Daily Mass campaign

“Attending daily Mass is so important to me, and I have been reaping the benefits of it for several decades. I am retired now and it is easy for me to attend the 9:00 a.m. Mass, right after I am finished with the gym. When I was working, I had to attend the 7:00 a.m. Mass and then go to the gym and then to work. Either way, I made the decision to go to daily Mass and to go to the gym. I figured I needed to be healthy both spiritually and physically. It is hard to separate the two. I would like to share with you some of the benefits I have seen by going to daily Mass in hopes that you too will try to attend daily Mass or that if you already do, you may find support for what you are doing.

1 – Being in the Presence of the Lord. I try to get to Mass about 20 minutes early so that I can just sit in His presence. I offer Him praise and sit quietly listening for any Word He may give me. So often I have grown in my love of Him and grown in my ability to learn to trust Him in all things. Our God is an awesome God and His love for us knows no limits. It is so good to be in His presence. It is unbelievable how a short time alone before the Lord in the tabernacle can improve your prayer life all day long.

2 – Listening to His Word. Every day at Mass we have two readings and a responsorial psalm. The first reading is usually from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the second reading is from the Gospels. The Church does a wonderful job of presenting cycles of readings so that you basically go through all of the important parts of the whole Bible in three years. Sundays are set on a three-year cycle and weekday readings are set on a two-year cycle. If you only attend Sunday mass, you do not get the fullness of the readings cycle. Beginning each day listening to God’s Word and the homily about it can really impact you all day long. The Church also follows different Liturgical Seasons such as Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary time. The weekday readings emphasize the importance of these Seasons on a daily basis. Immersing yourself in God’s Word is power-giving.

3 – Receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus. Jesus made it extremely clear that if we want to be filled with the fullness of life, we need to eat His body and drink His blood (Read John, Chapter 6). I would have to say that His Body and His Blood fill me with graces constantly. Sometimes there is a reason that I cannot attend the morning mass (snow, Doctor, etc.) and when that happens, I feel such a loss. We are used to taking daily multi-vitamins and daily coffee etc. to pick us up, but to me, nothing picks me up better that receiving Him at daily mass. The strength given to me by that lasts all day and affects every part of the person that I am. I believe that I have an abundant life because I receive my Lord every day in the Eucharist.

4 – Experiencing Community. Daily mass has less people in it than does Sunday Mass. Because of this, you get to meet these people and share your lives with them. I know this can be true of Sunday mass, but daily Mass emphasizes it. You learn of your fellow parishioners’ ups and downs and you share a better level of community. In our parish, every Wednesday we go over to our parish center and share with each other what the readings of the day have meant to us. We usually have about 20 attend and it is a wonderful experience. Also, at daily Mass you get to know the things that are happening as they happen, not one week later like at Sunday Mass. We always have people who are struggling with health and life issues and daily mass allows us to be more supportive, especially on the days that they need it the most. Community is a very important gift.

5 – Know your Priests and Deacons. Daily Mass gives us more of an opportunity to know the clergy that support our parishes. They also get to know you better. There is usually more time for meeting with the clergy. You can also get to appreciate the homilies that they give. You can bring support to them, and they can bring support to you.

In closing, I cannot emphasize enough how important daily Mass is to me. I feel that I am a much stronger Christian because of it. I know that I am closer to the Lord, and hear His voice better because of it. It is also wonderful to know that people all over the world are hearing the same scriptures and receiving the same Lord at the same time I do. You certainly get a fuller appreciation of the gift that the Church is to the world. There are so many great books on the Mass, but one that really touched me is Scott Hahn’s, ‘The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth’. In it we see that we are really sharing in a little bit of heaven every time we attend Mass. I personally want to do that every day….

These quotes remind me of the hidden mystery of the Holy Mass. I plan to review them before Mass during Lent. I’d encourage you to do the same if you also struggle with distractions. I may print them out on a card and put them in my missal:

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
The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass. ~ St. Augustine
If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross. ~ Saint Thomas Aquinas
Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God’s Goodness and asked Our Lord “How can I thank you?” Our Lord replied, “ATTEND ONE MASS.”
“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.
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
There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
When we have been to Holy Communion, the balm of love envelops the soul as the flower envelops the bee. ~ Saint Jean Vianney
It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass. ~ St. Pio of Pietrelcina

That last quote from Saint Pio is profound. The entire cosmos is sustained by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass…”

Source above: The Benefits of daily Mass by Deacon Marty McIndoe

Bishop William Waltersheid

Begin the habit of attending daily Mass as often as possible

Have you made any new year’s resolutions yet? Are you trying to decide how to improve and grow in your spiritual life?

