have offended.
19. He pardons all your venial sins, provided you are firmly resolved to forsake
them.
20. He also makes reparation for many of your sins of omission, when you left
undone the good you might have done.
21. He removes many of the imperfections attached to your good deeds.
22. He forgives your the sins, unknown or forgotten, which you have never
mentioned in confession.
23. He offers Himself as a victim to make satisfaction for a part at least of
your debts and transgressions.
24. Each time your assist at Mass you cannot do more to pay the penalty due to your sins than by the severest work of penance.
25. Christ places to your credit a portion of His merits, which you may offer to God the Father in expiation of your offenses.
26. For you Christ offers Himself as the most efficacious peace offering, interceding for you as earnestly as He interceded for His enemies on the cross.
27. His precious Blood pleads for you in words as countless as the drops, which
issued from His Sacred Veins.
28. Each of the adorable wounds His Sacred Body bore is a voice calling aloud for mercy for you.
29. For the sake of this propitiatory Victim the petitions proffered during Mass will
be granted far sooner than those that are proffered at other times.
30. Never can you pray so well as while assisting at Mass.
31. This is so because Christ unites His prayers to you, and offers them to His
Heavenly Father.
32. He acquaints Him with your needs and the dangers to which you are exposed,
and makes your eternal salvation His particular concern.
33. The Angels also, who are present, plead for you, and present your poor prayers
before the throne of God.
34. On your behalf the priest says Mass, by virtue of which the evil enemy will not be suffered to approach you.
35. For you and for your everlasting salvation he says Mass, and offers that Holy
Sacrifice to God Almighty.
36. When your assist at Mass, you are in spirit of the priest, empowered by Christ to offer the Mass both for yourself and others.
37. By offering this Holy Sacrifice you present to the Blessed Trinity the most
acceptable of all oblations.
38. You do offer an oblation precious indeed, of greater value than all things in
Heaven and earth.
39. You do offer an oblation precious indeed, for it is none other than God Himself.
40. By this Sacrifice you do honor God, as He alone is worthy to be honored.
41. By this Sacrifice you do give infinite satisfaction to the most Holy Trinity.
42. That your may present this glorious oblation as your own gift, for Christ Himself gave it unto you.
43. When assist at Mass rightly, you do perform an act of highest worship.
44. By assisting at Mass you do pay the most profound reverence, the most loyal
homage, to the sacred humanity of Our Lord.
45. It is the best means whereby to venerate the passion of Christ, and obtain a share in its fruits.
46. It is also the best means of venerating the Blessed Mother of God, and increasing her joy.
47. By assisting at Mass you do give greater honor to the Angels and Saints than by reciting many prayers.
48. By assisting at Mass devoutly you can also enrich your soul more than by
anything else in the world.
49. For in this act you do perform a good work of the highest value.
50. It is a signal exercise of pure faith, which you will receive a great reward.
51. When you do bow down before the Sacred Host and the Sacred Chalice, you do
perform a supreme act of adoration.
52. For each time you gaze reverently upon the Sacred Host you will receive
recompense from Heaven.
53. Each time you strike breast with compunction some of your sins are remitted
from you.
54. If you assist at Mass in a state of mortal sin, God offers you the grace of
conversion.
55. If you assist at Mass in a state of grace, God gives you an augmentation of grace.
56. In Holy Mass you do spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink His blood.
57. You are privileged to behold with your eyes Christ hidden under the sacramental veil, and to be beheld by Him.
58. You do receive the Priest's benediction, which is confirmed by Christ in Heaven.
59. Through you diligence in assisting at Mass you will also obtain corporal and
temporal blessings.
60. Furthermore, you will be preserved from many misfortunes that would otherwise befall you.
61. You will also be strengthened against temptations, which would otherwise have vanquished you.
62. Holy Mass will also be to you a means of obtaining the grace of a holy death.
63. The love you have shown for Holy Mass will secure for you the special succor of angels and saints in your last moments.
64. The remembrance of the Masses heard in your lifetime will be a sweet solace to you in the hour of death, and inspire you with confidence in the Divine Mercy.
65. They will not be forgotten when you stand before the strict Judge and will incline Him to show you favor.
66. You need not fear a long and terrible purgatory if you have already to a great
extent atoned for your sins by frequently assisting at Holy Mass.
