5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Mass

I am writing today because I can no longer study for the rest of the night. Not that I’ve actually finished much work, but it’s a combination of the remaining holiday inertia and forgetting to bring my ADHD meds to Dublin.

Anyway, I am writing because I feel that the average Catholic has a very poor idea of what he is doing at Holy Mass, but on some level desires for much more. If this is you, my dear reader, then please read on and consider what advice I have to offer. If it is not, then please do it share it with a friend who could use it. Now, I shall attempt to keep this as succinct and concise as I can, a great feat if one considers how verbose I usually am.

A priest on youtube once commented how youth find the Mass boring, to which he replied, ‘No, the Mass isn’t boring, YOU’RE BORING!’ When you consider it, the Mass is just about the greatest, most exciting thing in the entire universe. Well, in fact, it actually is. It the very sacrifice of the Saviour of the World, for the redemption of mankind, unfolding, mystically, before your eyes. It is an opportunity for you to enter into the court of God, and hold an audience with Him. So, if you find it boring, then you’re probably a boring person. How can you fix that? Be pro-active in your preparation for Mass. Here are 5 ways to get the most of Mass.

I. PREPARE FOR MASS.

Mass should be the centre of your life, especially on a Sunday. Get into the habit of planning your Sunday around Mass and not the other way around. Don’t just decide to hear the evening Mass on Saturday or Sunday because you want to sleep in. Make sure you dress well, you are going to be in presence of the your Creator and of the whole universe, if you think he’s important, then dress well. Dress modestly too, then you won’t distract people and you won’t worry about people staring at you. That includes the boys as well, who enjoy spray painting their t-shirts onto themselves.

Go for Confession before Mass! Right before Mass if possible, if not, at least 24 hours before. This will get you in the right disposition for Mass and to receive Holy Communion. It will ensure, beyond a doubt that your soul is in a state of sanctifying grace. If you think this is too serious, well, sure if you’re absolutely sure you haven’t sinned all week. Do remember that you are receiving the most sacred (Sacratissimum), you should make sure that you are pure and in sanctifying grace. After all, you are about to become a living Tabernacle for the Sacratissimum. The Holy Church requires that the Sacred Vessels use to contain our Blessed Lord must be made purely of precious metals, that is gold or silver, where possible. And if it is not, then they should be of metal, with the inside gilded and plated with gold. If, Holy Mother Church goes through so much trouble to ensure that her Thrice Holy Spouse is well handled when He visits upon the altar, what more can you do to make yourself as pure as possible to contain the most Sacred? Go for confession.

That means you should be at Church early! Try to get there ten to fifteen minutes before Mass starts; more if you need to go for confession, so that you can pray and put yourself in the right disposition for Mass. Remember, you are not there to attend Mass, you are there to ASSIST at Mass, together with the priest, in offering it for intentions of Christ and other immortal holy souls. Here are some prayers that you can say before Mass in preparation for communion and after receiving communion. Copy and paste them into a word processor and print them out, and always take them with you to Mass.

II. GET A HAND MISSAL.

You can find most of these in a good hand missal. The 1962 hand missals usually have these prayers before communion. For the Mass in the Ordinary Form, I recommend the CTS Missal. It is very good and comes in both a Sunday and Daily Missal format.

A missal also comes in handy as it allows you to properly follow the priest as he prays. St Leonard teaches that one way to assist at Mass is to pray along with the priest. You cannot do that passively listening to what he says unless you have eidetic memory. So, you’ll need a missal. The Saint also teaches that the other way to pray is to know what the priest is praying for an offer our own prayers for the same thing along with the priest. I can imagine St Thérèse doing that. To do that you'll...need your a missal.

If your church provides a missal in the pews, you can use that temporarily, but having your own is most beneficial. It is yours and it is personal, you will know where everything is in that missal, the location of all the prayers and so on. These missals also usually provide little tidbits of information, prayers and devotions and so on. For example, My Baronius has all the important things a Catholic needs to know like the six precepts of the Church, the four cardinal virtues, the ten commandments, etc.

Now, they are not cheap, and may cost up to $100, but they will last you for decades, and the spiritual graces you will get out of using them will outweigh the cost price. Don’t stinge on God and your salvation.

