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'Telling (yeciets

Reflections on the Secrets of the Sunday

Masses and some of the greater Feast

Days.

by Placidus Kempf, O.S.B.

Price twenty-five cents

a Grail Publication

St. Meinrad, Indiana





'Telling ^eclets

Reflections on the Secrets of the Sunday

Masses and some of the greater Feast

Days.

by Placidus Kempf, O.S.B.

Price twenty-five cents

a Grail Publication

St. Mein rad, Indiana



Nihil Obstat:

Patrick Shaughnessy, S.T.D.

Censor deputatus

Imprimi potest:

Ignatius Esser
y
O.S.B.

Abbot of St. Meinrad's Abbey

Nihil Obstat:

Fintan G. Walker
,
Ph.D.

Censor librorum

Imprimatur:

^ Paul C. Schulte , D.D.
Archbishop of Indianapolis

September 16, 19U8

These Reflections are reprinted from THE MASS
YEAR for 1949.

Copyright 19U8

by

St. Meinrad's Abbey
,
Inc.

Oeaeftffed



TELLING SECRETS

“Secrets are not for publication/’ says an old

proverb. Doubtless because, once told, a secret

is no longer such. The “Secrets’* that we publish

herewith are the prayers of the Mass by that

name. The simple explanation of these prayers

should show how “telling,” that is, how full of

meaning, how “effective” they are.

The Secret is the silent, dedicatory prayer said

by the celebrant over the offerings, just after he

has invited the faithful to pray with him by his

fervent invitation: “Pray, brethren” (Orate, fra-

tres). These oblation prayers contain almost the

same thoughts as those expressed by the Offer-

tory chant. As in the whole oblation rite, so also

in the Secret there are two closely connected

petitions: one, that the sacrificial gifts prepared

on the altar may be accepted, blessed, sanctified,

and consecrated; the other, that the abundant

and manifold graces of the sacrifice be bestowed

upon the priest and the assisting faithful. The

Secrets belong to those changeable parts of the

Mass which has an influence on their form. In

this the spirit and the sense of the mysteries of

the church year are found incorporated and

blended in the most beautiful harmony and pro-

fuse variety. Hence, in spite of their great simi-

larity in general, the Secrets are not uniform,

but present in their arrangement and contents the

3



most pleasing variety, thereby showing the fruitful

elegance of the heavenly wisdom of the Church.

The priest recites these prayers silently, we are

told by liturgical writers, in order that the holy

sacrifice may not become monotonous, but may

offer a certain contrast between instruction and

prayer, between solemn singing and silent pray-

ing. This praying silently enables the priest to

pray with greater recollection, imitating the ex-

ample of Jesus, Who, in the Garden of Olives,

“going a stone’s throw off, knelt down to pray”

(St. Luke 22:41). It reminds the faithful also of

these silent soul-outpourings of Christ in the Gar-

den.

These silent prayers show that a silent, mysteri-

ous emotion breathes through this wonderful sac-

rifice in which Jesus is our hidden God and

Savior. They recall the composure and quiet

patience with which Christ entered upon His

sacred passion.

To the silent prayer of the priest are joined the

silent prayers of the assisting faithful. There

are secret needs and sufferings that do not come

to the surface in life, but are felt all the more

keenly in the secret chamber of the human heart.

Jesus, Who knows and hears in secret, will hear

these silent petitions that are joined to those of

the priest and placed into the chalice, as it were,

which will soon contain the Precious Blood of

Jesus, “the spokesman of the new covenant, and

the sprinkling of his blood, which has better

things to say than Abel’s had” (Heb. 12:24).

4



Feast of the Circumcision

THESE HEAVENLY MYSTERIES

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
receive our offerings and prayers, and

through these heavenly mysteries

cleanse us and

graciously hear us.

Our offering will soon be changed into Jesus

Christ, Who as an eight-day-old Infant sub-

mitted to the painful law of circumcision in

order to show that He was truly Man, born

of the race of Adam, and that, therefore, the

Jews had no cause to reject Him. He did so,

to sanction circumcision as a divine law, and to

give us an example of prompt and perfect obe-

dience to the law, to show that in His person

this law was to have its completion, and to

teach us to practice circumcision of heart as

recommended in both the Old and New Testa-

ments. “Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of

your heart, and stiffen your neck no more”

(Deut. 10:16). “As for circumcision, it is we

who practice it, we who serve God with the

spirit, and take pride in Jesus Christ, instead

of putting our trust in outward observances”

(Philip. 3:). Just as circumcision caused pain

in that part of the human body that is so easily

dominated by lust, so these mysteries should

“cleanse us” from this and all other sins caused

by the emotions of our flesh.

5



Feast of the Most Holy Name

SACRIFICE OF PRAISE

0 most merciful God,
may Thy blessing, by which every creature lives,

sanctify this our sacrifice

which we offer Thee for the glory

of the Name of Thy Son . .

.

Besides His Holy Name of Jesus, “the name

the angel had given him before even he was

conceived in the womb” (St. Luke 2:21), our

Savior calls Himself Alpha and Omega, “the

beginning of all things and their end” (Apoc.

1:8). Of ourselves we may say that “our be-

ginning is our end.” By “God’s blessing” we

live, and we live to “bless God,” to give glory

to His Name as Creator, Redeemer, and Sancti-

fier. We give glory to the Name of Jesus, our

Redeemer, by being redeemed, that is, by ac-

cepting the grace of redemption and cooperating

with this divine help in leading lives modelled

on the earthly life of Jesus, our elder Brother.

In this respect we have a simple test for de-

termining whether we are offering God a sacri-

fice of praise and are striving for our end in

the statement of our Lord, Who affirmed : “What

1 do is always what pleases him (my Father)”

(St. John 8:29). It matters little what we do,

provided that little is what God expects of us

at the moment, and that we do it as perfectly

as possible in order to please Him.

6



Feast of the Epiphany

OUR GIFT

O Lord, in Thy mercy
look down upon these gifts

of Thy Church in which . . .

He is sacrificed and received

Who is signified by these gifts.

The gifts that the Three Kings from the East

offered to the Babe of Bethlehem—gold, frank-
incense, and myrrh, are symbolical of the three

gifts we offer this same Christ Child on our

Bethlehem—the altar. We offer Him our soul
with its three powers—intellect (incense), mem-
ory (myrrh), and free will (gold). As the soul

of the grains of incense, released in the fire,

soars towards heaven with its sweet odor, so

our thoughts today seek their center, the Infant

Savior. At His small feet we lay our most

precious treasure, the gold of our free will,

purified of all the dross of self in the furnace

of divine love. Our memory, bitter like myrrh

at thought of our wickedness and vileness, finds

sweetness and consolation in the Savior, Who,

with outstretched arms on the cross of His

rough crib, fastened there by the nails of love,

already begins to drink the bitter cup that He

must drain to the very dregs. Jesus, in return

for our offering, gives Himself to us as our

personal Gift.

7



Feast of the Holy Family

PEACE AND GRACE

O Lord,
we offer Thee this Victim of our ransom, and . . .

we fervently Implore Thee

firmly to establish our families in

Thy peace and grace.

The Holy Family theme is woven throughout

the Proper of today's Mass. This pattern is

significant in the Secret where we ask for “peace

and grace" for our families. Peace
,
then grace.

In the middle of the ocean there is nothing but

commotion. But in the peaceful atmosphere of

your back yard (unless you live in a tenement

house), where the sun shines and the rain falls,

and peace reigns, flowers and vegetables can

grow and mature. God's dove of grace will not

alight on the churning waves— it seeks firm soil
for its heavenly feet. Perhaps God's grace can-

not work in your family because true peace is

lacking there. Peace is called the “tranquility

of order." The God-willed order for the mem-

bers of a family is—father, mother, children.
This order was strictly observed in the Holy

Family, although, according to the worthiness of

its members, we think it should have been re-

versed. This right order should cause each mem-

ber to “look up" with respect to each higher

member, now “down upon" the rest of the family

with disdain, the seed of discord, that may

mature into hate.

8



Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany

QUICKEN US

O Lord,
may the sacrifice which is offered

To Thee always

quicken and protect us.

This short prayer tells us that we need “life”

and “spirit,” for, “to quicken” means “to make

alive” or “to revive.” How slow we are to come

to this fountain of life! God must force us to

attend Holy Mass on Sundays and Holydays,

under pain or penalty of incurring spiritual

death by mortal sin, if our absence is culpable.

And, what vain excuses we dig up or invent for

attending the shortest mass and for leaving the

church as soon as possible! We find it hard,

perhaps, to push ourselves away from a well-

prepared and spread dining room table, or to

wean ourselves from a well of bodily pleasures,

but our true self, our soul, is left to die of

thirst and starvation. What we need is to have

our “faith” quickened, that by means of this

true light we may be able to evaluate properly

the real and necessary things of life. It is at

this Sacrifice and Sacrament of Faith that this

virtue, infused at the conferring of the super-

natural life of sanctifying grace at our spiritual

birth, our baptism, is increased and nourished

to ever-increasing perfection.

9



2nd Sunday after Epiphany

SANCTIFY US

O Lord,
sanctify the gifts we offer, and

cleanse us from the stains of our sins.

The Secret today, almost identical with that

of the Third Mass on Christmas day, might well

be our prayer at every holy Mass we attend.

The “gifts we offer”—of bread and wine—surely
need no sanctification. In a few moments the

words of consecration will change these pure

offerings into the true Body and Blood of Jesus.

But they are our representatives at the throne

of God. We join with them the offering of
ourselves. But the change of ourselves into pure

and holy children of our Heavenly Father is

not accomplished in a moment by a few words,

no matter how fervent they may be. It is a

slow, yes, lifelong process, but each grace should

bring us a step closer to this God-set goal. The

grace of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice may

be called a threefold grace, as it gives us the

model, manner, and means of changing self from

sinner to saint. For, because of the consecration

there can be a conversion, either actual or at

least spiritual, in which Christ comes personally

to perform this miracle if we will permit Him

and cooperate with Him.

