LflOW

The Mass in My Life

by

Father Denis Mooney,

O. F. M.

+

Price Thirty-five cents

A GRAIL PUBLICATION

St. Meinrad Indiana



NIHIL OBSTAT:

Fr. Albertus Gori,

Gustos, T. S.

Cairi, 23 Maii, 1946

NIHIL OBSTAT:

John M. A. Fearns, S.T.D.

Censor Librorum

IMPRIMATUR:

p Francis Cardinal Spellman
Archbishop of New York

October 10, 1946

Copyright 1953 by

St. Meinrad Archabbey, Inc.

GRAIL PUBLICATIONS



CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Part One

THE MASS AS A SACRIFICE

What is a Sacrifice? 7

Religious Sacrifice 9

The Sacrifice of Christ 12

The Heavenly Sacrifice 14

The Sacrifice of the Mass 1

5

Why the Mass? 16

My Sacrifice 19

Part Two

THE OFFERTORY

Offering in Love 21

Three Reasons for Transformation 29

The Gifts of My Offering 34

Symbols of Self-Immolation 45

Symbols of Brotherly Love 47

The Oblation 52

Part Three

THE CONSECRATION

United to Christ’s Sacrifice 53

The Likeness of His Death 56

A Co-victim With Christ 64

The Mother of the Crucified 82

Part Four

THE COMMUNION

The Divine Exchange 94

Living Proofs of the Divine Exchange 109

Conclusion 117



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THE MASS IN MY LIFE

INTRODUCTION

I am told that I must live the Mass. Now,

whatever "life” may mean to the scientist or to the

philosopher, to me it is something very real and

practical. It is the summary of my daily round of

activity. On the one hand, it includes all the cares

and pains that seem at times almost unbearable, and

all those exasperating trifles that arise so often in my

work or from contact with other people. On the

other hand, it embraces all the joys, pleasures and

friendships that seem to make it worth while to

carry on.

If I am to live the Mass, therefore, some real rela-

tionship must exist between the profound theology of

the Sacrifice of the Altar and the very practical busi-

ness of my everyday life—the life that I spend in
the office or the factory, in the classroom or the

kitchen, and in places of recreation. That is really

where I live, and so it is there that I must live the

Mass. The sorrows and joys of every day are to be

3



directed to God and offered as sanctified moments,

through union with the sacrifice of Christ upon the

altar.

The purpose of the following meditation on the

Mass is to see and to emphasize the manner in which

the Holy Sacrifice should spiritualize my life. First,

however, I must have a valid understanding of the

Mass itself. It is undoubtedly true that ignorance of

the substantial principles underlying Christian prac-

tices is responsible in great part for the lack of zeal

and spiritual fervor that is evident even among good

Christians. To see the relationship between the Mass

and my life, therefore, and to embrace with enthu-

siasm the tremendous implications of the simple

exhortation to live the Mass, I must know what the

Mass means.

To appreciate the Holy Sacrifice fully I would

need to consider it in its threefold relationship to my

Christian life. First, on the part of the Blessed Trin-

ity, union with Whom is the END of my Christian

life, for it was God’s love for me that prompted this

sacrificial manner of redemption: "God so loved the

world that He gave His only-begotten Son." (John

3, 16) Secondly, on the part of Christ, who is the

MEANS of my sanctification and the door of my

entry in to the Trinity, since it is by Him alone that

I
.
may be saved: "No man comes to the Father but

through Me.,3 ^Johri l^, 6) Thirdly, on the part of

4



my own free will, which gives DIRECTION to the

activity of my Christian life: "Whatever you do,

work at it from the heart as for the Lord.” (Col. 3,

23
)

Grace is God’s Part

When I think of the relationship between the Mass

and my life, I may tend to place all the stress on the

first two aspects, that is, on God’s part in applying to

my soul the merits of Christ’s Redemption. While I

must ever seek a deeper appreciation of this marvel

of God’s goodness to me, I need to analyze, empha-

size and repeat—not overlook or minimize—the
third aspect, which is my own aptitude to profit by

God’s goodness; for over and above any efficacious

effect which the Sacrifice of Christ may produce inde-

pendently of the dispositions of the soul, I shall be

enriched through the fruit of the Mass in Holy Com-

munion according to the measure of my love for

God, that is, in the proportion that my will is united

to the will of Christ. All grace is a pure gift of God

and is the principal agent of sanctification, but it does

not sanctify without cooperation.

Cooperation is My Part

Because of the self-love that is innate in me, there

is very good reason to call into question the whole-

heartedness of my desire to cooperate with the sancti-

5



fying work of Christ. My part is the only doubtful

factor in the personal value of the Mass, and there-

fore I must regard and cherish the Mass as the very

heart of my spiritual life, the vital center towards

which all my affections and actions should converge,

in order to be gathered together into the Sacred

Heart of Christ and offered by Him as an acceptable

gift to the Blessed Trinity. Then, in return, the

Heart of Christ will be a fountain of grace bringing

life and love from the Trinity to me, for the Mass is

the trysting-place of divine love; the uniting of

God’s love and my love, in the person of Jesus, God

and Man.

6



PART ONE

THE MASS AS A SACRIFICE

To see the practical, everyday meaning of living

the sacrifice of the Mass, certain preliminary no-

tions must be clearly understood. I must first know

what is meant by the word "sacrifice” and then

consider its application to the Sacrifice of Calvary, to

our Lord’s eternal Sacrifice in Heaven, and finally

to the Sacrifice of the Altar.

WHAT IS A SACRIFICE?

The word sacrifice, as used in everyday language,

contains two ideas, namely, giving and loving. Giv-

ing is depriving myself by an act of self-denial of

something esteemed and valued. (To give away

something I do not want is not a sacrifice. For ex-

ample, to give my discarded coat to a poor man is no

sacrifice for me). Regarded as an act of giving,

sacrifice is something momentary, for the object is

given once and the act is over, although the thing

7



given remains given. Loving refers to the motive or

reason which prompts the act of giving. This is an

interior preference for something or someone more

esteemed than what is given up; a permanent dis-

position which perseveres before, during and after

the act which expresses it. For example, if I have

real love for my neighbor I shall prefer to assist a

poor man in his need rather than provide for my own

comfort, and I shall be ready to give up something

that I could use myself.

Hence, the notion of sacrifice embraces the gift

,

or

the thing itself that is esteemed but given up, and

the love

,

or abiding disposition of preference, which

resides in the human will.

The thing given up is interior when I renounce my

ideas, my desires, my will; or exterior, when I

give up possessions, pleasure or life.

God Sees the Heart

We have a natural tendency to measure a sacrifice

simply by the gift. But that is not the important

factor; for it is not what is given that endows a

sacrifice with its real value, but the love that prompts

the giving. If I give up one thing in order to obtain

something more self-gratifying, I am seeking only

my own interest; I am not prompted by love. That

is a bargain, not a sacrifice. Most of the sacrifices of

the pagans are of this kind for they are offered to

8



obtain favors from the deity. If I make a present

to show affection when in reality there is no love in

my heart, there is but a pretense of sacrifice; the

thing is given up but it cannot signify a love that

does not exist. These hollow pretenses of love, far

from expressing homage, become an offense when

their emptiness is discovered. Such too often were

the sacrifices of the Jews, and this is the reason why

they were an abomination to God. Our Lord, quoting

Isaias, reprehended such superficial sacrifice among

the Jews: "This people honors Me with their lips,

but their heart is far from Me.” (Matt. 15, 8)

I should understand clearly, therefore, that the es-

sential quality of sacrifice is in the motive, that is, in

the interior and abiding disposition of preference for

God. God is honored not by mere activity, not by

the mere giving of something; but by the affections of

the heart, the interior self-offering on the altar of the

will. Our Lord reminds me of this with the words:

"For the Father also seeks such to worship Him.

God is spirit, and they who worship Him must wor-

ship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4, 23)

RELIGIOUS SACRIFICE

A sacrifice may be either profane or religious. If,

for example, I donate some money to an orphanage

out of love for humanity, this is a profane sacrifice.

Sacrifice is religious when the thing is given up for

9



the love of God; when God is preferred to some-

thing.

The Heart of Religious Sacrifice

To what can I prefer God? To everything outside

Himself, that is, to every created thing. From a

practical point of view creatures are divided into two

parts, myself and the world. I shall prefer God to

myself when I use my natural powers in a super-

natural way, thereby allowing the life principle of

divine grace to become operative in me; exercising

the virtue of faith by preferring God’s word to my

own ideas; the virtue of hope by trusting in His

promises of supernatural help and reward rather

than in the natural desires of my heart; the virtue

of charity by preferring His will to my own. I shall

prefer God to the world, when I renounce its riches,

pleasures and honors, using them only for the love

of God.

When the notion of sacrifice is regarded from

the viewpoint of love expressed by a gift, then it is

clear that love for God is the heart of religious sacri-

fice. This is the precise point on which the following

explanation of my part in the Mass is based.

The Four Ends of Sacrifice

While the gifts of religious sacrifice are to be the

flowering of love, they are at the same time the

10



means of rendering the homage of adoration to God,

which is the primary purpose or end of sacrifice.

Indeed there is no better way of acknowledging su-

premacy and excellence than by the gift of something

esteemed. Besides this primary purpose of adora-

tion, religious sacrifice serves other purposes, namely,

thanksgiving for graces received; petition for things

needful and expiation for sin. These four ends of

sacrifice should be noted in passing, but the following

analysis of my practical cooperation in the sacrifice of

the Mass is concerned with the essential meaning of

sacrifice which, as already explained, comprises the

two ideas of loving and giving.

Sacrifice as a Social Act

Personal religious sacrifice gives true homage to

God and may incline God to hear my prayer even

on behalf of others. In its full meaning, however,

religious sacrifice is more than the act of an indivi-

dual. It must be a social act offered in the name of

society by one who is appointed to represent it: a

priest. The supreme sacrifice of a martyr, therefore,

or the mortification practiced by a good Christian is

not a sacrifice in the complete religious sense since

it is individual and the one who offers does not

officially represent the Church. For no one may speak

to God or offer gifts to Him in the name of others

unless he has received from Him authority over them;

11



as the Apostle says, "No man takes the honor to

himself; he takes it who is called by God, as Aaron

was.” (Heb. 5, 4)

THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST

Christ’s Preference

Applying the foregoing ideas to the sacrifice of

Christ, which is the perfect religious sacrifice, we ob-

serve that from the first moment of His human exis-

tence He had a complete love for His Father; a dis-

position of unrestricted preference which He ex-

pressed by a total gift of Himself in the renouncement

of His human nature to the divine. In the exercise

of His intellect He surrendered His human judgment

and considered all things in the light of heaven: "I

speak what I have seen with the Father.” (John 8,

38) In the desires of His heart God was the sole ob-

ject of His affections: "I do always the things that

are pleasing to Him.” (John 8, 29) By the activity

of His will He gave unqualified submission: "Not

My will, but Thine be done.” (Luke 22, 42) With

respect to the exercise of His senses He referred all

things to His Father, so that He never used creatures

merely for the sake of enjoyment. "My food,” He

exclaimed, "is to do the will of Him who sent Me.”

(John 4, 34) During His life on earth, as our model,

our Lord seized every opportunity to express in act

12



this interior spirit of loving surrender. He was in-

different even to things needful to nature, for He

said "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

(Matt. 8, 20) He was found among the poor and

the sick, in circumstances which offered no gratifica-

tion to the senses. His whole life was at His Fa-

ther’s disposal with a selflessness that found its full

expression in the final act of Calvary.

Christ’s Supreme Gift

The crucifixion was the supreme gift of Christ’s

sacrifice, summing up in one act all that His love

could give, namely, Himself and the whole world. He

could not possibly give more. "Greater love than this

no one has, that one lay down his life for his friends."

(John 15, 13) Yet the value of this complete sacri-

fice came not from the gift but from love. It was not

the act of crucifixion, not the annihilation itself that

was pleasing to the Father, but the inner self-immo-

lation of love, the disposition of obedience or prefer-

ence for his Father’s will. This was the source of His

glory and of our salvation, as St. Paul says, "He hum-

bled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even to

death on a cross. Therefore God has exalted Him

. . .
." (Phil. 2, 8-9) And again, "He was heard

because of His reverent submission." (Heb. 5, 7)

Nevertheless it is quite true to say that we have been

13



saved by the death of the cross, because death was the

gift required of Christ’s obedience.

Now, our Lord being the chief member of the

human race, Head of the Mystical Body, His Church,

He had the power to represent all men and to sacrifice

for them all, and therefore His own immolation was

a social act, the act of a priest—a sacrifice in the com-
plete religious sense. He submitted to the will of the

Father, not only in His own name, but also in the

name of all His members.

THE HEAVENLY SACRIFICE

Eternal Priest and Victim

In Our Lord’s supreme act of sacrifice, the gift was

made once: "Christ was offered once,’’ says the

Great Apostle. (Heb. 9, 28) But what Jesus gave on

Calvary, His very life, remains eternally given in

heaven; for the effect of death is to eternalize the

disposition that it finds. Hence St. John saw Him

in his visions as "a lamb standing as if slain."

(Apoc. 5, 6)

Thus the Victim of Calvary remains the same Vic-

tim in heaven; the priest of Calvary also remains the

same priest, as St. Paul says, "But He because He

continues forever has an everlasting priesthood.

Therefore, He is able at all times to save those who

14



come to God through Him, since He lives always to

make intercession for them.” (Heb, 7, 24-25)

The heavenly sacrifice of Christ, therefore, is not a

new act; the inner oblation is ever alive in His Heart.

It is the same sacrifice that was offered on the cross

without the outward expression of suffering. "Jesus,

having offered one sacrifice for sins, has taken His

seat forever at the right hand of God.” (Heb. 10,

12
)

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

At the words of consecration spoken by the priest,

Jesus becomes present on the altar. He comes there

as He is in heaven, as the victim and priest of Cal-

vary. He is there on the altar, given as He was given

on the cross and as He remains given forever in

Heaven. There, too, is the same act of obedience and

love through which He surrendered Himself to

the will of the Father.

Calvary Continued

We may now understand why the Council of

Trent affirms that the Mass is a true and visible sac-

rifice; that Christ Himself is offered under visible

signs in an unbloody manner by the priest. In oth-

er words, the Mass is the same act of love as the

crucifixion, though not with the bloody form of

15



physical death, for, as St. Paul says: Christ . . . dies

no more.” (Rom. 6, 9)

Because of His divine Sonship, which makes Him

the only member of the human race who is sinless by

nature, our Lord is the only one fully acceptable to

the Father. Only His pure love is a worthy return

for the infinite love of God, and, therefore, He alone

can render due honor to God and plead in the name

of all sinners. And because of this perfect love, the

single act of sacrifice on Calvary was superabundant

for the redemption of all men. Thus St. Paul says of

Him: "He entered once for all . . . into the Holies

. . . having obtained eternal redemption.” (Heb. 9,

12
)

WHY THE MASS?

Now God acts primarily with a view to obtaining

His glory; and since nothing can be added to the

unique act of crucifixion and the continuous sacrifice

of Christ in Heaven, the question arises: Why is the

act renewed upon the altar as a sacrifice? What new

contribution to God’s glory is to be found in the

sacrifice of the Mass which gives reason for the con-

tinuation of Calvary upon the altar? The answer to

this question is of very practical importance, for it

reveals clearly my relationship to the Mass and the

nature of my participation in the Holy Sacrifice.

16



On Calvary our Lord was sacrificed alone. True,

He had me in mind and died for me, accepting in my

name the will of the Father for my sanctification. But

I was not actually present to accept it myself. My will

was not there to be sacrificed, nor was the will of

other Christians. So now I must offer myself in union

with Christ together with all the members of the

Mystical Body. This is necessary since the Church

as a social body has no interior life except the sum

of the individual lives of the members, so that each

one must contribute his own offering. The more the

members offer, the greater the glory God receives . 1

The priest as representative of the Church has the

power to group all the sacrifices of individual mem-

bers into a social homage and to unite them with

the Head.

Calvary being continued upon the altar as the

sacrifice of the whole Body, the Church gives me and

every other member of the Mystical Body the op-

portunity to offer my will in union with the will of

Jesus. The immolation of the Son is the only sacri-

fice that is pleasing to the Father, and, therefore, the

offering of the members must be merged into and

immolated with the Head.

