The Catholic Prayer Book and Manual of Meditations/Method of Assisting at Mass
Method of assisting at Mass,
Divide the Mass into four parts. In the first part, which will be from the beginning to the Gospel, humble yourself with Jesus, and, sinking into the abyss of your own nothingness, confess sincerely that you are a most miserable nothing before the majesty of God; and thus humbled interiorly, and also with a composed and modest exterior, say:
AH! my God, I adore thee. I acknowledge thee for my Lord and Master of my soul. I protest that all I am and have are thy gifts. And because thy majesty merits infinite honour and homage, I, who am a poor, miserable creature, utterly incapable of paying the great debt which I owe to thee, offer to thee the humiliations and homage which Jesus pays to thee on the altar. What Jesus does, I also intend to do. I humble and prostrate myself with him before thy majesty. I adore thee with the same adoration which Jesus offers to thee. I am filled with joy and delight in reflecting that Jesus gives thee, for me, infinite honour and homage.
Repeat many internal acts of this kind. You need not adhere to the words: it is better to use the language which your own devotion will dictate. Oh, how fully will you pay your first debt by assisting at the first part of the Mass in this manner,
In the second part, which will be from the Gospel to the Elevation, you shall discharge your second obligation. Reflecting for a momemt on the enormity of your sins, and on the immense debt which you have contracted by them towards the divine justice, say, with a humble heart:
BEHOLD, my God, the traitor that has so often rebelled against thee. Ah, with a sorrowful heart, and with all the affections of my soul, I abhor and detest my most grievous sins, and I ofier for them the same satisfaction which Jesus presents to thee on the altar. I offer to thee all the merits of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, Jesus entirely, God and man, who is here immolated again for me. And since my Jesus himself is, on this altar, my mediator and my advocate, and since, with his most precious blood, he implores pardon for me, I unite with the cry of his blood, and supplicate mercy for all my sins. The blood of Jesus cries for mercy; find my sorrowful heart also implores mercy. Ah! my dear God, if my tears do not move thee, let, at least, the groans of my Jesus excite thy pity. Why should he not obtain for me that mercy which he merited for the whole human race, upon the cross? Yes, I hope that, for the sake of that most precious blood, thou wilt pardon all my most grievous sins, which I will continue to bewail till my last breath.
Repeat many such acts of true contrition, and rest assured that you shall thus most fully discharge the debt which you have contracted by so many grievous sins.
In the third part, from the Elevation to the Communion, reflecting on the great and important benefits received from God, you shall, in return for them, offer to him a gift of infinite value, that is, the body and blood of Christ. Invite all the angels and saints to thank God in the following, or in some other similar manner:
BEHOLD me, O my most loving God, loaded with the general and particular benefits which thou hast bestowed, and wilt bestow upon me, in time and eternity. I know that thy mercies to me have been and are infinite. But I am ready to pay thee for all, even to the last farthing. Behold the tribute of my gratitude. The payment which I offer for all thy goodness is this divine blood, this most precious body, this innocent victim, which I present to thee by the hands of thy priest. I am certain that this oblation is sufficient to pay for all the gifts thou hast conferred upon me; this gift of infinite value is an equivalent for all the favours I have ever received, or now receive from thee Ah! ye holy angels, and all ye blessed spirits, help me to thank my God; and in thanksgiving for his great benefits, offer to him not only this Mass, but all the Masses that are now being celebrated throughout the whole world, that his loving goodness may be fully recompensed for all the graces which he has bestowed, and is to bestow upon me now and for eternity. Amen.
Oh! how pleasing to our good God will be such an sficctionate thanksgiving! What satisfaction will be afforded to him by this sole oblution, which, because of its infinite value, has greater efficacy than all other offerings!
In the fourth part, from the Communion to the end of the Mass, ask with great confidence the divine grace, knowing that during that time Jesus is united with you, and prays and supplicates for you. Dilate your heart, then, and ask not things of little value, but great graces: for great indeed is the oblation of the divine Son, which you present to the Father. Say to him with a humble heart:
MY dear God, I acknowledge that I am utterly unworthy of thy favours; I confess my infinite unworthiness, and that, for my manifold and grievous sins, I do not deserve to be heard. But how canst thou refuse to hear thy divine Son, who, on this altar, prays for me, and offers for me his blood and his life? Ah! my most loving God, hear the prayers of this my great advocate, and, for his sake, grant me all the graces which thou knowest to be necessary to secure the great affair of my eternal salvation. I am now encouraged to ask of thee a general pardon of all my sins, and the gift of final perseverance. Trusting in the prayers of my Jesus, I ask of thee, O my God, all virtues in an heroic degree, and all the efficacious helps necessary to make me truly a saint. I ask of thee the conversion of all sinners, and particularly those who are related to me. Amen.
Pray, pray for yourself, and for all poor sinners; pray with great confidence, and be assured that your prayers, united with the prayers of Jesus, shall be heard.
But pray particularly for sorrow for your sins, for the gift of perseverance and of divine love; and recommend to God, in a special manner, your relatives, sinners, and the souls in purgatory.
OFFERING TO BE MADE AT MASS.
ETERNAL Father, I offer to thee the sacrifice which thy beloved Son Jesus made of himself upon the cross, and now renews upon this altar; and I offer it to thee in the name of all creatures, together with the Masses which have been celebrated, and which shall be celebrated, in the whole world, in order to adore thee, and to give thee the honour which thou dost deserve: to render to thee due thanks for thy innumerable benefits, to appease thy anger for our sins, and to give thee due satisfaction for them; to entreat thee also for myself, for the Church, for the whole world, and for the blessed souls in purgatory. Amen.