“The Holy Mass is a brief compendium of the whole Life of Christ and renewal of all the Mysteries included in it; in fact this is an authentic repetition of all that Christ did and suffered upon earth”.

It may be said that Our Lord put on the priestly vestments while hidden in His Mother’s womb where He took our flesh, He clothe Himself with mortality.

1. On the night of His birth, He, as it were, came out of the Sacristy. On His entrance into the world of men, He began The Entrance Hymn, which commences the Mass (Lk 2:11 “For today in the city of David a saviour has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord”).
2. The Kyrie Eleison was said by Jesus in the Crib (Mt 2:13-18 – “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more”, Luke 23:34 – Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do”).
3. The Gloria was sung by the Angels who appeared to the shepherds and accompanied them to the staple at. Bethlehem (Lk 2:13-14 – And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests”).
4. The Opening Prayer or Collect represents the petitions He offered when He spent the night in prayer imploring the Father’s mercy for us (Lk 6:14 – “In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God”). Luke clearly makes a link between Jesus praying all night and him then choosing the twelve. Luke makes the point very clear that this wasn’t just a quick prayer; Jesus spent the night praying. Moreover he spent it up on a mountain, away from everyone else. He spent time in his Father’s presence getting the names of the twelve. This was an important task and he needed the confirmation from heaven that this was the Father’s will.
5. The Epistle (An epistle – “letter” is writing directed, sent to a person or group of people, usually a letter. The letters in the New Testament from Apostles to Christians are usually referred to as epistles) represents the explanations of the prophesies start form Moses and all the prophets, showing how they were fulfilled in Jesus (Lk 24:25-27 – “And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures”).
6. He Himself read The Gospel (old English – good news) when travelling through the Holy Land proclaiming His Divine Doctrine.
7. The Offertory was His daily offering of Himself to the Father as a lamb of sacrifice, as a propitiatory Victim (Jn 10:11-12; 14; 18 – “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man will run when he sees a wolf coming. … “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me. … And I lay down my life for the sheep. … No one takes my life from me but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.”).
8. The Preface represents His daily tribute of praise to God the Father, His thanksgiving for the blessings given to mankind.
9. The Sanctus was sung by the Jewish people on Palm Sunday, when they shouted: Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the Highest (Mt 21: 9).
10. The Consecration took place at the Last Supper when He changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood (Mt 26:26-28 – While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins” 1 Cor 11:23-26).
11. The Elevation took place when He was lifted up on the Cross and made a spectacle to Angels and men (Jn 3:14 “And just as Moses lifted high the serpent in the Desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up”, Crucifixion).
12. The Our Father is represented by the seven ‘words’ He spoke from the Cross.
    • 1. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Lk 23:34
    • 2. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Lk 23:43
    • 3. “Jesus said to his mother: “Woman, this is your son”. Then he said to the disciple: “This is your mother.” Jn 19:26-27
    • 4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mat 27:46; Mk 15:34
    • 5. “I thirst” Jn 19:28
    • 6. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and handed over the spirit. Jn 19:30
    • 7. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. Lk 23:46
13. The Breaking of the Host represents the separation of His Soul (Lk 23:46 “Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”) and Body, and flesh and blood (Jn 19:34 “one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out”).
14. The Agnus Dei or Lamb of God was spoken by the Centurion and those who were with him, when, beating their breasts, they said: Indeed, this was the Son of God (Mt 27: 54).
15. The Communion represents the share in his dearth and resurrection; his suffering and redemption. The host is Christ’s body, which was beaten and broken for us. The cup is the payment for our sins and the new and everlasting covenant.
    (1 Cor 11:23-26 “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins”;
    Eph 1:7 “In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace”;
    Rom 5:8–9 “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath”).
16. The Blessing at the end of Mass represents the blessing He gave to His Apostles when He was about to ascend to Heaven (Lk 24:50-51 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven”).

Such was the great Act of Worship which Christ performed on earth and He enjoyed on His Apostles and their successors to repeat daily, in a short form.

A bishop’s story

In the year 1254, a Priest of Douai, whilst giving Communion at Easter in the Church of St Amatus, dropped one of the Hosts on the floor. To his great amazement, he saw it rise from the floor and remain suspended in the air. Taking it into his hand, he took it to the Altar, and, kneeling humbly before it, he begged pardon from Christ for the indignity that had been done to Him. Whilst he was devoutly contemplating the Adorable Sacrament, he was astonished to see the form of the Host disappear and the form of a Beautiful Child take its place. So greatly was he moved that he could not restrain his tears. The Clergy present in the Choir drew near to ascertain what the matter was and they too saw the Child. Deeply touched by the sight, they broke out into exclamations of joy and delight. Then the congregation ap., pro ached in their turn to behold the miraculous appearance, which afforded such convincing proof of Christ’s Real Presence on the Altar. The people, however, did not see what the Clergy had seen; they beheld Christ standing before them in the form of a Man in the splendour of His Divine Majesty. Fear and amazement fell upon all; the Sanctuary was filled with eager spectators. Our Lord remained thus visible in His Sacred Humanity for a considerable time. Finally He withdrew His corporal presence, and the Host was placed by the Priest in the Tabernacle. ‘

The report of what had happened spread far and wide and reached the Bishop who relates the occurrence. The Bishop of Cambrai, Thomas de Cantimpré, came immediately
to Douai to verify the facts in person, which he described in this manner: “I went to the Dean
of the Church, followed by many faithful, and I asked whether what I had heard was true”. The Dean replied: “It is not only true that Christ was seen in the Sacred Host by a great number of persons, but He is still seen by them in human form.” “After hearing this I Dean to showed me the miracle”. The Dean opened the small case in which he had reposed the Host of the miracle, but initially I didn’t see anything special. He went to Douai and enquired of the Dean.

