What are the purposes for which the Mass is offered?
- First, to adore God as our Creator and Lord.
- Second, to thank God for His many favors.
- Third, to ask God to bestow His blessings on all men.
- Fourth, to satisfy the justice of God for the sins committed against Him.
At the hour of death the Holy Masses you have heard devoutly will be your greatest consolation.
Every Mass will go with you to Judgment and will plead for pardon for you.
By every Mass you can diminish the temporal punishment due to your sins, more or less, according to your fervor.
By devoutly assisting at Holy Mass you render the greatest homage possible to the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord. …
Through the Holy Sacrifice, Our Lord Jesus Christ supplies for many of your negligences and omissions.
He forgives you all the venial sins which you are determined to avoid. He forgives you all your unknown sins which you never confessed. The power of Satan over you is diminished.
By piously hearing Holy Mass you afford the Souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief.
Through Holy Mass you are preserved from many dangers and misfortunes which would otherwise have befallen you. You shorten your Purgatory by every Mass.
Through the Holy Mass you are blessed in your temporal goods and affairs.
When you hear Holy Mass devoutly, offering it to Almighty God in honor of any particular Saint or Angel, thanking God for the favors bestowed on him, etc., you afford that Saint or Angel a new degree of honor, joy and happiness, and draw his special love and protection on yourself.
Every time you assist at Holy Mass, besides other intentions, you should offer it in honor of the Saint of the day.
In holy Mass, in obedience to Christ’s command, “Do this in remembrance of me,” we of the Church offer perfect praise to the heavenly Father, and sanctify ourselves and the world by the power that flows from the priestly office of our eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ.
The benefits of even one holy Mass are infinite and include the whole world. The blood of the new and everlasting covenant was “shed for you and for all.”
In every Mass that is offered the Church remembers before God “those who take part in this offering, those here present and all your people, and all who seek you with a sincere heart.” In a special way those who have holy Mass offered and those for whom a Mass is offered partake of the grace of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
The Church which offers Mass each day includes not only the faithful on earth, but the saints in heaven, as well as the suffering souls still awaiting entrance into heaven.
It is a pious and praiseworthy custom for the faithful to have Masses offered for their particular intentions, and especially for departed friends and loved ones. It is a laudable Catholic practice when requesting Mass for a special intention to make an offering both for the support of the priest who will celebrate the Mass and to provide for the needs of the altar as well as the materials required for the holy Sacrifice.
It is very sad that so many non-Catholic Christians consider the Mass to be an abomination. It is just the opposite. It is the one-time sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross recreated, through time and space, in an unbloody fashion, just like Jesus did during the Last Supper.
QUOTES FROM THE SAINTS ON THE MASS
The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer!
Pope Paul VI
For each Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death.
(revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the great).
A single Mass offered for oneself during life may be worth more than a thousand celebrated for the same intention after death.
St. Anself
“If someone said to us, “At such an hour a dead person is to be raised to life, ” we should run very quickly to see it. But is not the Consecration, which changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of God, a much greater miracle than to raise a dead person to life? We ought always to devote at least a quarter of an hour to preparing ourselves to hear Mass well; we ought to annihilate ourselves before God, after the example of His profound annihilation in the Sacrament of the Eucharist; and we should make our examination of conscience, for we must be in a state of grace to be able to assist properly at Mass. If we knew the value of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or rather if we had faith, we should be much more zealous to assist at it.”
St. John Vianney
One Mass before death may be more profitable than many after it.
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
“The Holy Mass would be of greater profit if people had it offered in their lifetime, rather than having it celebrated for the relief of their souls after death”
Pope Benedict XV
Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God’s Goodness and asked Our Lord “How can I thank you?” Our Lord replied, “ATTEND ONE MASS.”
Jesus Christ
“The Blessed Virgin Mary once told Her faithful servant Alain: “My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary He would die for them as many times as they’ve heard Masses.”
The Virgin Mary
“When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary – a joy, a fragrance, a well being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt.”
Saint Jean Vianney
“If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
Saint Jean Vianney
“There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.”
Saint Jean Vianney
“When we have been to Holy Communion, the balm of love envelops the soul as the flower envelops the bee.”
Saint Jean Vianney
“The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas
“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.”
St. Padre Pio, stigmatic priest
“The Mass is infinite like Jesus. . .Ask an angel what the Mass is, and he will reply to you in truth,”I understand what it is and why it is offered, but I do not, however, understand how much value it has.” One angel, a thousand angels, all of Heaven know this and think like this.”
St. Padre Pio, stigmatic priest
“If we only knew how God regards this Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass.”
St. Padre Pio, stigmatic priest
“Renew your faith by attending Holy Mass. Keep your mind focused on the mystery that is unfolding before your eyes. In your mind’s eye transport yourself to Calvary and meditate on the Victim who offers Himself to Divine Justice, paying the price of your redemption.”
St. Padre Pio, stigmatic priest
“Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we ourselves, do not know.”
St. Padre Pio, stigmatic priest
“The heavens open and multitudes of angels come to assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”
Saint Gregory
“The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.”
Saint Augustine
“When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar.”
Saint John Chrysostom
