[The Mass Explained to Children] [Previous] [Next]
OUR Lord Jesus Christ said the first Mass at the Last Supper. Ever since then His disciples have gone on looking for a large furnished room where they may prepare the table for Him.
You can see this for yourself when you go to Mass. The large furnished dining-room is the church, and the altar there is the table, prepared with its white cloths. A precious chalice stands on it for holding the wine and water, and also a plate containing a round piece of bread. You will see a man, too, standing by the prepared table; he is the priest who represents Christ. He repeats the very words which Christ said to the Apostles around Him: "Take ye and eat, for this is My Body"; and in the same way, taking the chalice, he repeats: "This is the Chalice of My Blood, which shall be shed for the remission of sins."
And the faithful who are pure in heart lovingly and devoutly approach the table to receive the Sacred Host, just as the Apostles received it at the Last Supper from the hands of Christ: because He said: "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world."
THE MYSTERY
Holy Mass, however, is not merely a commemoration. It may look no more than that to people who have not penetrated its mysteries. They may think it a rite carried out in memory of the dead Christ since, as a living Man, He has gone from this earth. Here then, they think, is His memorial service: there is the image of Jesus Crucified, an unchanging symbol in the centre of the table, with lighted candles burning around it. The whole thing is exactly like a pious remembrance of His death.
But the Mass is by no means such a simple matter.
We do not go to it merely to commemorate the Passion of Christ as an act of piety, which we always owe Him.
Here there is no real death.
What seems death is Life.
There is a deep mystery hidden in the Mass, a supernatural, astounding fact, the greatest wonder of all: Jesus, at a certain moment, comes down alive on the altar. He is invisible, but He is truly present, because the bread is changed into His Body, and the wine into His Blood; so that Christ is there, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, and He comes for us ...
Therefore, when we go to Mass, we do not go there only to commemorate Jesus; we go to find Him, to receive Him. He is present there, He lives, and He will never leave us.
This is our comfort, our hope, the greatest part of our Faith: the Mystery of the Mass.
We have not been left orphans alone in the world. When Christ ascended into Heaven, He did not abandon us. He promised not to: "I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ORPHANS." So, every time we come from Holy Mass, we can cry out like Magdalen, rejoicing: "He is alive! I have spoken to Him."
The mystery of the Mass can be summed up in one single fact.
When the priest, celebrating at the altar, in commemoration of Jesus, speaks certain words, the same as those spoken by Him at the Last Supper, the Living Christ truly descends on the altar, to give Himself to men and to live in their hearts.
He comes in that solemn moment called the Consecration, when all the faithful kneel with their eyes intent on the outward sign of the Great Mystery.
The Host that is raised up is the Body of the Living Christ.
The Chalice that is lifted up contains His Blood.
This Mystery has sometimes been accompanied by visible miracles, seen not only by holy persons, who were assisting at Mass with great faith; but even by people of little fervour, or by absolute unbelievers.
Once a holy hermit saw the Child Jesus in the Host, and the vision at the Elevation radiated a marvellous light. Once, too, it happened that a rather awkward priest upset the chalice, in which the wine was already consecrated, and spilled it on the altar cloth. The wine, which was white, left red stains like blood, and although the cloth was washed and washed over again the stains could not be removed.
The story is also told of Wittikind, the fierce King of the Saxons, who was converted to Christianity because he saw in the Host at the Elevation the face of a little boy smiling at him.
These miracles, and others like them, have happened in every part of the world.
But the real wonder is worked sacramentally by Christ's coming into the hearts of Christians. The greatest wonder of all is what takes place at every Mass: the real presence of Jesus, hidden from our eyes, but truly present to our faith.
Jesus remains, thus hidden under the appearance of the Sacrament, which is kept in the locked Tabernacle. So every time a Catholic enters his church he bows down devoutly before Him.
The church is a holy place because of this Real Presence of Jesus.
But it is only in the Mass and at no other time that He comes down to us under the appearance of bread and wine, just as so many centuries ago He became Man in the most pure womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
THE CHURCH
You can well imagine how men would flock around such a mystery, such a stupendous miracle as this.