“Then a burning desire to see the same sight took possession of me” the Bishop writes; “I asked the Dean to show me the Miraculous Host; Together, we went to the Church, followed by a multitude of people who hoped Our Lord would again show Himself to them. The Dean unlocked the Tabernacle with trembling awe; he reverently took out the Blessed Sacrament and blessed the people with it. They all began to sob and cry aloud and shout; ‘Jesus, Jesus.’ I asked what this meant and they said: ‘we see our Lord and Saviour with our bodily eyes.’ But I saw nothing but the Host unchanged. I felt deeply
grieved for I thought some sin had made me unworthy to behold the Saviour. I examined my conscience, but found nothing unusual with which to reproach myself. So I besought the Lord to show Himself to me, too. My prayer was granted. I, too, was privileged to see, not as many of those present saw Him, in the form of a Child, but as a full-grown man. After I had gazed for a short time upon the Saviour in the surpassing beauty of His appearance my heart being suffused meanwhile with joy and happiness, a change took place. I saw Him before me as the Man of Sorrows. He was wearing a Crown of Thorns, disfigured by streams of Blood that veiled His Sacred Countenance. Overcome with compassion, I shed some bitter tears over the sufferings of my Redeemer.”

A confused murmur ran through the assembled multitude, for each one saw something different at the same time. Some saw Him as a lovely Infant, others as a beautiful Boy, as a young man, as a Man in his prime, or, as He was at the time of His Passion.

The following text was taken from “The Father Speaks to His Children”,
Pater Publications, L’Aquila, Italy.

The conversion of the Saxons

Albertus Krantius relates at some length the efforts repeatedly made by the Emperor Charlemagne to convert the pagan Saxons to the Christian Faith. Although he had more than once completely subjugated them by force of arms and compelled them to abjure their idolatrous practices again and again, under the leadership of Wittekind, their chief, they fell away from their Christian profession.
It was in Lent one year that, for the twelfth time, the Emperor entered their land at the head of a large army. Easter approached and all the soldiers were ordered to prepare themselves for the reception of the Sacraments and the devout celebration of the Festival in their camp. At that time Wittekind… the Saxon Chieftain went to the German Army Camp for the purpose of viewing the Christian Ceremonies. To escape recognition he disguised himself in the rags of a beggar, entered the camp alone and begged alms from the soldiers. At the same time he observed what was going on; gathering all the information he possibly could. He noted that, on Good Friday, the Emperor and all the soldiers went about with somber faces, keeping a strict fast and spending a long time in prayer; how on Holy Saturday they went to Confession and on Easter Day, received Holy Communion.

While he was assisting at Mass, at the moment of the Consecration, he distinctly saw in the Priest’s hands a beautiful and very attractive child, the sight of which filled him with a joy he had never experienced before. During the remainder of the Mass, he could not take his eyes off the Priest. His astonishment was still greater when the soldiers went up to receive Communion; he saw the Priest give the same beautiful child to each communicant, by whom it was received but not m every case in the same manner. The Child went to some with evident delight, but turned away and resisted being given to others but went under compulsion. The Saxon Chief did not know what to make of these extraordinary happenings.

At the conclusion of Mass, he went out and took his stand among a group of beggars who solicited alms as the congregation dispersed. The Emperor, by his own hand, gave an alms to each of the beggars, and as Wittekind extended his hand to receive the coin, one of the Emperor’s servants recognized him by the peculiar formation of one of his Charlemagne German Emperor 02.04.742 – 28.01.814 fingers. The man whispered to his Royal Master: “That is Wittekind, the Saxon leader; I know him by his crooked finger.” The Emperor had the stranger brought to him in his tent and asked why he, the Saxon Chieftain, had come there disguised as a beggar. Wittekind was afraid he would be taken for a spy and treated as such, so he spoke the truth to the Emperor: “Do not be angry with me. I did this only to better acquaint myself with Christian Worship.” The Emperor than asked him what he had seen, and Wittekind replied: “I have beheld wonders greater than any I have seen or heard of before.” He then told him what he had observed on Good Friday, Holy Saturday and at Mass that same morning, and asked for an explanation of those mysteries.

The Emperor was amazed to hear that God had granted to this stubborn heathen the grace of seeing the Divine Child in the Sacred Host, a Grace He had given to only a few Saints. He then explained to the Saxon why they were sorrowful on Good Friday, why they fasted, why they went to Confession and Communion. The heathen was so touched that he renounced his worship of idols, accepted the Christian Faith and when sufficiently instructed, received the Sacrament of Baptism. He took some Priests back with him to his people and through their ministry the Dukedom of Saxony was gradually converted to Christ.

“The holy sacrifice of the Mass explained” Rev Martinus von Cochem OSM