1 The amazing progress in the Church during its first

years was due in great part, according to many

theologians, to the extraordinary merits of the

Blessed Virgin on earth.

17



God’s Glory and My Sanctification

The answer to the question, "Why the Mass?" then,

is this: the sacrifice of Calvary is perpetuated on the

altar so that God may receive new glory from the

ever-changing and ever-increasing union of my offer-

ing and that of all the members of the Church with

the sacrifice of His divine Son, while the merits of

Christ are applied through the Mass to the individual

soul.

The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius XI, in the Encyclical

Miserentissimus Redemptor
,
appeals to the priest and

to the faithful to join themselves to the Eucharistic

sacrifice by the immolation of themselves: "So that

they, too, may offer themselves up ’as a sacrifice,

living, holy, pleasing to God.’ Therefore, St. Cyprian

dared to affirm that, 'the sacrifice of our Lord is not

complete as far as our sanctification is concerned

unless our offerings and sacrifices correspond to His

Passion.’
’’

The exterior form which the sacrifice takes in the

Mass differs, of course, from the form of Calvary.

Now there are no pains nor groans, no blood nor

physical suffering; instead of the external acts of

death there is a sacramental sign—the consecration.
The Mass is called a sacrament-sacrifice2 for Calvary

2 A sacrament is a visible sign which brings about the
sacred effect which it signifies. In Baptism, for ex-

18



is now present on the altar under a sign which, like

like a sacrament, brings about what it signifies. The

sign is the separation of the Body and Blood under

the two species by virtue of the words of double con-

secration. While Jesus becomes present, living and

entire, under each species, yet the words in them -

selves signify and produce the presence of the Body

alone under the appearance of bread and the Blood

alone under the appearance of wine. At the same

time the changing of our sacrifice into Christ’s is both

signified and actually brought about by the transub-

stantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and

Blood of the Victim of Calvary.

Just as the sacraments, therefore, are symbols and

causes of the sanctification of man, so the Mass sym-

bolizes and actually achieves the adoration of God

through the offering of the whole Mystical Body of

Christ.

MY SACRIFICE

With these preliminary ideas in mind, the practical

implications of my personal participation in the Mass

should readily become evident. As a member of the

Church, I shall enter into the sacrifice of the Mystical

Body and give new glory to God, not simply by being

ample the visible sign of pouring water together

with the recital of the baptismal form causes in the

soul the purification which this element signifies.

19



an observer, nor even by a most precise recitation of

the liturgical prayers, but only in proportion as I offer

myself as a co-victim with the Head, that is, in so far

as I prefer God to myself and the world by whole-

hearted love, striving to express this preference by

gifts of renunciation when opportunities present

themselves.

The sacrifice that our Lord made in my behalf on

Calvary may now become personal and actual on the

altar, but—I must make it so. The priest assures me
that it IS my sacrifice when he turns to me at the

Orate Fratres and says: ‘Tray brethren that my sac-

rifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father

Almighty.”

20



PART TWO

THE OFFERTORY

OFFERING IN LOVE

Since an offering is essential to sacrifice, if the Mass

is to be my sacrifice together with Christ’s, then I

must bring my offering. What is it to be? The ob-

ligation of making a total offering of my will to God

is beyond question, for the Great Commandment,

which obliges all to the wholehearted love of God, is

the fundamental law of my complete incorporation

into the Mystical Body.

The Precept of Love

The motive of my sacrifice, therefore, requires a

permanent disposition of complete love or preference

for God by the unrestricted surrender of my will to

His. This is not a matter of choice, but of precept,

even though progress in the achievement of the goal

may be very slow. Notwithstanding the unmistakable

words of our Lord: "You therefore are to be per-

21



feet even as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matt.

5, 48) there is a lamentable but common misunder-

standing in this regard. The obligation of striving to

love God with the whole heart applies to every Chris-

tian of whatever state of life. It obliges the housewife

equally with the Carmelite nun, even though God has

called the latter to a higher state of religious life

where the way is more secure. St. Augustine, St. Tho-

mas, other saints and spiritual writers as well as the

Vicars of Christ have reiterated this universal com-

mand to strive for the perfection of our love for God,

not, of course, as something to be instantly realized

(that is practically impossible), but as the end to

which we are summoned and at which all Christian

life must aim.

The Intention is Total

In my intention and my desire, therefore, I may

not set limits to my love for God by wilfully giving

my affections to any created thing merely for the

pleasure that I find in it. This is an all-important

principle of the Christian life, although it seems to

receive little attention in our day. St. John of the

Cross, a doctor of the Church, says plainly that while

the soul entertains for a creature any affection that

is not supernaturalized by love for God "there is no

possibility that it will make progress in perfection.”

(
Ascent

,

Bk. 1; Chap. 11; para. 4)

22



"A; Christian’s duty,” writes Father Augustine

Baker, "and much more the duty of a soul that as-

pires to perfection, is to love God alone, and other

things only in relation to Him as instruments for

increasing His love in our souls. All affection for

creatures as such is more or less imperfect, not merely

when the affection is excessive, but because its object

is something apart from God.” ( Custodia Cordis)

Since I must desire and strive for the perfection of

love for God, I must not place obstacles in the way by

allowing a natural love of creatures to be the primary

motive of my actions; on the contrary, I must strive

for the total elimination of merely selfish motives

of conduct in order to conform to and be united

with the offering of our Lord on the altar.

The Achievement is Gradual

Due to the weakness inherent in my fallen nature,

to surprise temptations, or to some habit that I am

trying to overcome, I shall undoubtedly fail, in prac-

tice, to achieve this preference for God on many

occasions that present themselves. Such failures,

however, should not have their cause in any wilful,

self-indulgent attachment to creatures. Otherwise,

my motive is deficient; there is not the aim of whole-

hearted love. My protestations of love and of sacri-

fice are lacking either in knowledge or in sincerity,

and there will be little or no progress towards the

23



ideal goal commanded by our Lord. It means that I

have substituted a goal of my own—something that

seems more accommodated to my own weakness; I

have abandoned the Christian rule of striving to do

all things to please God, and have adopted to some

extent the negative and impractical rule of trying to

please myself without offending God.

Failure to distinguish between the intention, which

is immediate and total, and the execution or fulfill-

ment, which is a gradual growth or development, is

frequently the reason why progress towards perfection

is neglected. Because the commandment of whole-

hearted love seems difficult, and its achievement re-

mote, it is regarded as impossible except for a few

chosen souls. All others, it is wrongly presumed, may

rest content in the dwarfdom of spiritual mediocrity,

satisfied to love the world, to try to avoid mortal sin

and to hope for purification in Purgatory—as though
the pains of Purgatory are something to be preferred

to the practice of love for God upon earth.

A Trick of the Devil

In order to keep me from fulfilling the will of God,

who asks for my wholehearted love, the devil is sat-

isfied if he can induce me to make the slightest reser-

vation in my motive by even a single attachment.

This is his ’'bridgehead” into the land of my affec-

tions. And so he uses the spirit of the world as his

24



mouthpiece to insist that there is no harm in this or

that trifling natural attachment—some habit of self-
indulgence or vanity. For he is aware of something

that fallen man seems not to know or at least is un-

willing to admit, namely, that natural motives pam-

per fallen nature and cultivate the germs of self-love

which cause the disease of sin.

God, on the other hand, is watching for the motive

of wholehearted love for Him. He is not so much

concerned with the action as He is with the reason

that prompts it, for love’s interest is always in the

reason why. Therefore, I must be supernaturally alert

and not allow myself to be deceived by the tricks of

the devil and lose much of my offering and undermine

my spiritual life. I must practice making the love

of God the primary motive of what I do, and not seek

pleasure solely for enjoyment’s sake either because I

have formed a habit of it or because everybody else

does it and I lack the courage to be different from

worldly people. Surely I am to take as my model

not the man in the street, but Jesus, the Victim of

Love. Indeed, concern about what others think or

say will be a blight on my spiritual life and will tend

to destroy its fruit of Christ-like virtue.

The Need of a Christian Mentality

In fine, my intention to love God perfectly, which

is the motive of my co-offering, is commanded here

25



and now, not as something to be immediately attained

in its complete expression of giving, but as some-

thing to which my will must be dedicated and to-

wards which I must tend in my activity. The gradual

accomplishment of this preference for God will

depend on the purification and supernatural direction

of my intention in the everyday round of doings and

endurings.

The development through constant practice of

what our Lord calls a "single heart,” or what St.

Paul refers to as the "mind of Christ,” is the all-

important aspect of self-offering, and, therefore,

Christian training should be directed to the forming

of this habit.

The training of a child consists in his being taught

to form good habits of mind and body by constant

practice. Surely, then, a Christian child should be

taught with the utmost care to learn the fundamental

spiritual habit of doing all things to please God.

From this habit the moral virtues will stem like

flowers from a root, as St. Paul affirms in these words,

ff

Charity
3

is patient, is kind, does not envy ...” (I

Cor. 13, 4) And again, "Put on therefore, as God’s

chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy,

3 By Charity, in this instance, St. Paul does not mean

the infused theological virtue, but the subjective dis-

position of love for God which is the will’s choice

of God based on the knowledge of God.

26



kindness, humility, patience.” (Col. 3, 12) This

disposition of the will, this habit of mind or heart,

or as it may well be called, this “Christian mentality,”

is not infused when sanctifying grace is given to the

soul; it has to be acquired by the effort of cooperating

with grace. Instruction in Christian doctrine, the re-

ception of the Sacraments, and recitation of prayers

will prompt and assist the practical effort, but they

will not substitute for it.

Concerning the need of this early training Father

Plus remarks, “From the time a child has the use of

reason, God who sleeps in the child’s soul must be

pointed out. He must be taught to develop the grace

received at Baptism and to live by it. Later he will

have too many things to do ! . . . He may be like all

the rest: the essential will be of no interest to him.”

( Vivre avec Dieu
)

Practice in the Art of Love

If methods and assiduous practice are deemed

necessary to learn every other science and art, they

surely cannot be dispensed with in the supreme sci-

ence of supernatural living, the art of loving God.

A child needs to be constantly trained in acting

to please God in order to dislodge the natural habit of

pleasing himself. Recognizing the need of such a

spiritual transformation, the well-known Catholic

27



educator, Father George Johnson, had this to say of

religious instruction: "The Catholic ideal of charac-

ter training is founded on the Doctrine of the Cross

. . . Our lower nature does not respond to our higher

ideals automatically; the body must be chastised if it

is to be brought into subjection . . . True asceticism

is a positive thing. Its negative aspects are prepara-

tory—we die to self that Christ may live in us.”
(Notes on the Teaching of Religion, Cath. Educ.

Rev., V. 26, Jan. 1928)

A child should be reminded and encouraged over

and over again to perform its actions to please God;

to project this intention over actions about to be

performed, mentally accepting in advance the holy

will of God as it is manifested in the circumstances of

duties and enjoyments. Gradually, then—for any
habit can be formed only by degrees—the desire of
pleasing God will be developed into a kind of "sec-

ond nature” and so interwoven with the child’s

thoughts and actions as to manifest itself more and

more spontaneously in contact with the pains and

joys of daily life.

If a child has not first been nourished on this

"milk” of the spiritual life, the habit of love, it will

scarcely digest the "meat of the strong,” the real

Christian practice of self-denial and suffering for the

love of God. In other words, a child left with his

"natural” mentality will see nothing wrong with lov-

28



irig the world, and nothing profitable in bearing the

cross.

THREE REASONS FOR TRANSFORMATION

I—My Supernatural Destiny
The very fact that the gift of divine grace raises

the soul with its faculties to the supernatural plane

and gives it a supernatural destiny is the primary rea-

son why I must abandon the merely natural mode of

life and strive to make the exercise of my faculties

conform to my supernatural condition. The grace of

Baptism does not supernaturalize my intention. It

raises me to the supernatural plane and leaves me

free. It remains for me, with the help of grace, to

adjust myself psychologically and morally to this state

by forming the habit of seeing things from God’s

point of view and of directing my will to Him. Arch-

bishop Ireland, the great apostle of the northwest,

stressed this point in forceful terms. Speaking to his

seminarians he said: "There is not much practical

Christianity in the world today. The danger of today

is that of living a purely natural life as the good

old pagans did. Naturalism, materialism and world-

liness possess the earth . . . We should lead a super-

natural life. Our works are dead and have no merit

unless we are in a state of sanctifying grace and do

them for a supernatural motive . . . On the super-

29



natural plane, elevated above the mere natural life,

the just man lives by faith. We should have a su-

pernatural motive in all that we do . . . The true hap-

piness of the Christian soul lies in the heavenly re-

gions on a supernatural plane above the merely nat-

ural life.” (Quoted by Rev. John F. Duggan, Eccles.

Review, Dec. 1939)

To live a supernatural life is to live in the presence

of God as all the saints and spiritual writers explain,

but an habitual subconsciousness of God cannot be

acquired unless the heart, by being emptied of all

selfish love of created things, leaves room for God

and hungers for Him.

God made all things primarily for His glory, so

that even if original sin had never entered the scheme

of things, I should be obliged to surrender my selfish

mode of acting and to live for the love of God in

order to give God the glory due to Him. It was pre-

cisely the failure of our first parents to sacrifice their

own sense-desire, judgment and will to the Divine

plan, and to act out of faith, hope and charity, that

constituted their sin with its woeful consequences.

II—My Fallen Nature
A second reason why I must abandon my natural

mentality is the fact of sin. After original sin entered

the world it became very difficult for man to conform

himself to the supernatural plane even though re-

30



stored to grace by Baptism. A much greater effort was

then required in order to cooperate with grace.

God, in creating the world, did not create a man

with disordered faculties but one in whom the intel-

lect was clear and the passions under the control of

the will. As a result of the Fall man lost his spiritual

perspective and the proper sense of values, so that

he no longer clearly perceives God as the end of the

chain of creatures. His vision now is clouded and

only with difficulty does he see beyond the immediate

links of the chain which are the creatures around him.

The desires of his heart are disordered, so that the

pleasure which comes from contact with created things

exerts a strong influence on his will. The will, having

lost its proper direction, is inclined to be captivated

by the inordinate concupiscenses. St. Paul describes

this weakness of fallen nature in these words: "For

I do not the good that I wish, but the evil that I do

not wish, that I perform . . . For I am delighted with

the law of God according to the inner man, but I see

another law in my members warring against the law

of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of

sin that is in my members.” (Rom. 7, 19-23)

The remedy for these disorde-rs in the faculties of

the soul is given in the infused virtues of faith, hope

and charity. To use creatures aright, therefore, I must

recognize my present fallen state and, with the as-

sistance of grace, clarify my vision by forming a Chris-

31



tian mentality in order to see by the light of a practical

faith that God made all things primarily for His

glory and not for mine. I must gather up the scat-

tered affections of my heart and turn them to God by

a lively hope in eternal things and I must make a de-

termined effort, through acts of self-denial, to detach

my will from creatures, free it from captivity and

unite it to the will of God by charity.

Ill—The Example of Christ
A third reason why I must act out of love for God

and disengage myself from all merely natural affec-

tions and human motives of conduct is the example

of Christ. Our Lord’s life was not spent in the enjoy-

ment of creatures and a mere avoidance of sin, but in

a loving surrender of all His faculties and senses to

His Father’s good pleasure. "I do always the things

that are pleasing to Him,” He said. (John 8, 29)

It was His complete preference for His Father that

prompted the self-denial which He practiced and

which He requires of all who would follow Him.

He is the model for my imitation, as St. Peter says,

'leaving you an example that you may follow in His

steps.” (1 Peter, 2, 21)

If it were not necessary for the Christian to lead

a sacrificial and detached life, in whatever vocation

God chooses to call him, then our Lord need not have

done so. A Christian claiming the right to use crea-

32



tures merely for pleasure’s sake because it is no sin,

will find no support for such a claim in the teaching

and example of Christ.