67. One Mass devoutly assisted will do more to mitigate the pains of purgatory than any act of penance, however difficult of performance.
68. One Mass in your lifetime will be of greater service to you than many said for you after death.
69. You will attain a high place in heaven, which will be yours for all eternity.
70. Your happiness in Heaven will, moreover, be increased by every Mass you
assisted on earth.
71. No prayers offered for your friends will be as efficacious as a single Mass heard and offered on their behalf.
72. You can amply recompense all your benefactors by assisting at Mass for their intention.
73. The best help, the greatest consolation, you can afford the afflicted, the sick, the dying, is to assists at Mass for them.
74. By this same means you can even obtain for sinners the grace of conversion.
75. You can also earn for all faithful Christians saving and salutary graces.
76. For the suffering souls in purgatory you can procure abundant refreshment.
77. And if it is not within your power to have Mass said for your departed friends
you can by devout assistance at the Holy sacrifice release them from the
tormenting flames.
What do you now think of the holy Mass O Christian? Can it be supposed that in the whole world there is any other good work whereby so many graces and fruits are placed within our reach? If Christians only knew how to profit by the Most Holy Mass, they might acquire greater riches than are to be found in all the things God has created.
To omit hearing Mass daily merely from carelessness or indolence would be a proof that we are either ignorant of, or indifferent to, the divine treasures it contains. God grant that those who read this might in the future appreciate more fully this pearl of great price, value it more highly, and seek it more diligently!
77 Graces and Fruits to be derived from Devoutly Attendance at Holy Mass.
From "The Incredible Catholic Mass" By: Fr. Martin von Cochem Tan Book Publishers.
Remember, O Christian, if you live in mortal sin you are a prey of the devil, a slave of Satan. Whereas if you are in the state of grace, you are the spouse of Jesus Christ, beloved by Him, amply provided by him with all the means that are conducive to your salvation. How numerous are the graces and benefits this loving Bridegroom offers to you in Holy Mass! How numerous the means he places within your reach of acquiring virtue, of insuring your salvation! Every time you hear Mass in the state of grace, with devout attention and in a spirit of recollection, Our Lord, of His loving-kindness, makes you to participate in no less than 77 graces and fruits. Well may you marvel at this; it is, however, true, as we shall proceed to show. An enumeration of these graces may, perhaps, assist you to believe in and recognize them.
1. For your salvation, God the Father sends His beloved Son down from Heaven.
2. For your salvation the Holy Spirit changes bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ.
3. For your sake the Son of God comes down from Heaven and conceals Himself under the form of the Sacred Host.
4. He even abases Himself to such an extent as to be present in the minutest particle of theSacred Host.
5. For your salvation He renews the saving mystery of the Incarnation.
6. For your salvation He is born anew into the world in a mystic manner whenever the Holy
Mass is celebrated.
7. For your salvation He performs upon the Altar the same acts of worship that He performed
when on earth.
8. For your salvation He renews His bitter passion in order that you may participate in it.
9. For your salvation He mystically renews His death, and sacrifices for you, His
precious life.
10. For your salvation He sheds His Blood in a mystic manner, and offers it up for
you to the Divine Majesty.
11. With this precious Blood He sprinkles your soul and purifies it from every stain.
12. For you Christ offers Himself as a true burnt Offering, and renders to the
Godhead the supreme honor, which is its due.
13. By offering this act of worship to God you can make reparation for the glory,
which you have failed to give Him.
14. For you Christ offers Himself to God as a Sacrifice of praise, thus atoning for
your omissions in praising His holy name.
15. By offering to God this oblation, which Christ offers you, gives Him greater
praise than do the Holy Angels.
16. For you Christ offers Himself as a perfect Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, making
compensation for all failures on your part to render thanks.
17. By offering to God Christ's act of Thanksgiving you can make ample
acknowledgment of all the benefits He had bestowed on you.
18. For you Christ offers Himself as the all-powerful victim, reconciling you to the
God Whom you have offended.
19. He pardons all your venial sins, provided you are firmly resolved to forsake
them.
20. He also makes reparation for many of your sins of omission, when you left
undone the good you might have done.