“The Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and feast days and, prepared by the sacrament of Reconciliation, to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if possible during the Easter season. But the Church strongly encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and feast days, or more often still, even daily.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church 1389

“Do you ever feel overwhelmed or like your life is beyond your control? Jesus is present in the Eucharist to help us. We can welcome Him into our lives not just on Sundays, but every day, at daily Mass. Attending daily Mass regularly helps us hold a place for Jesus in our lives every day, and to build a deeper relationship with Him, so that we may realize His love for us, and His desire to care for us. To help you begin a daily Mass habit, the diocese hosted ‘Come to the Altar,’ to focus on the meaning of the Mass.” Bishop William Waltersheid invited everyone in his diocese to participate in the Come to the Altar daily Mass campaign and explained the benefits of attending daily Mass.

Other Eucharistic articles by Bishop Waltersheid:

Other articles encouraging daily Mass:

If you can, attend Mass and receive Holy Communion often, even daily. Due to work, raising families, care-giving, health issues or other obligations, it may not be possible for you to attend daily Mass daily in-person. If and when it is not possible, make spiritual communions and watch or listen to reverent Masses and sermons.

If you can’t go to Mass in person, can you visit Our Lord in Eucharistic adoration with exposition or adore Our Lord in the tabernacle?

“The Lord most of all wants a burning love in us… How do we maintain that love and grow… actually intensify it? By staying close to the Source, the fire of love… by receiving Communion often, the Sacraments or making Spiritual Communions. Padre Pio would say: place your heart in the Tabernacle when you can’t receive Communion or are far from a chapel. Receive as often as you can the Sacraments, the Holy Eucharist… Meditate on His Word.” – Fr. Joseph Mary M.F.V.A. (EWTN Catholic daily Mass, YouTube, November 14, 2022)

“‘They drank the Blood of the Lord and became friends of God.’ It is that Eucharistic strength that especially is sanctification for us, that transforms our hearts, that unites us with that Divine fire Who is the Lord. At every Mass we hear His Word. This inspires us, motivates us and teaches us; and at every Mass we commune with the One Who is Divine Love. That’s what motivated Peter and Paul. That’s how they were able to overcome so many obstacles.” – Fr. Joseph Mary M.F.V.A. (EWTN Catholic daily Mass, YouTube, November 18, 2022, Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica’s of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles)

Mass in person is a privilege, if you have time to do so, avail yourself of this great grace – no matter whether you are single, married, working or retired, don’t miss out! You can offer each Mass and your Holy Communion for special intentions, just like you do when you pray the Holy Rosary. Saints had much to say about their devotion to daily Mass.

“What a marvelous time in which to renew your desire, your nostalgia, your real longing for Christ to come — for Him to come every day to your soul in the Eucharist. The Church encourages us: Ecce veniet! – He is about to arrive!” – St. Josemaria Escriva

“Take great care to go to Holy Mass, even on weekdays; and for such a cause be willing to put up with some inconvenience. Thereby you will obtain every kind of blessing from the Lord.” – St. John Bosco

Invite someone to holy Mass and Eucharistic adoration – to a discovery or a return to the sacramental life!

More quotes of the saints promoting

DAILY HOLY MASS

(Source below: Jesus Our Eucharistic Love, Academy of the Immaculate, Daily Holy Mass, pp. 19-23):

Once one realizes that Holy Mass has infinite worth, he is not surprised at the saints’ eagerness and care to attend it every day, and even more often when they could.

One day Blessed Pio of Pietrelcina said to a penitent, “If men were to understand the value of the Holy Mass, for every Mass such crowds would come to church that police would be needed to keep order.”

Perhaps we, too, belong to that great number of Christians who have not understood the value of Holy Mass, and for this reason we lack the zeal and fervor that encouraged and inspired the saints to attend Mass every day and even several times a day.

The hidden bell

St. Augustine has left us this praise of his mother, St. Monica: “She did not let a day pass without being present at the Divine Sacrifice before Your altar, O Lord.”

St. Francis of Assisi usually attended two Masses each day, and when he was sick he asked a friar who was a priest to celebrate Mass for him in his cell so that he would not be without Holy Mass. Every morning after celebrating Holy Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas served another Mass in thanksgiving.

The shepherd boy, St. Paschal Baylon, could not go to church to attend all the Masses he would have liked because he had to take the sheep to pasture. But every time he heard the church bells give the signal for Mass, he knelt on the grass among the sheep before a wooden cross he had made, and in this way he would, from afar, follow the priest as he offered the Divine Sacrifice. What an affectionate Saint, a true seraph of love for the Eucharist! On his deathbed he heard the bell for Holy Mass and had the strength to whisper to his brethren, “I am happy to unite to the Sacrifice of Jesus the sacrifice of my poor life.” And he died at the moment of the Consecration in the Mass!

When St. John Berchmanns was still a young boy, he would leave his house every day to go to church at the first break of dawn. Once his grandmother asked him why he would always leave so early. The holy youth responded, “To win blessings from God I serve three Masses before going to school.”

St. Peter Julian Eymard, even while very young, found delight in serving Holy Mass. At that time his town had this custom: the boy who would serve Mass would be the one who, in the early morning, would pass through the town ringing a small bell for a quarter of an hour to alert the faithful. How many times little Peter Julian hid the small bell the evening before to make sure of being the one to serve Mass the next morning!