Blessed Henry Suso says in this regard "The man

who expects to conquer his rebellious body and feel

it under the law of the spirit, while he is living in the

midst of pleasures and sensual satisfactions, is a mad-

man without any kind of judgment. To enjoy the

world and to serve God simultaneously is an impossi-

bility for if this could be attained it would destroy

the moral teaching and the word of Jesus Christ. ’If

you would serve Me, you must do so with courage

and begin your task by renouncing the world and

yourself.’
’’

(
L’Exemplazre

,
Bk. 1, c. 2)

St. Augustine in the same vein remarks that "Christ

having become man, despised all earthly things in

order to teach us that they must be despised.” (De

Catech. Rud., c. 22) Such significant utterances of

the Saints are to be explained—not "explained
away.” They are not to be dismissed as exaggerations

simply because they are not in accord with my own

views or practices.

In the use of my own powers and the things of

this world, therefore, I must observe three guiding

principles: first, by reason of my elevation to the

supernatural order of grace, I must renounce my na-

tural mode of life and live a supernatural life of love

for God, by seeking to make whatever I do contri-

33



bute to my supernatural destiny; second, I must

take into account the effects of original and actual sin,

whereby I tend to a wrong use of creatures; third,

I must realize that the sole guide for my moral life

is Christ Crucified. What habits of self-will, what

luxury or worldly self-indulgence could survive the

test of these three Christian principles?

Unless I understand my obligation of renouncing

all selfish interest in things, I shall fail to see the sig-

nificance of the Mass as my sacrifice and as a way of

life, and I shall assist at it rather as a witness than as

a participant and co-offerer.

The measure of my sacrifice is not enthusiasm for

liturgical forms, nor a mere knowledge of what God

has done for me, but an unreserved personal love for

God expressed in my conduct. It is not an external

formality, but an inner vitality that will make contact

with the meaning and life of the liturgy. Unless I

realize this, the Mass and the activity of my daily life

will be two distinct and unrelated events.

THE GIFTS OF MY OFFERING

No matter what my state of life or occupation, the

routine of my daily existence is encompassed by God’s

will for my sanctification. God mobilizes, so to

speak, all the creatures and the detailed events around

me in order to purify and sanctify me. The will of

34



God is manifest, as we read in the Imitation of Christ

(Book III, Chap. 3), in every successive circumstance

of tribulation and consolation. The practical way,

therefore, of discovering the sincerity of my love for

God is to measure the generosity of my gifts by my

reactions to the crosses and pleasures which surround

me. ' V"'

Crosses Are Opportunities

It is a simple matter to say I love God, but it is

when I come to grips with the reality of God’s will

that my interior disposition of love is tested. When,

for example, God’s ordaining or permitting will

crosses my will through some contradiction, annoy-

ance or criticism from people around me, what is my

reaction? When I meet with some difficult duty,

some unkindness, hatred or injustice; some pain or

discomfort from interior or exterior causes; do I at

least show a recognition of the purifying will of God,

in spite of any natural repugnance and difficulty in

accepting it? In such circumstances do I really want

to give up my own will out of preference for the

will of God ?

Self-love instinctively regards all trials as obstacles

to its own pleasure; love for God welcomes them

as opportunities to offer a gift. If I reject such daily

crosses by acts of impatience, unkindness, disobedi-

ence, complaint or criticism, then I am throwing away

35



the very gifts that divine Providence has placed at my

disposal for proving the sincerity of my prayers and

fulfilling my obligation of loving and preferring God.

Only the crosses I have accepted can I place in spirit

on the altar as the gifts that prove my love.

If, instead of a growing generosity, my offertory

shows habitual poverty, it suggests a lack of spiritual

progress and proves that I must develop a Christian

mentality. The same or similar disagreeable circum-

stances will cross my path tomorrow, for trials are

God’s way of revealing to me the self-love that He

sees in my heart, as St. Paul explains when urging

Christians to press on towards the goal of perfect

love: "If in any point you are minded otherwise,

this also God will reveal to you." (Phil. 3, 15) Di-

vine Providence will pursue me until death in order to

effect my purification during this time of merit on

earth rather than in the meritless pains of Purgatory.

How important it is, then, that I learn to recognize

with a certain spontaneity, that the innumerable

events that cross my will are a constant means of my

sanctification, a treasury of gifts of love, and, with

the help of grace, gather them up as the spiritual

offerings of my sacrifice of the Mass.

Pleasures May be Obstacles

So much for the tribulations and trials of my life.

What of its consolations and joys? What is my atti-

36



tude towards the things that are pleasing to mind and

body? Have I any attachments to pleasure for pleas-

ure’s sake? It is quite necessary for me to know this

if I intend to fulfill my Christian obligation of living

the Mass; because whatever I consume for no other

reason than mere self-gratification, even though its

use is lawful, I cannot bring as an offering to God,

any more than one gift can be given to two different

people. If I allow my affection for any creature of

God to be merely a natural craving for the pleasure

which the creature affords, then I am showing pre-

ference for a rival of God; I am trying to serve two

masters. "Thy Beloved is of such a nature,” says the

author of the Imitation, "that He will admit of no

rival, but will have thy heart alone and sit on His

throne as King.” As a Christian I must love people

and things in God and for God, and I may love noth-

ing except as a means to God. "Do not love the

world,” says the beloved disciple, "or the things that

are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love

of the Father is not in Him.” (I John, 2, 15)

His Holiness, Pius XI, in his famous social Ency-

clical Quadragesimo Anno, attributes the disorder of

the modern world and the ruin of souls to man’s

preference for creatures. He says, "By original sin

the marvellous harmony of man’s faculties has been

so deranged that now he is easily led astray by low

desires, and strongly tempted to prefer the transient

37



goods of this world to the lasting goods of heav-

en.” Then he goes on to say that the remedy is "the

perfect order . . . which places God as the first and

supreme end of all created activity, and regards all

created goods as mere instruments under God, to be

used only insofar as they help towards the attainment

of our supreme end.”

Love is the Measure of Giving

Plainly, then, I may not adopt the pagan principle

that one is free to enjoy any worldly pleasure as long

as it is not sinful. If the use of some creature is not

for God and the attainment of heaven, the Holy

Father says I should give it up. Yet I hear on every

side the justification of all manner of self-indulgence

on the plea that it is no sin, and this is asserted with

an air of finality as though sin were the sole criterion

of Christian conduct.

The rule of the Christian life is the great com-

mandment of love, but the aim of love is always to

please the beloved, not merely to avoid killing or

insulting one’s lover. A wife, for example, is not

convinced of her husband’s love just because he prom-

ises to try not to kill or injure her. The only proof

that he really loves her is that he tries to do all he can

to please her. Anything less is not worthy of the name

of love in human affairs. How, then, may I expect

God to accept my words of love, if my practical rule

38



of conduct is simply an effort to avoid killing His di-

vine life in the soul by mortal sin, or at best hoping

not to insult God by venial sin?

Avoidance of Sin a Negative Rule

Such a principle of action is not only loveless, it

is moreover quite impractical. For if I claim the right

to indulge in any form of pleasure as long as I

stop short of sin, as for example, the sin of gluttony,

or of vanity, or of intemperance, or of excess in any-

thing whatever, I must know at what precise point my

indulgence passes from what is permitted to what is

sinful, so that I shall know when to stop; and yet

to determine such a dividing line is manifestly im-

possible.

It is this negative rule of conduct which leads to

two common spiritual ailments—scrupulosity and
tepidity. A scrupulous person is usually one who,

tending to judge things by the rule of sin, instead of

by the precept of love, and being conscientious, is in

constant dread of passing the limit of what is lawful.

The remedy for such a condition is a change of men-

tality, the introduction of the sunlight of supernatural

motivation. The anxious mind needs a habit of think-

ing in terms of pleasing a loving Father in order to

dispel the dark, dread notion of sin.

A tepid person on the other hand, is one who, in-

clined to be carefree, has no hesitation in going blithe-

39



ly to the limit of the law. Since, however, the boun-

dary is not determined in practice, such a person be-

comes callous and indifferent about sin. Our Lord

did not teach His followers how far they might go

without losing sight of Him, but to find happiness

and security by approaching to union with Him.

Natural Motives and their Consequences

I shall be very unrealistic, moreover, if I ignore the

fact that the use of lawful pleasure, when it be-

comes a habit of mere self-gratification, nourishes the

innate selfishness of fallen nature and therefore dis-

poses the soul to sin. St. Bonaventure, quoting St.

Jerome says: "If somebody thinks he may indulge in

pleasures and not be entangled in the sins of pleas-

ures, he deceives himself." (Apologia Pauperum, c.

5, n. 4)

God understands my natural weakness and readily

forgives my faults when I am trying to love Him

wholeheartedly; but how must He regard my re-

peated failures if I wilfully and habitually weaken

my supernatural vitality by a selfish love of pleasure?

If I cannot sincerely say that some legitimate

pleasure I use habitually for recreation or relaxation

is to promote my physical and mental well-being for

the glory of God, and that I do not crave such a par-

ticular form of sense gratification, then such an at-

40



tachment or mere natural affection for a creature, al-

though not sinful, is inordinate since it is not ordered

or directed to its proper end.

Actions proceeding from such inordinate affections

are called by the theologians '‘imperfections.” Father

Garrigou-Lagrange, an eminent theologian of our

day, has this to say of imperfections: “To this cate-

gory may also be linked natural acts that are not for-

bidden, but that are not in accord with spiritual pro*

gress, and that would surprise us in a mortified per-

son and especially in the saints, unless a special reason

motivated them: for example, the use of certain

needless things, such as tobacco; certain ways of amus-

ing oneself or of taking pleasure in scientific or ar-

tistic things, in study, any activity that has been brand-

ed as "natural” because it is not sufficiently superna-

turalized by the motive prompting it . . . We should

not stigmatize as evil what is only less good. But we

should keep in mind this imperfection in the order of

good, remembering that, as venial sin disposes to mor-

tal sin, imperfection disposes to venial sin.” ( Chriy

tian Perfection and Contemplation
)

Natural Motives Dispose to Sin

If I wish to avoid a result I must remove the cause.

It is useless to attack only the result and leave un-

touched what causes it. Since sin is only the final

result of a natural and selfish love for creatures, I car

41



expect to overcome sin only by substituting a super-

natural love for things. To think that it is trifling

and petty to attack natural motives when I might give

my attention to the more important problems of mor-

tal sin, would be equivalent to saying that a gardener

should not worry that he nourishes the roots of weeds

so long as he cuts off the tops when they appear;

or that a doctor should not concern himself with the

germs that cause disease, but only take measures to

alleviate the poison and pain that result. As David of

Augsburg says on the same subject: "Floods are

drops of water multiplied, yet strong walls have been

known to crumble before them.” (Spiritual Life and

Progress, V. 2)

This is clearly not a question of occasional or iso-

lated acts of lawful pleasure, for these are not indica-

tive of habits or attachments, and may have little5 or

no significance in relation to the permanent dis-

position of preference for God. It is a matter of re -

peated acts which manifest a selfish attraction towards

some particular form of pleasure for which an affec-

tion has been, or is being, cultivated.

St. Teresa of Avila asks this simple question: "Do

you think it possible that anyone who loves God,

cares, or can care for vanities or riches, or worldly

things, or pleasures and honors ?” (The Way of Per-

fection, XL, 2) Yet, how much of my time, interest

and conversation is given to pleasures and worldly

42



concerns far beyond any need or usefulness! Am I

to be included among those spoken of by St. John:

"They are of the world; therefore of the world they

speak and the world listens to them"? (I John 4, 5)

How little of my time, on the other hand, is given to

meditation, spiritual reading and the things of God!

What attention do I give to the corporal works of

mercy, which I learned to recite by memory in school

—to helping the poor, visiting the sick, etc.? Our
Lord consigned to everlasting fire those who ignore

these works of charity, (Matt. 25, 41-46) because a

lack of giving shows a lack of loving, and only love

is worthy of heaven.

Man acts as he thinks, and, therefore, the cause of

this misdirection is wrong thinking. It is that natural

mentality, which judges Christian life by the pagan

principle of enjoying the world and hoping to avoid

sin, instead of viewing all things in the light of love

for God.

The Open Secret of the Saints

"Where thy treasure is there thy heart also will

be." (Matt. 6, 21) If my treasure is really in God,

then I shall find true joy and peace, not in pursuing

worldly pleasures but in renouncing them for the

love of God. This is the secret of the saints, though

it should be no secret when it is plainly written for

43



all to read from the beginning to the end of the

Gospel.

For St. Francis of Assisi the love of God was the

"pearl of great price" over which he rejoiced ex-

ceedingly and to purchase which he despised all

earthly things. "He constantly recommended spiri-

tual joy, the joy of the soul . . . there is no question

of sensual pleasure" says his biographer. (The Ideals

of St. Francis, XI, 2) He lost all selfish interest in

created things and used them with a holy indifference

to pleasure and a wholehearted love for God. He

soon discovered how few are the needs of those who

desire only God. What he needed to use he sacra-

mentalized by the motive of love, and what he did

not need he sacrificed as a gift of love. So I should

use things needful or profitable to my state of life for

the love of God and then seek eagerly to increase the

gifts of my sacrifice.

Just as I cannot include in my offering the crosses

that I have thrown away, neither can I bring to it the

pleasures that I have consumed for pleasure’s sake.

"An act is inexpedient," says the Franciscan, David of

Augsburg, "which is void of utility or determined by

no reasonable necessity. He comes empty-handed

before God whose actions like withered boughs or

barren wood in vine or orchard have served no useful

purpose." (Op. Cit., V. 2)

44



SYMBOLS OF SELF-IMMOLATION

On the altar for the offertory are the visible

materials for the sacrifice—the bread and wine. These
two elements are very eloquent symbols of the com-

plete change that must be effected in the Christian

heart and mind.

Wheat and Grapes to Bread and Wine

What is now bread was formerly wheat, having an

entirely different form or nature. To be made suitable

for the sacrifice of the Mass, the wheat had to be

ground in the millstone and transformed into pure

white flour for bread. Each wheat kernel was stripped

of its old form, thereby surrendering its own proper

qualities in order to assume a new nature and be taken

and offered in the sacrifice. In a similar way, the wine

that is in the chalice was formerly a cluster of grapes;

but to be made ready for the offering every grape had

to be despoiled of its own nature. The old form was

crushed out in the wine-press, so that in its new form

of wine it would be capable of becoming the Blood

of the Lamb. It is by the grinding and crushing of

these substances that the best is brought out of them,

while the husks are discarded.

The Natural to the Supernatural

Here, then, are perfect images of the Christian life.

Our Lord tells us that we must be
"

'reborn” (John

45



3, 5) and St. Paul insists that we must "strip off the

old man and put on the new,” (Col. 3, 9) that we

must be "renewed in the spirit of the mind,” (Eph.

4, 24), and that we must "die daily,” (I Cor. 15, 31)

to ourselves and be "crucified to the world” (Gal. 6,

14), if we are to rise with Christ and "walk in new-

ness of life.” (Rom. 6, 4) My selfish nature must

surrender its own merely natural mode of existence

and take on the supernatural form of charity. It must

submit to the millstone and the press of a loving Di-

vine Providence which employs every detail of cir-

cumstance and event around me to grind me into

purity of heart and crush my self-love into the love of

God and neighbor. By this activity God wishes to

bring out what is best in me, that is, the exercise of

my natural faculties under the influence of the divine

life of grace. Egoism under all its forms, gross and

subtle, must be rejected like the husks.

This self-annihilation is, of course, principally in

the motive—the destruction of all selfish reasons of
conduct, and the substitution of the motive of God’s

glory. When ascetical writers speak of self-annihila-

tion or of "destroying the natural,” they do not mean

that we must destroy or impair our physical and men-

tal faculties; these very faculties are the medium by

which we are to express the new mode of life, the

divine life of grace. Thus Abbot Marmion writes

in his classic of the spiritual life, Christ
,
the Life of

46



the Soul, "It goes without saying, that the superna-

tural state tends to exclude all that is vitiated in na-

ture through original sin; that which is called by

ascetical authors the ‘natural’ life, as opposed to the

‘supernatural’ life. We have seen how mortification

consists precisely in destroying the ‘natural’ life.”