10



3rd Sunday after Epiphany

ALTAR PLATE

O Lord, we pray Thee,
may this Victim take away our sins, and

sanctify the bodies and minds of Thy servants

for the celebration of this sacrifice.

The paten, on which the host is offered and

on which the consecrated Host later reposes, is

goldplated and consecrated for its exalted use.

It can be desecrated by profane use, as the

enemies of our faith have done in the past. The

same may be said of our bodies. They form

the “altar plate” to be used by the “priest” (our

free will) in the temple of the soul. Take, for

instance, our pliable hands. They can be used

to labor, to feed the body, to give alms, to nurse

the sick, to be folded in prayer, as the “sacred

utensils” of the industrious, mortified, charita-

ble, and pious soul. Again, they may be used by

the selfish, lustful soul to steal, to strike in

anger, to satisfy lustful desires, and in this way

these “sacred utensils” are desecrated. Well do

we pray today that our Divine Victim may take

away the stain of our vices and reconsecrate

our church plate, our bodies, that henceforth

they may be used only in His holy service.

Only then may they expect an eternal place in

the church of heaven with our saved and glori-

fied souls.

11



Jpth Sunday after Epiphany

PROTECT US

O Almighty God, we beseech Thee,
grant that the offering of this sacrifice

may ever cleanse and protect

our weakness from all evil.

We are slow to realize that “all evil” comes
from ourselves. The only evil is sin. Because

of the weakness of our will we today turn to

God and ask Him to protect us against sin by

a threefold aid. The will, the hand and foot,

that do the evil deed are impelled are goaded

on thereto by the ear of the memory and the

eye of the understanding. Satan loves to make

us “deaf,” to “forget” God's words of warning

and threats of punishment, and makes the

“good” or “pleasure” to be gained by the for-

bidden act to appear so bright a light that for

a moment right reason and luminous faith

seemed to be dimmed by the glare of this vicious

desire. Only after the deed are our ears opened

to remorse and our eyes to the truth. The cure

lies in our will. Just as the will forces the mind

to accept on faith the truths that it cannot

understand by its own light, so the will must

also keep the ear of the memory open as to

the “evil” of sin. Of this the Mass is the best

reminder.

12



5th Sunday after Epiphany

OUR STAFF

O Lord,
we offer Thee this sacrifice of reparation,

so that,

taking pity on us, Thou

wilt forgive our sins, and

direct our fickle hearts.

The historic Christ stands before us in the

Gospel of the Holy Mass, not merely by His

words to instruct us as to the one true way to

heaven (which He is), but above all to show

us by His example how we must walk upon this

road to our true home. Jesus was deeply emo-

tional, but not temperamental, moody. There

was no hastiness or excitement in His actions.

His was the steady, firm step of the experienced

mountain climber. He was motivated by His

Father's Will; that was His food. From the

clear path, outlined by His Father, He will not

swerve an inch. Like the sun He keeps to His

charted course. His earthly life, from the crib

to the cross, was a straight line—the shortest
distance between two points. Praise did not

spur Him on. Failure, ingratitude, calumny, did

not perplex, disturb, or discourage Him. Un-

daunted He hurdled mountains of difficulties

that beset His path. His encouraging example,

brought to our attention daily, must be our staff,

our walking stick to help our “fickle hearts"

keep to the straight, narrow path that leads

—home.
13



6th Sunday after Epiphany

AFTER THE BATH

O God, we pray Thee,
may this offering

cleanse and renew us,

govern and protect us.

Spiritual truths and images are hard to grasp

by our sense-bound nature. We can best under-
stand the fourfold effect of the holy sacrifice,

as expressed in our prayer, by a familiar, daily

occurrence. A mother takes her child, soiled at
play, and “cleanses” it in a “refreshing” bath,

that also “renews” its vigor and vitality. To

keep the child from getting dirty again, the

mother must “govern” or restrain it, by keeping

it away from objects that can soil its clothes and

body, and “protect” it against playmates who

might lure it into the dirt again. That is just

what the “Blood bath” of the holy sacrifice does

to our sin-soiled soul. It cleanses it from the

last vestiges (dust) of sins repented of, and

gives it that tingling sensation of new life.

Being both mother and child, the will (mother)

must protect the child (itself) against future

contamination by locking the door of consent

that will keep the “dirty” devil and his entice-

ments safely outside. And when the will does

go forth to duty, the dust of the earth can be

blown from its sandals by the shortest breath

of prayer.

14



Septuagesima Sunday

ACTIONS SPEAK

O Lord, we plead with Thee,
accept our offerings and prayers,

and by these heavenly mysteries cleanse us

and graciously hear us.

The church building is not merely a house of

prayer; it is, above all, a place of sacrifice.

Prayers form part of the sacrificial action, but

they are really the outward expression of the

interior acts of the soul of the worshipper.

Hence, we should not say prayers at Holy Mass

(and least of all such as take our mind off the

sacrificial functions at the altar), but our

prayers should “grow out” of the sacrificial ac-

tion in which we are taking part. Only then

may we expect to be heard. God will then be

pleased to “listen” to the words of our actions

(our offerings) and the utterances of our lips.

He will then also “graciously hear” us by grant-

ing us the graces we humbly ask for, especially

if we ask to be cleansed more and more from

the least stain of sin. For, the more we re-

semble God by purity of soul, the more pleasing

we are in His sight and the louder do our actions

speak into His eager ear.

15



Sexagesima Sunday

PROTECTED

O Lord,
may this sacrifice, offered to Thee,

give us life, and

protect us at all times.

In order to preserve its young life, a fond

mother must not only nourish properly the in-

fant to which she has given birth until it can

take food of itself, but during its early years

must often insist that it eat the right kind and

take the proper amount of nourishing food. Food

not only preserves the life of the body, but it

also builds up and preserves its health. Healthy

tissues are the best protection against the car-

riers of disease. The same is true of the super-

natural life of our soul. Like Moses of old, who,

at God’s command struck the rock with his staff

and opened up a fountain of refreshing water,

Jesus, with the staff of His Cross opened in

the rock of God’s mercy the bountiful water of

supernatural life that He communicates to the

redeemed soul. Not content with giving us life,

He also nourishes this life and aims to bring it

to its perfection by inviting us to come daily

and to drink deeply of the fountain of life as

the best protection against the disease germs

of sin.

16



Quinquagesima Sunday

FULL DRESS

O Lord, we pray Thee,
may this Victim take away our sins

and sanctify the bodies and minds

of Thy servants

for the celebration of this sacrifice.

A delicate sense of propriety makes us appear

in the Lord’s house with a clean body, dressed

in our “Sunday best.” The body may be clean

physically, but may be soiled morally, being con-

taminated by a soiled, sinful soul. The guilt of

sin is, indeed, in the understanding and the will,

yet the body with its senses is the usual ac-

complice in the crime by lending itself either as

the tool for performing the sinful act, or as a

purveyor of the sinful pleasure. It, therefore,

also needs to be purified from this moral taint

together with the real culprit, the soul. The

rubbing process of the soiled soul, contrition,

which is its part in the purifying process, makes

it susceptible to the cleansing sacramental wa-

ters. The rubbing process for the body’s moral

purification is called mortification. It consists

in making the body suffer by restricting its

wants and by denying it lawful pleasures. Our

Divine Victim, Who suffered most in His soul

for our sins, also endured indescribable torments

in His sinless body to “sanctify our bodies and

minds.”

17



1st Sunday of Lent

FASTING AND FEASTING

O Lord,
we solemnly offer this sacrifice

at the beginning of Lent

beseeching Thee, that

while we abstain from table feasting

we may also refrain from harmful pleasures.

Take the “e” from “feasting” and you will

have “fasting.” The “E” stands for EXCESS.

There are two kinds of excess. The one is harm-

ful, the other, helpful. Fasting may be taken

as a general term and be made to signify re-

fraining from all things harmful to body and

soul, such as “excessive” eating, drinking,

“harmful” pleasures, and so on. But there is also

a good excess, which consists in “exceeding” the

usual (and often very small) measure of good

we are accustomed to do during the rest of the

year. Thus, attending holy mass more often and

more devoutly, praying more often and more

fervently, receiving the sacraments of penance

and Holy Communion more frequently and more

worthily, giving more abundant alms—in a word,
being a better Catholic in church, at home, and

at work. If we put this “E(xcess)” into our

“fasting” it will really be “feasting,” for it is

more interesting to strive for positive perfection

(the acquiring of the virtues) than for negative

perfection (the getting rid of our bad habits).

18



2nd Sunday of Lent

ARE YOU DEVOUT?

O Lord, we beg Thee
to look favorably upon these sacrifices

that they may be profitable both

to our devotion and salvation.

Sincere souls often complain that they do not

"feel” any devotion. Can devotion be felt? Can

these “devout” feelings or emotions be called up

at will? In what does “devotion” really consist?

The Latin word from which the English word

“devotion” is derived means
—

“to vow or devote

anything to a deity.” By devotion we dedicate

to the highest Being, to God, the highest power

of our soul, our free will. Now, there is no

feeling in the will. You “know” that you have

devotion, but you cannot “feel” it. You are

devout, are devoted to God, if your will is one

with His, if you can truthfully say with the

Victim on the altar: “What I do is always what

pleases Him (my Father)” (St. John 8:29). In

the holy gospels we have the faithful record of

that perfect fulfilment of His Father's will to

the smallest detail. The more our devotedness

to our heavenly Father's Will approaches the

perfect fulfilment of it by His divine Son, the

more we shall feel and enjoy the “effects” of

this childlike devotion—peace of conscience and

true joy of heart.

19



3rd Sunday of Lent

CONCELEBRATION

O Lord, we pray Thee,
may this Victim take away our sins

and sanctify the bodies and minds

of Thy servants

for the celebration of this sacrifice.

