Excerpts From the Manual of the
Eucharistic Crusade of the Apostleship of Prayer

Educating the Youth to Live the Mass

(slightly edited by Fr. Boulet)

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS AND HOLY COMMUNION

A. EDUCATION FOR CORRECT PARTICIPATION IN THE MASS

#1. What is needed for a correct understanding of the Mass.

The words “correct understanding of the Mass” are to be taken in the wide sense as a deep, vivid and affective grasp of this holy mystery, a grasp which deeply penetrates the mind and heart of man and affects his whole life.

Although by a wonderful disposition of divine grace the mystery of the most Holy Eucharist, center of our faith, can be grasped, according to their capacity, by the innocent hearts of little children, yet it is one of those truths which cannot be properly received into the mind and heart unless other parts of the Christian doctrine are understood. There are especially three interlocking set of truths:

a) The children must have a noble idea of God - the almighty Father, the Creator of heaven and of earth. This idea, which must be given to them as soon as they come to the use of reason and which must be developed more and more later, ought to show God as the best of Fathers, Who created us out of love and wishes that after death we will be happy with Him for ever. The fruit of this notion of God ought to be love, gratitude and filial obedience towards Him.

b) Children ought to see sin as ingratitude and a serious injury towards their wonderful heavenly Father. The result of this attitude should be flight from sin and sorrow for all sins.

c) Finally children must believe in the redemption worked by Christ. To snatch us from the misery of sin, God sent His only-begotten Son into the world to redeem us by His death on the cross. The death of Christ on the cross was the true and supreme sacrifice through which full satisfaction for sin was made to God the Father, full remission of sin given to us and the fountain of all graces opened. At the same time, however, Christ wished that all men should share in this sacrifice. So He instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

 (to be continued)