The Holy Spirit clearly expresses this ‘‘death to the

natural” in the words of St. Paul: ‘‘We are always

bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus, so that

the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our

bodily frame . . . even though our outer man is de-

caying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by

day.” (2 Cor. 4, 10-16)

SYMBOLS OF BROTHERLY LOVE

Besides being symbolic of my individual Christian

life, the bread and wine are also very significant im-

ages of my life as a member of the Mystical Body,

the Church. Since God established His Church as a

society, His glory requires that He receive homage and

adoration from that society as a group; and so the

Mass is the social act of group-homage expressed as

one exterior function while being the sum or union

of all the acts of the faithful.

This mystical union of many members likewise is

symbolized in the species of bread and wine, for many

grains of wheat were ground and blended to form the

47



one substance of bread; many grapes were crushed

and commingled into the one substance of wine. It

is only through this selflessness of perfect blending

that the grains of wheat and the grapes are made capa-

ble of being transformed into the Body and Blood of

Jesus. The formation of these two elements and their

transubstantiation into Christ symbolize perfectly the

fusion of Christian personalities according to the di-

vine law of brotherly love; they signify the spirit of

charity that I must have if I am to be transformed in-

to Christ. "But above all these things have charity,

which is the bond of perfection." (Col. 3, 14)

The sacred liturgy refers to this symbolic union in

the Secret Prayer of the Mass of Corpus Christi with

these words, "To Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O

Lord, do Thou mercifully grant the gifts of unity and

peace, mystically signified in the gifts which we offer

unto Thee."

One Body

Any grain or grape that remains aside and keep its

own nature, unmixed with its fellows, is excluded

from the sacrificial substance. The same is true of the

individual members of the Mystical Body. The ele-

ments of bread and wine should be a constant re-

minder that I must surrender my own likes and dis-

likes and treat every person as I would treat Jesus—

fusing my character with the welfare of my fellow-

48



man, melting away in the fire of charity any barrier

occasioned by distinction of race, nationality, color,

or condition. Let us return to St. Paul for the same

imagery and the same unmitigated teaching: "And

the bread that we break, is it not the partaking of the

Body of the Lord? Because the bread is one, we

though many, are one body, all of us who partake of

the one bread." (I Cor. 10, 16-17)

If I maintain an aversion for some person, or bear

a grudge because of some real or fancied wrong done

to me; if I regard or treat others of a different na-

tionality, race or condition as inferior to me—then I
have not understood at all that the Mass is the sacri-

fice of all the members of the Mystical Body; I have

failed to realize that it can be truly my sacrifice only

when universal charity has broken down the barriers

of self-love and made me truly a member of one body.

This is the injunction of our Lord: "If thou art

offering thy gifts at the altar, and there rememberest

that thy brother has anything against thee, leave thy

gift before the altar and go first to be reconciled to

thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matt.

5, 23-24)

We are Brothers in Christ

I shall do well to examine my conscience in regard

to the love of my neighbor, for many Catholics nour-

ish, and even defend, very un-Christlike prejudices

49



in this matter. By fostering a spirit of aversion or

enmity towards another, they separate themselves from

the offering and the influence of the one body. Or, by

despising the less fortunate in order to preserve their

own pagan refinement, they act as though it were

possible to have divisions in the Mystical Body of

Christ

There are those who say that they love our Lord

and yet they refuse to love Him in their neighbor.

Because of some God-given difference of race or

condition they treat their brothers in Christ with

disdain; they refer to them by opprobrious names

and insist that they "must be kept in their place.”

St. James warns Christians about "making distinc-

tions” among themselves. "My brethren,” he says,

"do not join faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ

to partiality towards persons. Has not God chosen

the poor of this world to be rich in faith? . . . But

you have dishonored the poor man . . . 'Thou shalt

love thy neighbor as thyself’ . . . If you show partiali-

ty towards persons you commit sin.” (James, 2, 1-9)

Perhaps there are some at the holy sacrifice of the

Mass with such unholy prejudices. "He who is least

among you,” said our Lord, "He is the greatest.”

(Luke 9, 28) To be great in the eyes of God I must

seek to be the least in the eyes of men.

Jesus, who is our Model, made no distinction of

race or condition. The only one excluded from His

50



company was the hypocrite. His love led Him to the

poor in order to raise their spirits above their pov-

erty. His refined senses were no obstacle to the ex-

pression of His love and humility, and He left for

us on the occasion of the Last Supper a supreme ex-

ample of the spirit that should animate us. He, the

King of Infinite Majesty, washed the feet of the poor

Apostles, and said, ”1 have given you an example, that

as I have done to you, so you also should do.” (John

13
,

15
)

What is my attitude towards the poor; towards

those whom the worldly look down upon? Perhaps I

have contributed to the cause of their poverty with

all its attendant "evils,” for it may safely be said

that wherever one enjoys luxury someone else is

oppressed. Perhaps the social prestige I now enjoy

was achieved by my forbears at the expense of justice;

and shall I now exclude my afflicted brother from my

company because Divine Providence chose to make

us of a different race, color or condition ?

The self-annihilation symbolized by the offering

includes the mortification of the physical senses; but

perhaps I regard the "atmosphere” of the poor as an

abomination and gather up my skirts, close my eyes

and turn up my nose in pharisaical righteousness

in its presence. My personal participation in the Mass,

however, is dependent on the genuine love I have for

my poorest neighbor, for he is Christ to me: "Amen,

51



I say to you, as long as you did it for one of these,

the least of My brethren, you did it for Me/* (Matt.

25, 40) To join in the offering I must strive for that

universal charity which is "the bond of perfection."

My offertory, then, represented and symbolized on

the altar in the elements of bread and wine, consists

only in that activity which is motivated by love for

God and the denial of myself. "I exhort you, there-

fore, brethren," says St. Paul, "by the mercy of God,

to present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, pleas-

ing to God—your spiritual service. And be not con-
formed to this world, but be transformed in the new-

ness of your mind, that you may discern what is the

good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

(Rom. 12, 1-2)

THE OBLATION

The priest, as the Church’s official minister of the

sacrifice, takes in his hands the offering of the bread

and wine and at the same time joins to it my spiritual

sacrifice as well as the offerings of all the members

of the Mystical Body, especially of those assisting by

their presence at the Mass. "For every high priest

taken from among men," says the Apostle, "is ap-

pointed for men in the things pertaining to God,

that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." (Heb.

5
,

1 )

52



PART THREE

THE CONSECRATION

UNITED TO CHRIST’S SACRIFICE

With the words of consecration the bread and

wine are transformed, and under the veil of the spe-

cies our Lord becomes present—Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity, with the same disposition of loving sur-

render that he had on earth and which was eter-

nalized in the act of death on Calvary.

My offering, too, with that of all the members of

the Mystical Body is changed. All the love expressed

by my detachment from the world and self; all the

gifts I have poured out in spirit upon the paten and

into the chalice, Jesus makes His own. He gathers

to himself the sufferings I have endured, the crosses

of my daily "dying,” and they are fused with His

passion and death. He takes the joys that I have re-

nounced and vivifies them with the virtue of His own

self-sacrifice.

53



Divine Alchemy

My offering of itself was of no supernatural worth;

only the God-Man could give spiritual value to it, and

here at the consecration of the Mass I become a "liv-

ing sacrifice” pleasing to God the Father through the

Son.

The sacrifice of Jesus is like pure gold, whereas

mine is like lead; but when a small piece of lead is

cast into a molten mass of gold, the lead becomes

gold, too. Or, to illustrate the marvellous transfor-

mation in another way, if a magician has the power

to change lead into gold, one touch of his wand will

change all that I place before him. The more lead I

bring, the more precious gold there will be. So our

Lord touches with the wand of His cross the lead of

my poor offering and it is transformed into the gold

of His loving sacrifice.

Therefore, the greater my offertory, in the form of

crosses accepted and joys renounced, the greater my

consecration into the gold of divine love for—only
what is offered can be changed.

The sacrifice of Jesus, like the wand, undergoes no

change itself, nor does it lose anything in giving, for

it has unlimited value. God, however, receives new

glory on the Calvary of the Mass by the consecrated

offerings of the members of Christ’s Mystical Body.

54



The Gateway to the Trinity

The crucified Humanity of Christ is my only en-

trance to the Blessed Trinity. "I am the Way, the

Truth and the Life,” said our Lord. "No one comes

to the Father but through Me.” (John 14, 6) There-

fore, I can pass to the Father only through my Calvary

of the Mass which reforms me into the likeness of

the Crucified. As St. Paul affirms: "Through Him

we have access to the Father” (Eph. 2, 18); and

again, "We have confidence to enter the Holies in

virtue of the Blood of Christ, a new and living way

which He inaugurated for us through the veil (that

is, His flesh).” (Heb. 10, 19-20)

In the sight of the heavenly Father, my life in the

Mass is now pleasing and acceptable for it is the life

of His beloved Son. In the consecration I "grow up

in all things in Him who is the head, Christ,” (Eph.

4, 15), but only in proportion as I have offered my-

self out of love for God in union with Jesus. Not

only is sin excluded from such a union, but every

trace of self-seeking, all merely natural motives; for

only what is done to please God is fit to be united

to the clean oblation, the Immaculate Lamb, whose

sole purpose on earth was to do only such things as

pleased His heavenly Father.

No Robbery in a Holocaust

That is why the devil wants me to keep my natural

55



mentality—that habit of pleasing myself and of
thinking only about avoiding sin instead of loving

God. He knows that by keeping my self-love I shall

tend automatically to refuse my crosses and seek after

pleasure. In that way he hinders me from developing

in the divine life at the consecration, for he steals

what should become the gifts of my offertory. And

when life does not increase, it decreases. “I am the

door,” said our Lord. "If any man enter by Me he

shall go in and out, and shall find pastures. The thief

comes only to steal and slay and destroy. I came that

you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

(John 10, 9-10)

Therefore, I must place the guard of spiritual vigil-

ance over the treasury of daily opportunities, for, in

the words of the prophet Isaias, there must be no

"robbery in a holocaust.” (Is. 61, 8)

With this understanding of my participation in the

Mass I shall see the implications of my co-victimhood

with Christ.

THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH

To be a victim means that I must be offered com-

pletely to God and that I must die. St. Paul pre-

supposes the necessity of my dying if I am to share in

the glory of Christ when he says: "For if we have

been united with Him in the likeness of His death,

we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection also.”

56



(Rom. 6, 5) Therefore, I must die to all that is not

God, that is, to my own judgment, to my will and to

the world.

A Fool for Christ

I must die to my judgment by accepting and prac-

ticing the Folly of the Cross. This means that I must

submit my reason, which is the natural and limited

use of my intellect, to the superior light of a practical

faith. If I fail to be "renewed in the spirit of the

mind" I shall find myself continually in conflict with

the divine process of my personal sanctification, for

"God’s ways are not our ways"; His wisdom is dia-

metrically opposed to the wisdom of the world. In-

tent on my natural judgment I shall wrongly presume

that God wants His children to enjoy a smooth and

pleasant life in His service. Consequently I shall

resent the disagreeable qualities and contrary actions

of other people which God makes use of precisely to

"annihilate" my common sense.

As a co-victim with Christ I must expect to be

crossed and contradicted, even to be treated with

malice and injustice and to be looked upon as a fool,

just as He was as soon as He began to preach Hia

unworldly doctrine. St. Mark relates that "when

His own people had heard of it, they went out to

lay hold of Him, for they said, 'He has gone mad.*
”

(Mark 3, 21) St. Paul, the other apostles and all those

57



devoted to the service of God, received similar treat-

ment, for "the disciple is not above the Master."

Calling attention to the utter "folly" of St. Francis

of Assisi, Pope Leo XIII remarks that "amid wide-

spread effeminacy and the extreme luxury of the age,

he went about in mean and coarse apparel, begging

his sustenance from door to door, and, what is com-

monly regarded as the bitterest of trials, not only

putting up with the raillery of the misguided popu-

lace, but courting it with wondrous avidity. He had

espoused the jolly of the Cross of Christ and found

in it absolute wisdom; and as he learned to penetrate

its august mysteries, he realized that nowhere could he

gain greater glory."
(
Auspicato

)

"Particular devotion to God’s service," explains

Pere Grou, "infallibly entails contradiction, calumny,

injustice, and various trials from creatures; and that

not only from the wicked, but even from the virtuous

or at least those reputed as such. Is this to be won-

dered at after Jesus Christ became the Victim of false

devotees seated on the chair of Moses? All such trials

are foreseen by God; permitted as regards their

authors, willed as regards their object." (The School

of fesus Christ )

Father Faber remarks that the zeal of one con-

verted in earnest to the following of Christ is at first

a matter of surprise and amusement to worldly-mind-

58



ed Christians; but if the person perseveres in un-

worldliness, then they become irritated and disturbed,

and finally they will be infuriated that anyone should

dare to be different from the world.

’The worst trials of extraordinary sanctity,” says

the biographer of St. Ignatius Loyola* ’’come not

from the evil-minded, but from men of short-sighted

and conservative character. Sanctity, like genius—and
genius it is—frightens the large and well-meaning
class which clings to trodden ways, and instinctively

dreads the unhabitual in any form.” (Life of St. Ig-

natius—Francis Thompson)
So it is that well-meaning, but natural-minded

friends, will do their utmost to persuade me to follow

the vanities and fashions of the world and deter me

from living according to the unworldly teaching of

the holy Gospel. They will tell me not to be eccen-

tric, old-fashioned and different, but to be normal and

like every one else. But, it is impossible to resemble

our Lord and be like the world at the same time. Nor-

mality for a Christian is measured by the teaching

of Christ, as in the Sermon on the Mount, for exam-

ple, not by popular opinion. I shall look in vain for

a text in the Gospel which tells me to enjoy the pleas-

ures of the world and simply try not to sin. There-

fore, it is those Christians who act and think like good

pagans who are really abnormal, even though their

number be legion.

59



The World Loves its Own

If I am unwilling to die to my own judgment and

to put on the "mind of Christ"; if I prefer to adapt

myself to the pagan mentality of the world, then the

process of my purification will cease and many of my

trials will disappear. My worldly manner of life, in

spite of its few external acts of religion, will be no re-

proach to the pleasure-loving and selfish environment

of ordinary pagans and, therefore, I shall not have

to suffer for being different from them, as our Lord

told me I should. The world will love what is its

own.

The Popular Spirit is Pagan

"Woe to you when all men speak well of you!"

our Lord says to His followers. (Luke 6, 26) There-

fore, if I seem to get along amiably with worldly peo-

ple in their society, their amusements, fashions and

business, it suggests that the world and myself have

come to terms. Either the world has reformed to

the spirit of Christ, or else I have compromised and

conformed to the world. Pope Pius XI, speaking of

modern society, rules out the first alternative when he

says, "we are confronted with a world which in large

measure has almost fallen back into paganism"

{Quad. Anno) and Pope Pius XII refers to the popu-

lar mode of life today as "a wave of black paganism."

As a real follower of Christ I should expect to be

60



despised by the world, just as He was. "If the world

hates you," He said, "know that it has hated Me be-

fore you . .

.

because you are not of the world, but I

have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world

hates you." (John 15, 18-20)

I Must Die to my Own Will

To share in the victimhood of Jesus, I must also

be crucified to my own will. Consequently I must de-

termine to give unquestioning obedience to the holy

will of God—both to his Signified Will as expressed

by all the obligations of the Christian life, the duties

of my state and the directions of my lawful superiors

and to the Will of God's Good Pleasure, as mani-

fested in all the changing circumstances of life which

are outside my control.

To repair the disobedience of Adam, our Lord was

obedient even to the death of the cross. Since obedi-

ence, therefore, is the medium of redemption, I must

saturate myself with it. The spirit of the world is

characterized by self-will and independence; the life

of a Christian, a co-victim with Christ in the Mass,

should be distinguished by generous and unfailing

submission to all lawful authority.

Even though I intend to be obedient, unless I die

to my own will, I shall follow my natural impulses

and obey willingly only in those things which I con-

sider just, profitable and agreeable to me, and my

61



natural mentality will leave me under the delusion

that I am obedient.

1 Must Be Crucified to the World

Finally I must be dead to the attractions of the

world by a complete renunciation of its spirit and

a total indifference to its pleasures, so that I can say

with St. Paul, "God forbid that I should glory save

in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which

the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.”

