Value of Holy Mass
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At the
hour of death the Holy Masses you have heard devoutly will be
your greatest consolation.
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Every
Mass will go with you to Judgment and will plead pardon for you.
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By
every Mass you can diminish the temporal punishment due to your
sins, more or less, according to your fervor.
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By
devoutly assisting at Holy Mass you render the greatest homage
possible to the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord.
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Through the Holy Sacrifice, Our Lord Jesus Christ supplies for
many of your negligences and omissions.
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He
forgives you all the venial sins which you are determined to
avoid. He forgives you all your unknown sins which you never
confessed. The Power of Satan over you is diminished.
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By
piously hearing Holy Mass you afford the Souls in Purgatory the
greatest possible relief.
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One
Holy Mass heard during your life will be of more benefit to you
than many heard for you after your death.
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Through the Holy Mass you are preserved from many dangers and
misfortunes which would otherwise have befallen you. You shorten
your Purgatory by every Mass.
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During
Holy Mass you kneel amid a multitude of holy Angels, who are
present at the Adorable Sacrifice with reverential awe.
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Through Holy Mass you are blessed in your temporal goods and
affairs.
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When
you hear Holy Mass devoutly, offering it to Almighty God in
honor of any particular Saint or Angel thanking God for the
favors bestowed on him, you afford that Saint or Angel a new
degree of honor, joy and happiness, and draw his special love
and protection for yourself.
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Every
time you assist at Holy Mass, besides other intentions, you
should offer it in honor of the Saint of the day.
What is Confession
Are all of our sins—past, present, and
future—forgiven once and for all when we become Christians? Scripture
nowhere states that our future sins are forgiven; instead, it
teaches us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).
The means by which God forgives sins after baptism is confession:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Minor or venial sins can be confessed directly to God, but for
grave or mortal sins, which crush the spiritual life out of the
soul, God has instituted a different means for obtaining
forgiveness—the sacrament known popularly as confession, penance,
or reconciliation.
This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his
capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf.
Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power
"glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8;
note the plural "men"). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on
his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, "As
the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy
Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).
Since it is not possible to confess all of our many daily faults,
we know that sacramental reconciliation is required only for grave
or mortal sins—but it is required, or Christ would not have
commanded it.
Confession and absolution must be received by a
sinner before receiving Holy Communion, for "[w]hoever . . . eats
the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will
be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor.
11:27).
What is Eucharistic Adoration
Catholics believe that during the Mass which we
attend each week (for some of us daily), the priest (during the
consecration) speaks these words as he holds the communion host, "...He
took bread and gave you thanks. He broke the bread, gave it to his
disciples, and said: Take this all of you, and eat it: this is my
body which will be given up for you". When the priest says "this
my body", it is at that instant when, through the miracle of
transubstantiation, the bread and wine which we offer as the
bloodless sacrifice to our Lord truly become the Body, Blood ,
Soul and Divinity of Jesus. It is His true Presence in the form of
bread and wine. It is Christ.
Perpetual Adoration
is when the priest takes a consecrated host, such as the one
described above, and places it in a monstrance. (monstrance comes
from the Latin "monstrare" to show, to expose to view.) The
monstrance is then placed in front of the tabernackle (an ornate
box which holds the monstrance and any consecrated hosts) or on
the altar of the church or chapel for adoration.
What do you actually do during
adoration? You may sign up to be an "adorer"
which allows you to schedule yourself for one or more hours per
week to pray before the very presence of Our Lord, exposed in the
monstrance. It means that you can have some time alone with Jesus
to recite your favorite prayers, read the bible, contemplate acts
of faith, hope, charity, thanksgiving, reparation, pray a rosary
or do whatever type of prayerful devotion that suits you before
Our Lord. You can just sit and say nothing simply keeping Him
company, just as you would with a dear friend.
What is Baptism
Baptism with water -- by immersion, pouring, or
sprinkling -- in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost, cleanses us from original sin and personal sin
(and their punishments) and initiates us into the life of the
Church. It is more than merely symbolic; it's more than an
expression of belief of the one being baptized (or his parents);
it is a Sacrament, both a sign and medium of actual grace.
