Catholic Saints, who have written on the Spiritual Life, suggest that a "remote preparation" is necessary in order to better understand the Word of God.  This includes being a lover of the Truth as well as the practice the Virtues of Humility, Meekness, and Docility to God the Holy Ghost.  "Proximate preparation" includes two prayers:  1) The Act of Contrition; and, 2) The Veni, Sancte Spiritus.

An Act of Contrition

O my God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, because I love Thee above all things with my whole heart and soul.  I detest all of my sins because it was for them and His Love for me that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, my Lord and my God, suffered, was crucified, and died on the cross.  O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee by my sins, faults, imperfections, negligences and carelessness, Who art all good and deserving of all of my love.

I firmly resolve with the help of Thy Grace, to sin no more, to confess my sins, to do penance, to amend my life, to avoid all of the near occasions of sin, and always give to Thee freely, liberally and generously what is of supererogation and perfection, not only in greater things, but especially in lesser things, so that I may gain beforehand Thy efficacious, superabundant, particular and special Graces and Helps so that I will always be victorious in resisting and overcoming all temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil and his followers.  Grant me those Graces and Helps needed so that my every thought, word and action may be done solely out of love for Thee, Who art Love.  Amen.

Saint John Chrysostom

It was the custom of Patriarch Saint John Chrysostom [b. Antioch, c. 347 A.D. - d. at Commana in Pontus on Friday, September 14, 407 A.D.], Patriarch of Constantinople [Thursday, February 26, 398 A.D. - Thursday, June 24, 404 A.D.], exiled from his See the 2nd time on Thursday, June 24, 404 A.D., Father and Doctor of the Catholic Church, to properly prepare himself and his Congregation before preaching. He taught that unless God the Holy Ghost prepares the minds and hearts of the Preacher and of the Congregation, the Preacher preaches in vain and the Congregation listens in vain.

Therefore, so as not to waste your time, please pray the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, remembering how one Holy Saint was of the opinion that a Sermon is a Sacramental.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Come, O Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created;
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let Us Pray

O God, who didst instruct the hearts of Thy faithful by the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to relish what is right and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary; pray for us.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Catholic Schools, pray for us.

“Vivify us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by our participation in the partaking of this Sacred Mystery.” (POSTCOMMUNION of today’s Mass).

V  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

What is the meaning of the beginning of today’s Postcommunion Prayer which We have just read, especially “by our participation in the partaking of this Sacred Mystery”?  “This Sacred Mystery”, of course, refers to the Transubstantiated species effected during the Double Consecration, while “by our participation in the partaking” means receiving the Sacred Host during Holy Communion, and not only by the Mass Celebrant, but also by the Faithful.

The Holy Catholic Church teaches all of us, regarding the Sacred Mystery of Transubstantiation, that Jesus Christ is really, truly, and substantially present in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist.  Our Dear Lord extends an invitation of Love and of Mercy to each of you where He says: “Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matthew 11:28).

Liturgically, the first prayer in preparation for Holy Communion begins with the “Pater Noster”, the “Our Father”.  Our Dear Lord, as the primary Mass Celebrant, through the hands of the secondary Mass Celebrant, the human instrument, whether the human instrument is a Priest or a Prelate, offers Himself as the Infinite Victim to Our Heavenly Father, and presents to God the Father all of the Mass intentions with Infinite Confidence on our behalf who are, by Baptism, the Children of God.

Notice the “Our Father” begins with the words “Our Father” and not “MY Father”, because all Catholics are members of the ONE Mystical Body of Christ which is but only ONE family, united by the same ONE Catholic Faith, Mass, and Sacraments.

“Give us this day our daily bread” is a reminder, not so much of physical bread for the physical body, but rather primarily of our daily supersubstantial bread, as the theologians call the Sacred Host, which is the Spiritual bread, under the species of physical bread, we receive in Holy Communion that nourishes our immortal souls.

Notice how the Mass Celebrant recites the “Our Father” with a loud voice so that you may:

1) unite yourself in prayer with Jesus Christ;

2) remember how great your own happiness should be because you are a Child of God; and,

3) obtain, through the Infinite merits of Jesus Christ, Who as the Infinite Victim Whose Sacred Body at that moment rests upon the Holy Altar, all that you need, not only for today and tomorrow and the rest of this week, and the rest of your life, but also for all eternity.

When you pause to reflect upon the wonderful meaning of the “Our Father”, who among us can fail to be filled to overflowing with love for Our Heavenly Father Who, in His Infinite Wisdom and Mercy, sent His only-begotten Son into this world, not only to open the Gates of Heaven for us and to show us the way to Heaven, but also to be with us, helping us to take every step along the way to Heaven so that all of us can make it safely to our ultimate goal - eternal happiness with God in Heaven.

