Dear Friends and Benefactors,

    The month of April is dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament, and...I would like to review some of the liturgical laws shich pertain to the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. For when we consider the great details legislated by the Catholic Church in the celebration of Holy Mass, the distribution of Holy Communion, and the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament on the altar, we will have a greater appreciation for the theological axiom, lex orandi - lex credendi, I.e. the law of praying is the law of believing. Indeed, the Catholic Church firmly believes the words of Christ - This is My Body; this is the Chalice of My Blood - and Her laws are a constant reminder of the Real Presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine.

    First of all, the Catholic Church requires Her priests to genuflect immediately before and after they touch the Blessed Sacrament; furthermore, the very first thing they do whenever they open the tabernacle and the very last thing they do before they close it is to bend the knee in adoration. This is a constant reminder to stay focused on the Real Presence. Another rubric is that once the priest has consecrated the bread into the Body of Christ, he keeps the thumb and first finger of both hands together so as to protect any Sacred Particles on his fingers.

    After the Consecration (whenever he places his hands on the altar), the priest is careful to keep his hands over the corporal to once again safeguard any Sacred Particles on his fingers.

    Another consideration concerns the sacred vessels used at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: the chalice, the paten, and the ciborium. These must be gold plated, for the Church uses only the most precious of metals in the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries.

    As the priest distributes Holy Communion, he is required to be assisted by a server who holds the paten under each communicant's chin lest the Sacred Host fall to the ground. The faithful likewise receive Holy Communion on bended knee in humble adoration of the Eucharistic Jesus. The Communion rail (in the Latin Rite) and the iconostasis (in the Byzantine Rite) serve as a separation between the sanctuary and the nave of the church.

    The tabernacle, which is the Eucharistic throne of the Hidden Jesus (as Francisco Marto referred to the Blessed Sacrament), is placed in the center of the sanctuary as the focal point of the church.

    These rubrics are excellent reminders for us to keep our attention on the Real Presence of Jesus Christ and the reality of transubstantiation.

    When the Angel of Portugal appeared to the three children at Fatima (prior to the apparitions of Our Lady), the angel's message was two-fold - the importance of sacrifice for poor sinners and of reparation to Our Divine Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. The angel further taught them a beautiful prayer to the Blessed Sacrament in which reference to the Real Presence was reiterated: "I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of thew world..."

    These considerations should also reassure us that the Novus Ordo "Mass" is nothing less than the "abomination of desolation" foretold by Daniel the Prophet and reiterated by Our Lord in the Gospel of St. Matthew [St. Matthew 24: 24].

    When we think collectively of all the individual changes introduced by the modernists into the New "Mass," we can readily see how these innovations deviated from the doctrine of transubstantiation and the Real Presence.

    Over the last forty years, what scandals to our Catholic Faith have been the atrocities of the Conciliar church in its celebration of the so-called Mass: "communion" in the hand, standing for "communion," lay people as extraordinary eucharistic ministers, "sacred dancing," secular music, applauding, and pagan inculturization. These irreverences and sacrileges are by no means limited to progressive Novus Ordo "priests" and "bishops." The Conciliar "popes" have long set the example by their own particular scandals. In addition to the usual Novus Ordo abuses, the late John Paul II celebrated the New "Mass" with a topless woman (covered only with a grass-skirt) at the lectern to read the Word of God; he was quite noted for liturgical dancing at his so-called "Papal Masses." Benedict XVI celebrated the New "Mass" in Australia for the World Youth Day with the inculturization of a procession of seminarians and a "priest" in grass-skirts and spears in hand up the aisle to the table.

    Now on YouTube, we can see Francis I as "Cardinal" Bergoglio celebrating a Youth Mass in Buenos Aires with guitars, balloons, and a clapping, swaying young lady as cheer leader in front of the table (not altar) dressed in jeans and wearing a baseball cap. What a travesty!

    What is most apparent when we review the "celebration" of the New Mass is the lack of belief in the doctrine of the Real Presence. How sad it is to see so many modern Catholics act as if they were totally oblivious of the doctrine of transubstantiation! They have been dumbed down by years of attendance at the Novus Ordo. How prophetic were the words of Cardinal Ottaviani and Cardinal Bacci in their letter to Paul VI in 1969: "The Novus Ordo Missae...represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session 22 of the Council of Trent. The 'canons' of the rite definitely fixed at that time erected an insurmountable barrier against any heresy which might attack the integrity of the Mystery." {Ottaviani Intervention]

    Great is our privilege to still have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Real Presence of Christ on our altars. Let us live lives of reparation by reverent assistance during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a devout reception of Holy Communion, and frequent visits to Our Lord ever present on our altars.

With my prayers and blessing.

We invite you to visit the CMRI site: Congregation of Mary Immaculate
[Editor's Note: Bold and links added for emphasis and identification.]