21. He removes many of the imperfections attached to your good deeds.
22. He forgives your the sins, unknown or forgotten, which you have never
mentioned in confession.
23. He offers Himself as a victim to make satisfaction for a part at least of
your debts and transgressions.
24. Each time your assist at Mass you cannot do more to pay the penalty due to your sins than by the severest work of penance.
25. Christ places to your credit a portion of His merits, which you may offer to God the Father in expiation of your offenses.
26. For you Christ offers Himself as the most efficacious peace offering, interceding for you as earnestly as He interceded for His enemies on the cross.
27. His precious Blood pleads for you in words as countless as the drops, which
issued from His Sacred Veins.
28. Each of the adorable wounds His Sacred Body bore is a voice calling aloud for mercy for you.
29. For the sake of this propitiatory Victim the petitions proffered during Mass will
be granted far sooner than those that are proffered at other times.
30. Never can you pray so well as while assisting at Mass.
31. This is so because Christ unites His prayers to you, and offers them to His
Heavenly Father.
32. He acquaints Him with your needs and the dangers to which you are exposed,
and makes your eternal salvation His particular concern.
33. The Angels also, who are present, plead for you, and present your poor prayers
before the throne of God.
34. On your behalf the priest says Mass, by virtue of which the evil enemy will not be suffered to approach you.
35. For you and for your everlasting salvation he says Mass, and offers that Holy
Sacrifice to God Almighty.
36. When your assist at Mass, you are in spirit of the priest, empowered by Christ to offer the Mass both for yourself and others.
37. By offering this Holy Sacrifice you present to the Blessed Trinity the most
acceptable of all oblations.
38. You do offer an oblation precious indeed, of greater value than all things in
Heaven and earth.
39. You do offer an oblation precious indeed, for it is none other than God Himself.
40. By this Sacrifice you do honor God, as He alone is worthy to be honored.
41. By this Sacrifice you do give infinite satisfaction to the most Holy Trinity.
42. That your may present this glorious oblation as your own gift, for Christ Himself gave it unto you.
43. When assist at Mass rightly, you do perform an act of highest worship.
44. By assisting at Mass you do pay the most profound reverence, the most loyal
homage, to the sacred humanity of Our Lord.
45. It is the best means whereby to venerate the passion of Christ, and obtain a share in its fruits.
46. It is also the best means of venerating the Blessed Mother of God, and increasing her joy.
47. By assisting at Mass you do give greater honor to the Angels and Saints than by reciting many prayers.
48. By assisting at Mass devoutly you can also enrich your soul more than by
anything else in the world.
49. For in this act you do perform a good work of the highest value.
50. It is a signal exercise of pure faith, which you will receive a great reward.
51. When you do bow down before the Sacred Host and the Sacred Chalice, you do
perform a supreme act of adoration.
52. For each time you gaze reverently upon the Sacred Host you will receive
recompense from Heaven.
53. Each time you strike breast with compunction some of your sins are remitted
from you.
54. If you assist at Mass in a state of mortal sin, God offers you the grace of
conversion.
55. If you assist at Mass in a state of grace, God gives you an augmentation of grace.
56. In Holy Mass you do spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink His blood.
57. You are privileged to behold with your eyes Christ hidden under the sacramental veil, and to be beheld by Him.
58. You do receive the Priest's benediction, which is confirmed by Christ in Heaven.
59. Through you diligence in assisting at Mass you will also obtain corporal and
temporal blessings.
60. Furthermore, you will be preserved from many misfortunes that would otherwise befall you.
61. You will also be strengthened against temptations, which would otherwise have vanquished you.
62. Holy Mass will also be to you a means of obtaining the grace of a holy death.
63. The love you have shown for Holy Mass will secure for you the special succor of angels and saints in your last moments.
64. The remembrance of the Masses heard in your lifetime will be a sweet solace to you in the hour of death, and inspire you with confidence in the Divine Mercy.
65. They will not be forgotten when you stand before the strict Judge and will incline Him to show you favor.
66. You need not fear a long and terrible purgatory if you have already to a great
extent atoned for your sins by frequently assisting at Holy Mass.
67. One Mass devoutly assisted will do more to mitigate the pains of purgatory than any act of penance, however difficult of performance.
