Happy the Man who Actively Assists at Holy Mass & Thereby Merits to Participate in the Sacrifice
Alexandra Clark | The Daily Knight
"O my God, how glorious, potent and beyond all price must be this Sacrifice which Christ makes of Himself in the Holy Mass, since the highest celestial intelligences are unable to grasp and comprehend it! O adorable Jesus, how unsearchable is this mystery, since Thy divine wisdom and understanding alone can know and appreciate it! Happy the man who assists at Holy Mass and thereby merits to participate in the Sacrifice Thou dost offer up for him, the virtue, the efficacy of which no created intelligence can fathom!"
Fr. Cochem, author who wrote the book The Incredible Catholic Mass said "if they understand the vast efficacy and value of the Holy Mass, they cannot fail to prize more highly this costly treasure, to love it more deeply and to assist at the Divine Oblation with greater reverence. There is in the Catholic Church no mystery more important, more consoling, more salutary, than this Sublime Mystery of the Altar. "
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the same one Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
Thomas a Kempis in the Imitation bids us “As often as thou sayest or hearest Mass, it ought to seem to thee as great, as new, and as delightful as if Christ, that same day, first hanging on the Cross, was suffering and dying for the salvation of men.” (Bk. iv, Ch. 2)
A pious writer relates well: “That which on the Cross was a sacrifice of redemption is in Holy Mass a Sacrifice of appropriation, whereby the virtue and the power of the Sacrifice of the Cross is applied to each one individually.”
And Fr. Cochem adds: "These are joyful and reassuring words for the sinner. It has not been our privilege to stand beneath the Cross on Calvary and share in the fruits of that stupendous Sacrifice, but if we hear Mass with attention, the virtue and power of the Sacrifice of the Cross will be applied to our souls—not indeed in quite the same manner, yet to each one in particular according to the depth of his devotion."
St. Colette, who was remarkable for her great devotion to Holy Mass, said when she was assisting at Holy Mass she was heard at the Consecration to exclaim:
“O my God, my Jesus! O Angels and Saints, O men and sinners, what marvels are these that we see and hear!” After Mass her confessor asked what had made her cry aloud in this manner. She replied: “When your reverence elevated the Sacred Host, I beheld Christ upon the Cross, the Blood flowing from His precious wounds; at the same time I heard Him thus address the Eternal Father: ‘Look upon this Body of flesh, in which I hung upon the Cross, in which I suffered for mankind. Look upon My wounds, look upon the Blood that I shed, consider My sufferings, consider My death. All this I endured to save sinners. Now, if Thou dost consign them to perdition on account of their iniquities and deliver them over to the devil, what compensation shall I have for My bitter Passion, for My cruel death? The reprobate sinners will render Me no thanks; on the contrary, they will curse Me for all eternity. But if they were saved, they would praise and magnify Me forever in gratitude for My sufferings. For My sake, therefore, spare these sinners, O My Father, and preserve them from eternal damnation.’ ”
In regard to the Sacred Mysteries of Holy Mass:
"It must above all be borne in mind that the principal mysteries of Our Lord’s life and Passion are represented and set before us in it. David foretells this when in his prophetic spirit he says: “He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord.” (Ps. 110:4). And in order that we may have no doubt that in this passage he refers to the Sacrifice of the Mass upon our altars, he says in another psalm: “I will compass Thy altar, O Lord, that I may hear the voice of Thy praise: and tell of all Thy wondrous works.” (Ps. 25:6, 7). The same is signified by Christ when, at the institution of the Holy Eucharist, He said to His Apostles, “Do this for a commemoration of Me,” just as if He would say, “Since the time is now approaching when, after accomplishing the Redemption of mankind, I shall leave you and go to My heavenly Father, I institute the Holy Mass as the one Sacrifice of the New Testament wherein all the mysteries of My whole life and of My Passion are represented and placed before the eyes of all believers, in order that you may never forget Me, but have Me ever in your remembrance.”
Active Participation is prayerful recollection, devout attention, pious assistance at Holy Mass.
Various saints taught souls of the importance of assisting at Mass with prayerful active participation. This participation is of the heart, mind, will and strength. Modernist today would like us to believe their version of "active participation" which is to be in a "dialogue" and to have some part to play in the ceremonies of the Mass. True active participation is not the clapping hands, holding hands, dancing, playing a guitar, reading the Gospel or being a Eucharistic Minister. Those are all distractions, corruptions and liturgical abuse of just the last 60 years. This modernistic idea has destroyed the actual participation a soul must have in order to participate as Mary did at the foot of the Cross.
