The Mass,
first and foremost is a prayer to God the Father. It is offered by the
priest as mediator who celebrates the unbloody sacrifice of Calvary
anew.
We, the faithful, should not primarily concern ourselves with the words of the Mass. Our inward participation should first lend itself to worship while the priest, on our behalf as mediator, prays the Mass. We may assist, him by uniting our prayer to his. THAT IS OUR ROLE!!!
While it is a noble undertaking to know and pray the words of the Mass as the priest says them, it is not necessary to attain the grace of the liturgical action. One may attain those same graces while meditating on the Passion. One may attain those same graces while praying the rosary. One may attain those same graces while meditating on the scriptures of the day. How one unites himself to the prayer of the priest is immaterial. It is just that he does so. This is not to say that one may act willy nilly. No. We are talking about an inward participation. The outward participation, which should be done according to our state in life AND our vocation is dictated by the rubrics of the Mass.
Please don't confuse the two. The inward participation which is primary is pariticipatio actuosa. The outward participation which is always secondary is participatio activa.
The Mass is an opportunity for us to get a glimpse of the heavenly liturgy. While it is imperfect here on earth, it is formulated according to the heavenly liturgy when PROPERLY celebrated by the priest.
So, bottom line...it really doesn't matter if we understand or don't understand the words. If one person thinks they are poorly worded or 1 million, it matters not. The Mass is not primarily there for our aural pleasure. It is a vehicle by which we can place our offerings at the foot of the altar for the priest to offer on our behalf as we worship in an authentic way.
We, the faithful, should not primarily concern ourselves with the words of the Mass. Our inward participation should first lend itself to worship while the priest, on our behalf as mediator, prays the Mass. We may assist, him by uniting our prayer to his. THAT IS OUR ROLE!!!
While it is a noble undertaking to know and pray the words of the Mass as the priest says them, it is not necessary to attain the grace of the liturgical action. One may attain those same graces while meditating on the Passion. One may attain those same graces while praying the rosary. One may attain those same graces while meditating on the scriptures of the day. How one unites himself to the prayer of the priest is immaterial. It is just that he does so. This is not to say that one may act willy nilly. No. We are talking about an inward participation. The outward participation, which should be done according to our state in life AND our vocation is dictated by the rubrics of the Mass.
Please don't confuse the two. The inward participation which is primary is pariticipatio actuosa. The outward participation which is always secondary is participatio activa.
The Mass is an opportunity for us to get a glimpse of the heavenly liturgy. While it is imperfect here on earth, it is formulated according to the heavenly liturgy when PROPERLY celebrated by the priest.
So, bottom line...it really doesn't matter if we understand or don't understand the words. If one person thinks they are poorly worded or 1 million, it matters not. The Mass is not primarily there for our aural pleasure. It is a vehicle by which we can place our offerings at the foot of the altar for the priest to offer on our behalf as we worship in an authentic way.
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