(Gal. 6, 14)

Training for the Cross

The important aspect of my victimhood is not the

self-imposed penance of giving up sense-pleasures,

but the surrender of my will in bearing the crosses

sent by God. In practice, however, unless I am trained

by voluntary self-denial I shall not have the strength

to submit my will and bear my crosses generously. It

is the devil who tries to deceive me by insisting that

it is sufficient and better to endure the crosses chosen

for me by God than to choose penances for myself.

The devil would have me conclude from this truth

that self-imposed penance is unnecessary. This would

be equivalent to an athletic trainer telling a boxer that

to win the title he has only to defeat his opponent in

the contest and that the self-discipline of preliminary

62



training is not necessary. Such ideas do not accord

with the teaching of St. Paul who uses the same ex-

ample to show the imperative need of first denying

myself if I hope to pass the test of suffering and trial.

He says: "Everyone in a contest abstains from all

things—and they indeed to receive a perishable
crown, but we an imperishable." (I Cor. 9, 25)

Little wonder that my undisciplined nature complains

and murmurs under even trifling crosses.

In studying how to live the Mass it is well for me

to give special attention and emphasis to the necessity

of dying to the world, that is, of practicing exterior

mortification and detachment of the senses from ma-

terial things for then I shall be trained and prepared

for the interior mortification of my judgment and

will when God sends crosses for my sanctification.

I must not be misled by those who excuse them-

selves from bodily mortification on the pretext that

interior mortification is more important. In this re-

gard Father Faber says, "Mortification is both interior

and exterior; and of course, the superior excellence

of the interior is beyond question. But if there is one

doctrine more important than another on this subject,

it is that there can be no interior mortification without

exterior; and this last must come first. In a word,

to be spiritual, bodily mortification is indispensable

. . . I tremble when people speak of interior mortifica-

tion, it sounds so like a confession that they are lead-

63



ing comfortable lives/’ (Growth in Holiness
,
Chap.

XI)

St. Leonard of Port Maurice gives four brief rules

’’for keeping oneself in that peace of heart without

which we are of no use to ourselves nor to anyone

else.” While the second and the third rules deal

with the acceptance of the trials that God sends, the

first rule is this: "Be dead to the world, to creatures,

to oneself, to all that is not God. We must keep our

hearts so disentangled from earthly things as to make

no more account of what is not God or does not relate

to Him than we would of a grain of sand.” (St. Leo-

nard of Port Maurice, Devas)

A CO-VICTIM WITH CHRIST

If I am unwilling to abandon my human "common

sense” for the Folly of the Cross; if I keep my own

will and enter into conflict with the will of God in

my daily circumstances; if I indulge in the pleasure

of the senses with only specious arguments that it is

not solely for pleasure’s sake, then what elements of

co-victimhood are to be found in my life?

The Pope’s Warning

That very question was proposed to every Christian

by Pope Pius XII in his address to the Eucharistic

Congress held in the Twin Cities in 1941. These are

64



his words in speaking of the Blessed Eucharist: "St.

Thomas tells us that we are transformed into Christ,

and, venerable brothers and dearly beloved children,

it is a victim we have received. Well may you ask

what elements of victimhood are to be found in your

lives . . . Sacrifice, especially self-sacrifice, is an essen-

tial element in the life of a victim.

"Early explorers record in their relations their utter

amazement at the mighty current that sweeps down

the Mississippi River. There is a stronger current of

black paganism sweeping over peoples today, carrying

along in its onward rush newspapers, magazines,

moving pictures, breaking down the barriers of self-

respect and decency, undermining the foundations of

Christian culture and education.

"Only a young man and woman of self-sacrifice

—

we were almost going to add, heroic self-sacrifice

—

will escape the flood.

"Your chief enemy is within you—that natural
drag of our fallen humanity to self-seeking and sin.

Self-sacrifice must combat it."

Need of Heroic Self-Denial

This is a very solemn warning coming from my

spiritual father, the Vicar of Christ. He sounds an

alarm that there is a flood of worldliness, "black pa-

ganism" he calls it, surging around me, and that there

is within me an enemy who seeks to let in the flood,

65



namely, my natural self-love. The Holy Father tells

me that I must destroy that enemy by self-sacrifice,

—

even by heroic self-sacrifice—otherwise I shall be
swept away with the tide. I must learn this victim-

hood from the Divine Victim Who speaks to me from

the cross of sacrifice and not be deterred from it by

cries of "extremism” from any false prophets of a

comfortable Christianity.

Total Renunciation for All

A co-victim with Christ has only one guide for his

use of this world and that is our Lord upon the Cross,

crucified to the world for the glory of His Father.

Therefore, I shall not use the good things of earth

for God’s glory until I too am dead to the world by

renouncing creatures out of complete preference for

God, as our Lord explicitly declared: "Every one of

you who does not renounce all that he possesses,

cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14, 33) Saint Bede

the Venerable, quoted by St. Bonaventure, (De Perf.

Evang q. 11 a. 1), commenting on these words, ex-

plains the difference between the renunciation of all

things and the giving up of all things, in this way:

"Renunciation of all things applies to everybody; to

all who would make proper use of the things of this

world which they possess, so that the mind be directed

towards eternal things. Relinquishing (or giving up)

all things pertains only to the perfect (to those called

66



to the state of perfection, that is, the religious life)

who set aside all temporal things and aspire only to

eternal things.”

This total renunciation is the key-note of genuine

spirituality. In summarizing the marvellous tradition

of the Franciscan School of spiritual authors, Father

Boniface Maes remarks, "There is no beating about

the bush when it is a question of abnegation; it is

on the first page of all their treatises, just as it was the

first action of St. Francis. They are unrepentant on

this point, and this renunciation pushed to extremes

is one of the characteristics of their spirituality; it is

also one of the characteristics which make for the

actuality of this doctrine, by erecting it boldly in the

face of the softness of a sensual and covetous century

which has forgotten to an incredible extent the virtue

of penance . . . one cannot be sanctified in cotton

wool.” (Franciscan Mysticism)

To say that God created the pleasures of the world

for His children and that therefore they are good and

should be used with moderation is, of course, correct

—but only if rightly understood. When a pagan
speaks of taking pleasures with moderation, he

means : taking the pleasures of the world for them-

selves, because they constitute natural happiness, but

observing the measure prescribed by reason, lest this

natural happiness be destroyed. When a Christian

speaks of taking pleasures with moderation he means

:

67



taking the pleasures of the world, not for themselves,

but only as a means to reach the supernatural hap-

piness that God offers to those who love Him. For

a pagan, happiness is in the knowledge, love and pos-

session of things created; for a Christian, happiness is

in the knowledge, love and possession of the Most

Blessed Trinity.

Moderation—Christian or Pagan
The Christian virtue of moderation is to be exer-

cised in the use of those things which are needful or

useful in living for God. It does not apply to the

habitual use of mere superfluities and extravagances

which manifest a selfish love for creatures. Modera-

tion applies to the use of things but not to the motive

of their use. St. Catherine of Siena says in this re-

gard "to attain perfection you must walk moderately

and at the same time without moderation. We must

love God without moderation ... And the first thing

that we must do is to flee from all communion with

creatures only for the sake of pleasure, when love

does not require it.”
(
St . Catherine of Siena, Jor-

gensen)

The claim that it is all right to use things in mod-

eration is often a pretext for mediocrity and is used

to sanction a moderate "worldliness” and even a mod-

erate indulgence in the seven-fold passions: a mod-

erate vanity; a moderate covetousness; a moderate

68



gluttony; a moderate sloth; and so on down the

line.

Only when I become truly mortified or dead to self

are all things mine; only then can I use them even

moderately without danger. I shall not even have

real joy in them until I have renounced the pleasure

in them for the love of God; until I have died to

them and they have died to me. Only after that can

I use them again without feeling anxiety lest I mis-

use them.

Unless I distinguish clearly between natural and

supernatural temperance I shall simply play into the

hands of Satan. "By moderation,” wrote Andre

Gide, "I thought I could master evil and precisely

through this moderation the evil one has taken pos-

session of me.” (Pfleger, Wrestlers with Christ
)

The measure for my use of God’s creatures, there-

fore, is not the natural virtue of temperance, dictated

by reason and promulgated by the pagan philosophy

of Aristotle, but the supernatural, cardinal virtue

which is derived from the divine life of grace. Re-

garding the perfection of this Christian virtue, St.

Thomas says, "Temperance abandons, so far as na-

ture allows, what the body demands.” (Ia Ilae, q. 61,

a. 5) Such has always been the practice of the

saints in every walk of life, and I have the obliga-

tion to strive for sanctity! I shall learn holiness from

the saints; not from the pleasure-lovers of the world.

69



as St. Alphonsus remarks: "Worldlings say: 'God

has created the goods of this life for our use and

pleasure.’ Such is not the language of the saints . . .

To abandon, for God’s sake, all worldly enjoyments

has always been the practice of holy souls.” (The

True Spouse of Christ, c. 8, n. 3)

The Sacraments do not Substitute for Sacrifice

All this, of course, will be meaningless if I act as

though the sacrament of Penance can serve as a sub-

stitute for my sacrifice of the Mass. If I ignore the

causes of sin, and merely confess the serious effects

which periodically and repeatedly issue from a self-

indulgent disposition, I shall not even suspect the

need of the restraint required by the supernatural

virtue of moderation. I shall become like those who

think that virtue consists in not sinning except when

one is tempted.

With a practical realization of what it means to

be a co-victim with Christ and to be crucified to the

world on my Calvary of the Mass, my attitude towards

the joys of the world should be greatly changed.

Henceforth I should disregard the wants and crav-

ings of my fallen nature and, gradually at least, re-

duce my pleasures to what is needful or useful, and

this, not grudgingly, but willingly and generously

out of love for God. I should give up pastimes that

are worldly and useless and maintain a holy indif-

70



ference in using such pleasures as are needful or pro-

fitable, whether they consist in attending motion pic-

tures and sport spectacles, in dancing, reading secu-

lar maga2ines or in listening to the radio—forms of
recreation which could be helpful and inspiring, but

which seem to serve, for the most part, only to pro-

mote the paganism condemned by the Holy Father.

I should also reject the world’s attitude towards habits

of drinking, smoking, using cosmetics or in following

the dictates of fashion. For even though these things

may be indifferent in themselves, I am to use crea-

tures for the love of God and not out of mere self-

gratification or vanity.

All such things may easily become strong attach-

ments and as such, unpleasant though it may be for

human nature to be told so, they are detrimental to

the soul, as the spiritual authors clearly affirm.

Hurtful and Dangerous Affections

St. Francis de Sales, the "gentle saint" and spiri-

tual guide for the laity, writes plainly in this matter

with these words: "Although it be lawful to play*

dance, to dress, to feast, or to be present at innocent

comedies, yet to have an affection to such things is

not only contrary to devotion but is also extremely

hurtful and dangerous. The evil does not consist in

doing such things, but in a fond attachment to them

... I do not say we can never use these dangerous

71



things, but I affirm that we can never set any affection

on them without prejudice to devotion.”
(
Introduc-

tion to a Devout Life

,

I, c. 23)

To a natural mentality, trained in the negative no-

tion that the practice of Christianity consists in an

effort to avoid sin, such teaching, even though it

comes from the saints, is looked upon as either tri-

fling, old-fashioned or rigorous. Only a mind in-

structed in the ideal of loving God with the whole

heart will be disposed to understand why the saints

oppose any attachment to lawful pleasure in such

strong terms as to call it "extremely hurtful and dan-

gerous.”

Renounce All Worldly Frivolity

According to the clear teaching of the present

Supreme Pontiff in his recent Encyclical on the Mysti-

cal Body, I should give up whatever does not pro-

mote my spiritual welfare. "Today,” he says, "im-

poses with particular stress on everyone the duty to

flee the vices and blandishments of the world and to

renounce the unrestrained pleasures of the body and

that worldly frivolity and vanity, which contribute

nothing to the Christian formation of soul, nothing

towards gaining heaven.” The Holy Father’s choice

of words is unusually emphatic in saying that all

Christians have the obligation to renounce not only

sin, but whatever is of no value for heaven. There-

72



fore, if I would heed the words of Christ’s repre-

sentative I should ask myself whether I have any

habits of self-indulgence which contribute nothing,

directly or indirectly to my spiritual life.

I am willing, of course, to admit in theory that the

Christian life is in direct opposition to the worldly

life, but I tend to avoid any practical analysis of

worldliness, lest some of my own habits should be

found in that category. Yet if worldliness does not

mean the spirit that pervades the habits just men-

tioned, then it must mean outright sin or nothing at

all.

If Christians are to be won over from their sins,

they must be drawn away from the worldliness that

fosters sinfulness. Such is the message of our Lord

and His saints. "According to St. Bonaventure,"

wrote Pope Pius X, "God commanded Francis to

preach penance above all and to win people away from

the love of the world to the love of Christ." (Letter

to the Three Ministers General
)

Recreation for the Love of God

Relaxation or recreation in some form or other is,

of course, a necessary part of my life, and so it must

have a relationship to my obligation of living the

Mass. This necessity, however, does not release me

from the Great Commandment of love, nor is it a

73



justification for any form of pleasure or any amount

of indulgence provided it is not sinful.

Since to live the Mass means that I die to self and

the world and act only out of love for God, any physi-

cal or mental relaxation I take should not hinder the

life of love for God by fostering and flattering the

sense-life of fallen nature.

Obviously, it is ordinary prudence to suspect that

Satan, who is the "prince of this world" is not slow

to exploit any invention of science capable of distract-

ing the human mind from God and pre-occupying it

with the things of the world. Hence, as a Christian,

I should consider the popular forms of recreation in

the light of love for God and of my sacrifice of the

Mass, lest I be deceived by the spirit of the world and

attracted by the lure of sensible pleasure in popular

entertainment. The motion picture is a good ex-

ample for consideration since it is the most attrac-

tive form of diversion and exerts an enormous in-

fluence on the public mind.

Motion Pictures and the Great Commandment

The late Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, aware of

the tremendous power of the motion picture either

for Christianity or for paganism, wrote an encyclical

on the subject, in which he said, "the motion picture

must be elevated to conformity with the aims of the

Christian conscience." Now the Christian conscience

74



is formed in the love of the crucified Saviour, but what

does the film industry, with its present worldly spirit,

know about such love?

It would, indeed, be a great joy and inspiration if I

could choose to see a film portraying the love story of

the Holy Ghost for a soul; teaching me how God

sanctified by the cross of suffering one of those real

heroes and heroines whom I profess in my prayers to

love and admire—the saints; saints of every walk of
life, whose deeds of supernatural chivalry, inspired

by the divine Hero of Calvary, surpass anything con-

ceived in the pagan imagination! But there is little

choice for the Christian, first, because Hollywood

knows nothing of the "Christian conscience/' or the

Folly of the Cross, and secondly, because Christians

approve and perpetuate a pagan film industry by

patronizing it. Entertainment will not be elevated to

conform to the supernatural mind until Christians

in general cultivate a supernatural mentality in them-

selves, and refuse encouragement and support not

only to what is sinful, but also to what is worldly.

His Holiness tells his children what the Christian

norm is in this matter. He says, "Why, indeed, should

there be a question of merely avoiding evil? Why

should the motion picture simply be a means of di-

version and light relaxation to occupy an idle hour?

With its magnificent power it can and must be a

light and positive guide to what is good.” Now since

75



the motion picture industry as it exists today is steeped

in civilized heathenism, the rule of avoiding evil is

the very highest concept it could have of morality

and sentimentalism its only interpretation of holi-

ness. With a materialistic spirit it will produce very

little above the natural order, for it neither knows nor

cares to know about the supernatural rule of love

for God.

False Beatitudes

What Hollywood usually produces at its best, not

forgetting its worst, is a sense-stimulating dream-

world that provides a momentary escape for the mass-

es from the hardships and heartaches of real life.

But, having no power of spiritual elevation, it only

sends its votaries back from a false paradise even

more displeased with the very obligations and cross-

es which should be welcomed as the Calvary of a

Christian’s daily life.

