|
Hearts of Jesus and Mary- Saints |
on the sacrifice of the mass
St. Claude de Columbiere
MORE honor is paid to God by a single Mass than by all other actions
of Angels and men, even the most fervent or heroic. Yet how many are
attracted to Mass by the intention of rendering to God an honor so
extraordinary? Are there many who reflect with pleasure on the glory
that the Almighty receives from this sacrifice, who rejoice at
having it in their power to honor God according to His greatness and
His deserts; who give thanks to our Divine Lord for having, while He
abolished the ancient sacrifices, left us a Victim proportioned to
the benefits we need, a Victim sufficient to efface all the sins of
men?1
If my own good works are weak, imperfect, nay, sometimes stained
with venial sin; still when I offer up the adorable sacrifice of the
Mass, then, O my God, I can be full of courage and confidence, I can
challenge heaven itself to perform any action more pleasing to Thee.
Happy a thousand times are Christians, if they but knew how to make
profit of their advantages! But must we not admit that we often do
not even think of the good things we enjoy or might enjoy; we do not
even deign to put our hand into the treasury that Jesus Christ has
left open for us?
With what intentions do we come to Mass, with what fervor and
recollection do we assist at it? Do you come through human respect,
through custom, [just to avoid mortal sin on a Sunday or holiday,
and not at all on other days, though you well might]? Do you allow
yourself during Mass to be carried away by idle thoughts, keeping no
control of your eyes and your attention?
Have you, then, nothing to thank God for? Have you continued to
thank Him sufficiently, as warmly as He deserves? Take care lest by
ingratitude you dry up the fountain of His beneficence towards you,
lest He divert to some more grateful recipient the blessings He
intended for you.
To occupy yourself during Mass, enumerate in your heart all the
Divine benefits you have received; so many dangers averted, so many
sins forgiven, so careful a Providence watching over you from birth
to this day, securing you so many temporal and (still more)
spiritual advantages; Baptism, the knowledge of God's law and God's
will in your regard; so many graces drawing you away from evil,
drawing you towards God. Even the benefits of one single day ---- do
they not merit your undying gratitude, are they not enough to occupy
you during the time of Mass? When you have dwelt on them, say boldly
to the Eternal Father: "O Lord, I see how much I have received from
Thy bounty; but look upon this Victim, this Divine Body, this
precious Blood, this Sacrifice of infinite value; this is my
offering in return for so many benefits. I feel confident that
through it I am presenting a worthy return for Thy generosity. But
again, O adorable Lord, what thanks can I render to Thee for having
placed at my disposal so marvelous an offering?
You say, dear Christian, that you find it hard to occupy yourself
during Mass. Is there, then, nothing that you need? Is there nothing
that tries your patience? Jesus Christ, during Mass, places Himself
in our hands, as if a coin of infinite value that can purchase
everything that is good and desirable, everything, no matter how
precious, that we ask in His name.
Have you not offended God, do you not offend Him daily? Think of
those faults, think of them sorrowfully, and ask of God to pardon
them by the virtue of this all-holy Sacrifice. "Without the
Sacrifice of the Mass", says a holy doctor, "the world would have
been destroyed by the Divine justice many times; the Mass restrains
the arm of the Divine vengeance." That is why the demon endeavors to
deprive us of the Mass by the efforts of heretics [and of men who
hate God]; for he sees that mankind would perish had it not this
bulwark to oppose to the offended justice of God. It is foreshadowed
by the prophet Daniel that Antichrist shall abolish the "perpetual
sacrifice" at the end of the ages: Et robur datum est ei contra juge
sacrificium propter peccata. In accordance with this, the Martyr St.
Hippolytus is quoted by St. Jerome as saying that in the last days
the Church shall be in deepest mourning, because the Holy Sacrifice
shall cease to be offered, the Body and Blood of Christ shall not be
on the altars; then shall the world come to an end and its judgment
begin. But the last calamities shall not occur so long as the
spotless Lamb shall be offered on our altars.
Why do we Neglect the Mass?
Strange, then, it is that the Lord cannot fill His temples without
using a sort of violence, without issuing commands and precepts, as
if the profit we can draw from the sacrifices offered up to Him were
not enough to urge us to join in offering it. But men do not know of
its priceless value and therefore neglect it; and can any ignorance
be more deplorable? Or is it that the great number of Masses that
are offered all over the world makes us think more lightly of this
mystery, and that the very liberality of God has the effect of
making us the more ungrateful?
In the Mass the Savior makes Himself not only our Intercessor with
His Father, asking for us, through His merits, whatever is
beneficial for us; but, furthermore, He offers His Blood and His
Life as a payment for what we ask. What, then, can be so valuable as
not to fall below the value of this price that You offer? Why, then,
do men lament and complain ---- one, of his temporal miseries,
another of his spiritual? Why do passions tyrannize over us, evil
habits enchain us, evil imaginations lead us into sin? Whence the
dominion exercised by anger, grief, despair? Whence our inability to
cure the evil habits of others ---- those who are dear to us, those
on whom our own happiness depends? Tell me, have you asked for that
grace, that favor at Mass? How many times have you offered Mass for
that intention? Can you persuade me that when you offered to God so
noble a price, He has refused you a gift so much less valuable, that
He has not judged the Blood and the Life of His Son worth the grace,
the virtue, the temporal good that you longed to obtain, whether for
yourself or for another? No; I cannot believe it, and it seems
impossible that you should believe it. The real obstacle must be
that you are not eager to assist frequently at Mass and that when
that most precious opportunity is yours, you neglect to represent
earnestly to God your miseries and needs and to beg earnestly of Him
the mercies that you desire.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