A very impressive part in the conferring of
holy orders on the ministers at the altar is the

act of immediately exercising the power of that

order just received. Thus, the porter locks and

unlocks the church door, and rings the bells;

the acolyte serves the wine and water; the sub-

deacon reads (or chants) the epistle, and the

deacon, the gospel. As soon as a deacon has

been ordained a priest, he exercises his tremen-

dous power immediately by celebrating the or-

dination mass with the ordaining prelate. This

act is known as “concelebration.” It is really

his “first mass.” After saying the secret prayers

with the priest, and after receiving its sanctify-

ing effect on your contrite soul and mortified

body, you are ready to enter the holy of holies

with him to offer the Divine Victim to the

heavenly Father. Participation in the holy sac-

rifice means more than a mere reciting of the

prayers that the priest recites at the altar. It

means uniting your soul as closely as the priest

does to the Victim in order to become “another

Christ.”

20



litK Sunday of Lent

SAFE!

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
give heed and be appeased

by the sacrifices here before Thee

that they may be of profit both

to our devotion and salvation.

During an electric storm we are advised not

to seek shelter under a tree, as this might prove

to be a lightning conductor—and may conduct
us into eternity. In the spiritual life we do just

that. Not, that we may die, but that we may

live. We seek the highest mountain (Calvary)

and the shelter of the tallest tree (the Cross)

so that when the lightning of God's just wrath

strikes it (and it was erected for that very

purpose, like a lightning rod) we may not be

killed but live. After the Father's just wrath

had struck the Cross on Calvary and killed His

Son in our stead, He was appeased. The same

is still true today. When God would destroy

some modern cities, as He did of old to Sodom

and Gomorrha, because of the wickedness of its

inhabitants, His hand is stayed, for everywhere

and at every moment of time He sees new

Crosses erected on altar-calvaries throughout

the world—and He is appeased. Should we not,
then, seek refuge under the sheltering arms of

the Cross as often as we can? We are always
safe there.

21



Passion Sunday

TIED HANDS

O Lord, we beg of Thee,
may these offerings loose the bonds

of our wickedness

and procure for us the gifts of Thy mercy.

Our sins tie God's hands. As long as the

guilt of sin remains, Divine Justice demands

that it be duly punished. By His death on the

Cross Jesus atoned for the guilt of all sins.

When His infinite merits are applied for the

remission of the guilt of original and personal

sin, the guilt and eternal punishment due to

grievous sin are remitted. When the “bonds of

our wickedness" are thus broken, God's Hands

are also untied, as it were, and, instead of ex-

ercising justice He is free to show infinite mercy

to His repentant children. This He does by

giving us the special “gift of His mercy"

—

by making it possible for us to atone also for

the temporal punishment due to forgiven sin,

which must be endured here on earth or once in

Purgatory. The easiest means of making this

atonement is to unite ourselves with the Divine

Victim. Thereby we put on the garments of the

Son of God, and when the Father perceives the

“fragrant smell" of His Son's garments, He

gives us the kiss of peace and admits us to the

beatific vision.

22



Palm Sunday

EVERLASTING HAPPINESS

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
grant that this gift, offered

before the eyes of Thy majesty,

may obtain for us the grace of devotion

and the reward of everlasting happiness.

The inventive mind of modern man has made

it possible that, by the mere pressing of an

electric button, a mechanical servant will per-

form a distasteful task in a few moments that

formerly consumed several hours of backbreak-

ing labor and profuse perspiration. The wisdom

of our Creator infinitely outstrips the darkened

mind of pigmy man. He not only makes some-

thing out of nothing—ourselves, but He also, so
to speak, gives us something for nothing, be-

cause the effort of “doing” is so slight in com-

parison with the ease of “receiving” that it is

practically negligible. Yet, it is just that little

which receives the “reward of everlasting hap-

piness.” And what is that little? The simple

act of our free will in giving back to God all

that we have received from Him in the begin-

ning. If Christ was “offered because it was

His own will” (Is. 53:7), then we are rewarded

if we will it effectually. It is in the school of

the Cross that we learn this important lesson

for this life on which depends our happiness

here and hereafter.

23



Easter Sunday

A DAILY DOSE

O Lord, we implore Thee,
receive the prayers of Thy people

together with our offering of sacrifice

so that what we have begun

on this feast of Easter

may by Thy grace become a healing

remedy unto life everlasting.

“Prayers” and “sacrifice”
—

“beginning” and

“end,” seem to sum up the theme of today's

Secret. The stress, of course, is on “sacrifice”

and “end.” What we (should) have begun on

this “feast of Easter,” is to have risen with

Christ to a new life. The fact that such is our

desire does not mean that it is an accomplished

fact. Only by a daily dying to self will there

also be a daily, more perfect resurrection as a

new person in Christ. We need, therefore, a
daily reminder of our spiritual dying and rising

again, and a daily “healing remedy” to accom-

plish that happy end. Both are given us in

daily Mass. For, the consecrated Host is the

glorified Body of Christ, and, when receiving

His sacred Body in Holy Communion, we may

well pray as the priest does: “Grant, 0 Lord,

that what we have taken into our mouth, we

may receive with a pure mind; as a temporal

gift, may it become unto us an eternal remedy.”

Thus we can celebrate Easter each day of our

earthly life as a preparation for our eternal

Easter.

24



Low Sunday "•

THREEFOLD REJOICING

O Lord,
we ask Thee to receive the gifts

of Thy rejoicing church, and

even as Thou hast given her cause

for such great joy,

so also grant her the fruit

of perpetual gladness.

“Rejoicing— joy— gladness”— these three
words may well remind us of the Church in her

threefold stage—triumphant in heaven, suffering
in Purgatory, and militant on earth. We, on

earth, offer our gifts, ourselves, rejoicing with

the risen Savior. His glorious resurrection

brought heaven to earth. In a few moments He,

Who delights the angels and saints with His

presence, will be the delight of our eyes of faith

on the altar. To us, the “fighting” members of

the Church, it gives the assurance of what will

follow our “battle to the death” with the enemies

of our salvation. The Church suffering in Pur-

glory looks longingly to our altar and our gifts,

because the fruits of this present holy sacrifice

will be applied to some (or many) of that prison

of patient purification to enable them to begin

their life of “perpetual gladness” in the home

of their Heavenly Father, of Christ, their elder,

risen Brother, of the Holy Spirit, their Sancti-

fier, of Mary, their Mother, and of all the angels

and saints. What joy their first Alleluia at

“home” will contain!

25



2nd Sunday after Easter

HEALTHFUL BLESSING

Let this sacred offering ever

bestow upon us Thy healthful blessing, and

what it performs in mystery

may it produce in virtue.

Venial sin is a weakness or sickness of the

soul that may lead to death, to mortal sin. The

antidote to sin and the restorer of spiritual

(supernatural) health is the Cross, from which

every blessing flows. That this “healthful bless-

ing, the merits of Christ's death on the Cross,

may be bestowed on us, our soul must first be

capable of receiving it. It must be joined to this

source as a hose to a tank of water. In it must

be “performed the mystery" that is accomplished

in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that of tran-

substantiation, the changing of the substance of

the “sacred offering" into the true Body and

Blood of Christ. This change is effected in us

when the substance of sin is destroyed, when

our will severs all attachment to the evil (for-

bidden) object and clings to the Supreme Good.

“The innocent in hands, and clean of heart . .

.

shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and

mercy from God, his Savior" (Ps. 23:4,5). This

“virtue" or “power" is offered us in Holy Mass,

and it will produce its effect if we are properly

disposed.

26



3rd Sunday after Easter

A LITTLE WHILE

O Lord, by these mysteries confer upon us
the grace to restrain our earthly desires

so that we might learn how to love

the things of heaven.

St. Peter today exhorts us as “pilgrims” to

restrain ourselves from “carnal desires.” “Spend

no thought on nature and nature's appetites,”

St. Paul advises the Romans (13:14). To the

Galatians he writes : “Learn to live and move in

the spirit” (5:16). Live in the spirit, not as a

spirit. We may not, by excessive fasts, try to

become as transparent as a piece of onionskin

paper. But as “athletes” and “sprinters” we

must keep our appetites under control (I Cor.

9:25). The “sprinter” throws off all superfluous

clothing and hardly touches the earth as he

fairly flies to his goal and prize. Since walking

or “sprinting,” is no longer fashionable, and as

each child is born clutching a driver's license,

one may say “shift gears” from reverse into

forward, and from low (earthly) into high

(heavenly). That's all. You do that simple thing

by giving your soul the proper direction (“I am

going to the Father”)—and the motive power
to reach that happy goal and prize quickly and

securely (“a little while”). Earthly pleasures last

“a little while,” those of heaven never end.

Bodily pains last “a little while,” but the ecstatic

joys of heaven will last forever.

27



Uth Sunday after Easter

ELECTRIFIED

O God, Who by the Communion of this Sacrifice
hast made us partakers of Thy one

and supreme divine Nature,

grant that we who know Thy truth

may also follow it by a holy life.

The Cross on Calvary marks the central point

of history. All men look to this sign of salvation.

Our Mt. Calvary is the altar in the nearest

church where Christ continues, in an unbloody

manner, His sacrifice on the Cross. By His death

Jesus removed the huge stone from the bottom-

less well of divine life, that man had placed

there by his own perverse will, in order that

his soul might drink as often and as deeply as

it chooses of this essential Water. For that,

contact is necessary. By faith the soul contacts

Divine Truth, and by baptism it is coupled again

to the Source of all Life. Life flows into and

Light floods the soul, showing it the true Way,

and causing it to walk thereon. By that it makes

us as true Christians, followers of Christ, lead

a worthy life. Christ, Who walks the earth no

more in visible form, wishes us to take His

place and to draw others to the Truth and Life

by the light our own good life spreads around

us. Yes, we are the ELECT of God, ELECTed

to ELECTrify all with whom we come in contact.

28



5th Sunday after Easter

DEVOTION

O Lord, receive the prayers of those
who believe in Thee,

together with an offering of sacrifice, so that

through this service of loving devotion

we may enter into the glory of heaven.