The practical philosophy that underlies the general-

ity of motion picture productions is in direct opposi-

tion to the foundation of the Christian life taught by

our Lord. Hollywood features a happiness based on

a contrary set of Beatitudes: Blessed are the rich;

Blessed are the vain; Blessed are the merrymakers;

Blessed are they who thirst after pleasure; Blessed

are they who do not suffer. The evil of this subtle

76



teaching escapes notice because it is concealed in the

half-truth that Christians must avoid sin; it is brought

to light only by the whole truth that Christians must

love God and ''do always the things that are pleasing

to Him.” (John 8, 29) In any case, it is very difficult

to stop short of sin when momentum towards it is

gathered from the spirit of vanity and pleasure-seek-

ing advocated by worldly pictures. It is not easy to

prevent the disease of sin when the germs of world-

liness are freely cultivated.

All the screen-promised happiness in creatures is a

seductive illusion and too often the very lives of those

who play the parts bear most eloquent testimony to

this fact.

Because of the tremendous power and influence of

the motion picture, the ideals of the Gospel of Christ

Crucified are becoming more and more obscure, and

thoughtless Christians, consumed with interest and

admiration through an overwhelming appeal to the

senses, are inevitably led to imitate the self-will and

worldliness that they see and hear.

A Power-House of Paganism

Furthermore, I cannot overlook the fact that the

very name of "Hollywood” is a symbol of worldli-

ness. The center of the film industry is the power-

house of modern paganism. Before the whole world

77



it parades and glorifies the life of luxury and sin and

promotes the idolatry of body-worship. It sets the

pace and tone for all the other avenues of worldly

propaganda such as popular magazines, the fashions,

radio programs and others.

The irony of it is that this unholy institution is

thriving on Christian money even as it mocks at

Christian virtue; even as most of its idolized “stars’

’

flout the law of God before the whole world. What

does Jesus on the Calvary of the Mass think of it and

of me? Meanwhile, the missions receive in compari-

son a trifling response to their pleading on behalf of

the souls for whom Jesus died. The cry goes out for

more and more laborers, for the fields are white to

the harvest, but the hearts of Christian youth which

could be drawn to love and imitate the glorious hero-

ism of Christ lifed up on the cross are captivated by

the emotional stimulus of a fictional love—which is
often sinful in itself, or would be a preamble to sin

in real life—or fascinated by a make-believe heroism
based on motives of egoism, nationalism or even

hatred.

The devil, who is the master-mind in the traffic of

worldliness, knows all the tricks of his trade. He

knows how to keep my interest, to arouse my enthu-

siasm and to get my money. He throws out the bait

of a few “religious” films. True, they are clean and

78



entertaining, but he knows they will teach me nothing

about the personal practice of the Sermon on the

Mount, nor encourage me in my sacrifice of the Mass.

Misleading Maxims

The spirit of the world has become so much a part

of modern life that without spiritual vigilance I can

hardly escape being seriously influenced by it in some

form or other. In consequence, I may unwittingly

have adopted an attitude or formed habits inconsis-

tent with the unworldly teaching of the Gospel, and

of my part in the sacrifice of Christ. Misled by such

worldly maxims as ’'everybody does it”; "there’s no

harm in it”; "enjoy yourself but don’t sin”; I may

have developed habits of conduct which do not answer

to any natural need or utility, but only cater to an

acquired craving or love for pleasure, something per-

haps that is injurious rather than helpful to nature.

To defend such habits or practices on the ground

that I am free to use any pleasure that is not sinful

is to set aside the Christian rule of doing all things

out of love for God, and to forget the Calvary of the

Mass.

St. John Chrysostom, an eminent doctor of the

Church, tells me plainly what my attitude should be

towards the comforts and pleasures of this world.

"Nothing,” he says, "is so incongruous in a Chris-

79



tian and foreign to his character, as to seek ease and

rest; and to be engrossed with the present life is for-

eign to our profession and enlistment. Thy Master

was crucified, and dost thou seek ease? Thy Master

was pierced with nails and dost thou live delicately?

Do these things become a noble soldier? Wherefore

Paul saith, ‘Many walk, of whom I told you often

and now tell you even weeping, that they are ene-

mies of the cross of Christ.’ For the cross belongs

to a soul at its post for the fight, longing to die,

seeking nothing like ease, whilst their conduct is of

the contrary sort. So that even if they say they are

Christ’s, still they are as it were enemies of the cross.

For did they love the cross they would strive to live

the crucified life. Was not the Master hung upon a

tree? Do thou otherwise imitate Him? Crucify thy-

self, though no one crucify thee. Crucify thyself, not

that thou mayest slay thyself, God forbid, for that

is a wicked thing, but as St. Paul said, ‘The world

has been crucified to me and I to the world.’ (Gal.

6, 14) If thou lovest thy Master die His death. Learn

how great is the power of the cross; how many good

things it hath achieved, and doth still: how it is the

safety of our life . . . Everyone who is a friend of

luxury and of present safety is an enemy of that cross

in which Paul makes his boast: which he embraces,

with which he desires to be incorporated. As when he

80



saith, 1 am crucified to the world and the world to

me.’ ”
(
Horn . XIII on Phil . 3, 18-21)

That the Christian life is intended to be a Calvary

of love; a crucifixion of complete detachment and

patient suffering, has been the constant teaching of

the Church through its Doctors, Saints and Supreme

Authority. As Chrysostom wrote in the third cen-

tury, so Pope Leo wrote in the nineteenth century:

"The mainspring of Christian virtue is a self-sacri-

ficing disposition, ready to bear with what is hard

and trying, the cast of which is outlined by the cross,

which those who seek to follow Christ must be con-

tent to shoulder. It is peculiar to this disposition to

remain detached from perishable things, to keep one-

self severely in check, and to bear misfortune with

ease and moderation.”
(
Auspicato

)
How does the

life of modern, merry-making Christians, cushioned

like that of their pagan neighbors in the comforts and

gratifications of modern society with its fashions,

attachments and worldly amusements, square with

this clear and authoritative teaching of the Church?

* *

My co-victimhood with Christ means that I earnest-

ly desire and effectually strive to be as completely

changed in mind and heart as the Sacred Species are

in substance. Therefore, I ought not to keep back

81



anything by attachment to my own judgment, my own

will, or to any created thing merely for self-grati-

fication. I must strive to make the offering of myself

complete, for—only what is offered can be changed.

THE MOTHER OF THE CRUCIFIED

A proper understanding of the Mass as my sacrifice

brings into relief the doctrinal basis for devotion to

our Lady, without which the love I profess for our

Blessed Mother might be little more than mere sen-

timent or emotion.

The life that I receive from my union with the

Head of the Mystical Body in the Mass is the same

life that came into the world at Bethlehem: "I came

that they may have life,” said Our Lord. (John 10,

10) The life of grace is a continuation or prolonga-

tion of the Incarnation.

Woman, Behold Thy Son

Since Mary was the necessary channel or instrument

in God’s plan for the birth and growth of the Re-

deemer in the world, she must be equally necessary

for the birth and growth of that same life in my

soul. In other words, when my offering is trans-

formed into Christ at the consecration of the Mass,

Mary must be present. There is no other way for

me to ‘put on the new man,” (Col. 3, 9) and to

82



“grow up in all things in Him who is the Head,

Christ,” (Eph. 4, 15) except through Mary. When

I am mystically present on the altar as a victim,

through a sincere desire of total self-renouncement,

then Jesus may say of me from the altar what He said

of John from the Cross: “Woman, behold thy son!”

(John 19, 27)

True devotion to Mary as my Mother supposes

an earnest desire and effort to acquire her spiritual

features; her patience, obedience and modesty. It

is most practical, therefore, to ask myself whether I

strive to resemble Mary, or compromise with the

principles and practices of the world.

Son, Behold Thy Mother

When I reflect on Mary’s part in the Folly of the

Cross is it conceivable that she would claim it as a

“right,” as I sometimes do, to be harsh or resentful,

unkind or impatient, merely because the conduct of

other people is unreasonable, unfair or annoying?

Witnessing Mary’s graceful obedience to the will

of God’s good pleasure, manifested through the cruel

and unjust superiors responsible for the torture and

death of her divine and only Child, can I refuse to

die to my own will and still claim to be a true child

of such a Mother?

To be worthy of Mary’s Motherhood I must be

83



ready to be cast aside; discriminated against, mis-

judged, scorned, or trampled by the feet of the ambi-

tious or jealous; I must accept all as my Mother did

on Calvary without protest, without resentment.

At Mass I take my place beside Mary at the Cal-

vary of the altar, and, therefore, to be practical I must

ask myself whether Mary would approve, as most

Christians now seem to do, of the vanity and world-

liness that are so widespread, especially in the matter

of dress and personal modesty. The subject of per-

sonal attire is of very grave importance and cannot be

dissociated from my obligation to live the Mass. The

Church has repeatedly and emphatically condemned

the infamous tendency of woman’s fashions. Indi-

vidual reformers might be labeled by the moderns

as old-fashioned and prudish. But the same cannot

be alleged of the authoritative teaching of the Church.

Pope Benedict XV

"There are two evils," wrote Pope Benedict XV,

"which predominate in the great subversion of today:

a boundless craze for possessions and an insatiable

thirst for pleasure ... In this connection We cannot

deplore enough the blindness of so many women

of every age and rank who, seized with a mad desire

to please, do not realize how greatly their insane

fashions not only displease every decent person, but

84



offend God as well. Not content with appearing in

public in such apparel, from which most of them

once would have shrunk with horror as being too

repugnant to Christian decency, they are not abashed

to enter Church in it and attend divine services; yes,

they bear with them to the very Eucharistic Table,

where the divine Author of purity is received, the

trappings of shameful passions. We refrain from

mentioning the forms of dancing, one worse than

the other, recently fetched in from barbarism to be

the fashion with cultured people, than which nothing

could be more apt to banish all modesty.” (Sacra

Propedium')

Pope Pius XI

His Holiness, Pope Pius XI draws an alarming con-

clusion from external evidence when he says: "We

lament the destruction of purity among women and

young girls as is evidenced by the increasing im-

modesty of their dress and conversation and by the

participation in shameful dances.” ( Ubi Arcano
)

In his discourse to the Lenten preachers of Rome

in 1929 the same Holy Father declares, "The first

and most painful thing that afflicts us ... is the im-

modesty of so many disgraceful women and girls,

who, nevertheless, call themselves and wish to be con-

sidered Christians. Do you try, my beloved sons . . .

to convince them of the wrong they are doing, for

85



so many of them are slaves to fashions which are

unworthy not only of Christian countries but of any

civilized people. Very many know that they are slaves

to fashion and are ashamed of it, but do not have the

strength to rebel against the tyranny which exploits

their modesty in this new form of white-slave-traffic,

just as a slave-trader does the blood of the slaves.

Brand with the fire of your apostolic words so many

shameless people, who not only do not feel the shame-

lessness of their dress, but, as it were, glory in it and

boast of it.”

Pope Pius XII

To those women who say they see no harm in the

abbreviated styles of today, Pope Pius XII gives a re-

minder of their serious responsibility to others, in

these words, “If no one is entitled, for his own selfish

pleasure, to imperil the bodily wellbeing of others,

still less is it lawful to harm the wellbeing of their

souls. If—as certain women allege—a daring fash-
ion makes no bad impression on them, what do they

know about the impression which they make on

others? It has been very rightly said that if certain

Christian women had any inkling of the temptations

and moral falls which they cause other people by

their dress and by familiarities which they look on

as of no importance, they would be horrified by their

responsibility for them.”

86



Instructions of the Holy See

Because the fashions continue to foster immodesty,

the Sacred Congregation of the Council in 1930 pub-

lished instructions, admonishing both clergy and peo-

ple to direct their efforts toward protecting Catholic

womanhood against the evil influence of shameful

attire. It is the Church speaking, solemnly and with

authority, and because of the importance of this pro-

nouncement all her children should know what She

says:

"By virtue of the supreme apostolate which he

wields over the Universal Church by divine will, our

Most Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, has never ceased

to inculcate, both verbally and by his writings, the

words of St. Paul (I Tim. 11, 9-10), namely: ‘Wom-

en .. . adorning themselves with modesty and sobri-

ety .. . and professing godliness with good works.’

"Very often, when occasion arose, the same Su-

preme Pontiff condemned emphatically the immodest

fashion of dress adopted by Catholic women and girls,

which fashion not only offends the dignity of women,

but conduces to the temporal ruin of women and

girls, and, what is still worse, to their eternal ruin,

miserably dragging down others in their fall. It is

not surprising, therefore, that all bishops and other

ordinaries, as is the duty of ministers of Christ, should

in their own dioceses have unanimously opposed this

87



depraved licentiousness and promiscuity of manners,

often bearing with fortitude the derision of mockery

leveled against them for this cause.

"Therefore, this Sacred Council, which watches

over the discipline of clergy and people, while cor-

dially commending the action of the Venerable Bish-

ops, most emphatically exhorts them to persevere in

their attitude and increase their activities insofar as

their strength permits, in order that this unwholesome

disease be definitely uprooted from human society.

"In order to facilitate the desired effect, this Sacred

Congregation, by the mandate of the Most Holy

Father, has decreed as follows:

Exhortation to Those in Authority

"1. The parish priest, and especially the preacher,

when occasion arises, should, according to the words

of the Apostle Paul, (2 Tim. 4, 2), insist, argue, ex-

hort and command that feminine garb be based on

modesty and womanly ornament be a defense of vir-

tue. Let them likewise admonish parents to cause

their daughters to cease wearing indecorous dress.

"2. Parents, conscious of their grave obligations

toward the education, especially religious and moral,

of their offspring, should see to it that their daugh-

ters are solidly instructed from earliest childhood, in

Christian doctrine; and they themselves should as-

88



siduously inculcate in their souls, by word and ex-

ample, love for the virtues of modesty and chastity;

and since their family should follow the example of

the Holy Family, they must rule in such a manner

that all its members, reared within the walls of the

home, should find reason and incentive to love and

preserve modesty.

"3. Let parents keep their daughters away from

public gymnastic games and contests; but if their

daughters are compelled to attend such exhibitions,

let them see that they are fully and modestly dressed.

Let them never permit their daughters to don im-

modest garb.

"4. The Superioresses and teachers in schools for

girls must do their utmost to instil love of modesty

in the hearts of maidens confided to their care and

urge them to dress modestly.

"5. Said Superioresses and teachers must not re-

ceive in their colleges and schools immodestly dressed

girls, and should not even make exception in the

case of mothers of pupils. If, after being admitted,

girls persist in dressing immodestly, such pupils

should be dismissed.

"6 . Nuns, in compliance with the Letter dated

August 23, 1928, by the Sacred Congregation of Re-

ligious, must not receive in their colleges, schools,

oratories or recreation grounds, or, if once admitted,

89



tolerate girls who are not dressed with Christian mod-

esty; said nuns, in addition, should do their utmost

so that love for holy chastity and Christian modesty

may become deeply rooted in the hearts of their

pupils.

Further Provisions

"7. It is desirable that pious organizations of

women be founded, which, by their counsel, example

and propaganda, should combat the wearing of ap-

parel unsuited to Christian modesty, and should"
;

promote purity of customs and modesty of dress.

"8. In the pious associations of women those who

dress immodestly should not be admitted to mem-

bership: but if, perchance, they are received, and

after having been admitted, fall again into their error,

they should be dismissed forthwith.

"9. Maidens and women dressed immodestly are

to be debarred from Holy Communion and from

acting as sponsors at the Sacraments of Baptism and

Confirmation; further, if the offense be extreme,

they may even be forbidden to enter the church.”

Paragraphs 10, 11 and 12 instruct priests to preach

on Christian modesty repeatedly during the year, spe-

cifically on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and

to exhort members of "pious unions and associations

90



of women to adopt a Christian mode of dress.” More-

over, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception

prayers are to be offered, and, if possible, sermons

preached in all cathedrals and parish churches for

the promotion of modesty. Further instructions con-

cern the functions of the "Diocesan Councils of

Vigilance,” and reports by Bishops on "conditions

in regard to dress.” The Letter is dated at Rome

on the Feast of the Holy Family, January 12, 1930

and is signed: Donato, Cardinal Sbaretti, Prefect of

the Congregation of the Council.

It is evident from these instructions that Holy

Mother Church takes a very serious view of the scan-

dalous fashions of today. Yet how many Catholic

women, young and old, in their manner of dressing

contradict the teaching of the Supreme Authority of

the Church. The spirit of liberty in its exaggerated

form, and the lack of delicacy of Christian modesty,

lost through contact with life in the midst of an over-

whelmingly large neo-pagan population that is mostly

Christian in name only, have made even ordinarily

good Catholic women and girls unconscious of the

indecency of modern dress and its offence against

public Christian morality. It requires a concerted

effort on the part of all Catholics to bring back the

Christian sense of modesty upheld by the Church.

