Welcome to my 40 Lessons on the Mass! I know you’ll learn something new about the Mass and
I hope that it helps to deepen your faith.
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Today's Lesson: Thanksgiving After Communion There’s lots of great features on the Relevant Radio App, but this one is my favorite and I use it every day. Once you’ve downloaded the Relevant Radio App, click on the drop down menu on the right hand side (it’s in the upper right hand corner) and scroll down to the sixth line and there you will find it. Prayers After Mass. All the classics. Have you noticed? Pope Francis often sits in the back of the Church after morning Mass to make his time of thanksgiving, some ten minutes or so. This is an ancient and venerable custom based on the fact the sacramental reality of the Eucharistic presence of Jesus Christ remains in us for ten to fifteen minutes after we receive Him. In effect, we are like living tabernacles for that time period. There are many beautiful prayers of thanksgiving for after Mass, some composed by saints like Thomas Aquinas or Bonaventure. What follows is the Universal Prayer attributed to Pope Clement XI. This just about sums it up: Lord, I believe in You: increase my faith. I trust in You: strengthen my trust. I love You: let me love You more and more. I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow. I worship You as my first beginning. I long for You as my last end. I praise You as my constant helper; and call on You as my loving protector. Guide me by Your wisdom, correct me with Your justice, comfort me with Your mercy, protect me with Your power. I offer You, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on You; My words: to have You for their theme; My actions: to reflect my love for You; My sufferings: to be endured for Your greater glory. I want to do what You ask of me: in the way You ask, for as long as You ask, because You ask it. Lord, enlighten my understanding, strengthen my will, purify my heart, and make me holy. Help me to repent of my past sins and to resist temptation in the future. Help me to rise above my human weaknesses and to grow stronger as a Christian. Let me love You, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am: a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those under my authority, my friends and my enemies. Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out toward others. Make me prudent in planning, courageous in taking risks. Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity. Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer, temperate in food and drink, diligent in my work, firm in my good intentions. Let my conscience be clear, my conduct without fault, my speech blameless, my life well-ordered. Put me on guard against my human weaknesses. Let me cherish your love for me, keep your law, and come at last to your salvation. Teach me to realize that this world is passing, that my true future is the happiness of heaven, that life on earth is short, and the life to come eternal. |
Help me to prepare for death with a proper fear of judgment, but a greater trust in Your goodness. Lead me safely through death to the endless joy of heaven.
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Today's Lesson: The Crucifix |
Today's Lesson: The Altar |
While the tabernacle is the most important item in a Church, the altar is no less important during Mass, because upon the altar the perfect sacrifice is renewed. For that reason, when the priest enters and leaves the Mass, he kisses the altar.
The altar is a direct descendant of the altar of sacrifice of Abraham on Mount Moriah. It is typically made of stone, immovable, and truly noble in appearance. The altar is adorned with an altar cloth made out of linen, because Jesus was wrapped in linen after He died. It is also adorned with a Crucifix and up to six candles for feast days, or even seven when the bishop is present.
For feast days, the altar may be incensed and decorated with flowers, which can be truly abundant and spectacular in the churches found in the Philippines and Mexico.
Today's Lesson: The Tabernacle
The "Holy of Holies" was the innermost chamber in the Temple of Jerusalem reserved only for the High Priest. Today, in a Catholic church, the "Holy of Holies" is the tabernacle, because inside of it, in a golden vessel covered by a silk veil, is the Holy Eucharist, which is the very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who is really, truly and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine.
The Church stipulates that the tabernacle should be clearly visible, noble, beautiful, safe, and secure, so in most churches it is placed in the center of the sanctuary, and can only be opened with a key. Pope Benedict XVI wrote: "The Holy Eucharist is the center of absolutely everything."
Today's Lesson: Genuflection
After you bless yourself with holy water, you make a genuflection.
"At the name of Jesus, every knee must bend" (Philippians 2:10). That’s what Saint Paul wrote to the Philippians years ago, and that’s why we bend our right knee and make a genuflection to the tabernacle where Jesus Christ is truly present before we enter our pew to sit down. Men also take off their hats.
The tabernacle containing the Most Blessed Sacrament should be clearly visible, and it’s usually in the center of the sanctuary up front. Look for the little vigil light with a candle burning next to it.
When the Mass begins, the priest and ministers also make a genuflection, unless the tabernacle is off to the side, then they bow to the altar and Crucifix as a sign of reverence.
And did you know that reverence is the beginning of wisdom, because we acknowledge with humility that God is great?
Today's Lesson: Holy Water Protect yourself – use holy water. The first thing you do when you walk into a Catholic Church is bless yourself with holy water. As you enter the church, look for the holy water font near the entrance and bless yourself with the holy water as you quietly say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” This little ritual reminds us of our baptism – that’s why the font is near the door of the church because we ‘entered the Church through baptism.’ At the same time, this gesture is also a sacramental and can absolve us of our venial sins and protect us from the devil. As St. Teresa of Avila said, “Nothing drives away the devil faster than holy water.” Blessing yourself with holy water as you enter the church will remind you that you are in a sacred place for a sacred time. |