The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-09-02
| CONVERT ON The MASS
CHARLES WARREN SToDDARD's
DESCRIPTION OF HIS FIRST
IMPRESSIONS OF THE
HOLY SACRIFICE.

When I recall my first impression
OF the Mass-if in my bewilderment
can be said to have received any
impressions whatever assure my
self that the majority of Protestants
and unbelievers, who look cOldly or
curiously upon the altar, are as little
mindful of the sacred significance and
as unworthy as | was. Oh, the loss
of these! Do we not see in the
gravity of the celebrant as he bears
the chalice to the altar, Our Loro,
entering the garden of Gethsemane?
1t is the first scene in the mystical
drama and every breath is hushed
The Divine One is burdened with a
foreknowledge of His doom. He
kneels in the garden; we kneel with
Him, and are to follow Him. step by
step, to the end. At the Confiteor
He has fallen upon His face, bathed
in the sweat of his blood; He is be-
trayed with kiss, led away captive,
grievously smitten and denied. The
celebrant turns to us at the Dominus
Vobiscum, and in his glance we see
the conversion of Peter. Our Lord is
led before Pontius Plate. He is
spoiled Of His garments-at the un-
yelling of the scourged and
crowned with thorns. Plate washes
his hands of the crime, and at the
moment the celebrant moistens his
fingers, Behold the mani" cries
PLATE; and the voice from the altar
pleads, "Orate fratres." At the Pre-
face we hear the warning bell. The
awful progress of the tragedy is
watched in breathless silence and only
from the organ loft comes the wall
of the singers. The bell rings; He is
condemned to death and made to bear
the Cross while His brow is wiped off
with the handkerchief of Veronica,
and the effigy of the sorrowful face
is retained forever. He is nailed to
tn III Cross, and at the Elevation Of
the Host, while the Ginning bells
mark every posture of the celebrant
at the altar, while the torch-bearers
gather about, the smoking censers
are swung aloft, the flowers are scat
tered upon the air, and, if it be a
military Mass, the whole body silent
ly present arms while the devout
kneelers bow their heads and beat
their breasts in contrition, 10! the
cup is raised on high. A moment
later the elevated chalice seems to
catch the water and the blood that
seems to gush from the riven heart
of Him who died for us. In the memen-
to, which follows, He is praying for
the world; He is merciful to the peni-
tent thief He thirsts and He utters
the Seven Words Upon the Cross
Here the Pater Noster is loudly
chanted.) He dies. He descends
into hell; and at the Agnus Del, while
the bells chime again, there is the
conversion of many at the Cross. In
Communion we commemorate His
burial His resurrection follows, and
He appears to His disciples at the
Dominus Vobiscum. The last Collect
is a memory of His forty days with
the disciples; the last Dominus Vo-
biscum, of His Glorious Ascension;
and with the Benediction descends
the Holy Ghost o marvellous Sacra-
ment! mysterious, majestical! O
never-failing source of joy! What a
privation is theirs, who having once
known Thee, are parted from Thee.
How do they survive who trust not
in Thee, and who seek Thee and
know Thee not?