Prayer is not a magic formula that will pro-

duce magic results merely by the mechanical

repetition of certain words and phrases. Prayer

is an act of worship of God and, to be performed

properly, demands faith in Him to Whom this

worship is offered, for it adores Him, thanks

Him, asks pardon for offenses committed against

Him, and, finally, asks for the graces necessary

to serve Him more faithfully in the future.

Prayer is not a mere lip-offering, but the offer-

ing of the sentiments of the heart in sacrifice.

The model for the sentiments for humble and

complete subjection are found in the Heart of

the Victim on the altar. That is the essence of

true devotion, for, according to St. Thomas, the

word “devotion” is derived from two words

meaning to “vow to.” It implies the readiness

of our will to serve God. “Those persons are

said to be devout,” he says, “who, in a way,

devote themselves to God, so as to subject them-

selves wholly to Him.” The sensible delight or

affection, which we sometimes experience at

prayer or during Holy Mass, is only an acci-

dental gift of God. We should seek God for
Himself, not for His gifts to us.

29



Feast of the Ascension

LIFTED UP

O Lord, accept the gifts that we bring to Thee
for the glorious Ascension of Thy Son,

and mercifully grant that

we may be freed from present dangers, and

finally arrive at everlasting life.

The gifts that we bring to the Heavenly

Father in honor of the glorious ascension of His

well-beloved Son, the bread and wine, are sym-

bols of the gift of ourselves, our body and soul.

We ask that God's grace may transform these

gifts. The danger to final perseverance and see-

ing again face to face Jesus, Who took leave

of the world today, is final impenitence, due to

“unbelief and obstinacy of heart," of which

Jesus reproached the eleven as they sat at table.

Faith holds as true what is beyond the grasp

of human reason because of the authority of

Him Who reveals the true. Unbelief is produced

by a certain obstinate clinging to our own opin-

ion, a stubbornness of will that causes the soul,

as it were, to become callous, then to harden

like a stone, and like it to tend downward, to

earth. To ascend to heaven it must be made

light. It is faith that gives the soul wings. To

fly with these spiritual wings requires daily

practice. This is had when we imitate the apos-

tles who, after the Ascension, walked (lived)

no longer by sight but by faith.

30



Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension

PURE AND STRONG

O Lord, may this Immaculate sacrifice

purify us and

strengthen our souls with grace from heaven.

Jesus became man in order to be able to die

for our sins. He assumed His human nature

from an “immaculate” Virgin-mother. Hence He

did not become heir to Adam's sad inheritance,

bequeathed to all his children—original sin. The
sins of all men were to be loaded on the back

of this divine Isaac as the wood of His sacrifice

which He must carry up to the altar stone of

sacrifice, Mt. Calvary. Because He is immacu-

late, His sacrifice for the remission of the guilt

and punishment due to sin is always accepted

by the Father. Although our sins are very much

our own, they are really the abuse of the help

given us by God for doing just the opposite.

For, when God moves our will, yet freely, that

we may make a meritorious choice of the good

by serving Him, we reject this grace and choose

the evil by rebelling against Him. Hence it is

necessary that we not only be freed from our

past sins (guilt and punishment) but also have

our wills “strengthened by grace from heaven”

so as always to choose the good in future.

31



Pentecost Sunday

HEAT AND LIGHT

O Lord, we plead,
sanctify these gifts offered unto Thee, and

Cleanse our hearts by the light

of the Holy Spirit.

The material sun is not merely a source of

light and heat, but also of health and vigor.

Its bright rays have healing properties that are

utilized by the physician and are imitated by

the makers of artificial sources of illumination.

On the first Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended

upon the Apostles, assembled in the Cenacle, in

the form of tongues of fire in order to enlighten

their dark minds, to warm their cold hearts,

and to heal and strengthen their sin-weakened

souls. We pray for a repetition of these benefits

in our gifts, in ourselves. We ask the Holy Spirit

to cleanse our hearts as gold is purified in the

furnace. We ask Him to sanctify us by giving

us anew what He is—Charity. Sanctity and
charity can and do go together. A man that

does not love God and his neighbor is not holy.

Charity is the greatest of all the gifts of the

Holy Spirit. Now “the love of God has been

poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

whom we have received” (Rom. 5:5).

32



Trinity Sunday

ETERNAL OFFERING

O Lord, our God, having called upon
Thy Holy Name,

we pray Thee to sanctify the Victim

of this offering, and as a result of it,

make us an eternal offering to Thee.

After washing his hands at Mass, the priest,

bowing low at the middle of the altar calls upon

God's Holy Name as he prays : “Receive, 0 Holy

Trinity, this offering that we make to Thee .

.

The true Victim is the all-holy God. The offer-

ing of bread and wine, that is to be changed

into the true Victim, is materially pure, but it

must be raised to a supernatural plane, as it

were, to be less unworthy of its sublime destiny.

We, whom our offering at the altar represents,

are sanctified by the merits of the Victim on

the altar, Who there continues His offering on

the Cross, and applies to us now, who were not

present then, its purifying and sanctifying ef-

fects. Just as Christ remains present in the

tabernacle as a Victim—the Holy Eucharist is
the fruit of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—so
we, following His abiding example, are ever to

keep ourselves in a state of willing victims, as

“eternal offerings" of gratitude to the three

Divine Persons for all the blessings flowing from

this individual action in our souls.

33



Feast of Corpus Christi

UNITY AND PEACE

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
favorably grant to Thy Church

the gifts of unity and peace

which are mysteriously signified

in the gifts we offer.

On the corporal before the priest lies the

offered host which “mysteriously signifies unity

and peace.” The separate grains of wheat have

lost their individuality by giving up their soul

under the pressure of the millstone. That “one”

mass of flour is made still more “one” by the

addition of a little water as the binding force

of the powdered meal. The paste, then, is given

further and constant “unity” by the pressure

and heat of the baking iron. Peace is the unity

of souls, of wills. Could there be a better symbol

of peace and unity than the pure, perfect host

that is soon to become the true Body of Christ,

thereby losing of its own substance all but the

appearance of bread? If we could as completely

submerge our own puny, selfish interests and

warring elements in us, as the grain of wheat

does so generously, into the interests of the

other members of Christ's mystical body, and

above all into those of its Head, this would

be the answer to the prayer of the Secret of

today's Mass.

34



Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

AN ACCEPTABLE GIFT

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
behold the unutterable charity of the Heart

of Thy dearly beloved Son,

so that, what we offer, may be

an acceptable gift to Thee, and

the expiation of our sins.

We ask the Heavenly Father to look upon the

Heart of His well-beloved Son, as though already

pulsating beneath the veil of the Sacred Host.

The burning love of the Sacred Heart, that

cold words cannot describe, makes both our gift

and us acceptable to our Heavenly Father. It

gives Him due and infinite adoration in our

name, and makes our own acts of finite, weak

love pleasing to Him, because they rise like

sweet-smelling incense from the glowing coals

of hearts that have been cleansed from all sin.

The diastolic and systolic action of the Sacred

Heart of Jesus—His filial love of the Father
and all-pardoning love of sinners—is also the
Model for our own heart's action towards God

and our neighbor. Only the gifts of a forgiving

heart will be acceptable to God. “If thou art

offering thy gift at the altar, and there remem-

berest that thy brother has anything against

thee, leave thy gift before the altar and go first

to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come

and offer thy gift" (St. Matth. 5:23-5).

35



2nd Sunday after Pentecost

HEAVEN ON EARTH

O Lord, may this offering about
to be dedicated to Thy Holy Name,

purify us, and

make us advance day by day in

the practice of a heavenly life.

Our short life on earth is intended to be a

course of training for our true life in heaven.

We must not only “learn” to do, we must, above
all, “do,” that is, put our knowledge of God

into practice, make acts of love of God. Heaven

is not a land of blissful idleness. To say that

there our souls will “rest” in God does not mean

that they will do nothing. Man will be at rest

in so far as he has reached his goal and can

never again be separated from his end, the

triune God. But, like the “ever-resting” Trinity,

he will be intensely active. He will be deified,

as St. Thomas says, “by a participation of God's

likeness, not by the property of nature.” His

likeness to God will consist in imitating God,

Who is Love. There it will be given to us “to

catch the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, with

faces unveiled; and so we become transfigured

into the same likeness ” (2 Cor. 3:18).

36



3rd Sunday after Pentecost

SAVED AT LAST

Look upon the offerings

of Thy praying Church, and

grant that they may ever be received

unto the perpetuai sanctification and

salvation of those who believe.

When Jesus sent His Apostles out into the

whole world to preach the Gospel, He laid down

two essential conditions for salvation. “He who

believes and is baptised will be saved” (St. Mark

16:16). Faith and baptism, however, are but

the beginning of salvation, the entrance fee, as

it were, to the kingdom of heaven. The purchas-

ing of a ticket to a grand opera gives assurance

of admission to the performance, if the holder

comes in person to present it. The personal

effort of going to the theatre, entering the door,

and taking the assigned seat is required before

he can enjoy the presentation. Today's Secret

reminds us of our “perpetual” sanctification, the

bringing in ourselves to ever fuller maturity and

perfection the seed of sanctifying grace or di-

vine life, implanted in our souls at baptism, by

faithful cooperation with God's sacramental and

actual graces. Only by our personal effort is our

salvation assured. This does not take place until

we actually enter the gates of heaven and take

our appointed seat in God's throne room. For,

all Christ's merits and our own good works can

be made useless by a wilful turning away from

God as we breathe our last.

37



Uth Sunday after Pentecost

OUT OF JOINT

O Lord, we pray Thee,
be pleased to accept these our offerings, and

in Thy mercy compel our rebellious

wills to turn unto Thee.

Like a solicitous nurse Holy Mother Church

today asks the Divine Physician gently yet firm-

ly to press back into place the dislocated mem-

bers of our souls—our rebellious wills. There
is a great amount of stubbornness in rebellion.