Let us delve into what the Church always understood by active participation. The Blessed Virgin Mary is a great starting point for souls to think about how accompany Our Lord in His Sacred Passion. She is the best example of how a soul must participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Yet, being the weak beings that we are, we need help, signs and gestures to get us into that right act of worship, devout prayer, and understanding of the reality of the Great Mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. While our Blessed Mother could meditate, pray and contemplate perfectly, the rest of us have to work on it a bit more. And the Holy Mother Church in her wisdom has helped souls since the beginning to enter into the mysteries of Christ's saving graces. Thus, at Holy Mass, along with the priest we are to join in with our hearts, minds, body and strength in this perfect worship to God Almighty. All the aspects and ceremonies of the Holy Mass: the prayers, gestures, incense and sacred music lifts up our souls to help us to participate in the Holy Mass and achieve this goal of imitating Mary at the foot of the Cross!
Active Participation in the Holy Mass can merit an increase of Sanctifying Grace , but this depends entirely upon our cooperation
Fr. Cochem explains briefly:
How precious a thing divine grace is, how well it merits that we should use every exertion to obtain it. Sanctifying Grace is to be acquired by contrition; Actual Grace, the increase of grace, is the reward of every good work which we perform in the state of grace. The more excellent that work is and the more perfectly it is performed, the more and the greater graces does it merit. Hence we may infer that great graces may be obtained by hearing Mass devoutly, since that is one of the very best of all good works, as we have already seen. Moreover, all theologians teach that Holy Mass operates to give an increase of divine grace and of celestial glory. Furthermore, they teach that “not the priest alone, but those of the laity who have Mass said or merely assist at Mass can, each in his degree, merit an increase of Sanctifying Grace and of heavenly glory, but this depends entirely upon their cooperation.”
St. Francis de Sales says of it in his Introduction to a Devout Life: “Holy Mass is the sun of all spiritual exercises, 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.”
Every time you hear Holy Mass in the state of grace, with devout attention and in a spirit of recollection, Our Blessed Lord, in His loving-kindness, makes you to participate in no less than 77 graces and fruits. (Click hereto see the 77 Graces and Fruits to Be Derived from Devout Attendance at Holy Mass: https://www.knightsrepublic.com/single-post/2020/03/28/77-Graces-and-Fruits-of-the-Holy-Sacrifice-of-the-Mass )
Active participation in the Mass is not something new, it has always been encouraged as we have seen from the above quotes. Active Participation was just called in various other ways like: "assisting" "attendance" "hearing" "offering" "praying" etc. The saintly Pope who conceived the phrase “active participation in the Mass” and used it first was Pope Saint Pius X. This is how he explained it:
“If you wish to participate in the Mass actively, you must follow with your eye, heart and mouth all that happens on the altar. Further, you must pray with the Priest the holy words said by him in the Name of Christ and which Christ says by him. You have to associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens at the altar. When acting in this way you have prayed Holy Mass."
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the Greatest Prayer we can assist in and take part in
St. John Eudes declares that: Prayer is a participation in the life of the angels and saints, in the life of Jesus Christ and of His most holy Mother, even of the life of God and of the Three Divine Persons."
Christ addressed to St. Mechtilde: “When the priest says in the Mass, ‘Through whom the Angels praise Thy majesty,’ do thou join thy voice to theirs in that celestial hymn of praise whereby the ever-blessed Trinity magnifies Itself and is magnified and wherein the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Angels and Saints do participate. Wherefore, say a Pater and offer it to Me in union with that hymn of praise with which Heaven and earth and all created things glorify Me.”
"Some people say they have a scruple about omitting their daily prayers in order to follow the Mass, Says Fr. Cochem, "They ought rather to have scruples about neglecting the prayers of the Mass for their ordinary devotions, since the former are much more important than the latter. They may be compared respectively to gold and copper; besides, our daily prayers may be said at any time; whereas, the prayers of the Mass only have their full value when said while the Holy Sacrifice is being offered. Even if for one time the prayers we are accustomed to say every day were entirely omitted, we should not be anything like so much the losers as if the acts of adoration and oblation were not made during Mass. For as Holy Mass surpasses all other devotions and spiritual exercises, so the prayers which include the Act of Oblation exceed in value all other forms of prayer."
Just think how the:
Holy Mass Is the Most Excellent Prayer to the Holy Trinity
Holy Mass Is the Most Sublime Sacrifice of Praise to God
Holy Mass Is the Noblest Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
Holy Mass Is the Most Efficacious Sacrifice of Propitiation
Holy Mass Is the Most Complete Satisfaction for Sin
Holy Mass Procures for Us an Increase of Grace Here and of Glory Hereafter
Holy Mass Increases the Celestial Glory which Is to Be Our Portion Spiritual Communion
Holy Mass is the Most Certain Hope of the Dying
And so much more!
Praying the Mass and Singing the Mass
Pope Saint Pius X wrote the following in his motu proprio of 1903, Tra le sollecitudini: "Efforts must especially be made to restore the use of the Gregorian chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as they were wont to do in ancient times.” (Paragraph 3) Furthermore, in the 1928 document Divini c