The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-10-19
THE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE OF
SERVING MASS.

LAS Iu6 MASS Is Oh SuCu luCOupdF-
able greatness, containing Our Lord
Himself in Sacrifice and Sacrament,
so must the Office of Priest be the
highest that mortal man can attain
to, says the Hon. A. Wilmot in a pa
per read at the Eucharistic Congress
in Vienna. AS Thomas A Kempis
says: Great is the mystery and great
the dignity of priests to whom that
is given which is not granted to
angels. For priests alone rightly Or
dained in the Church have power to
celebrate and to consecrate the Body
of Christ" "The priests says st.
Jerome in forcible language, ''by their
holy mouths make the Body of Christ,
Christ Himself, through them per-
forming this great miracle" St.
Chrysostom cries out: When you
see the priest offering his Holy Sac
rifce, uttering the prayers, sur
rounded by the sanity people who
have been washed with the Precious
Blood, and the Divine Saviour who
offers Himself on the altar, can you
believe yourself still on earth? Should
you not rather believe yourself lifted
up into the Heavens? o wondrous
miracle, o goodness. That He who
sits at the right hand of the Father
should be, in an instant, in our hands
ready to give Himself to those who
will receive Him." Because of the
grandeur, greatness and efficacy of
the Holy Sacrifice it is evidently
most honorable, exalted, and profit
able privilege to act as chamberlain
to the King of kings and Lord of lords
by serving at Mass. Of course this
service should be SO reverential as to
give edifcation. Mgr. Benson grasps
the idea of the chamberlainship to
Our Lord when he says ("Papers of
Pariah,' p. 1881, that LOW Mass is
like the entering of small deputa-
tion into the Kings bedchamber to
assist Him to rise. 1t does not stir
their emotions as when with clash of
brass and thunder of drums and
shouting of the populace in brave ar
ray they pace before him across the
Cathedral square, but for that very
reason there is less fear of their for
getting for what purpose they give
service. They are to help the King
to get up, to pour water with chilly
fingers, to hand stockings, to light
fires, to draw curtains. They do it
only because He is the King and they
are His servants"
Let us take a few examples from
Fitzgerald's Jewels of the Mass" to
show how the honour of serving Mass
should be appreciated. King Wen
ceslas of Bohemia served Mass after
Mass, COMFORTING himself with even
more humility than those in minor
orders who were accustomed to per-
form the duty. The great Doctor,
| st. Thomas Aquinas, after offering
his own Mass used himself to serve
| the Mass of another priest.
The venerable Thomas More took
the greatest delight in serving Mass,
and once being warned by a certain
| Minister of State that the King would
be displeased if he heard that he had
SO humbled himself, replied "My Lord
the King cannot be offended with the
service I render to His Lord, nay, to
the King of kings, and Lord of lords. F"
AS Thomas a Kempis says: when
a priest celebrates he honours God,
he rejoices the angels, he edifies the
Church, he helps the living, he OBJ
tains rest for the dead, and makes
himself partaker of all that is good. "
And how noble and profitable it is to
assist as chamberlain to the King of
kings at this most venerable and
most Holy Sacrifice.
The Mass, therefore, which con-
tains Jesus Christ as God and Man
is of such character that to serve
at it is necessarily and consequently
an immense honour and privilege.
The answering so as to complete the
prayers, assisting at the preparation,
| ealing attention at the Conservation
helping throughout according to our
magnificent liturgy, has been spe-
cial1y alluded to. The conclusion is
manifest. Catholics should prize
greatly an immense honour and priv
ilege which, whenever possible, they
should gladly and thankfully make