Look at the little rebel in his high chair, who

refuses to eat because his little will has been

crossed! We do not say: “I'll go to the banquet

to show my respects to the host, but I'll not

eat or drink of the good things served.” Yet,

we may do just that when present at Holy Mass

on Sundays. Our bodily presence and distracted

attention to the holy action at the altar may

cause us to fulfil the letter of the law. The

offering of the bread and wine may symbolize

our material offering of a tenth of our income,

a day’s wages, or a slick nickel hiding in a

numbered envelope, but God wants especially the

spiritual offering of our rebellious will, our dear

Isaac, that we alone can slay to the honor of

the Lord. Perhaps it is still so rebellious be-

cause we refuse to do just that, to “attend”

rather than merely to “assist” at Holy Mass.

38



5th Sunday after Pentecost

EACH AND ALL

O Lord, be merciful to our humble pleading, and

receive kindly these offerings of

Thy servants, both men and women,

that what they have each offered

for the glory of Thy Name

may be of profit to the salvation of all.

The Secret today gives the answer to Cain's

question: “Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen.

4:9) The answer is an emphatic “Yes!" We

are all relations of Cain, for we have slain our

Elder Brother, the eternal Son of God, by nailing

Him to the Cross on Calvary. But by His very

death He appeased His Father's anger and

changed us from accursed murderers and dei-

cides into blessed children of God. In a few

moments each one of those assisting at the Holy

Sacrifice will offer up anew this same Son on

the cross of the altar in an unbloody manner

to the Heavenly Father in atonement for his

personal sins as well as for the sins of all the

other members of Christ's mystical body. Thus

the offering of “each" is profitable to the sal-

vation of “all." What joy and consolation for

me ! Whilst I am here making my personal

offering, I, too, am sharing in the personal offer-

ing of each of my brethren the world over and

that, too, without interuption. Could more be

done for my salvation?

39



6th Sunday after Pentecost

SKYROCKETS

O Lord, be appeased by our
humble pleadings, and

please accept these offerings

of Thy people, and that

no one’s prayer go in vain,

no one’s petition go unheard,

grant that we may actually obtain

what we ask in lively faith.

Adam invented and used the first skyrocket in

the first prayer that he sent from this land of

exile to the throne of God. Each of his children

has used it ever since. Judging by tangible

results, we often claim that our “rockets” do

not reach their goal. The fault may lie in the

matter of the prayer of petition, or in the peti-

tioner himself. Usually it is not in the matter

asked for. God wisely withholds what would

be hurtful to us, and generously gives us some-

thing better instead, and always more than we

ask for. Usually the rocket sender is at fault.

His prayer lacks “humility” and “faith.” Hu-

mility is truth. In this bright light we see our

utter helplessness and complete dependence on

God. But this light of truth comes only from the

spark and fire of faith. It is this God-infused

spark, our faith, that makes our prayer rocket

reach its goal. Faith attains to God, not in the

clearness of vision, but it makes us adhere to the

uncreated, revealing Divine Truth, and thus it

“gives substance to our hopes and convinces us

of things we cannot see” (Heb. 11:1).

40



7th Sunday after Pentecost

TYPE AND REALITY

O God, Who didst permit a variety of sacrifices
under the Old Law awaiting the One

Perfect Sacrifice,

receive this sacrifice from

Thy devoted servants, and

sanctify it, as Thou didst sanctify

the gifts of Abel,

so that what each one has brought

here to the glory of Thy Majesty,

may be of profit to us all.

In the Secret for the Feast of the Most

Precious Blood (on July 1st) we pray: “Upon

Thine altar may we renew the sprinkling of

that Blood which speaketh better than that of

Abel.
,,

Today we are reminded of the gifts

that Abel offered to the Lord. Being a shep-

herd, and feeling the need of showing his

adoration and subjection to His Creator he of-

fered “of the firstlings of his flock, and of their

fat in his name” (Gen. 4:4). Because of the

sincerity of his sentiments the Lord “looked

favorably upon his offerings.” When God did

not do the same to Cain's offering, Cain slew

his brother in a fit of anger and jealousy. Thus

Abel became the prototype of the “Lamb of God”

Who offered His Blood and life on the altar of

the Cross to appease the offended Majesty of

God. God looks with pleasure on our own mate-

rial offerings, but the offering of ourselves, al-

though we do not shed our blood, is the voice

of praise that thrills Him more.

41



8th Sunday after Pentecost

FIRE PASSING THROUGH

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
receive these gifts, which, out of

Thine own generosity we bring unto Thee,

that these most holy Mysteries,

by the working power of Thy grace,

may sanctify our conduct in this life, and

bring us to joys without end.

Man “will be saved though only as men are

saved by passing through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15).

God, in His boundless generosity, has given us

the material gifts (bread and wine) that we

may offer them to Him on the altar. Christ

will “sanctify” or “deify” them by changing

them into the true substance of His Body and

Blood. The offering of ourselves, symbolized by

the material gifts, is made that the Divine Vic-

tim “may sanctify our conduct in this life.”

This is a long, yes, a lifelong process. It begins

with the infusion of God's life (sanctifying

grace) and the spark of Divine Love into our

souls at baptism. This divine spark, slumbering

till the age of reason, is thereafter, by every

thought, word, and action, either fanned into a

brighter flame or smothered. In God's plan our

life's work is to cause this divine fire to spread

over the whole terrain of our soul, destroying

both the undergrowth of brambles and the giant

trees of every species of sin, leaving in its wake

only the bright flowers and luscious fruits of

virtue, a land that belongs completely to its

real owner—God.
42



9th Sunday after Pentecost

FREQUENTING THESE MYSTERIES

O Lord, we beseech Thee for

the grace of worthily frequenting

these Mysteries, because

every time this memorial sacrifice is offered up

the work of our redemption is carried on.

To “frequent these mysteries” does not merely

mean to visit the church often whilst Holy Mass

is being offered up there, but, above all, to

“associate” ourselves with the sacrificial action

at the altar. At His first Mass on the Cross on

Mt. Calvary, Jesus made satisfaction for all sins

of all men of all times. Thereby their eternal

salvation is assured, if they permit these healing

remedies to be applied to their souls. We are

not saved against our will. We must freely ac-
cept Christ's satisfaction. It is especially at

Holy Mass that this is applied to our soul and

in this way the “work of our redemption is

carried on.” For this the obstacle of sin must

be removed, for water cannot flow through a

pipe clogged up by rust and filth. Then, the

coupling must be made by an act of free will,

the union of our will with that of the Victim

upon the altar. Only then will the water of

grace flow into the land of our soul, making its

soil fruitful in every good work.

43



10th Sunday after Pentecost

GIVING MEDICINE

O Lord, let these appointed sacrifices
be paid back unto Thee,

since Thou hast given them to be offered

for the honor of Thy Name,

so that at the same time they might

become a remedy for all our ills.

A fond mother may take a dose of bitter

medicine in order to show her tight-lipped child

how “tasty” it is, but the medicine that she

takes will not cure her child. Christ, our Elder

Brother, has drained to the dregs the cup of

bitter medicine offered Him by His Heavenly

Father, which we deserved because of our in-

herited and personal sins (the maladies of our

soul). He thereby restored our souls to super-

natural life and vigorous health. More than that,

He has made it possible for us to “give” instead

of “taking” this medicine by means of the Holy

Sacrifice. Instead of drinking the cup of suffer-

ing and punishment due our sins, we offer this

“tasty” cup to the Heavenly Father. Thereby

His just anger is appeased, and we are healed

of our soul's weakness. Holy Mass will thus

“become the remedy for all our ills,” if we will

but offer it in the right spirit and open our

souls to its healing and purifying effects. What

could be easier, simpler, and more pleasant?

44



11th Sunday after Pentecost

PROPPED UP

0 Lord, we plead with Thee,
look down graciously upon our service,

that our offering may be a

gift acceptable to Thee,

and a support to us in our weakness.

The word “support” calls up before our mind’s

eye Moses praying on the mountain, and the

great Apostle of the Gentiles, St. Paul. When

Moses lifted up his hands in prayer Israel over-

came Amalec, but if he let them down a little,

Amalec overcame. So, “Aaron and Hur stayed

up his hands on both sides. And it came to

pass that his hands were not weary until sunset.

And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight,

by the edge of the sword” (Exod. 17:12-13).

Our arms are apt to grow weary by being raised

in prayer or from fighting against the enemies

of our soul. We need a support until we win
the victory. What should this be ? St. Paul

gives the answer when he says: “With Christ

1 hang upon the Cross” (Gal. 2:19). By an act

of the will we can nail ourselves to the Cross

of Christ, that is, unite ourselves with the Vic-

tim on the altar each moment of the day, thus

offering to the Father a gift most acceptable

to Him and keeping our souls united “to the

Source of every grace.”

45



12th Sunday after Pentecost

GOD’S VIEWPOINT

O Lord, we beseech Thee, in Thy mercy to
behold the sacrifice which we

lay upon Thy sacred altars,

so that, while they obtain pardon for us,

they may also give honor to Thy name.

Too often we take a selfish view of sin, how

it affects us, not the infinite offense we thereby

give to God. If there were no personal punish-

ment for sin, would we avoid committing it?

If attendance at Holy Mass on Sundays and

Holydays were not an obligation binding under

grievous sin, how often would we come to assist

at the Holy Sacrifice? Perhaps our own need,

and misery caused by our sins, would drive us

to this source of supernatural strength and

graces. Yet, the first and essential part of sac-

rifice is adoration, not petition, or the asking

of favors. So, whilst we put our need first, and

ask that our sacrifice may “obtain pardon for

us,” we should remind ourselves that, after all,

our petition will be readily granted if we have

first placed an act of adoration, have thereby,

through the Divine Victim on the altar, given

back to God the “honor” we stole from Him by

placing self on the throne erected in the soul

by pride, and demanding that creatures serve

us to do our own sweet (?) will.

46



13th Sunday after Pentecost

CONTACT

O Lord, look with favor upon Thy people,
look with favor upon their gifts, and

being appeased by this offering,

mercifully grant us pardon of our sins

and the blessings that we ask.

