On Hearing Mass During The Time After Pentecost.

 

The Choir Screen, Hereford Cathedral.

Forms part of: Views of The British Isles, in the Photochrom print collection; Print no. “10810”; Title from the Detroit Publishing Co. Catalogue J-foreign section, Detroit, Mich. : Detroit Publishing Company, 1905.; More information about the Photochrom Print Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.pgz

Date: 1890-1900.

This image is available from the United States

Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division

under the digital ID ppmsc.08439.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.

By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

   Volume 11.

   Time After Pentecost.

      Book II.

      Chapter The Fifth.

Of all the good acts wherewith a Christian can sanctify his day, there is not one which bears comparison with that of Assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass.

It is in that Sacrifice, the Supreme Act of Religion, that is centred all the homage due from man to his Creator; and it is also from the same Sacrifice that God pours out profusely upon His creature man every sort of Blessing.

The very Son of God is really present there; there He is offered up to His Father, and the offering is always well-pleasing; and they who Assist at this Divine Immolation with Faith and Love receive into their Souls Graces of a far richer kind than are given by ordinary means.

Hereford Cathedral Altar.
Photo: 1865-1885.
Source: Hereford Cathedral
Author: Cornell University Library
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Assistance at Mass, if completed by the real participation of the Divine Victim, unites Man to God in an ineffable way by the renovation of his whole being, for it produces an intimate communion between him and The Word Incarnate.

But if the Christian who is Assisting at the Holy Sacrifice goes no further than the uniting of his intentions with those of the Divine Victim, even so, his mere presence at so great an act includes a true participation in the supreme Worship offered by this Earth of ours to The Majesty of God, in Christ, and by Christ.

So, too, he Solemnly Consecrates to God, by that same Holy Act, the day he has just begun.

English: 

Stained-Glass Window of Saint John Mary Vianney.

Parish Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Jouarre, France.

Deutsch: Bleiglasfenster in der katholischen Pfarrkirche

Saint-Pierre-et-Saint Paul, Jouarre, Frankreich.

Darstellung: hl. Jean-Marie Vianney.

Photo: 30 May 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Reinhardhauke

(Wikimedia Commons)

We have devoted the days within the Octave of Corpus Christi to giving our Readers the fullest instructions regarding the Holy Sacrifice of The Mass.

As to the dispositions wherewith they should Assist at it, they are given in the present Chapter, in which we explain briefly, and yet, as we believe, completely, the meaning of each Ceremony and Expression.

Whilst thus endeavouring to initiate the Faithful into these sublime Mysteries, we have not given them a bare and indiscreet translation of the Sacred Formulæ, but have taken what seemed to us so much better a plan, of suggesting such acts as will enable those who hear Mass to enter into the Ceremonies and the spirit of The Church and of the Priest.

English: 

Saint John Mary Vianney.

Church of Saint Germain,

Saint-Germain-les-Belles, France.

Deutsch: Bleiglasfenster in der Kirche Saint-Germain 

in Saint-Germain-les-Belles im Département Haute-Vienne. Darstellung: hl. Jean-Marie Vianney

Photo: 28 June 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Reinhardhauke

(Wikimedia Commons)

The conlusion to be drawn from this is one of great importance: It is that, in order to derive solid profit from Assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, the Faithful must attentively follow all that is being done at the Altar, and not stand aloof, as it were, by reading books which are filled with devotions of a private and unseasonable character.

On the Sundays, if the Mass at which the Faithful Assist be the Parochial, or, as it is often called, the public Mass, two Solemn Rites precede it, and they are full of instruction and Blessing: The Asperges, or sprinkling of the Holy Water, and the Procession.

During the Asperges, you should unite with the intentions which The Church has in this Ceremony, so venerable by its antiquity; You should Pray for that purity of heart which is needed for worthily Assisting at the Mysteries, wherein God Himself becomes present, and unites Heaven and Earth so closely together.

The High Altar,

Saint John Cantius Church,

Chicago, United States of America.

Photo Credit: www.pinterest.com

The Procession, which in many Churches immediately precedes a Solemn Mass is a prelude to the great act which is about to be accomplished. It originated from the practice used in Monasteries, of going through the Cloisters, every Sunday, chanting certain appointed Responsories; during which time, the Hebdomadarian went through all the Conventual places, Blessing each of them. The practice is still in use.

[Editor: A Hebdomadarian (or Hebdomadary) is a member of a Monastery or Convent, typically a Priest or a Religious, who is appointed to lead Liturgical services for a week at a time. 

Their duties include officiating at the Conventual Mass, intoning the various Canonical Hours of The Divine Office, and giving Blessings for that week. 

The term derives from the Greek word “Hebdomas”, meaning “a period of seven days”.]

The High Altar,

Saint John Cantius Church, Chicago.

Illustration:

FLICKR, CANONS REGULAR OF SAINT JOHN CANTIUS

But see, Christians ! The Sacrifice begins ! The Priest is at the foot of the Altar; God is attentive, the Angels are in Adoration, the whole Church is united with the Priest, whose Priesthood and action are those of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

Let us make the Sign of The Cross with him.

Image: CHURCH OF SAINT AGNES

The remainder of this exquisite Article can be found in 

“The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
   Volume 11.
   Time After Pentecost.
      Book II.
      Chapter The Fifth.