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Prayers for all Occasions, Needs, and Intentions
HOLY MASS - A SACRIFICE OR CELEBRATION
The Catholic Mass
THE PROPER OF THE SEASON
The season of longing for the Redeemer. Knowing our weakness and sinfulness we turn to the Divine Savior for help and grace. Now we prepare ourselves for the coming of the forgiving Christ that we may receive Him without fear when He comes as our Judge.
The Church at this period of the year deals with the mysteries of the Infancy of Christ. She reminds us of the great mystery of the Incarnation, which consists of the union of the Divine with the human nature in Jesus. This mystery is made complete by the union of our souls with Christ.
This third part of the Christmas Cycle begins with January 14 and ends with Septuagesima Sunday. Its theme is the public life our Lord, His miracles and teaching. The "Sundays after Epiphany" may be six or less, according as Easter is early or late in the year. The Sundays omitted after Epiphany are used to make up the number required after Pentecost.
The first part of the ecclesiastical year has made known to us the Divinity of Christ. The following part shows us what Jesus has done to merit our salvation and to impart it to us. The Season of Septuagesima contains three Sundays. It leads us from the joys of Christmas to the penitential time of Lent. Although fasting is not compulsory, the Gloria and Alleluia are omitted, and the color of the vestments is Purple.
The season of Lent leads us to Christ Crucified. To abstain from sin, to pray, to avoid worldly amusements, to be generous in almsgiving, and to attend Mass daily are practices acceptable to God.
During Holy Week the Church invites us to ascend Calvary and follow in the footsteps of Him Who chose to become the Lamb and Victim of Sacrifice. She asks us to carry our cross willingly in union with Him, in a spirit of expiation and atonement, and offer our life together with Him.
The Easter Season, which begins on Easter Sunday and ends on the Saturday after Pentecost, and commemorates the victory of our Divine Savior. As Christ arose from the dead so must we rise from coldness and indifference to a life of fervor and zeal. Christ offered Himself in complete holocaust on the Cross; we must offer ourselves wholeheartedly and entirely to God through our risen Savior. Risen with Christ we must "seek the things that are above."
The Communion-Banquet to which we are invited is not only for the just, but for all who acknowledge that they are poor, feeble, blind, and lame in their religious life and sincerely desire to be cured. We must, however, first, pass from the death of sin to the life of grace through the Sacrament of Penance before Christ can welcome us at the Eucharistic Table.