Man can sin by his own power, but he cannot

forgive his own sin, or remedy its effects. By

wilfully and knowingly overstepping a grave

commandment, he commits spiritual suicide, as

it were, by cutting off his soul from the source

of supernatural life. His soul will live on for-

ever, but separated from God, unless again u-

nited to Him before leaving his mortal body.

Contact of the waterpipe with the reservoir of

water, and of the electric wire with the dynamo

are necessary for the transmission of water and

light or energy. Man holds up his “severed”

soul to God by humble confession of his sins,

God makes the contact by pardoning the sins,

and then His greatest blessing, sanctifying

grace, a sharing in His own divine Life, flows

into the lifeless soul. The same is true of His

other blessings. Contact is necessary, but this

is impossible as long as grave sin keeps the soul

from God. If it is the basest ingratitude to use

God's past gifts to offend Him, it is the height

of folly to remain in that state and to make

it impossible for Him to give any blessing in

the future.

47



lJfth Sunday after Pentecost

BLOOD CRIES OUT

O Lord, grant, we plead with Thee,
that this saving Victim may both

cleanse our sins, and

appease Thy Power.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, writes:

“Here is Jesus, the spokesman of the new coven-

ant, and the sprinkling of his blood, which has

better things to say than Abel's had" (12:24).

Abel's blood cried to God for punishment by

his brother Cain, his murderer. Our sins have

slain Jesus, the new Abel, the “eldest born among

many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). But His Precious

Blood cries out to His Heavenly Father asking

for pardon for all His murderers, all sinners.

God's power, which we may liken to “powder,"

is set off by the spark of love or justice. Love

directs the force of His power in bestowing

blessings; justice turns it to punishment, but

even this is tempered by mercy. What we ought

to fear, then, is not God's power, but rather

our weakness, that despising His untold good-

ness, we use His grace to strike Him in the

face, as it were, by our sinful deeds, and thus

call forth His justice that must strike as long

as this state of rebellion lasts. Cleanse us, 0

Precious Blood, from our sins, and we shall not

have to fear our Father's power.

48



15th Sunday after Pentecost

BEWARE!

O Lord,
may Thy Sacraments be our safeguard, and

ever defend us against the

attacks of the evil spirit.

The sacraments are God's channels of special

graces to the soul. The fountain of these graces

is Christ's death on the Cross, continued in

each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. On Calvary

Christ overcame Satan, so that he is now, as

the saints tell us, like a “chained dog" that can

go only as far as his chain will permit. We

need not fear his power nor our weakness, but

only our pride and folly. He can hurt us only

if we permit him by going too near to him, or

by heeding the suggestions of the father of

life, instead of following the urgent pleadings

and warnings of Eternal Truth. St. Paul writes

to the Corinthians: “I myself, wherever I have

shown indulgence, have done so in the person

of Christ for your sakes, for fear that Satan

should get the advantage over us
;
we know well

enough how resourceful he is" (2 Cor. 2:10-11).

Like the Archangel Raphael, who “took the devil,

and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt"

(Tob. 8:3) we must do the same to the evil

spirit and his suggestions with the cords of

our firm will.

49



16th Sunday after Pentecost

CLEAN VESSELS

O Lord, we implore Thee,

cleanse us by the effect

of the sacrifice here present

and in Thy mercy make us worthy to share in it.

Before the priest prepares the chalice, and

vests for mass, Holy Mother Church prescribes

that he wash his hands and say a prayer for

cleansing. After he has offered the host and the

chalice at the altar, he again washes his finger-

tips whilst praying verses 6 to 12 of Psalm 25.

These bodily purifications are a reminder of

how pure his soul and the souls of those who

assist at the holy sacrifice should be, for the

God of all purity will not merely come in con-

tact with their bodies, but will enter into their

souls. The soul must be clean from the taint of

mortal sin in order to share in “the effect of the

sacrifice,” because it breaks the contact between

the soul and the Source of all supernatural life.

Although venial sins and faults do not prevent

the soul from sharing in the effects of Christ's

death on the Cross, these salutary effects are

hindered by this soul-constricting element of

self-will and “littleness." By ridding the soul as

much as possible from selfishness and expanding

it by generosity, the fuller will it share in the

sacrificial effects.

50



17th Sunday after Pentecost

OUT OF LOVE

O Lord, we humbly implore Thy Majesty
that the holy mysteries we are celebrating

may free us from our past sins and

keep us from future sins.

The Holy Spirit admonshes us : “In all thy

works remember thy last end, and thou shalt

never sin” (Ecclus. 7:40). Our last act in the

drama of life is death, followed by judgment,

and the final irrevocable verdict of heaven or

hell. Whatever motive will keep us from com-

mitting sin is good. In the “last things” of

life we have the motives of both fear and love.

Fear may be twofold : fear of punishment, which

is a selfish fear, or fear of offending God, be-

cause of His infinite goodness and holiness. This

latter is a purer and more powerful motive,

because true love of a loving parent is more

powerful than dread of the rod of correction.

The latter lasts as long as the threat of punish-

ment lasts; the former exists and endures even

if there should be no threat of punishment. It

is the motive of love that will most effectually

“keep us from future sins,” and this motive

receives a new stimulus each time we assist at

the Holy Sacrifice, the supreme act of unselfish

love of God for His sinful, rebellious children.

51



18th Sunday after Pentecost

LIGHT FROM LIGHT

O God, Who dost make us partakers of Thy
supreme Godhead by means of the communion

in this adorable Sacrifice,

grant, we pray Thee, that since

we know Thy Truth

we may live up to it by a worthy life.

From your illustrated Bible History you will

remember the picture of God in the act of

creating the lights in the heavens. The index

finger of His creative Hand serves as the spark

conveyor that sets on fire the vast, celestial ball

of light and heat, the sun, that has not ceased

burning from that day to this. On Good Friday

hatred and deicide had apparently snuffed out

the Light of the World, but It was merely dor-

mant in the grave until Easter morning. The

Easter sun that gilded the Cross on Calvary

was but a sign of what takes place at the un-

bloody renewal of Christ’s death on our altars.

Christ, risen, Who dies no more, becomes pres-

ent on our altars that He may “make us par-

takers of His supreme Godhead” by actual con-

tact with our souls, wherein He kindles the light

of Divine Truth more fully and makes the fire

of Divine Love burn more ardently. How then,

can we leave the altar without showing this

“Light” and spreading this “Fire” in our daily

lives ?

52



19th Sunday after Pentecost

HELP ALONG

O God, we implore Thee,
grant that these gifts

which we offer up in the sight of Thy Majesty

may be helpful to our salvation.

This season of the solar year, when the hard

labor of spring and summer pays dividends in

bountiful crops, recalls the words of the Prophet

Jeremias: “The harvest is past, the summer is

ended, and we are not saved” (8:20). The days

of our earthly life pass rapidly. On the last

day we shall reap what we have sown. If we

have idled away precious time and wasted boun-

tiful graces, there will be a harvest of cockle

and weeds—for the fire. Christ is working every
moment for our soul's salvation. From the day

of His death on the Cross on Mt. Calvary to its

continuation and application of its effects in the

Mass every moment of each day and night, Jesus

does all He can to help us to attain that happy

end. It is up to us to grasp His extended,

helping Hand by our voluntary and wholeheart-

ed cooperation with His grace. The Mass is,

therefore, not merely a reminder of the “one

thing necessary,” but also the means to reach

that end. If, when the summer of life is ended,

we are not saved, we shall have to blame only

our own sinful sloth or hard-hearted malice.

53



20th Sunday after Pentecost

EVIL ROOTS

O Lord, we beseech Thee, let these Mysteries
be our heavenly remedy and

root out all vice from our hearts.

Sin is sometimes called the “cancer” of the

soul. Rather, it is the spiritual disease or even

death of the soul, due to the cancer of evil,

untamed passions. These evil roots, inherited

from Adam and increased by personal sin, are

never totally removed by the most careful and

repeated surgery of the sacrament and virtue

of penance. But each “cutting and scraping”

reduces their malignancy and makes them less

to be dreaded. The greatest difficulty is not so

much in applying the healing remedy, which

is always at hand in greatest abundance, as

rather in not being aware of the necessity of

using drastic measures until these evil roots

have become so strong that our weak (or rather,

cowardly) will is overpowered by them. It is

the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that reminds us

of the malady of sin, that shows us the measures

to be used to conquer it and to cure its ill effects,

and also reminds us of the necessity of a “fight

to the death” against this deadly “cancer” in

our souls We must, therefore, cure not the

effect but the cause of our spiritual disease.

54



21st Sunday after Pentecost

LOVE’S REVENGE

Mercifully accept these victim offerings

by which in Thy mighty Love Thou hast willed

that atonement be made unto Thee and

salvation restored to us.

Through the mouth of the Prophet Isaias the

Lord declares : “My thoughts are not your

thoughts, nor your ways, my ways” (55:8). His

ways are shown by the master’s action in the

parable of today’s Gospel; ours, in that of the

pardoned servant. By the deluge God once de-

stroyed the perverse human race, with the ex-

ception of a few just souls. After that He

promised: “I will no more destroy every living

soul as I have done” (Gen. 8:21). Now, to

revenge the innumerable sins that rise up to

Him from the earth at every moment of the

day and night, He lets loose the floodgates of

His infinite Justice and boundless Love. In the

sinless flesh of His well-beloved Son, His Justice

is appeased and “full atonement is made” for

all sins for all times, whilst “His mighty Love

restored salvation to us” for the price of ac-

cepting it. There is no hardship, no suffering

connected with receiving the fruit of redemp-

tion, merely a turning and cleaving to the Cross

on Calvary, the new Ark of Salvation on our

Mt. Ararat—our altars.

55



22nd Sunday after Pentecost

OUR SHIELD

O God of mercy, grant unto us
that this sacrifice may forever

free us from our guilty deeds

and shield us from all harm.