68. One Mass in your lifetime will be of greater service to you than many said for you after death.
69. You will attain a high place in heaven, which will be yours for all eternity.
70. Your happiness in Heaven will, moreover, be increased by every Mass you
assisted on earth.
71. No prayers offered for your friends will be as efficacious as a single Mass heard and offered on their behalf.
72. You can amply recompense all your benefactors by assisting at Mass for their intention.
73. The best help, the greatest consolation, you can afford the afflicted, the sick, the dying, is to assists at Mass for them.
74. By this same means you can even obtain for sinners the grace of conversion.
75. You can also earn for all faithful Christians saving and salutary graces.
76. For the suffering souls in purgatory you can procure abundant refreshment.
77. And if it is not within your power to have Mass said for your departed friends
you can by devout assistance at the Holy sacrifice release them from the
tormenting flames.
What do you now think of the holy Mass O Christian? Can it be supposed that in the whole world there is any other good work whereby so many graces and fruits are placed within our reach? If Christians only knew how to profit by the Most Holy Mass, they might acquire greater riches than are to be found in all the things God has created.
To omit hearing Mass daily merely from carelessness or indolence would be a proof that we are either ignorant of, or indifferent to, the divine treasures it contains. God grant that those who read this might in the future appreciate more fully this pearl of great price, value it more highly, and seek it more diligently!
The Incredible Catholic Mass – Chapter 2
The Excellence of the Holy Mass
The Holy Mass is of such surpassing excellence that not even one of the highest Angels can praise it properly.
The Holy Mass is the sun of all-spiritual, the mainspring of devotion, the soul of piety, the fire of divine charity, the abyss of divine mercy and a precious means whereby God confers upon us His graces.
The Holy Mass far surpasses in dignity all other holy Sacraments and rites of the Church. The holy Sacraments are sublime, but more sublime by far is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
One with a living faith, enters a consecrated church with trembling, worshipping Christ present in the Adorable Sacrament with deepest reverence and invoking the assistance of the holy Angels who are there.
One who is inattentive in church or in any other way to displease God by disrespectful behavior, is an insult to the Divine Majesty and a dishonor to the house of God.
Let us firmly resolve on entering a Catholic Church not to utter or listen to an unnecessary word, nor to look
about us, but to behave reverently, to pray devoutly, to adore the Lord our God, to confess our sins and to implore the divine mercy.
Who is it that offers this divine oblation at the Holy Mass. Is it a priest, a bishop, a pope, an Angel, a Saint or perhaps the blessed Mother of God? No, it is none other the only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, anointed by the Father a high priest, a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.
This is what gives to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass its immense, its all-surpassing excellence and renders it in very truth a divine oblation.
St. Chrysostom testifies; “ In the Mass Christ Himself, the great High Priest, offers the Holy Sacrifice. The priest is only a minister, for He who sanctifies and transforms the Victim is Christ Himself, who at the Last Supper changed the bread into His Flesh and He continues to do now. Priests are only his servants: they place at His disposal their lips, their voice, their hands, that through their instrumentality He may offer this Divine Oblation.”
The decrees of the Council of Trent states; “The Sacrifice of the Cross and the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass are one and the same; the same now offered by the ministry of priests who offered Himself on the Cross.”
In these words the Church teaches us and commands us to believe that priests are but the ministers of Christ and that Christ immolates Himself upon the altar in the like manner as He immolated Himself when hanging upon the Cross.
The reason why Christ did not and could not leave the offering of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to an Angel or a Saint, much less to a sinful man, but retained the right to do so Himself. This was in order that He might daily present to His Heavenly Father for the salvation of mankind an oblation which should be ever the same and should be offered up in so sublime and all-efficient manner as to be pleasing an acceptable to the Most Holy Trinity. Each Mass is an act of such supreme dignity, performed by Christ Himself with such piety, reverence and love that neither man nor Angel can fully comprehend it.
Marvel at this, in all the universe, Christ found but one gift, one alone, to be offered up to the infinite Deity, and that was His sacred humanity, holy and immaculate. The sacred humanity of Our Lord was the greatest and highest work of divine omnipotence.
All this Christ places before the Holy Trinity in every Holy Mass that is celebrated, offering it up in no less valid manner than He did when on earth in His holy Life and bitter sufferings. But the essential value of this Sacrifice consists in this, which Christ does not offer up His sacred humanity alone, but in union with His divinity.
