HOLY MASS: THE HIGHEST FORM OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

The necessity of prayer for the realization of salvation is brought to light in the acts and teachings of Jesus. Thus, He exhorted His disciples to pray always and not loose heart. Prayer is therefore, an obligation for every Christian in particular, and the whole humanity in general. In their encounter of God, St Therese of Lisieux sees prayer as a “surge of the heart; a simple look turned towards heaven, a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy”, while Teresa of Avila sees prayer as friendship/union with God. These experiences reveal the transforming power of prayer. The thrust of this write-up is to explore the prayer value of the Holy Mass. If Holy Mass is the highest form of Christian prayer, it must be of absolute necessity for any Christian that worth the name. This absolute necessity presupposes the transforming power of the Mass which is a feature of prayer. We shall aim at reflecting on some of the rich content of the Mass encapsulated in encoded signs and symbols.

The night preceding the Calvary immolation, in that sublime banquet whose repetition will be in the heavenly Jerusalem, the Sacrificial Lamb perpetuated His kenosis. It was a night of love when Love Incarnate made the supreme offer of love to His loved ones – an offer awaiting acceptance. “Take and eat, this is my body. Take and drink, this is the chalice of my blood.” Then follows the ordaining Hoc facite in meam commemorationem. But this self immolation remains ‘meaningless’ as long as “his own people did not accept him” (Jn 1:11). This inexhaustible fountain can only be recognised when accepted. This acceptance presupposes knowledge of the gift. How much of this knowledge we possess remains the disturbing question. What takes the blame of this humiliating and deadly ignorance?

The Mass in the contemporary Liturgy

The participatory outlook of the present Eucharistic assembly is born out of the church’s desire “that Christ’s faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration.” This desire of the Vatican Fathers brings to the fore the necessity of the union of divine and human acts for a meritorious step down of Calvary sacrifice in our individual Christian lives. The Eucharist is the celebration of “the victory and triumph of” the death of Christ again made present, and at the same time giving thanks “to God for his unspeakable gift” (2Cor. 9:15) in Christ Jesus, “in praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12), through the power of the Holy Spirit. The independent efficacy of the celebration notwithstanding, our attentive consciousness, of course, imbued by divine grace, is a sine qua non if we are to come out of the mysterious celebration truly victors laying a sure claim to the “crown of unfading glory” (1Pet. 5:4). How then shall we be available at mass to gain the super abundant graces that flows from this inexhaustible fountain?

Active Participation in the Eucharistic Assembly

The Eucharistic assembly as the centre of the church’s liturgical celebration is the action of the whole of Christ – that is, Christ, the head and the Church. In this sublime and salvific function, Christ prays with, in and for the church. The Vatican Fathers in this divine function teaches that Christ “is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister...but especially under the Eucharistic species....He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the church. He is present, lastly, when the church prays and sings, for He promised: “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).” This extract reveals the Mass as a coded and elongated mystical encounter with the Divine. To enter into this mystery, Father Charles Ikeme proposes participating in the Mass as a contemplative or active spectator in the Calvary mission. He designates certain aspects of the Mass as being in tandem with some parts of the passion of Christ. Compare the priest’s vesting in sacristy with prayer and agony in the garden, the offertory procession with journey from the court of Pilate to Golgotha, consecration with crucifixion, the Pater Noster with the seven words from the cross, the Agnus Dei with the expiring Christ, the ecce Agnus Dei and the dead Christ, the reception of communion with the burial, post Communion with the resurrection, the benedicat vos with the descent of the Holy Spirit and the final mandate to go and proclaim the gospel. This pattern of participation shows the Mass as a re-enactment of the Calvary sacrifice. Spiritual writers teach that no form of prayer is efficacious and transformative as meditation on the passion of Christ. Thus, the Calvary way steeps the Christian deeply into the mystery of salvation from where he emerges victorious and transformed, having glorified God.

But this is not the only way of assisting at Mass. One can as well pray the Mass. By this I mean being attentive with the ‘praying and singing Church’. The Mass is principally divided into table of the word and table of the Eucharist. Reflection on each syllable of the Mass ranging from the beginning In nomine Patris to the missionary mandate Ite Missa est ennobles the soul and floods the heart with sanctifying grace culminating in a mystical union of God and man in the Eucharistic specie. The diverse parts enable us to present different aspects of our life both to God and our consciousness for healing and solidification in virtue and grace. It provides the mind with reflective materials thereby shielding and lessening distractions for prepared minds. Preparation for mass is therefore, an essential and indispensable part of the Mass.

Another method is reclining at the foot of the Cross while being attentive with the ‘singing and praying church’. Thus, the Christian participates in the mass from his meditative presence at Calvary. This inebriates the heart with love for the Crucified Who is actually re-enacting His crucifixion before His beloved.

Preparation for Mass

The angelic Doctor teaches that we owe four debts to God: To praise and honour His infinite majesty which is eminently worthy of infinite praise and honour; to satisfy for all our sins; to thank and bless God for all the benefits he has bestowed on us; and to supplicate Him constantly as the Giver of all good gifts. These debts are infinitely settled in the Mass given the infinite nature of the Priest and Victim – Jesus Christ. The sublimity and faith-demand of this stupendous sacrifice of the altar demands a conscientious preparation from the ecclesial community. This is aimed at uniting the mind and the heart in this supreme worship. Our consciousness is sharpened and made ready to recognise and assimilate the divine mystery happening before it. Being a re-enactment of the Calvary immolation, the Mass should be attended as would one standing with Mary, the Mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross. To facilitate this, we shall categorise the preparation into remote and proximate preparation.

Remote preparation encompasses all spiritual exercises to be carried out a night or so, before the celebration. This ranges from examination of conscience, formulation of intention, scriptural reading, etc. This waters the garden of our soul for the reception and germination of the seeds to be sown. Proximate preparation is to be performed at the scene of the sacrifice. It disposes the soul, internally and externally for a fruitful heavenly liturgy. Think of meditation on the passion of Christ, or a meditative recitation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, and other exercises that offer the decorum for the celebration.

Conclusion

The saints are of the opinion that we shall suffer greatly for our lack of concentration at the Eucharistic sacrifice. We often let trifles distract us at the celebration. Reflect on our free chatting at the celebration. Some view the mass as unnecessary pastime which can only be endured with jokes. The divine aura of the mystery is often sacrificed for a social carnival to satisfy the palate of the ‘modern’ Christian. All these expose our culpable ignorance and nonchalance at the mystery taking place. But if we plunge ourselves within the mystery offered to us, then, the mass “would no longer seem a mirage or a mere stopping place or a memory. It would become our wellspring, it would become a gushing well within us and bring us to birth as children of the Name we so greatly desire.” Let us therefore, pray for the grace of a fruitful celebration and participation in the Eucharistic banquet.