Devotional Journey into the Mass: How Mass Can Become a Time of Grace, Nourishment, and Devotion

Christopher Carstens

Oca 2018 · Sophia Institute Press

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 If you’re unhappy because the Mass has become for you routine – or even boring and tedious – these pages are for you. They teach you eight simple ways to make your every Mass a joyful time of piety and intense devotion.

Explaining the spiritual meanings behind the signs and symbols, words and actions of the Mass, author Christopher Carstens teaches you spiritually-enriching ways to enter the church building, make the Sign of the Cross, pray the Opening Prayer, listen to the Readings, prepare your soul at the Offertory, participate in the Eucharistic Prayer, receive Communion, and even respond to the Dismissal.

Soon – with the help of author Carstens wise suggestions – you will be surprised to find each Eucharistic Celebration a fountain of peace for you, a profound refreshment for your soul.

Among other things you’ll learn from these pages:

The meaning of the “sacramental principle”: if you don’t understand it, then Mass is almost surely flat for youHow each element of the Liturgy has a sacramental quality about it, and can be for you a grace-filled encounter with JesusHow to transform your prayers at Mass into a conversation with GodWhy silence – both within the liturgy and outside of it – is a necessary element of that conversation with GodThere’s a proper spiritual way to make the Sign of the Cross (do you know what it is?)How the Creed can be for you the highpoint of the Liturgy of the WordWhy, during the collection, you should also explicitly offer Christ your heartThe best way in the Mass to participate in Jesus’ saving work: do you know what it is?What you should desire in order to receive the Eucharist most efficaciously (and what that desire presupposes in you)Coming and going through the church doors: what, each time, it should mean for you spiritually

Plus, at the end of each chapter, a list of action items for the next time you go to Mass, and much, much more to awaken in you the bright spirit of joyful devotion that we are all called to have at Mass.

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Christopher Carstens is director of the Office for Sacred Worship in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin; a visiting faculty member at the Liturgical Institute at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois; editor of the Adoremus Bulletin; and one of the voices on The Liturgy Guys podcast. He is author of A Devotional Journey into the Mass (Sophia) and, coauthor with Father Douglas Martis, of Mystical Body, Mystical Voice: Encountering Christ in the Words of the Mass (Liturgy Training Publications). He is also author of the forthcoming Principles of Sacred Liturgy: Forming a Sacramental Vision (Hillenbrand Books). He lives in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, with his wife and eight children.