Since the night of the Last Supper, followed by the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, and by the descent of the Holy Ghost, Christians have gathered closely together in the Church.
But Christians are not united in the Catholic Church merely in memory of the Messias foretold by the prophets, the Master and Saviour of men, who suffered and died for love of those who had sinned so much against Him. Catholics are not merely believers in a divine teaching, such as Christ gave to men when He lived among them and taught them as a Teacher.
They are united in this mystery of the Living Christ's continuous return to the world, that they may receive Him and live in Him.
In a sense we Catholics live a miraculous life in the Church, because, as we believe, we become one thing with Christ.
It is from Him we must get the strength to live His doctrines. Man can learn the very noblest teaching, but he needs the grace of God if he is to practise it. Indeed, he must lose himself in God, because it is Christ in us who can do all things.
So it is to nothing less than this that the Catholic aspires: "I live, now- not I: but Christ liveth in me."
THE HISTORY OF THE MASS
Again we say, it is easy to imagine what a strong religious life developed around this mystery. It inspired the marvellous deeds of the first Christians and the courage of the martyrs.
Even little children shared in the miraculous strength infused by the living Christ: the martyr, Pancras, was only a child; Tarcisius was a little altar-boy who died to defend the Blessed Sacrament; and there were many other children like that.
But remember, it is not enough just to hear the promises of Our Lord in order to enter into the Kingdom of Christ and win eternal life. No, He must really live in our hearts.
The history of the Church is also the history of the Mass.
In the early ages of Christianity, when the Church was persecuted, Christians used to meet in the Catacombs (underground passages and cellars in Rome) and celebrate Mass there. Or sometimes they would hide in the house of some rich Christian, as in the houses of Saints Bibiana and Pudentiana in Rome. They would seek there a place suitable for the mystical banquet, and then they would prepare the table just as in the Last Supper.
Or, if there did not happen to be a rich Christian among them who could lend them a fine house, then they might meet in some humble cabin belonging to poor people, who perhaps had only one room, where their kitchen utensils hung on the old blackened walls.
But poverty did not matter. The only thing that mattered was faith. So there, too, the cloth was spread on a little table, and all those Christians, who were ready to die for Christ, knelt around it with rapt gaze and expectant hearts, waiting for the Living Lord who would descend upon earth for them. And often, indeed, for those first Christians the Mass was a Last Supper too, because on going out from it, the glorious death of martyrdom awaited them.
Like everything else that begins with a great reality, the way of celebrating Mass went on perfecting itself through the centuries, becoming gradually the wonderful rite it is to-day.
Once upon a time the Mass was longer than it is now. When Christians emerged from the age of persecution, their joy was so great in proclaiming aloud the glory of the Lord, and their eagerness to honour Him so intense, that they spent half the day gathered around the great Mystery. In Rome they used to have long processions, in which the Pope walked barefoot and all the Christians sang hymns, and then they would all go in together to some great church to hear Mass.
But not everyone was allowed to be present during Mass, as they are to-day, because not all were baptized Christians as we nearly all are to-day. The Christian people went on growing and conquering in the midst of nations which, if they did not persecute the Church, did not belong to it either, but were Pagans or Jews.
CATECHUMENS AND FAITHFUL
The Catechumens (those who were learning to be Christians but were not yet baptized) were allowed to be present only at the beginning of Mass, to hear the Sacred Scriptures, especially the Gospel, read aloud, since that was a general instruction for all Christians.
This first part was like a sort of introduction to the real mysteries of the Mass. The people joined with the priests and bishops in the singing of hymns, making the responses to the psalms, and also listening to the reading and explanation of the Gospels.
But when the actual Mass was to begin, the Catechumens were dismissed with the words "Dominus Vobiscum," which mean "God be with you." These words were here a way of taking leave, just as we use the word "Good-bye" to-day.
The priest said " Good-bye" to them, and off they went.
Then the Faithful came forward.
