Sunday, June 17, 2007

The Roman Mass

"...So our Mass goes back, without essential change, to the age when it first developed out of the oldest Liturgy of all. It is still redolent of that Liturgy of the days when Cæsar ruled the world and thought he could stamp out the Faith of Christ, when our fathers met together before dawn and sang a hymn to Christ as to a God. The final result of our enquiry is that, in spite of unsolved problems, in spite of later changes, there is not in Christendom another Rite so venerable as ours." ~Fr. Adrian Fortescue, The Mass

"Sine Domínica non póssumus"
The four ends of the Mass

"If there is anything divine among man's possessions which might excite the envy of the citizens of heaven (could they ever be swayed by such a passion), this is undoubtedly the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by means of which men, having before their eyes, and taking into their hands the very Creator of Heaven and earth, experience, while still on earth, a certain anticipation of Heaven. How keenly, then, must mortals strive to preserve and protect this inestimable privilege with all due worship and reverence, and be ever on their guard lest their negligence offend the Angels who vie with them in eager adoration!” ~Pope Urban VII

Mass during the Penal Days in Ireland

Mosaic of the Mass during the early centuries of the Church





Coronation Mass of Paul VI






Cristeros



"[The Mass] came forth out of the grand mind of the Church, and lifted us out of earth and out of self, and wrapped us round in a cloud of mystical sweetness and the sublimities of a more than angelic Liturgy, and purified us almost without ourselves, and charmed us with the celestial charming, so that our very senses seemed to find vision, hearing, fragrance, taste, and touch beyond what earth can give." ~Fr. Faber


"Such is the grandeur of the August Sacrifice of our Altars that God has brought down the downfall of every other religious sacrifice in its trail. ~Fr. Escribano



1 comment:

humboldt said...

Thank you for posting such beautiful pictures of the mass of all time.