There is no more perfect or praiseworthy
devotion than that of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Compared with the other acts of devotion, the Mass is as
the sun which surpasses all the other stars by its overpowering brilliance. "All other good works put together," the Cure d’Ars used to say, "are not equal to the Sacrifice of the Mass, because they are the works of men, whereas the Mass is the work
of God: the one is the sacrifice of man’s life to God, the other is the sacrifice which God offers of His body and blood
for the sake of man." The prayer of him who assists at Mass ceases in some measure to be simply a human prayer. Associated
with the prayer of Jesus Christ, it takes on a divine character: it is no longer we alone who pray, it is Jesus Christ who
prays in us and for us.
St. Francis de Sales held assistance at the Holy Sacrifice in such high esteem that he preferred it even to that of mental prayer, although all
the masters of the spiritual life rank this far above other devotions. When St. Jane Frances de Chantal asked him one day if during the week she might stay away from Mass in order to give herself to prayer, he replied: "It is
much more beneficial to assist each day at the Holy Sacrifice than it is for you to stay away under the pretext of devoting
yourself to your prayers. St. Alphonsus de Liguori and St. Philip Neri used to give the same advice to those whom they directed.
In every age, moreover, Saints and devout souls
have held the daily assistance at Holy Mass to be their most cherished devotion. In fact, love of the Mass is the infallible
criterion of the faith of individuals and of peoples. Where devotion to the Holy Mass is held in little honor, faith diminishes;
where it develops, there the faith increases, It is because they have not lost their fidelity to the Mass that the Irish have
maintained the faith of their forefathers. In Dublin alone it is said that 40,000 persons (one out of every ten Catholics) hear Mass each day. In Protestant countries, especially
in Holland, the Catholics resolutely declare their faith by their daily assistance at the Holy Mass.
These have well realized that if the priest cannot
perform a more divine act than that of offering the Holy Sacrifice, the faithful cannot do anything more holy than associate
themselves with that offering. They look upon the half- hour they have given to the Mass as the most precious in the day.
The best way of saving time, Ozanam used to say, is to "lose" half an hour each morning at Mass. How many causes of dissipation are held in check during the
remainder of the day by this half-hour deliberately lost! St. Louis heard several Masses each morning. One day he learned that some of his courtiers criticized this practice. "I am astonished
at your murmurs", replied the king. "You would not think of reproaching me if I were to spend twice the amount of time in
hunting or gaming." St. Augustine affirms that his mother never failed for a single day to assist at the sacrifice of the altar. St. Hedwig, Duchess of Poland, would not allow herself to be prevented from assisting at Mass either by rain, or cold, or snow, or the distance. Thus likewise
acted Joan of Arc when at the head of her forces, and similarly nearer to our own times did La Rochejacquelin, O’Connell and General
de Sonis. We fully endorse the beautiful words of Cardinal Newman:
"I declare that to my mind there is nothing so consoling or
so moving, nothing which so surpasses and overwhelms the imagination, as the Mass celebrated as it is in our churches. I could
without fatigue hear Masses for eternity."