A mother of eight, St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, went to Mass every day and brought her children with her. With motherly care she taught them to treasure a little missal which she chose to adorn with precious stones.

“Bad management of time”

Let us manage our affairs so well that we will not lack time for Holy Mass. Let us not say that we are too busy with chores, for which Jesus could remind us, “Martha, Martha, thou art troubled about many things; but one thing alone is necessary” (LK. 10:41-42).

When one really wants to, one finds time to attend Mass without failing in one’s duties. St. Joseph Cottolengo recommended daily Mass for everybody: for teachers, nurses, laborers, doctors, parents. To those who objected that they did not have the time, he replied firmly: “Bad management! Bad economy of time!” And he knew this generally was the truth. If we but appreciated the infinite value of the Holy Mass, we would be very desirous of assisting and would try in every way to find the necessary time.

When St. Charles of Sezze went about Rome begging alms for his community, he would take time out to make visits to a church to attend additional Masses. It was at the moment of the elevation of the Host during one of these Masses that he received the dart of love into his heart.

Every morning St. Francis of Paola went to church, and he remained there to attend all the Masses which were celebrated. St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez and St. Gerard Majella used to serve as many Masses as they could. (They did this with such devotion and edification that they attracted many of the faithful into church.)

Venerable Francis of the Child Jesus, a Carmelite, served ten Masses every day. If it happened that he had a few less to serve, he would say, “Today I have not had my full breakfast.”

And what can we say of Blessed Pio of Pietrelcina? Blessed Pio heard many Masses every day, and participated at them by reciting many Rosaries!

The holy Curé of Ars was not mistaken when he said, “The Mass is the devotion of the saints.”

“I would walk ten miles”

The same must be said of the love that holy priests have had for celebrating Mass. It was for them a terrible suffering to be unable to celebrate Mass. “When you hear that I cannot celebrate Mass any more, count me as dead,” St. Francis Xavier Bianchi said to a brother religious.

St. John of the Cross made it clear that the greatest suffering he had during his ordeal of imprisonment was that of not being able to celebrate Mass nor receive Holy Communion for nine continuous months.

Obstacles and difficulties did not count for the saints when it was a question of not losing so excellent a good. For example, one day in the streets of Naples, St. Alphonsus de’ Liguori suffered violent pains in the abdomen. The religious who accompanied him urged him to stop and take a sedative. But the Saint had not yet celebrated Mass and his prompt response was, “My dear brother, I would walk ten miles in this condition in order not to miss saying Holy Mass.” And his sufferings would not move him to break the Eucharistic fast which at that time was obligatory from midnight. He waited until the pain subsided a little, and then continued his walk to church and Mass.

The Capuchin, St. Lawrence of Brindisi, was once in a town of heretics. Since this town had no Catholic Church, he journeyed forty miles on foot to reach a chapel cared for by Catholics, in which he was able to celebrate Holy Mass. Not without reason he often said, “The Mass is my Heaven on earth.”

St. Francis de Sales one time was staying in a Protestant town. To celebrate Holy Mass he had to go every morning before dawn to a Catholic parish church which was on the other side of a broad stream. During the autumn rains the stream rose more than usual and washed away the little bridge on which the Saint had been crossing. This did not discourage him. In the place where the bridge had been, he threw a large beam on which he was able to cross over. In winter, however, because of the ice and snow, there was serious danger of his slipping and falling into the water. The Saint then devised a procedure whereby he put himself astride the beam and maneuvered across on all fours, so that he might not miss his celebration of Holy Mass.

We will never succeed in sufficiently pondering that Mystery beyond description, the Holy Mass, which reproduces on our altars the Sacrifice of Calvary. Nor can we ever have too much devotion for this supreme marvel of divine love.

“Holy Mass,” wrote St. Bonaventure, “is an achievement of God wherein He places before our view all the love He has borne us. It is, in a certain way, a combination of all the benefits bestowed upon us.”

Therefore St. John Bosco earnestly exhorts us: “Take great care to go to Holy Mass, even on weekdays; and for such a cause be willing to put up with some inconvenience. Thereby you will obtain every kind of blessing from the Lord.” (Jesus Our Eucharistic Love, Academy of the Immaculate, Daily Holy Mass, pp. 19-23)

“Each morn You come to me at early Mass,

Your flesh and blood become my food and drink;

And wonders are accomplished.

Your body permeates mine mysteriously,

I feel Your soul becoming one with mine:

I am no longer what I used to be.”

– St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

“If men were to understand the value of the Holy Mass, for every Mass such crowds would come to church that police would be needed to keep order.”

– St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Still looking for that perfect birthday, anniversary or Christmas gift?

Invite someone to holy Mass and Eucharistic adoration –

to a discovery or a return to the sacramental life!

It will be the gift that keeps on giving!

Promote the habit of attending daily and weekday Masses in your parish!

Begin the habit of attending daily Mass as often as possible

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