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Meditations Before Mass PDF

145 Pages·2013·1.44 MB·English
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“Like fine wines, some books get better as they age. Placed alongside the reformed Eucharistic liturgy of Vatican II, this veritable classic will continue to instruct, inspire, and enrich present and future generations of Catholics for whom the liturgy is the summit and source of our lives.” Msgr. Kevin Irwin Walter J. Schmitz Chair of Liturgical Studies The Catholic University of America “With these meditations you can sense the active participation of the people already coming to birth in the 1950s. Guardini promotes not just a renewed liturgy but a renewed people.” Rev. Paul Turner Author of At the Supper of the Lamb First published in English in 1956 by Newman Press. Translated from the original German Besinnung vor der Feier der Heiligen Messe, Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1936, by Elinor Castendyk Briefs. Acknowledgments from the original: We wish to thank the Apostolat Liturgique of Belgium and the E. M. Lohman Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota, for permission to quote copyrighted material from the Saint Andrew Daily Missal. All quotations from the New Testament are taken from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine edition, 1947; quotations from the Old Testament are from the Douay Version. ___________________________________ Foreword © 2014 by Eugene F. Hemrick All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews, without written permission from Christian Classics™, Ave Maria Press®, Inc., P.O. Box 428, Notre Dame, IN 46556, 1-800-282-1865. Founded in 1865, Ave Maria Press is a ministry of the United States Province of Holy Cross. www.christian-classics.com Paperback ISBN-13 978-0-87061-285-5 E-book ISBN-13 978-0-87061-286-2 Cover image ©SuperStock. Cover and text design by David Scholtes. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Guardini, Romano, 1885-1968. [Besinnung vor der Feier der Heiligen Messe. English] Meditations before mass / Msgr. Romano Guardini; translated from the German by Elinor Castendyk Briefs. pages cm Originally published: Westminster, Md. : Newman Press, 1956. Includes bibliographical references. Summary: “Exemplifies a wise, pastoral, and timeless classic on preparing oneself for Mass”-- Provided by publisher. ISBN 0-87061-285-9 (978-0-87061-285-5) 1. Mass--Meditations. I. Title. BX2169.G8313 2014 264’.02036--dc23 2013044593 for Lene and Hans Waltmann C ONTENTS Foreword Contents Part One: Sacred Bearing 1. Stillness 2. Silence and the Word 3. Silence and Hearing 4. Composure 5. Composure and Action 6. Composure and Participation 7. The Holy Place 8. The Altar: Threshold 9. The Altar: Table 10. Holy Day 11. Holy Day and Holy Hour 12. The Sacred Act 13. The Revelatory Word 14. The Executory Word 15. The Word of Praise 16. The Word of Entreaty 17. The Congregation and Injustice Rectified 18. The Congregation and the Church 19. Hindrance: Habit 20. Hindrance: Sentimentality 21. Hindrance: Human Nature Part Two: The Essence of the Mass Prefatory Note to Part Two 22. The Institution 23. The Memorial 24. The Memorial of the New Covenant 25. Reality 26. Hour and Eternity 27. Mimicry or Liturgical Form 28. Christ’s Offering of Self 29. Encounter and Feast 30. Truth and the Eucharist 31. The Mass and the New Covenant 32. The Mass and Christ’s Return Notes F OREWORD E F. H BY UGENE EMRICK Every so often I meet parishioners while visiting the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum on the mall here in Washington, DC. I ran into Senator Patrick Leahy on one such occasion. He occasionally attends Mass where I serve. “Father, what brings you to the museum?” he asked. “I often walk the mall to collect my thoughts for the Sunday homily and then grab lunch here,” I answered. Senator Leahy replied in turn, “You know, I leave my office in the US Capitol and do the very same thing when trying to sort through a tough issue.” Another example of the power of contemplation or meditation comes from the Supreme Court building that is just a quarter of a mile from the Air and Space Museum. While ascending its steps, one is met by the statue of a woman seemingly in pain. Her head is bowed and she looks very serious. As she leans against a book of laws, she cradles a child who is holding a balancing scale. This statue, The Contemplation of Justice, with her serious demeanor and bowed head, communicates a great deal about the effort required for making right judgments. Undoubtedly embracing meditation while composing a thoughtful homily, sorting out knotty governmental issues, or achieving true justice heightens the probability of success, but more vital than these is our need to embrace meditation as the ultimate means of drawing close to Christ. In Meditations Before Mass, the great twentieth-century priest and theologian Romano Guardini invites us to explore the spiritual and life-giving powers of meditation and to utilize its qualities of stillness, silence, and composure for plummeting the awe-inspiring mysteries that the Mass and its holy environment possess. He reminds us that proper preparedness—in the form of quietness, reflectiveness, and inwardness—is at the heart of drinking in the fullness of the Mass. As a priest of fifty years, I confess it is easy to fall into mere routine—to have been there, done it, seen it, and to be less than energetic in pursuing deeper insights into the Mass and its hallowed environment. Thanks to a friend who gave me an old copy of Meditations Before Mass I now have a wonderful companion for growing in awe of the Mass. Each time I read it I have a new “a-

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Foreword by Archbishop Samuel AquilaIn these pages written for the average Catholic in the pew by an internationally-acclaimed master of the spiritual life you'll learn how to pay closer attention during Mass and to pray better despite distractions or other obstacles to prayer. And you'll discover:T
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