They did not come with empty hands , but bringing offerings. Usually they brought what was needed for the Mass: bread of unleavened flour, pure wine of the grape, money for the Church and for the ceremony, and also charitable offerings for poor Christians.
So there was a great bustle, often with a lot of noise, because alms were asked for the poor; the names of those who could not come to the Mass but wished to be prayed for were read out, and the greater part of those present sang the special hymns and psalms of the day.
At last the actual Mass began with the offering up to God of the bread and wine to be consecrated, and of the hearts of all the faithful. This was a time of silence and of devout recollection.
The sacred rite represents the Passion of Christ, the offering up of Jesus, who gave Himself a Victim for the salvation of men. The Church has commanded special words and actions to be used, in order to present the drama of Jesus Christ with scrupulous fidelity.
Everything is sacred in the rite of Holy Mass. Every movement of the priest, every object he touches, every tone of his voice, is determined for him: and the faithful can follow the Mass in its mystical meaning and in its every detail. But the aim of the faithful is to share in the Mass: to await the coming of Christ and to communicate with the Living Jesus.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
It is beautiful to think what activity there must be in Heaven about the offering of the Mass. The pure spirits see clearly what is such a mystery to us; first of all, the most Blessed Virgin Mary sees, and with her all the Angels and Saints of Paradise.
They understand what infinite love leads Christ continually to us, and rejoicing Angels form His crown and escort. They gaze upon the children present at Mass, and rejoice in the privilege that is theirs.
Then all the Saints, and especially the martyrs who shed their blood like Christ, plead around the altar; to gladden us and to help us, they offer all their merits to our souls; they are in communion with us. Yes, the merits which they acquired while they were living on the earth can be used by us as if they were ours. This is a most precious spiritual gift permitted by God, and is the heart of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
Let us never forget it.
We know they want to help us. And when we most feel our meanness and the need of God's mercy, let us invoke our Saints and holy Patrons:
"I beseech blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, blessed Michael the Archange], blessed John the
Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints to pray to the Lord our God for me."
THE MASS BELLS
The early hours of the morning are the most beautiful and the holiest hours of the day. From the rising of the sun the different bells begin to chime in turn, telling the time of Holy Mass and calling the faithful to rise quickly from their beds to come and meet Our Lord.
When you hear these bells, think of Abraham. When God called him, he was ready to obey even to the sacrifice of his dear and only son.
And you are not asked to make a sacrifice, like Abraham. On the contrary, you are called to receive infinite grace.
Come then ! Come !
Beautiful holy hours of the morning, when Mass is being offered up all over the world!
THE SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE
Mass is offered in the morning, because those who wish to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion, both priests and people, must be fasting from the midnight before.
The first rays of sunrise tell us that the Bread of angels is ready for us; and the prayer which Jesus Himself taught us has become the daily invocation on our lips : "Give us this day our daily bread."
Think for a moment that the earth is round and that the sun never leaves it. When it is midday here, it is midnight on the opposite side of the earth, and all the people there are sound asleep. But there, too, the day begins to dawn, and when it is late afternoon with us the sun is rising there and those far away bells begin to ring out from the churches, calling the faithful who live at the other end of the world.
If you study the map well, you can easily see that it is morning in some part of the world every hour of the day. You can even find out in what countries Christians are expecting Christ each hour of the twenty-four.
Our Lord "never ceases to come."
Since the death of Christ, the earth is compassed about with the spirits of angels and saints. And that spiritual atmosphere of immense goodness helps men's souls to live; just as the material atmosphere of air helps their bodies to live.
THE CALL
Every child can make this little meditation each morning:
"Is it true that Jesus has come for me?
Specially for me?
Yes, it is true: He has called me.
It is an absolute fact.
Each one of us has been called.
Christ said to us, with outstretched arms:
'Come unto Me!
Suffer the little children to come unto Me.
Come unto Me all ye who labour and are burdened and I will refresh you.
Come unto Me all ye who are afflicted and I will console you.
In Me is peace.'"
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