The responsibility for this reform rests with each in-

dividual.

91



For our Lord to be able to say to me,
’

'Behold

thy Mother,” He must recognize in me the spiritual

features of Mary, her humility and modesty—the
qualities which attracted Jesus to the womb of Mary

for His Incarnation, "For the Lord has regarded the

humility of His handmaid.” (Luke 1, 48) To invite

the Christ-life into my soul at the Consecration of the

Mass, I must provide the same environment. I must

imitate, not merely admire, the otherworldliness of

Mary.

The World Still Crucifies Mary’s Child

It was the vain, self-willed and pleasure-loving

spirit of the world that despised and crucified Mary’s

Child; therefore she had no part with it. That same

spirit is ever trying to stifle and destroy the Christ-life

in me, and insofar as I am selfish and worldly it is

succeeding in its purpose and is substituting the vain,

deceptive and often destructive pleasure of created

things for the true interior, supernatural joy which the

world cannot give.

As a Christian and child of Mary I should have

nothing to do with the spirit of the world, but should

live among men as Mary did, for the purpose of

giving them Jesus by the good example of a patient,

obedient and modest life: "So let your light shine

before men, in order that they may see your good

92



works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

(Matt. 5, 16) If I allow the light of grace in me to

be
'

'hidden under the measure” of self-will and

worldliness, then others will not discover in me that

resemblance to Mary which would attract them to

her Son.

93



PART FOUR

THE COMMUNION

THE DIVINE EXCHANGE

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is the harvest

of the sacrifice of the Mass which follows from the

sowing at the offertory and the dying at the consecra-

tion. By the sacrifice I offer myself with Christ to

God; in the sacrament, God gives Christ to me. Here,

then, is the beatum commercium—the blessed ex-
change. All the spiritual gifts of my love which were

gathered into the offering and transformed at the con-

secration are now given back in divine Love at the

communion. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My

blood, abides in Me and I in him.” (John 6, 57)

My poor offering, spiritually worthless in itself, comes

back transmuted into the life and love of Jesus.

94



Dispositions Required for the Reception of

the Sacrament

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist differs from

the sacrifice of the Mass with regard to the effect that

it produces. The sacrifice of the Mass obtains grace

through the merits of Christ and His Church inde-

pendently of the soul, so that even those who, because

of their bad dispositions, do not participate in the

offering of the sacrifice, may receive benefit from it

and be moved to repentance. Nevertheless, it is true

that the more I share in the sacrifice, the more I shall

share in its benefits.

The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, on the other

hand, requires for its fruitful reception certain dis-

positions of the soul. These dispositions, as expressed

by the Holy See in the Decree on Daily Commun-

ion, are: the state of grace and a right and devout

intention. ’This devout intention is, of course, al-

ways supposed; but it should not be merely passive,

for the Fathers who framed the decree add that those

who come daily to the Holy Table should have the

desire of a closer union with Christ and should mani-

fest this desire by seeking in Him the remedy for their

faults and defects.” (Eccles. Rev., V. 35)

Now, the disposition of seeking union with Christ

is increased in proportion as the heart is rid of what

is not God, that is, of merely natural affections.

95



Therefore, I shall profit by the gift of divine grace

in Holy Communion in the measure that I have di-

rected the activity of my will to God by a practical

preference for Him in my daily round of sorrows

and joys.

Since my will is free, God does not force it into

submission; He only moves and encourages it by

actual grace to the self-surrender of love. According

as I have proved my love by the generosity of my

offertory, I shall be united to Christ at the consecration

and enriched by the gift of divine life at the com-

munion.

To be able to say wholeheartedly with St. Paul at

my communion: "It is now no longer I that live, but

Christ lives 'in me," (Gal. 2, 19), I must also have

said with him at my consecration, "I die daily" (I

Cor. 15, 31), and "with Christ I am nailed to the

cross." (Gal. 2, 20)

With this realization that my communion is a

mutual transaction I shall not fall into the too com-

mon error of regarding the reception of the Holy

Eucharist as a substitute for personal sacrifice.

Hunger for the Divine

Holy Communion is a participation in the immo-

lated Victim of the sacrifice; therefore I shall benefit

by this sacrificial meal according to my soul’s appetite

96



for God, that is, insofar as my heart is empty of

creatures.

It is not easy for nature, so accustomed to the plea-

sure of satisfying the natural appetites, to reconcile

hunger with happiness; that is why I need a practical

spirit of faith and hope to accept our Lord’s promise

to give me something incomparably better than sense-

pleasure if only I am willing to make the exchange.

True Joy is not Sought for

’There are spiritual delights and joys of interior

sweetness,” writes David of Augsburg, ”so far excel-

ling the delights of the world as honey excels mud,

and yet scarcely ever is any mention made of them

or interest shown in them or strong desire formed to

win them; and this is often true even of religious

who are held in high esteem. On the contrary, the

whole matter is looked down upon as entirely be-

neath a sensible person’s interest and such as think

and act otherwise are exposed to much petty persecu-

tion and are looked on as unbalanced in mind or un-

sound in doctrine (daemomaci reputantur et haere-

tici dicuntur ). Yet St. Paul leaves us in no doubt

as to what is his estimate of those who actively con-

temn the grace of devotion. Animal is the word he

uses to describe the inner life of such people, of those

who do not understand the ’things of the spirit of

97



God,’ because to them they are foolishness.’ ” (I Cor.

2, 14) {Op. CH. V. 2)

If I seek to satisfy my soul with created things, I

shall have no hunger or desire for divine things, just

as a child by eating sweets has no appetite for the

substantial food that his body really needs.

To hunger for God the soul must empty itself

of whatever is not God, which means that it must

become detached from all exterior goods of the world

and from the interior goods of body and mind. There-

fore, when our Lord began to teach, the very first

words of His Sermon on the Mount explained the

three steps necessary to bring about this state of inner

separation and of hunger and thirst for God.

The Beatitudes Empty the Soul

The first beatitude is the initial step. It tells me to

strip myself of all attachment to exterior goods.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the king-

dom of heaven.” Our Lord sets no limit to this di-

vine bargain. He simply promises to give me the

happiness of His Kingdom in the proportion that I

give up affection for the kingdom of the world.

Therefore, to increase my capacity for the true joy

of the spirit, I should dispense with any material

superfluities, any useless or worldly luxuries which

manifest a love for the world, and serve only to

spoil my appetite for the divine in Holy Commun-

98



ion. And I should beware of convincing myself

that superfluous things are necessary; rather I should

fear lest "necessary” things be superfluous.

In the blessed exchange of the Mass, created plea-

sures are like money with which I can "purchase” real

blessedness. The merchants of God’s Kingdom of

happiness are, of course, the poor, for as St. James

says, "Has not God chosen the poor of this world

to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which

God has promised to those who love Him?” (James

2
,

5
)

If all Christians, told by our Lord to be poor in

spirit, would deny themselves whatever is clearly

superfluous to their state of life and give the equiv-

alent in alms to the poor or to the missions, how much

greater commerce in divine love there would be at

the market-place of the altar!

Detachment from the Goods of the Body

The second beatitude reaches into nature to empty

it of all anxiety about the goods of the body, the

health and well-being of the corporal faculties. Only

when I am detached from my physical welfare can I

receive the blessedness and joy of the meek by being

patient in suffering and discomfort. By the fruit of

the beatitude of meekness; by holy indifference to

his physical condition, St. Paul could glory in his in-

99



firmities and cry out, "I overflow with joy in all our

troubles.” (2 Cor. 7, 4)

Detachment from the Goods of the Mind

The third beatitude completes the process of dis-

possessing me of all that is not supernatural. Only

when my intellect is despoiled of merely natural

operation shall I mourn for God in the darkness of

faith; only when my will is deprived of all human

and created consolation shall I mourn in the death

of total abandonment to the divine Will.

The more I realize the necessity of this process of

interior purification the more readily shall I cooperate

with the work of the Holy Spirit in His constant de-

sire to divest me of all my faults and failings in order

to clothe me in grace. It is not enough that I know

the doctrines of faith and the forms of external prac-

tice. I must reflect and concentrate on the growth of

the inner life. "We meet with good men,” wrote

John Tauler, "well versed in excellent religious exer-

cises, who yet know nothing whatever of the interior

life. Yet these are bound to search out all that may

interfere with God’s reign in their souls and instantly

cut it off. This much detachment everyone must cer-

tainly have; otherwise he cannot receive the Holy

Ghost and His divine gifts.” (Sermons and Con-

ferences')

100



Dom Aelred Graham, in his excellent book on the

Love of God, says that "detachment from the things

of this world is a condition sine qua non

,

(that is,

indispensable and essential) of advancement in the

love of God."

The joy of communion with Christ is therefore

the reward of being detached or empty of creatures,

so as to come to the Eucharistic Sacrifice like a hungry

man to a banquet.

God is not Outdone in Generosity

The Gospel speaks of giving good measure: "Give

and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed

down, shaken together, running over, they shall pour

into your lap. For with what measure you measure,

it shall be measured to you." (Luke 6, 38) The

measure is my own soul. But it must be void of crea-

tures to receive the Creator. If I were carrying a

pail filled with sand and I met a generous friend who

offered to fill it with gold, I would not hesitate to

empty out the sand to the last grain. Therefore, I

should not allow any attachment to occupy a place in

my heart which was made by God for Himself.

"Rid yourself of all binding attachments without,"

says St. Bonaventure in his Injunctions, "that you

may be able to be bound in spirit wholly to the Lord."

101



Attachments Enslave the Soul

Whatever occupies the soul brings it into subjec-

tion to itself. "The soul," says St. Catherine of Siena,

"cannot live without loving. We must love either

God or the world. And the soul always unites itself

with that which it loves and is transformed by it."

(Life of St. Catherine of Siena, Jorgensen) But God

intends that He alone should possess and rule over

the human heart, and that man, while subject to the

Creator, should have full dominion over the rest of

creation with, as the Apostle says, "the freedom of

the glory of the sons of God." (Rom. 8, 21) When,

however, I attach myself to some created thing by

a selfish craving for it, then I surrender to that ex-

tent the dignity of my God-given freedom and place

myself in bondage. The very difficulty experienced

in breaking from some acquired habit or attachment

to some pleasure betrays the ignoble slavery. How

often one hears it said about some lawful indulgence,

without, however, any apparent concern or even

knowledge of the spiritual implications : "I suppose

I ought to give up this habit, but I have not the

will-power."

Undoubtedly there are young people, who, not hav-

ing been instructed in the attractiveness of the divine

exchange and the harmfulness of attachments, re-

fuse the inner call of God—a vocation to the re-

102



ligious life—because of the difficulty of breaking away

from an acquired taste for creature-pleasures, unless,

perhaps, owing to the infiltration of worldliness into

religious life, they are allowed to take their cravings

in with them.

If I mean what I say in the Lord’s Prayer, "Thy

Will be done on earth," I must keep myself free to

follow whatever path God intends in His divine

plan; I must not bind myself to the world. St. John

Chrysostom says in this regard, "He who needs many

things, although he seems to be their master, is the

slave of many things . . . Are not the necessities of

life sufficient bondage for you? Then why weave so

many different chains to bind you to this world? Let

us put away superfluities and keep to what is neces-

sary. Thus shall we lay hold on eternal life." {Horn.

LXXX on St. John, c. 17)

The Paradox of Gain Through Loss

Our Lord summarized His teaching in these simple

words: "If any man wishes to come after Me, let

him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow

Me. For he who would save his life will lose it; but

he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt.

1 6, 24-25) Therefore, I shall find life in Christ

through Holy Communion in the degree that I deny

myself and take up my daily cross, which is precisely

103



the meaning of the giving of the offertory and the

dying of the consecration.

Self-denial and suffering are not attractive words

and it is useless to try to make them appeal to nature.

It is only by the exercise of faith and hope, says St.

Paul, that '‘the charity of God is poured forth in our

hearts,” (Rom. 5, 5) What is most attractive is the

wondrous exchange of love; it is irresistible, but it

is experienced and understood only after self has paid

the price, as the author of The Imitation of Christ

clearly points out when he says, "Take this short and

perfect word: Forsake all and thou shalt find all,

leave thy desires and thou shalt find rest. Consider

this well, and when thou shalt put it into practice

thou shalt understand all things” (Book III, c. 32.

Italics mine)

The effort to make religion attractive to nature usu-

ally results in destroying the meaning of the doctrine

of the cross, and it produces an emotional and super-

ficial piety that is Christian in name only—
a

piety

without groundwork or fortitude, that cannot stand

the test of misfortune or suffering. Like imitation

gold it shines in the sun, but cannot stand the fire, and

evaporates in the crucible.

Christ Saves on the Cross

Our Blessed Lord in His example and teaching is

the model and pattern for methods of instruction. His

104



call for heroic death to self and crucifixion to the

world is not dressed up to please nature; He saves on

the cross: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,

will draw all things to Myself." (John 12, 32)

Therefore, He should be preached and taught on the

cross—a cross that is not merely to be gazed upon
and admired, but to be set up in the individual soul.

The modern effort to "make religion attractive" has

pressed into service all the sciences and pedagogical

methods, yet who would say that the results bear any

comparison with the numbers converted by the

straightforward doctrines of St. Paul, who preached

"Christ crucified" and gloried in nothing save in the

cross of Christ.

St. Francis of Assisi won thousands of souls, not

by an appeal to the senses, but by a direct appeal to

the spirit. He called his little band "the brothers of

penance" and they went about in poor and ragged

apparel, begging from door to door, "bearing in their

bodies the mortification of Christ and stirring up on

every hand marvellous disgust with the world and

love of the cross." (Letter to the Three Ministers

General—Pius X)
Efforts to "popularize religion" often succeed in

producing the contrary effect and stir up a marvellous

love for the world and corresponding disgust with

the cross. They create great interest and fasten great

attention on the educational, social, recreational or

105



even liturgical "attractions,” and nature is quite con-

tent that the necessity of inner crucifixion is then for-

gotten.

Spiritual authors give warning of the great danger

of externalism. David of Augsburg says that some

people "by an unconscious process of self-delusion

sometimes fancy themselves, and would have others

fancy them, to be very observant on account of the

great interest they display in exterior matters.” (Op.

Cit., V. 1.)

The doctrine of the cross can make its appeal only

to the spirit—the spirit determined to renounce all

other attractions out of preference for the attractive-

ness of God, which all other joys can only reflect.

Therefore, I must view self-denial from the two-fold

aspect of giving and loving and then I shall find my

offertory and my consecration attractive in virtue of

the divine exchange of love in Holy Communion.

The Natural Mentality Leads to Rigorism

or Laxity

Unless I look upon sacrifice from the spiritual as-

pect of love, I am likely to fall into one of two er-

rors—rigorism or laxity.
If I regard sacrifice only as giving I may tend to

identify holiness with austerity and be preoccupied

with ..the negative process of denying myself every

106



creature-pleasure as far as is humanly possible. Such

a cold, uninspired insistence on the negative aspect of

sacrifice is called rigorism. It was an error of the

Jansenists, who tended to regard mortification as the

essence of Christian perfection and a sure sign of

predestination. Their mistake was not in their aus-

terity, since the saints were austere, and the Man

who said, "Deny thyself and take up thy cross" cer-

tainly lived an austere life and taught an austere doc-

trine. They erred in their attitude towards creatures

and their conception of the place of mortification in

the Christian life. It was an error of their natural

mentality. In other words, they were preoccupied

with the giving instead of the loving.

In the foregoing explanation of the Mass it is clear

that the giving of the offertory and the consecration

takes its supernatural significance from loving pre-

ference for God and hunger for His love in Holy

Communion.

The error of rigorism or puritanism or Jansenism is

scarcely a danger today. Few people in this material-

istic age are likely to engage in mortification for its

own sake. It is a ghost of the past conjured up by the

devil and associated with the teaching of self-denial,

in order to confuse the mind, to dissuade or excuse

it from fulfilling the sacrifices of love enjoined by

the Gospel.