Finally, we must not fail to observe that Christ does not offer up His humanity glorified as it is in Heaven, but in the lowly form under which it is upon the Altar. Under so small, so humble, so lowly a form does Christ present Himself to the ever-blessed Trinity, offering Himself up in a manner which inspires the entire heavenly host with profound admiration.
This knowledge may serve to make us appreciative and value more highly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and assist at it more frequently with greater joy and deeper devotion. For the Masses offered daily are the weapons of divine grace, the fountain of divine mercy, the sacrifice of atonement, which is all-powerful, if we assist at it devoutly.
The Excellence of the Holy Mass
The Holy Mass is of such surpassing excellence that not even one of the highest Angels can praise it properly.
The Holy Mass is the sun of all-spiritual, the mainspring of devotion, the soul of piety, the fire of divine charity, the abyss of divine mercy and a precious means whereby God confers upon us His graces.
The Holy Mass far surpasses in dignity all other holy Sacraments and rites of the Church. The holy Sacraments are sublime, but more sublime by far is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
One with a living faith, enters a consecrated church with trembling, worshipping Christ present in the Adorable Sacrament with deepest reverence and invoking the assistance of the holy Angels who are there.
One who is inattentive in church or in any other way to displease God by disrespectful behavior, is an insult to the Divine Majesty and a dishonor to the house of God.
Let us firmly resolve on entering a Catholic Church not to utter or listen to an unnecessary word, nor to look
about us, but to behave reverently, to pray devoutly, to adore the Lord our God, to confess our sins and to implore the divine mercy.
Who is it that offers this divine oblation at the Holy Mass. Is it a priest, a bishop, a pope, an Angel, a Saint or perhaps the blessed Mother of God? No, it is none other the only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, anointed by the Father a high priest, a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.
This is what gives to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass its immense, its all-surpassing excellence and renders it in very truth a divine oblation.
St. Chrysostom testifies; “ In the Mass Christ Himself, the great High Priest, offers the Holy Sacrifice. The priest is only a minister, for He who sanctifies and transforms the Victim is Christ Himself, who at the Last Supper changed the bread into His Flesh and He continues to do now. Priests are only his servants: they place at His disposal their lips, their voice, their hands, that through their instrumentality He may offer this Divine Oblation.”
The decrees of the Council of Trent states; “The Sacrifice of the Cross and the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass are one and the same; the same now offered by the ministry of priests who offered Himself on the Cross.”
In these words the Church teaches us and commands us to believe that priests are but the ministers of Christ and that Christ immolates Himself upon the altar in the like manner as He immolated Himself when hanging upon the Cross.
The reason why Christ did not and could not leave the offering of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to an Angel or a Saint, much less to a sinful man, but retained the right to do so Himself. This was in order that He might daily present to His Heavenly Father for the salvation of mankind an oblation which should be ever the same and should be offered up in so sublime and all-efficient manner as to be pleasing an acceptable to the Most Holy Trinity. Each Mass is an act of such supreme dignity, performed by Christ Himself with such piety, reverence and love that neither man nor Angel can fully comprehend it.
Marvel at this, in all the universe, Christ found but one gift, one alone, to be offered up to the infinite Deity, and that was His sacred humanity, holy and immaculate. The sacred humanity of Our Lord was the greatest and highest work of divine omnipotence.
All this Christ places before the Holy Trinity in every Holy Mass that is celebrated, offering it up in no less valid manner than He did when on earth in His holy Life and bitter sufferings. But the essential value of this Sacrifice consists in this, which Christ does not offer up His sacred humanity alone, but in union with His divinity.
Finally, we must not fail to observe that Christ does not offer up His humanity glorified as it is in Heaven, but in the lowly form under which it is upon the Altar. Under so small, so humble, so lowly a form does Christ present Himself to the ever-blessed Trinity, offering Himself up in a manner which inspires the entire heavenly host with profound admiration.
This knowledge may serve to make us appreciative and value more highly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and assist at it more frequently with greater joy and deeper devotion. For the Masses offered daily are the weapons of divine grace, the fountain of divine mercy, the sacrifice of atonement, which is all-powerful, if we assist at it devoutly.