When we say “Deliver us from evil”, consider how the Mass Celebrant thereby beseeches Almighty God to deliver all of us from all evil, not only by the Graces He so mercifully gives each of us, but also through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Apostles, and of all the Holy Angels and Saints of Heaven, to give us peace and to protect us from all sin and from every calamity of whatsoever kind.

Immediately after the “Pater Noster” is the prayer “Libera Nos, quæsumus” - “Deliver us, we beseech Thee” - during the first part of which the Mass Celebrant, with his right hand, holds the Chalice Paten in a vertical position on the Altar, just to the right of the Purificator.  Shortly before the end of this prayer, he makes the Sign of the Cross on himself with this Paten, and then kisses the Paten close to the top edge, and then, at the left edge, slides the Paten under the Sacred Host.

There is a great Spiritual power in the Sign of the Cross which helps to strengthen and to protect us against all visible and invisible enemies, and against every evil. The kissing of the Paten is a visible symbol of peace, the result of a victorious combat, and it is also a visible sign of our love for Christ crucified.

After uncovering the Chalice, and making the required reverence, the Mass Celebrant begins the breaking of the same large Mass Host that he had elevated for all to adore immediately after Consecrating it.  This breaking of the large Mass Host in a straight vertical line from the top to the bottom is done in imitation of Jesus Christ Who did this during the First Mass. This breaking of the large Sacred Host also represents the violent death of Our Dear Lord on the Cross.

After the Mass Celebrant very carefully places the right half of the Sacred Host onto the Paten, while still holding the left half of the Sacred Host, then, with his right thumb and forefinger, he carefully breaks off a small particle of the Sacred Host at the right side on the bottom center of the left half of the Sacred Host, after which he carefully places the left half of the Sacred Host onto the Paten while continuing to hold the small Sacred Particle between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand.

He then makes the Sign of the Cross with the small Particle of the Sacred Host three times over the uncovered Chalice while he says the “Pax Domini” - “May the Peace of the Lord” - prayer, after which the Sacred particle is dropped into the Chalice.

The “Hæc commixtio” - May this mingling” - prayer is said as the Sacred particle is carefully dropped into the Chalice. This physical mingling of the Particle of the Sacred Body with the Most Precious Blood in the Chalice expresses how the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, although it is physically present on the Holy Altar under both Sacred Species, is really only ONE Sacrament with Christ being whole and entire under EACH Sacred Species.  At the same time, this also gives you a clearer idea of the relationship of the Holy Sacrifice with the Holy Sacrament.

During the Double Consecration of the Mass, the species of bread and wine are Consecrated separately so that the Sacred Body of Our Lord is separated in a mysterious manner from His Precious Blood in order that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass may always be a true representation of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross in which the Sacred Body and the Precious Blood of Christ were physically separated from each other, or, as one Father of the Catholic Church teaches:

“Do not neglect, O holy man of God, to pray and to intercede for me, when by your words you cause the Divine Word to come down, and when, by a bloodless cutting, you separate the Body and Blood of the Lord, your words [i.e. the Form of the Double Consecration] serving as a knife” (Patriarch Saint Gregory (Theologos - the Divine) Nazianzen (Nazianzus) the Younger [b. Arianzus, in Asia Minor, c. 325 A.D. - d. Arianzus, in Asia Minor 389 A.D.].  Father of the Catholic Church.  Bishop of Sasima [c. 371]; Co-Adjutor Bishop [c. 372 - 375] for his Father Saint Gregory Nazianzen the Elder, who was the Bishop of Nazianzus [329 -374]; Patriarch of Constantinople [November 380  - June, 381]; and, the Bishop of Nazianzus [381 - 383]. One of the Three Cappadocian Hierarchs (the other two - Catholicus Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom), Letters, 171).

The “Agnus Dei” - “Lamb of God” - is a prayer for mercy and for peace. The striking of the chest three times is a visible expression of repentance and an acknowledgment of unworthiness to receive the Son of God.

Both before the Communion of the Mass Celebrant and the Communion of the Faithful, the Mass Celebrant, holding a Sacred Host, says the prayer: “Domine, non sum dignus” - “O Lord, I am not worthy” - by which he humbles himself, like the Centurion in the Gospel.  Then follows Holy Communion.

Resolutions

For our Resolutions, let us ask Our Lord for the Graces to worthily receive Him in Holy Communion, make an immediate proper preparation by saying the Spiritual Communion prayer, and finally to make an adequate thanksgiving after Holy Communion.  Then shall you be vivified as the Postcommunion helps you to pray to God, saying:

“Vivify us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by our participation in the partaking of this Sacred Mystery.” (POSTCOMMUNION of today’s Mass).

V  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

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