107



The Error of Pious Naturalism

The danger of the other extreme is far more com-

mon today—the error of laxity, of mediocrity, or what
might he called pious naturalism. This error, too, aris-

es from regarding self-denial from the external, neg-

ative viewpoint of giving. Considered by the natural

mentality, which lacks the inspiration of the interior

motive of love and preference, giving is a painful

act of separation.

If my will is confronted only with the pain of giv-

ing, I might naturally conclude that a merciful God

and loving Father does not expect His children to

impose on themselves any painful practices other

than those required under pain of sin. Without the

motive of love I shall see no reason for giving up any

pleasure that is not forbidden, no matter how worldly

the pleasure may be. I shall have the same reluctance

as a young man who is expected to give an expensive

present to a girl whom he does not love.

With a sin-mentality

,

which takes no account of the

"law of the members,” I shall consider it useless to

give up legitimate joys, no matter how much they

may foster the inner concupiscence which is the cause

of sin. Then the practice of voluntary mortification

in my life will be reduced to that vague and almost

imperceptible minimum which, viewed theoretically,

I consider sufficient to keep me from falling from

108



grace, but which, nevertheless, I know from practical

and personal experience is quite inadequate.

It is this impractical reasoning of pious naturalism

that is allowing the spirit of worldliness to pervade

the Christian life.

Fear not Little Flock

Our Lord gives the forthright injunction to do

penance or to perish, but He gently removes any

fear or apprehension I might have in abandoning the

spirit of the world with its pleasures and interests,

by the promise of the divine exchange of love. He

tells me not to be solicitous or anxious about food,

dress, reputation or even about my life, for after

all these things the heathens seek. Then He con-

tinues: "Fear not little flock, for it has pleased your

Father to give you a kingdom. Sell what you have

and give alms.” (Luke 12, 32-33). Pious naturalism

would interpret this to mean that as long as I have

confidence in My Father I have nothing to fear and

penance is not important, but the whole content ex-

presses the opposite, namely, that I must not be afraid

to despise the world and its pleasures and do penance.

LIVING PROOFS OF THE DIVINE EXCHANGE

With a natural mind or sin-mentality, I shall ex-

plain away the mortified and detached lives of holy

109



people by saying that they are privileged souls and

that it is extremism to teach that all Christians, no

matter what their state of life, are obliged to strive

for detachment from the world and the highest degree

of holiness. The following words of the late Holy

Father, Pope Pius XI, clearly disclose the error of such

a notion, common though it may be. In his Encycli-

cal on The Third Centenary of the Death of St. Fran-

cis de Sales he says: "Christ has constituted the

Church holy and the source of sanctity, and all those

who take her for guide and teacher must by the Di-

vine Will tend to holiness of life. 'This is the will

of God, your sanctification’ says St. Paul. What kind

of sanctity? The Lord Himself declared it when He

said: 'You, therefore, are to be perfect as your heav-

enly Father is perfect.’ Let no one think that this is

addressed to a select few and that others are per-

mitted to remain in an inferior degree of virtue. The

law obliges, as is clear, absolutely everyone in the

world without exception." (Acta Stae. Sed., vol.

XV)

The Saints and Self-Denial

It is only when I regard self-denial from the two

fold aspect of giving for love, that I can understand

the lives of the saints and the writings of spiritual

authors. The saints were not canonzed because of

their mortifications, but because of their hunger for

110



God, yet the fact is undeniable that they did lead mor-

tified and detached lives, whether in the world or in

the cloister. In renouncing earthly pleasures, even

though they used them according to the needs of their

state, it was not because they considered created things

as evil, for certainly it would give no honor to God

to prefer Him to something bad. Nor did they con-

sider the enjoyment of any thing above strict necessity

as a sin. Their minds were not occupied with merely

avoiding evil, but with loving God.

The saints recognized the God-given things of this

world as reflections of God’s lovable perfections, or

"samples”
(
exemplata

)
as St. Bonaventure, St. Fran-

cis de Sales and others call them. Seeing God mani-

fested in His creation they developed an insatiable

desire for Him and they were inspired and moved by

grace to sacrifice the samples in order to show their

preference and hunger for the Reality. In thus empty-

ing themselves of earthly affections, they invited into

their hearts in Holy Communion the supernatural gift

of divine Love in which alone is holiness and true

joy.

The saints were preoccupied with loving and the

giving became a spontaneous expression of their love.

Mortification for them was not an end in itself, but

simply a way of proving with joy and generosity the

interior preference of love for God. At the same time,

they know that self-denial is necessary to restrain the

111



life of the senses, which tends to sin, and to strength-

en the life of the spirit which is the source of virtue.

If the saints felt the need of penance, how much more

reason have I, a sinner, to practice it!

All the saints understood the relationship between

love for God and the use of created things. In fact,

the saints are the only ones who really loved creatures,

because they saw and loved the Creator in them and

used them only in view of the purpose for which

they were made, that is, the glory of God. Because

creatures brought them closer to God, they loved them

on that account. Worldly people, on the other hand,

do not really love creatures as they claim to do.

They love themselves, and they use pleasure for the

gratifying of their self-love; so that when they have

exhausted the pleasure in a creature they cast it away.

The Imitation of the Saints

With a natural mind I shall be inclined to admire

the saints as extraordinary individuals who had holi-

ness thrust upon them by God. I shall not suspect

that they were ordinary persons like myself, who,

nevertheless, made extraordinary supernatural efforts

of self-sacrifice to cooperate with grace. I shall ad-

mire the evident good they accomplished, but make

little or no attempt to imitate their self-renunciation.

Pope Pius XI in this Encyclical on The Seventh

Centenary of the Death of St. Francis, after giving

112



a detailed description of the outstanding virtues of the

saint-—poverty, humility, mortification and love of
God, continues with this pertinent observation: "We

have purposely, Venerable Brothers, lingered at some

length in the contemplation, so to say, of these virtues,

because in our times not a few men who are infected

with laicism are accustomed to divest our heroes of the

true fame and glory of their sanctity, in an effort to

set them down as men of eminence in the natural

order and champions of certain religious theories, ac-

claiming and extolling them merely insofar as they

have deserved well of the progress of the arts and

sciences, or of charitable enterprises, or of their coun-

try, or of mankind generally. We cannot help but

wonder how this kind of admiration for what might

be called the half of Francis, or his counterfeit, is

going to benefit these modern enthusiasts while they

are hankering after wealth and luxury, or flitting about

in public or in dance halls and theatres in their ef-

feminate toilet and finery, or wallowing in the cess-

pool of their passions, or flouting and rejecting the

law of Christ and the Church.

"The words are very much to the point,” concludes

the Holy Father, quoting from the Roman Breviary,
"
'Whoever is charmed by the virtue of a saint, let

him be no less charmed by his studied service of God,

and therefore, let him either imitate the saint if he

wishes to praise him, or cease praising what he is

113



unwilling to imitate. Whosoever admires the virtue

of the saints, let him render himself admirable for the

holiness of his life.’
”

St. Francis and Creatures

St. Francis of Assisi had a most wholesome love of

creatures, but he did not express it by indulging in

the pleasures of sense. It is difficult to understand on

what grounds some Christians appeal to St. Francis’

love of creatures as an excuse for self-indulgence and

worldliness, for St. Francis’ own words are a clear

condemnation of such an attitude: "My brethren,” he

says, "that necessity which reason does not demand,

but which pleasure points out, is a manifest sign of

an extinguished spirit. A lukewarm spirit—one that
is growing cold and falling by degrees from grace

—

needs that flesh and blood should look after the things

which belong to them. When the soul is devoid of

spiritual enjoyment, what remains but that the flesh

should return to its own? And then the animal ap-

petite will plead necessity, and the conscience con-

form to the carnal sense.” {Opuse. S. Fran., Tom.

3, Collat. 10, Wadding)

St. Francis’ love of creatures was supernatural, not

natural. He loved God and seeing the perfections

of God in creatures he called them by the affectionate

names of brothers and sisters. He had restored in

himself the proper relationship intended by God be-

114



tween man and the rest of creation. He had disen-

gaged himself from all attachment to created things

so that even death could find no human ties to sever,

and he welcomed it as "Sister Death" come to con-

duct him to his Father in heaven.

Death is Hard for the Worldly

Death will be unwelcome and difficult for me in-

sofar as I am still alive to the world by attachment

to its pleasures, for separation is always hard. "A

man is necessarily in a state of dread," says David of

Augsburg, "as long as he retains an affection for any-

thing, for his fear of losing what he values will in-

evitably lead to its becoming for him a source of an-

xiety." (Op. Cit., V. 2)

Whatever natural affection I do not supernaturalize

or offer to God freely in life will be torn away by

force at death. Then I shall no longer be free to give

up my judgment, my will and my love for pleasure.

The things that enslaved me will give me up, and will

mock my folly in not giving them up while I could,

and the enforced separation will make it hard to die

even though I am in the state of grace.

On the other hand, if, like the saints, I have been

a co-victim with Christ on my Calvary of the Mass,

I shall no more die at death, for my communion will

be the guarantee of eternal life according to the prom-

115



ise of our Lord, "He who eats this Bread shall live

forever.” (John 6, 59)

* * *

From the Mass I must learn to die now in order

to live; die to all merely natural desires so as to live

the new life of the supernatural. "If any man is in

Christ,” says St. Paul, "he is a new creature; the for-

mer things have passed away; behold they are made

new.” (2 Cor., 5, 17)

My communion is to be an anticipation of heaven

where I shall be united to God for all eternity in the

degree that I have achieved resemblance to the vic-

timhood of His Son. May each fervent Communion

prepare and strengthen me for a more sacrificial life,

that when I return to my sacrifice, my offering will

be richer

—

for all that is offered is changed, and all

that is changed is given hack in divine grace.

116



CONCLUSION

Now that I have a clearer picture of my part in the

Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and of what it means to

be a co-victim with Christ, the liturgical prayers of

the Mass begin to reveal their life and deep personal

significance. Prayers which I had thought rather

meaningless now declare the tremendous truths and

practices of my Catholic faith.

Despise the World

I did not realize before that to love God neces-

sarily implies that I despise the world. Yet those

two ideas are as inseparable as the concave and

convex sides of the paten and chalice which contain

the Sacred Species. Regarded from beneath, the

convex side of the sacred vessels discloses nothing

but a curving away from the earth; but seen from

above, the concave side turns upward and inward

to enclose the Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus. So

here below, I must occupy myself in turning my

affections away from the world by a preference for

117



God, so that God looking from above may behold

my heart turned upward towards Him and enfolding

His beloved Son. "Do not love the world, or the

things that are in the world. If anyone loves the

world, the love of the Father is not in Him.” (I John

2, 15) St. Augustine, commenting on this text of

Sacred Scripture, says: "When it is said, 'love not

these things’ it does not mean, do not eat, do not

drink, do not beget children, but only that these

things may not bind you by your loving them; lest

you love that for ENJOYMENT which you ought to

have for USE.” (Homily 2 on I John 2, 15)

Because lawful pleasures are good in themselves I

thought that I might enjoy them at will and love God

at the same time; but now I understand that sacrifice

is the language of love, and the source of true joy.

"Love . .
.
presupposes self-denial, as perfect and ab-

solute as possible, for love, by its very nature in-

cludes the gift of self, forgetfulness of self, the

emptying out of the heart, and a break with all ego-

ism.” (Franciscan Mysticism, Maes)

St. Teresa of Avila expressed great sorrow for hav-

ing been misled and kept from an earlier discovery of

the truth that to love God is also to despise the world.

She says, "I am now grieved when I consider how

much my soul suffered and what little help it re-

ceived from anyone but God, and how many oppor-

118



tunities I had for pleasure and pastimes by being

told they were lawful.” {Life, VIII, 1 6)

St. Francis of Assisi far from seeking comfort and

joy in the pleasures afforded by creatures insisted that

true joy is a spiritual quality and is to be found in be-

ing poor, despised and persecuted, as our Lord ex-

plained in the Sermon on the Mount. Why is it that

so many people are unhappy? They fear that by

renouncing themselves they will be miserable, where-

as their failure to do so is precisely the reason why

they are miserable.

Sow in Order to Reap

In order to teach me how to spurn the pleasures

which attract my senses, St. Paul gives me the example

of the farmer who reaps a harvest in the same pro-

portion as he sacrifices the seed. The seed-grain,

although very good in itself, is only a sample of the

harvest; and it is the farmer’s love for the harvest

that inspires him to treat the seed as though he de-

spises it—to sacrifice the pleasure of using it, and
to throw it into the ground.

In the spiritual life, all the goods of this world

—

the natural use of my faculties and all the good pleas-

ures found in God’s creatures—are mere seeds or cre-
ated samples of the spiritual harvest of joy to be had

in the possession of God. My spiritual harvest is to

be eternal (that word should be given much thought)

;



but I shall reap only in proportion to my love of the

harvest. This love will be expressed by the sacrifice

I make during life of the seed-grains of pleasure, the

samples of joy. "He who sows sparingly," says St.

Paul, "will also reap sparingly, and he who sows

bountifully will also reap bountifully." (2 Cor. 9, 6)

I did not realize that to be a good Christian I must

be an industrious spiritual farmer walking through

the fields of daily life in this earthly springtime of

eternity, joyfully and generously casting away the

seeds of profitless pleasure and treating with disdain

the mere satisfaction of using them; so that I might

say with St. Paul: "For His sake I have suffered the

loss of all things, and I count them as dung that I

may gain Christ." (Phil. 3, 8) I should have known

it, for the Church time and again in the collects and

other prayers of the Mass tells me to spurn and tram-

ple underfoot the pleasures of this life, in order to

attain to the things of heaven.

I did not realize that the Holy Sacrifice is really my

sacrifice and that I ought, therefore, to bring an offer-

ing. Yet, almost every day in the Mass, the secret

prayer reminds me that the Mass is the Sacrifice of

the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, of which I

am a member, for the oblation is usually designated

as our offering.

I did not understand that the Mass is a blessed ex-

change in which the gift of my will is transformed

120



into the life of Christ and comes back to me through

the divine gift of grace in Holy Communion. Yet,

the post-communion prayer so often reminds me of it.

The Mass for the Feast of St. Francis

By way of illustration, if I take the Mass for the

feast of St. Francis of Assisi, (October 4), and read

the prayers in the light of these truths, I find there

some very practical and far-reaching implications for

my personal Christian life. The collect says: "O God

. . . make us, like him, despise the goods of earth and

ever rejoice to partake of the gifts of heaven.” It

does not say that I should despise only evil things,

but the "goods” of earth. The epistle tells me, in the

words of St. Paul, to be crucified to the world, and to

become a new creature. In the Gospel

,

our Lord

says that His doctrine of the cross, whereby He calls

upon His followers to take up His yoke, is "folly”

to worldly people, because His truth is hidden from

the wise and prudent of this world. The secret

prayer says: "Sanctify, O Lord, the offerings we dedi-

cate to Thee ...” and what offering can it mean, as

far as I am concerned, except the oblation of my will,

expressed by the crosses I have endured and the pleas-

ures I have despised as the "species” for my offertory?

Finally, the post-communion is the prayer of the

Mystical Body for the return gift of God’s grace:

121



"Pour forth, O Lord, Thy grace from heaven to mag-

nify Thy Church .

Life in the Liturgy

Hence, I shall discover the life of the liturgy in pro-

portion as I bring life to it, by a real desire to love

God with my whole heart and a willingness to pay

the sweet price of that love, which is the immolation

of myself in union with Christ by seeking God’s good

pleasure in everything and desiring nothing else for

its own sake.

As a fitting conclusion to these thoughts, and as

an expression of my sincere intention to become a

zealous and true Christian, I recite this prayer from

the secret of the Mass for the last Sunday after Pente-

cost: "Be Thou gracious, O Lord, to our humble ap-

peals, and, after receiving the prayers and offerings

of Thy people, convert the hearts of all to Thyself, so

that, having been set free from the greed of earthly

pleasures, we may pass on to the desire of heavenly

treasures. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son,

Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of

the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen."

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Father Leonard

M. Puech, O.F.M., of Montreal, Canada, for his assist-

ance in the preparation of this work; also to Orate

Fratres, Collegeville, Minnesota, in which the subject

originally appeared.

122



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To too many souls Christ is but a “familiar stranger'’
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