Meditation on the Holy Eucharist
45. It is the best means whereby to venerate the Passion of Christ and obtain a share in its fruits.
46. It is also the best means of venerating the Blessed Mother of God and increasing her joy.
47. By hearing Mass you can give greater honor to the Angels and Saints than by reciting many prayers.
48. By hearing Mass devoutly, you can also enrich your soul more than by anything else in the world.
49. For in this act you perform a good work of the highest value.
50. It is a signal exercise of pure faith, which will receive a great reward.
51. When you bow down before the Sacred Host and the sacred chalice, you perform a supreme act of adoration.
52. For each time that you gaze reverently upon the Sacred Host, you will receive a recompense in Heaven.
53. Each time you strike your breast with compunction, some of your sins are remitted to you.
54. If you hear Mass in the state of mortal sin, God offers you the grace of conversion.
55. If you hear Mass in the state of grace, God gives you an augmentation of grace.
56. In Holy Mass you spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ and drink His Blood.
57. You are privileged to behold with your eyes Christ hidden under the sacramental veil, and to be beheld by Him.
58. You receive the priest’s benediction, which is confirmed by Christ in Heaven.
59. Through your diligence in hearing Mass, you will also obtain corporal and temporal blessings.
60. Furthermore, you will be preserved from many misfortunes that would otherwise befall you.
61. You will also be strengthened against temptations which would otherwise have vanquished you.
62. Holy Mass will also be to you a means of obtaining the grace of a holy death.
63. The love you have shown for Holy Mass will secure for you the special succor of Angels and Saints in your last moments.
64. The remembrance of the Masses heard in your lifetime will be a sweet solace to you in the hour of death and inspire you with confidence in the divine mercy.
65. They will not be forgotten when you stand before the strict Judge and will incline Him to show you favor.
66. You need not fear a long and terrible Purgatory if you already, to a great extent, atoned for your sins by frequently assisting at Holy Mass.
67. One Mass devoutly heard will do more to mitigate the pains of Purgatory than any act of penance, however difficult of performance.
68. One Mass in your lifetime will be of greater service to you than many said for you after death.
69. You will attain a high place in Heaven, which will be yours for all eternity.
70. Your felicity in Heaven will, moreover, be increased by every Mass you hear on earth.
71. No prayers offered for your friends will be as efficacious as a single Mass heard and offered on their behalf.
72. You can amply recompense all your benefactors by hearing Mass for their intention.
73. The best help, the greatest consolation, you can afford the afflicted, the sick, the dying, is to hear Mass for them.
74. By this same means you can even obtain for sinners the grace of conversion.
75. You can also earn for all faithful Christians saving and salutary graces.
76. For the Suffering Souls in Purgatory you can procure abundant refreshment.
77. And if it is not within your power to have Mass said for your departed friends, you can by devout assistance at the Holy Sacrifice release them from the tormenting flames.
What do you now think of Holy Mass, O Christian? Can it be supposed that in the whole world there is any other good work whereby so many graces and fruits are placed within our reach? It is no longer possible to question the truth of the words of Father Sanchez quoted below:
“If Christians only knew how to profit by Holy Mass, they might acquire greater riches than are to be found in all the things God has created.” We have indeed a precious storehouse in the Mass: happy he who can earn treasures so great at the cost of so little labor! Who would willingly miss Mass? Who would not delight in hearing it?
Let us resolve never to lose an opportunity of hearing Mass, provided the duties of our state of life do not prevent us from doing so. To omit hearing Mass daily, merely from carelessness or indolence, would be a proof that we were either ignorant of or indifferent to the divine treasures it contains. God grant that those who read this book may in future appreciate more fully this pearl of great price, value it more highly, seek it more diligently!
This article is taken from a chapter in The Incredible Catholic Mass by Fr. Martin von Cochem which is available from TAN Books.
