The paradise of the Christian soul/Chap. VII. How to hear Mass well.
CHAPTER VII.
HOW TO HEAR MASS WELL.
Admonition on the Excellence, Profit, and Dignity of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Whoever does not hear or celebrate Mass daily when he is able, or does either of these too negligently, is either ignorant of the dignity and profitableness of so great a Sacrifice, or, at any rate, not value it duly.
For in the Mass the whole price of our salvation, and the whole treasure of Christ's merits, is set before every Christian, and the principal mysteries of our faith and redemption are renewed. Those, then, are convicted of carelessness of their salvation, of ingratitude to God, and of coldness towards their religious duties, who do not frequently reflect upon the blessing of their redemption with holy mental meditation, and with feelings of thankfulness to God.
Our Saviour, indeed, requires from us a frequent and grateful remembrance of his Passion and of his love to us, of which he has left to his Church so noble a monument, in saying, As often as you shall do this, you shall do it in remembrance of me.
It will not, therefore, be improper to note down here somewhat to explain the dignity and utility of so great a Sacrifice, and win the faithful to a greater reverence and regard for it.
For who is there of there of the faithful, says St. Gregory, who can doubt that, at the very hour of Sacrifice, the heavens are opened at the voice of the Priest; that the choirs of Angels are present at the mystery of Jesus Christ; that the things most high and most low join company; that the things of earth are united to those of heaven, and things visible and invisible are made one?
This is confirmed by St. Chrysostom,? who says, During the time that this Sacrifice is being performed, Angels are standing near the Priest, and the whole order of heavenly Powers raise their voices, and the place near the altar is full of choirs of Angels, to honour Him who is being sacrificed; which may be fully believed from the very nature of a Sacrifice so great as is then performed. That is to say, It is possible that those happy beings, the ministering Spirits, and, as it were, the courtiers of so great a King, would leave their Lord without the attendance of his retinue?
But listen to the most true, though wonderful sentiment of a very learned and pious author, Father Antony Molina, who says, If all the charity with which all the Saints together, from the very beginning of the world, have heen, and will be, inflamed to the end of time; the merits and praises rendered by them all to God; the torments ,of the martyrs, who, with heroic fortitude, have ured out theirlife and blood ‘or Christ ; the virtues of the Confessors, Patriarchs, Prophets, Monks, Hermits, and all the rest who, by another, slower, and, ina certain way, more difficult kind of martyrdom, have crucified them- selves, and subdued their rebellious appetites by fastings, watchings, and prayer, were all heaped together; and, lastly, if all the services rendered to God, how acceptable soever to him, past, present, or future, were added to them, they would not comprise the perfection of praise and honour that would a single Maas, celebrated by the poorest and humblest Priest.
And, not to seem to speak without reason, he adds, The reason of this is, that in every Mass Christ is the principal Priest, who, as such, offers up in act the Sacrifice itself. Now, the office of the Priest is to worship God. It is Christ, therefore, who, principally to supply our deficiency, worships and honours the Father in the Mass,
And it is certain that all creatures together cannot honour God so highly as the Son of God ; so that the Sa- crifice of the Mass, both on the part of him who offers and him who is offered, by far surpasses all the devotion and worship that could be rendered by any creature, or by all collectively.
Let Priests, then (justly adds the same author), observe what great riches they grasp in their hands. Shame and disgrace it is that any there should be who are most ready, for a thing of nought, to despoil themselves and others of a treasure of so great a magnitude. Thus the weighty and pious author aforesaid.
Consider, says Cardinal Bellarmine, how sad and lamentable a thing it is to see a Priest performing the divine Mysteries, surrounded on all sides by choirs of Angels, who tremble in amazement, and shout aloud with admiration, at the things which the Priest does and says, and yet he himself, in the midst of them, utterly cold Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/431 Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/432 Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/433 Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/434 Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/435