How to Educate the Youth to Live the Mass

The means used by the Crusade for teaching children to live the Mass are not chosen arbitrarily but taken from the program of the Apostleship of Prayer. The means which the Apostleship uses to form the faithful in a spirit of prayer and apostolic sacrifice are, according to the words of Pius XII, "a most perfect form of Christian life" and" a rule and compendium for the pastoral care of souls" (Letters of Pius XII to the Very Rev. Fr. General of the Society of Jesus, September 19, 1948, and October 28, 1951). It is true then to say that the Crusade enshrines a program of Christian perfection that is accommodated to the capacities of children.

To understand the spirituality of the Crusade correctly, therefore, it will be helpful to examine briefly the five-point program of the Apostleship of Prayer.

 

1. The Morning Offering.

The Life of a Christian, according to the words of Pope Pius XII, should be, as it were, a sacrifice which is offered in Christ and with Christ for the honour of God the Father and the salvation of souls. "This oblation" - these are the words of the same Pontiff - "is the essence of the Apostleship of Prayer. It is perfected by other acts of piety, especially by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The daily life of each member is thus converted into a sacrifice of praise, reparation and impetration. In this way, the forces implanted at baptism are activated and the Christian offers his life as a sacrifice in and with Christ for the honour of God the Father and for salvation of souls" (Letter October 28, 1951).