Also, you may have now realised that you might actually have to lug the book to Mass every time you go. Such a chore, you might think, especially you boys who don’t have handbags and don’t like the thought of carrying a bag everywhere. Well man up kids! That missal is like 500g; Christ carried a 200kg cross so that He could see you in heaven. Don’t disappoint Him.

III. BE PRESENT AT THE CONSECRATION

Whether or not you are receiving communion (yes! It is NOT necessary to receive communion every week, or every time you are at Holy Mass; though it is a good practice and one that MUST be supplemented by regular confession), pay attention during the consecration of the bread and wine into the most delightful and Holy Body and Blood of Christ your saviour. This is the most important part of the Mass. The Crux of it all.

When the priest bows to say the words of consecration, bow with him, when he elevates the Sacratissimum after consecration, he is offering up Christ, the perfect and spotless sacrifice, to God the Father. Look up and adore your God and whisper, ‘MY LORD AND MY GOD!’ and mean it with all your heart.

Do the same thing at the elevation of the chalice containing the precious blood, this time whispering, ‘Be mindful, O Lord, of thy creature, whom thou has redeemed through thy most precious blood.’

This is precisely the moment that Christ Himself has become fully and supernaturally present on the altar. The bells ring and draw our attention to this so that we may adore Him as the priest offers this sacrifice to God the Father and the angels hastily take it to heaven.

IV. RECEIVE COMMUNION KNEELING AND ON THE TONGUE

Contrary to René Descartes’ popular philosophy, we are not the separation of our body and soul, mind and spirit. They are one. That is we are body and soul, mind and spirit, and therefore we must not only use our soul, mind and spirit in the worship of God (the interior things), but also our bodies in our worship (the exterior). St Thomas teaches that the interior acts of worship are expressed through our exterior acts and that is why, you kneel throughout consecration, and you bow when the priest genuflects or bows before the most Blessed Sacrament (except when he is leaving the sanctuary, that is at the start and end of Mass).

Which brings me to the most difficult suggestion. Receive communion in the preferred and traditional way of the Holy Mother Church: kneeling and on the tongue. Yes, it is going to be difficult, but if you try it out for a month, you will find your appreciation of the Mass and of God will change. If not, I will buy you dinner. Here are some video reasons, since we all have short attention spans, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jii6NCfTW68 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXzsyuytMlQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap1KL2D5ae4

That’s a bishop, TWO cardinals and THE POPE who are saying receive communion on the tongue. If that's not enough, here are more reasons: http://www.communion-in-the-hand.org/videos.html

When we kneel, we remind ourselves that we are before God Himself. When we receive communion on the tongue, we remind ourselves of our humility, and complete dependence of Christ, represented by His Holy Priest. The truth about that the Blessed Sacrament is truly Christ Himself will always be so, regardless of whether we believe in it. As being of perception, we need to continuously remind ourselves of this truth, and that is through the actions we perform when we receive this most sacred gift. Being fed brings us back to that CHILDLIKE nature crucial for salvation. Being fed allows us to submit ourselves to Christ!

Also, we remind ourselves of our unworthiness to receive Christ, and we remind ourselves of the dignity and privilege afforded to His chosen priests. Our hands are unclean and unconsecrated and unworthy. 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only to say the words and my soul shall be healed.' How blessed are the hands of whom Christ has chosen to hold Him.

I know this is very difficult for some people to do initially, however, it is an opportunity to open your heart to Christ and to ask Him for the grace and courage to deny oneself and to die to oneself for Him. I will pray for you too.

V. LEARN ABOUT THE MASS.

You have been given the gift of intelligence, enough that you can read and understand texts, like this article. So it is obligatory for you to use this gift from God to learn more about His Holy Mass. Here is a good website, it is a book by DOM Prosper Guéranger. It explains the Tridentine Mass though. However, the current Mass is a development from the Tridentine, and has left out some parts. Understanding the Tridentine Mass will allow you to understand the current Mass. It is a very good read.

Also, I recommend getting a copy of St Leonard’s The Hidden Treasure and the Pope’s book, Spirit in the Liturgy.

Here is Archbishop Fulton Sheen explaining the meaning of Masshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UabMF-8uXxg
And describing the various parts of Mass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6AOvStZS64

Try all these things out for a month, and see if your appreciation of Mass improves. Most importantly, pray and ask God to give you the grace to appreciate His Holy Mass better.