In the days of the old Greeks and Romans

the shield was an important weapon for the

footsoldier. It was to be used defensively and

offensively. With it he would protect the vital

parts of his body against the arrows, spear, or

sword of the enemy. With it, also, at close

quarters, he could batter down his luckless foe.

Christ on the Cross is our Shield against the

most bitter and cunning enemy of our soul and

its salvation. His Body was unprotected against

the arrows (nails), the sword (scourges), and

lance of the enemy. He endured these fatal

wounds that He might thereby become our life-

preserving and strengthening Shield. Not only

do we have the metal image of Christ crucified

to lift up against our enemy, but we have the

real Christ, hanging on the Cross in the Holy

Sacrifice, being celebrated continuously on our

altars. We have but to use this shield defen-

sively and offensively. We use it offensively

when we imitate the example of our General

during His temptation (attack) in the desert

—

by doing just the opposite of what the enemy

suggests.

56



23rd Sunday after Pentecost

HAIL, THE VICTOR!

O Lord, we offer Thee this sacrifice of praise
for the sake of increasing our service and of

mercifully completing in us what Thou

hast begun without any merit of ours.

Each morning the King of Day, the sun,

begins anew his conquest of his enemy, the

night. Almost imperceptibly his gold-tipped

spears drive back the dense darkness until earth

and sky are flooded with bright light. Christ,

the King of each human soul, does likewise. On

the Cross He conquered the power of darkness

for all times. At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,

the continuation of His sacrifice on the Cross,

He applies to each human soul the fruits of His

conquest. In the sacrament of holy baptism He

plants His foot as Conqueror, as it were, on the

soil of our souls, but He must win back His

rightful territory inch by inch from His greatest

enemy—our own self-will with its army of evil
habits. Self-will can expel Him, the Source of

Light and Life, by admitting the power of dark-

ness and death, or welcome Him back and aid

Him in “completing what He began without any

merit of ours” by the free gift of faith and the

grace of baptism. Our will must decide who

shall be the victor and rightful ruler of our soul.

57



2Uh Sunday after Pentecost

SEEK HERE!

O Lord, be Thou gracious
to our humble appeals, and,

after receiving the prayers and

offerings of Thy people,

correct the hearts of us all to Thyself so that,

having been set free from the

greed of earthly pleasures,

we may pass to the desire

of heavenly treasures.

There is rhyme in the last two lines of the

above prayer. But there is even more than that.

There is also a twofold contrast expressed.

“Earthly pleasures” pass away in a moment,

whilst “heavenly treasures” remain forever. The

“greed” with which we seek the former leaves

little time and energy even to “desire” the latter.

The pleasures often elude our fanatic search,

whilst the treasures lie at our feet. We have
but to stoop and pick them up, as we would the

morning paper, and with even less effort. We

have but to “convert” or turn to the Lord to

have at once the only satisfying pleasure and

the only true treasure. That is the effect of

the Holy Sacrifice—to enable us to obtain both
by union with the Fountain of the true pleasures

of eternal life and the Key to the Storehouse of

God’s treasures for soul and body. It teaches

us where true good lies, thus clearing our super-

natural vision. This light in our mind will direct

the effort of our will to seek after good and

pursue it consistently and perseveringly.

58



Feast of the Assumption

AFTER DEATH

O Lord,
may the prayers of the Mother of God

come to the aid of Thy people, and,

although we realize that she has passed

from us according to the fate of all

human flesh,

may we nevertheless feel that in the glory

of heaven she is ever interceding

for us with Thee.

God made known the “fate of all human flesh”

when He said to Adam after his sin: “In the

sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou

return to the earth, out of which thou wast

taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou

shalt return” (Gen. 3:19). Sin sowed the seed

of death and consequent corruption into man's

body. The exception to this universal law are

those who “never knew sin”—the Redeemer,
Who assumed the human body, that by dying

He might conquer death, and Mary, His Mother,

in whose sinless body Jesus assumed His mortal

body. Hence their bodies, though buried in the

earth for a few days, did not return to dust,

but were again united with their incorruptible

souls. Therein lies the assurance of our own

glorious resurrection and ascension. Our bodies

shall, indeed, return to dust, but, because of

Mary's intercession for us, by the merits of her

Son the seed of sin will be replaced by the seed

of grace whose fruit, when fully ripe, is ever-

lasting glory for the whole man.

59



Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

FIRE FROM FIRE

O Lord,
offering the Immaculate Lamb to

Thy majesty, we beseech Thee,

may that divine fire burn in our hearts

which ineffably inflamed the Heart

of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the sacrifices of the Old Testament, the

sacrifice was called a holocaust when the offer-

ing was entirely consumed by fire on the altar.

The human Heart of our Divine Victim on the

altar, the Immaculate Lamb of God, was com-

pletely consumed by Divine Love. The furnace

from which His Sacred Heart received its first

spark of life, its first beat, was the Immaculate

Heart of Mary, His Mother. The fire in both

hearts was the desire to be sacrificed completely

for the glory of the Heavenly Father. As we

draw near the furnace of Divine Love on our

altar today we ask that a little spark therefrom

be transmitted to us through its original source

of human life, the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

that its heat may indeed be tempered to our

weakness, without losing any of its purifying

effects, to create in us a clean heart, ever gain-

ing in purity and intensity of love. Can we draw

near a fire and not catch a spark? Can we

hide fire in our breast and not burn? Even a

stone, placed in a hot fire, will become hot through

and through!

60



Feast of Christ the King

UNITY AND PEACE

O Lord, we offer unto Thee
this Victim of man’s reconciliation to God,

imploring this same Jesus Christ . . .

to grant unto all nations

the gifts of His unity and peace.

St. Augustine defines peace as “the tranquility

of order.” There can be no peace if there is

no unity, but unity is possible only with right

order. Right order is that demanded by God,

Who is Justice and Truth. On these two in-

destructible pillars alone can right order and

enduring peace be founded. Right order, God’s

order, demands that all men be subject to Him

as their supreme Lord, because He is their

Creator, and that they step down from their

self-erected, little throne to be equal to one

another. When the rebel angels revolted against

God’s order and Adam and Eve would “be as

gods,” harmony and peace were supplanted by

discord and war. Man, with his sin-darkened

mind, often thinks that his views are true and

that his claims are just, but they are so only if

they are God’s views and God’s claims. Hence

it is necessary to “sacrifice” our personal inter-

ests to God’s interests for the welfare of all

His children, which, indeed, includes our own,

and is attained according to God’s wise plans.

61



Feast of the Immaculate Conception

WITHOUT STAIN

O Lord,
receive this saving Victim which we offer to Thee

on this feast of the Immaculate Conception

of the Blessed Virgin Mary

and grant that, even as we proclaim her

to have been preserved by Thy grace

of all stain, so we may be delivered

by her intercession from all our sins.

The Cross of Christ on Calvary is the central

source or spring from which the life of sanctify-

ing grace flows into every human soul living on

earth, either before or after Christ. A human
body may either be made or kept healthy. A

body can be cured by expelling from it the

causes of disease, such as germs, or it can be

kept healthy by preventing these from entering

the body. The same may be said of human

souls. Sin is the deadly germ that brings spirit-

ual disease and death. Christ’s death is the

powerful “shot” that removes these germs from

ever truly repentant heart. In Mary’s case it

was the antitoxin that prevented her soul from

contracting this deadly germ. But, if our Blessed

Mother never contracted the germ of sin, can

she have sympathy with her sin-sick children?

Although she did not suffer in her stainless body

as Jesus did, her soul was “crucified” by the

sight of His terrible torments and death. She

now is the nurse “in white” that is eager to

inject this healing remedy into our souls if we

will permit her.

62



1st Sunday of Advent

CLEANSE US

O Almighty God,
may these holy offerings

cleanse us by their mighty power and

make us more pure to approach

Him Who is their author.

The violet color of the priest's vestment today

reminds us that we are again entering upon a

season of fruitful penance. This should not con-

sist merely in pruning the wild offshoots of our

sin-tainted nature, but rather in digging up the

deadly root of all our sins—our pride. To do
this we must have the mind that was “in Christ

Jesus, who, though he was by nature God . .

.

emptied himself, taking the nature of a slave

and being made like unto men. And appearing

in the form of man, he humbled himself, being

obedient to death, even to death on a cross”

(Philip. 2:5-8). At His first coming (Advent)

Jesus appeared in the lowly form of a human

being. In His coming in a few moments He

will “empty Himself” still more—-retaining only
the appearance of the bread and wine. Although

our substance cannot be changed into the Person

of God, as the substance of the bread and wine

is, we are, nevertheless, thereby admonished to

set no limits to the cleansing process in our

soul, stripping it as much as possible of all

human wickedness.

63



2nd Sunday of Advent

OUR SHIELD

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
be appeased by our humble

prayers and offerings, and

since we cannot plead any merits of our own,

grant us the aid of Thy protection.

When the chosen people fell into idolatry

because Moses, their leader, stayed so long with

the Lord on the mountain, God said: “Let me

alone that my wrath may be kindled against

them, and that I may destroy them, and I will

make of thee a great nation” (Exod. 32:10).

But Moses pleaded earnestly and “the Lord was

appeased from doing the evil which he had

spoken against his people” (v. 14). Christ, the

Leader of God's chosen people, to which all men

belong, has not come down from the mountain

of Calvary. He still hangs on the cross on every

altar, appeasing the just anger of His Father,

Whom His children have forsaken to worship

idols of their own making—the objects of their
personal sins. Thus, wherever on earth the Fa-

ther may look, He sees His beloved Son and

hears Him with dying breath praying: “Father,

forgive them!” and He is appeased from pun-

ishing justly every sin that cries to heaven for

punishment. If we follow the sun that lights

up every church steeple in the earth's daily

revolution and unite ourselves with our “Moses”

on the altar of sacrifice, then we shall always

be under this protective Shield.

