What really happens at Mass; Angels: Day 311

Last updated on: May 30, 2017 at 3:30 am by Pete Socks

What really happens at Mass; Angels: Day 311 2017-05-28T09:29:06-05:00 Pete Socks

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When a priest celebrates the Mass on earth, he takes part in the worship of Heaven. He corresponds visibly to the invisible angels.

Whenever the priest invokes the Holy Spirit and offers the most awesome sacrifice—when he constantly handles the common Lord of all—tell me what rank shall we give him? What great purity and what real piety must we demand of him? For consider what kind of hands ought to minister in these things, and what kind of tongue utter such words. And shouldn’t the soul that receives so great a spirit be purer and holier than anything in the world?

At such a time, angels stand by the priest; and the whole sanctuary, and the space round about the altar, is filled with the powers of Heaven, in honor of him who lies on it. For this, indeed, is capable of being proved from the very rites that are being then celebrated.

I myself have heard someone once relate, that a certain aged, venerable man, who often saw revelations, used to tell that, at such a time, he saw suddenly, so far as was possible for him, a multitude of angels, clothed in shining robes, and encircling the altar, and bending down, as one might see soldiers in the presence of their king. For my part I believe it. –St. John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood 6.4

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

Do I pray for priests, so that they will live up to their holy calling, pure as angels?

CLOSING PRAYER

Holy guardian angels: watch over our priests as they minister to God’s people on earth. Give them strength in temptation, wisdom in their words, constancy in their deeds.

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A Year with the Angels

Mike Aquilina

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Saint John Chrysostom

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