The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-10-19
HOW TO HEAR MASS AND SER
MONS.

| NUNS.
To hear Mass is to hear the whole
Mass, and consequently the command
obliges all VINO are not legitimately ex-
cCSGd to be present at the Great Sac
rifice from beginning to end. Who
ever, therefore, who is absent from
any portion of it, through his own
fault, is guilty. of sin. and the sin will
] be greater, the greater the part of the
Mass be that he is absent from. And
if he be not present during any one of
the four principal parts of which the
Mass is composed, he sins grieYoUSly
ard does not comply with the obliga-
| ton, no more than If he had been alb
sent from the whole Sacrifice. so that
he would be under the necessity of
hearing Mass again that day, if he had
the opportunity of so doing. To un-
derstand this we must understand that
the celebration of the Mass is divided
into four parts. The first is the pre-
paration of the people, which is from
the prayer that the priest recites at
the foot of the altar. till the end of the
first Gospel. The second part is the
preparation of the matter of the Sac
rifice, that is. from the Gospel to. the
"Sanctus." The third part is the ac-
tion of the Sacrifice itself, which is from
the "Sanctus" to the "Pater Noster.'
And the fourth part is the communion,
that is, from the "Pater Nos,ter'' till
the end of the last Gospel. Now, to
fulfill the obligation of hearing Mass,
we must be present at all these four
parts. as they are all necessary for the
integrity of the Sacrifice.
An important part of the Christian
worship is listening to the.word of God
from the mouth of the priest. Let no
one think himself so wise and learned
that he can do without it. Preaching
is the means appointed by God to
speak to our hearts. Therefore he who
will not hear the preaching of the
Catholic Church shuts his ears against
the voice of God, and despfseth Jesus
Christ who says: He that heareth
you, heareth me, and he that deSpiseth
you, despiseth me-
Let no one say: I can read the word
of God for myself in the Bible; of what
use is preaching to me? What. Are
human minds, created limited, and full !
of darkness, able of themselves to com
prehend the minds of the Eternal word ? !
Beware that you do not substitute !
your own thoughts for those of God. |
No! The Church of the living God |
alone, guided and enlightened by the |
Holy Ghost. is able to know the mind |
of God with infallible certainty. and
to interpret the Holy Scriptures with !
out danger or possibility of error. She |
it IS who announces to us the true
doctrine of Jesus Christ, by her Bishops
and their fellow laborers, the priests.
and they are teachers to whom we must
listen. unless we are willing through a
spirit of pride to expose ourselves to the
most dangerous errors.
But will you say: 1 have at home
excellent explanations of the Gospels
and other good books of instruction.
these will serve my purpose instead of
preaching. To this objection of yours.
St. Thomas of Villanvoa has already
replied: Tell me not, am learned. I
nave at home the works of Augustin
If Bernard, etc. The letter is dead: the
voice is living. The preacher is the
living voice of God. He is 1.-THE voice OF
1ne crying in the Wilderness" Jesus
Christ said: THE letter kilIeth. the
spirit maketh alive The world, How
vas it converted? Through the Divine
Word preached by the Apostle.
Listen then to sermons with a pious
md humble mind judge not rhe
preacher; look not for beautiful words:
10 not apply the sermon to others but
o yourself alone: consider the word
# the priest as the Voice of Cod
in the ear of your heart. and
alllng you to penance and often before
nd during the sermon repeat in vonr
learts the words of Holy Samuel.
Speak, Lord! for Thy servant hear.
tn"