64



3rd Sunday of Advent

GLORY AND SALVATION

O Lord, we pray Thee,
may this sacrifice of our devotion

be continually offered to Thee both

to fulfil Thy purpose in

these holy mysteries, and

to work in us the wonders of Thy salvation.

Today’s Secret prepares our hearts for the

approaching Feast of the Nativity of Our Savior

and attunes our spiritual ears to His life’s pro-

gram as outlined in the angel’s song—'“Glory to

God” and “Peace to men.” That twofold end

enters into all God’s relations with His creature,

man. Every divine act has as its end to give

glory to the Divine Doer, and to enrich man by

a special grace or gift. To have been created

would profit us nothing without the greater gift

of redemption, and, if cooperated with by us,

that of our ultimate “salvation.” But, in the

free gift of redemption God seems to go still

further. He not only would share His life and

His happiness with us, but also, in a measure,

impart His glory. He does us the honor, not

only of stooping to our own vileness and noth-

ingness, but of lifting us up from the mire of

sin into the realms of pure light and heavenly

glory. The very anticipation of these “wonders

of our salvation” must cause our throbbing

heart to join Holy Mother Church in her joyous

chants today, and cause them to reecho in our

hearts each day.

65



Uth Sunday of Advent

LOOK DOWN FAVORABLY

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
look down favorably upon these sacrifices

that they may be profitable both

to our devotion and salvation.

In a few moments “our offering” will be the

Son of God, in Whom the Father is always well
pleased. Hence, we need not ask our heavenly

Father to look favorably upon our sacrificial

“Victim.” Neither need we ask Him to do so

on the sacrificial elements of bread and wine,

His gifts, prepared by the hand of man for

this special purpose. On what part of the sac-

rifice, then, do we ask the Father to “look fa-

vorably?” Upon the disposition of those who

are assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, on the spirit

of sacrifice of the celebrating priest and the

assisting faithful. The sacrificial elements may

well remind us what we should be in order to

be acceptable to the Father. Just as the appear-

ance of the bread and wine remains unchanged

after the consecration, so also we do not change

our outward form, our body. What we can and

should change is our soul by making its dispo-

sitions resemble those of the Victim on the altar,

of Whom St. Paul tells us: “As Christ comes

into the world, He says: ‘I am coming to do

Thy will, 0 my God’” (Heb. 10:7).

66



Feast of the Nativity (l Mass)

OUR LITTLE GIFT

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
may the oblation of this day’s

festival be pleasing to Thee

that of Thy bountiful grace we may . . .

be found conformed to Him, in Whom

our substance is united to Thee.

Christmas giving was begun, like all good

things, by God, the Father, Who on this day

gives us His Son as our “little” Gift. His eter-

nally begotten Son (to Whom He is every mo-

ment giving birth) on the first Christmas night

became our little Brother by uniting His divinity

to human nature. In this way He gives Himself

to each human being in particular. The im-

mense God becomes a mere span of human life,

enclosed by the rough fence of the narrow crib,

and will soon be enclosed in the still narrower

cradle of our little, selfish hearts. Oh, how

much He wants the gift of our poor hearts!

But, not as “big” as it thinks it is (which is a

lie), rather, as “little” as the truth (honesty)

shows it to be. He, Eternal Truth, can join

only the true to Himself. Only if we are “little”

can He make us “big” by uniting our humanity

to His divinity through grace and love. In this

way we shall be conformed to Him, and with

Him offer ourselves to the Heavenly Father as

“His Gift.”

67



Feast of the Nativity (II Mass)

CHRISTMAS CHARM

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
may our gifts be agreeable to the

mysteries of this day’s Nativity

and ever pour down upon us peace . . .

According to Father Faber: “No Christmas is

like its predecessor. Bethlehem grows more en-

chanting. The strains of the angels is sweeter.

We know more of Mary and Joseph. The Child

surpasses Himself year after year” (Bethlehem).

But wait! Is that not poetical exaggeration

?

How can the Immutable One change? Ah, He

is always the same; the change takes place in

changeable us. In fact, we cannot appear before

Him, whether exposed at Mass or at Benediction,

or hidden in the tabernacle, without being

changed. The hardest stone cannot be exposed

to the elements repeatedly, to the sun, the wind,

the rain, without being affected by these ele-

ments, although this change may be scarcely

noticeable by the weak human eye. The same is

true of our hard hearts. The sun of God's Face,

the gentle breath of His inspiration, the plenti-

ful rain of His vivifying and perfecting graces

must eventually change the stone that pounds in

our breast. How great and rapid will not this

change of heart be if we willingly and whole-

heartedly cooperate in this “softening” process

and change for the better! Will this Christmas

work a greater change in us?

68



Feast of the Nativity (III Mass)

NEW BIRTH

O Lord, do Thou
sanctify the gifts we offer by the

new birth of Thine only-begotten Son

and cleanse us from the stains of our sins.

For the third time today (and perhaps with-

out even thinking of the words italicized) we

have recited the words of the Creed
—
“Who for

us men and for our salvation came down from

heaven and became incarnate by the Holy Ghost,

of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man.” Our

own need drew Him down from heaven as a

Babe on the first Christmas night that He might

redeem us, buy us back from the death and

slavery of sin. He paid the price once for all

men. But, we have a further need. The seed of

sanctifying grace, infused at baptism, together

with the infused and acquired virtues must be

brought to their full perfection to form our own

sanctification. To fill this need He comes in each

Holy Mass, and would come each day into our

hearts in Holy Communion to help us in this

work of sanctification. We may take Him up
with our two arms of love and desire and take

Him into our very souls. Although we may re-

ceive Him only once a day sacramentally, there

is no limit to the spiritual communions we may

make each day with every increasing profit.

69



Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity

DEVOTED

O Almighty God, we beseech Thee . . .
grant that this gift may obtain for us both

the grace of a tender devotion and

the reward of a happy eternity.

We ask for the “grace of a tender devotion.”
Do we realize for what we are asking? Too

often we think of devotion as a pious feeling

expressed in words of prayer and acts of wor-

ship. If this is the true meaning of being de-

vout, then we should indeed be in a pitiable

state, for we cannot arouse pious feelings or

gushing sentimentality by merely pressing a

button or turning a switch in the supply room

of our devotion—our heart. “Devoted” means
“dedicated to,” and we are devout when we

dedicate our free will to God's will and service.

This is always in our power, although there is

no feeling in our will. By the degree of devo-

tion is meant the degree of union of our will

with God's will. Our devotion is “tender” when

our subjection to God is not that of a servant

or slave, but of a son, a child. A dutiful child
obeys (and loves) his father for his sake and

not because of the hope of reward or out of

fear of punishment. That is the “tender devo-

tion” we pray for today at the Crib.

70



Mass for the Dead

PEACE IN REST

O Lord, we beseech Thee,
be merciful to the soul of Thy servant . . .

that, by these holy peace-offerings,

it may be found worthy to

win everlasting rest.

In the Old Testament God ordered His chil-

dren to offer Him two kinds of sacrifices: the

holocaust, in which the whole offering was con-

sumed by fire, and the peace-offering, in which

some part of the victim was consumed by fire

on the altar of God whilst the rest was eaten

by the priests and by the persons for whom this

sacrifice was offered. The Holy Sacrifice of the

Mass is both holocaust and peace-offering. Christ

is totally consumed for our sins by the fire of

love. He then gives the priest and the faithful,

not a part of the Victim, but the Victim en-

tirely, Himself, to be eaten in Holy Communion.

But, when the Holy Sacrifice is offered for a

departed soul, what part of the offering does

this soul receive? “Peace.” The satisfaction of

Christ pays his debt still due divine justice, and

thus brings it nearer or even gives it eternal

rest, which consists in having its longing to be

united to God stilled. For, the pain of separa-

tion from its end is the greatest pain for a

soul in Purgatory, just as the pain of loss is

the most severe punishment of the damned.

71



MASS YEAR REFLECTIONS

Each year the Reflections from THE MASS YEAR
are printed separately in pamphlet form . Below is

the list :

—

LITURGICAL ESSAYS by Benedictine Monks, 25*
Some of the symbols and ceremonies of the Church are

the subjects of these essays which demonstrate the beauty

and the influence of the Liturgy on the spiritual life of

the Faithful.

DIGEST OF THE LITURGICAL SEASONS, compiled
from the works of Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., by
Bernard Beck, O.S.B., S.T.D., 25*

The Six Seasons of the Church Year are explained and

a brief history of each given.

ROUSE THY MIGHT by Sister M. Gonzaga, 25*
Reflections on the “Collects/' the greater petition prayers

of the Church, contain meditation material for Sundays

and the greater Feasts.

NEWNESS OF LIFE by Placidus Kempf, O.S.B., 25*
Reflections on the “Introits” for the Sundays and great-

er Feasts will help attune your soul to sing more in

harmony with the Church.

FRUITFUL DAYS by Placidus Kempf, O.S.B., 25*
Reflections on the “Communion Chants'' of the Sundays

and greater Feasts will foster greater devotion toward

the reception of Holy Communion as an active participa-

tion in the Holy Sacrifice.

CHRIST'S FACE by Placidus Kempf, O.S.B., 25*
Reflections on the “Gospels" of the Sundays and greater

Feasts are the best way to mirror the Face of Christ in

our daily lives.



POSTSCRIPTS TO THE EPISTLES by Placidus Kempt,
O.S.B., 25<*

Reflections on the “Epistles” of the Sundays and greater

Feasts are after-thoughts for applying St. Paul's sugges-

tions to your own lives.

TELLING SECRETS by Placidus Kempt, O.S.B., £5*
Reflections on the “Secrets” of the Sundays and greater

Feasts bring more quickly to mind the needs buried deep

in the heart as the Priest more solemnly presents the

petitions of the Faithful.

TUNE TOUR HEART by Placidus Kempt, O.S.B., 25*
Reflections on the “Offertory Chants” of the Sundays

and greater Feasts are meant to fill your heart with the

proper dispositions for offering the Holy Sacrifice with

the Priest.

Order from:

—

The GRAIL

St. Meinrad, Indiana