TEN QUOTES That Will Change the Way You Attend Holy Mass

Many people can’t explain why they stopped coming to church except that life just got in the way. Here are ten quotes that will change your perception of the church, and coming back to attend, participate and celebrate the Holy Mass.

1. When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar. ~ St. John Chrysostom 

2. The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass. ~ St. Augustine 

3. The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas 

4. Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God’s Goodness and asked Our Lord “How can I thank you?” Our Lord replied, “ATTEND ONE MASS.” 

5. “My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary He would die for them as many times as they’ve heard Masses.” Our Lady to Blessed Alan. 

6. When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary – a joy, a fragrance, a well-being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt. ~ Saint Jean Vianney 

7. There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us. ~ Saint Jean Vianney 

8. When we have been to Holy Communion, the balm of love envelops the soul as the flower envelops the bee. ~ Saint Jean Vianney 

9. It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass. ~ St. Pio of Pietrelcina

10. If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy. ~ Saint Jean Vianney

The Eucharist celebration is the real presence of Jesus Christ, where ordinary bread and wine that we lift up in consecration to God, returned to us transubstantiated as the extraordinary and life-giving sacrament of Christ for us. It is made possible by Jesus’ act of complete surrender to the will of the Father, whereby he offers up his life, his love, and finally his body and blood on the Cross. The Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium, calls the Eucharist “the source and summit of Christian life”.

St. Augustine of Hippo

Trust the past to the Mercy of God, 

the present to His Love, 

and the future to His Providence.

~ St. Augustine ~

Saint Augustine became a Christian at 33, a priest at 36 and a full bishop of Hippo at 41.

Augustine was born on 13 November, 354 in the town of Thagaste, North Africa (region known as Algeria today). His mother, Monica (St. Monica, whose feast is celebrated on 27 August), was a Christian, and his father Patritius, a pagan for many years ( became a Christian before his death). At one level he always found something attractive about Christ, but in the short run he was more interested in the attractions of sex, fame, and pride in his own cleverness. After his conversion to Christianity and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology. 

In 391 Augustine was ordained a priest in Hippo Regius (now Annaba), Algeria and 395 he was made coadjutor Bishop of Hippo, and became full Bishop "Augustine of Hippo" shortly thereafter; and he gave his property to the church of Thagaste. Augustine, bishop of Hippo died 28 August 430 in Hippo Regius, Numidia at the age of 75. Augustine was canonized, and later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII. St. Augustine of Hippo feast day is celebrated on 28 August, the day he died. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and sore eyes.

Prayer

O Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the Life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; 

the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

Saint Augustine

It was pride that changed angels into devils; 

it is humility that makes men as angels.

Saint Augustine

If you believe what you like in the gospels, 

and reject what you don't like, 

it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

Saint Augustine

Pray as though everything depended on God. 

Work as though everything depended on you.

Saint Augustine

Do you wish to rise? 

Begin by descending. 

You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? 

Lay first the foundation of humility.

Saint Augustine

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, 

don't accept, because you will lose one friend; 

on the other hand, 

if two strangers come with the same request, 

accept because you will gain one friend.

Saint Augustine