A WOW moment in mass on monday

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Hoernchen

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During mass on monday I had one of those incredible moments that just makes you go wow and I really need to share it with someone.
Well, my confessor and spiritual director prefers to say mass ad orientem and I’ve actually never seen him behind the altar. That is, until monday. For the first time I could watch him during the consecration and the purifying of the vessels.
Never in all my life, and I’ve been around the block a few times, have I seen a priest holding our Lord in his hands with so much care and love and tenderness! It was obvious that he held the most precious and important thing in the world in his hands!
And there’s nothing better I could wish for him than that God holds him exactly the same way in His hands as he does in every mass!
He is a very inspiring man anyway, but this just tops it all!
I will tell him that when I see him next for our monthly talk and confession on monday and I might even find enough courage to kiss his hand.
 
Those are the hands that bring our Lord to us in the Holy Eucharist. Blessed are they! And, while any Priest can validly consecrate the bread into the Body of our Lord, the holiness with which it is accomplished can make a huge difference to those present at the Sacrifice. And, chances are that he is probably unaware of what you noticed. That shows that holiness is within him, and not feigned. You are blessed.
 
Gruess Gott,

Hoernchen, before I begin I’ll apologise for my lack of umlauts. Anyway, I’m glad to read you’ve had a good experience. I had an experience like that at Church once that confirmed all my suspicions, my suspicions being that the Universal Church is the Church of Christ. I don’t remember the surrounding details exactly, but I had been feeling especially vulnerable and guilty. But as I had sat there, I felt all my negativities wash away and drain into oblivion. That and all the songs that day made me tear up. I’m glad they didn’t play O’ Come Emmanuel. You know, actually, every Sunday I feel like the presiding Priest is talking just to me. The topics almost universally balance on something I’ve been pondering. Do you find this is the same for you? Also, I wish to ask if there are any heavily Catholic areas in Germany? I’m a student of the German language and Germanic culture and history in general and would love to travel to the land of my temporal ancestors. But I’m a little jaded as the the secularism of the States and I understand it’s far worse in Europe. Since travelling to medieval Germany isn’t an option… well, anyway…

Gott mit uns,
 
And our eyes like the eyes of a slave on the hands of his master lest he should gesture and we be unaware. The things on which angels long to look.

peace
 
Hoernchen said:
During mass on monday I had one of those incredible moments that just makes you go wow and I really need to share it with someone.
Well, my confessor and spiritual director prefers to say mass ad orientem and I’ve actually never seen him behind the altar. That is, until monday. For the first time I could watch him during the consecration and the purifying of the vessels.
Never in all my life, and I’ve been around the block a few times, have I seen a priest holding our Lord in his hands with so much care and love and tenderness! It was obvious that he held the most precious and important thing in the world in his hands!
And there’s nothing better I could wish for him than that God holds him exactly the same way in His hands as he does in every mass!
He is a very inspiring man anyway, but this just tops it all!
I will tell him that when I see him next for our monthly talk and confession on monday and I might even find enough courage to kiss his hand.
Click to expand...
You’ve just described my priest.

I love your wish for him. I will be wishing the same for mine.

If you don’t already do it (but I bet you do) you can thank him for everything he’s done in drawing you closer to our Lord by praying for him daily.
 
po18guy said:
Those are the hands that bring our Lord to us in the Holy Eucharist. Blessed are they! And, while any Priest can validly consecrate the bread into the Body of our Lord, the holiness with which it is accomplished can make a huge difference to those present at the Sacrifice. And, chances are that he is probably unaware of what you noticed. That shows that holiness is within him, and not feigned. You are blessed.
Click to expand...
I am quite certain that he doesn’t realise this himself. I think for him it is just natural, he can not act any other way as this is how he feels deep inside. And it doesn’t surprise me at all. For the last ten months I’ve been thanking God every single day that He gave me this man as confessor and surrogate father!
John_Carlton said:
Gruess Gott,

Hoernchen, before I begin I’ll apologise for my lack of umlauts. Anyway, I’m glad to read you’ve had a good experience. I had an experience like that at Church once that confirmed all my suspicions, my suspicions being that the Universal Church is the Church of Christ. I don’t remember the surrounding details exactly, but I had been feeling especially vulnerable and guilty. But as I had sat there, I felt all my negativities wash away and drain into oblivion. That and all the songs that day made me tear up. I’m glad they didn’t play O’ Come Emmanuel. You know, actually, every Sunday I feel like the presiding Priest is talking just to me. The topics almost universally balance on something I’ve been pondering. Do you find this is the same for you? Also, I wish to ask if there are any heavily Catholic areas in Germany? I’m a student of the German language and Germanic culture and history in general and would love to travel to the land of my temporal ancestors. But I’m a little jaded as the the secularism of the States and I understand it’s far worse in Europe. Since travelling to medieval Germany isn’t an option… well, anyway…

Gott mit uns,
Click to expand...
Grüss Gott, John!
Yes, sometimes everything in mass speaks to me and I get quite emotional. But more often I find this is true when I pray the LOTH. There’s something in the psalms that just always hits the point with me.
As for very catholic parts of Germany, Bavaria would be the place for you.
But, being from the city myself, you should not miss Cologne, its cathedral and those beautyful roman churches!
Gottes Segen, Hörnchen
 
Incomplete said:
You’ve just described my priest.

I love your wish for him. I will be wishing the same for mine.

If you don’t already do it (but I bet you do) you can thank him for everything he’s done in drawing you closer to our Lord by praying for him daily.
Click to expand...
You won the bet!👍 Every single day for the last ten months!
 
Hoernchen said:
During mass on monday I had one of those incredible moments that just makes you go wow and I really need to share it with someone.
Well, my confessor and spiritual director prefers to say mass ad orientem and I’ve actually never seen him behind the altar. That is, until monday. For the first time I could watch him during the consecration and the purifying of the vessels.
Never in all my life, and I’ve been around the block a few times, have I seen a priest holding our Lord in his hands with so much care and love and tenderness! It was obvious that he held the most precious and important thing in the world in his hands!
And there’s nothing better I could wish for him than that God holds him exactly the same way in His hands as he does in every mass!
He is a very inspiring man anyway, but this just tops it all!
I will tell him that when I see him next for our monthly talk and confession on monday and I might even find enough courage to kiss his hand.
Click to expand...
I had to smile as I read your post. I had just the opposite experience.

benedictgal-lexorandilexcredendi.blogspot.com/2011/01/unexpected-moment-of-privileged-grace.html

I came away feeling so much joy. That joy still resounds in me right now.
 
benedictgal said:
I had to smile as I read your post. I had just the opposite experience.

benedictgal-lexorandilexcredendi.blogspot.com/2011/01/unexpected-moment-of-privileged-grace.html

I came away feeling so much joy. That joy still resounds in me right now.
Click to expand...
Ah, yes, I can understand your joy. Even though I have never experienced a mass in the extraordinary form I know that even a mass in the ordinary form is something quite different when celebrated at the high altar. And our very small church only has the high altar, there’s just no room to install another one as well and it would cost big bucks to remove the heavy marble altar we’ve got. Thank God I’m living in a poor parish!😉
 
Hoernchen said:
Ah, yes, I can understand your joy. Even though I have never experienced a mass in the extraordinary form I know that even a mass in the ordinary form is something quite different when celebrated at the high altar. And our very small church only has the high altar, there’s just no room to install another one as well and it would cost big bucks to remove the heavy marble altar we’ve got. Thank God I’m living in a poor parish!😉
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From what I understand, you’re saying it’s more important that the priest faces you rather than everyone praying and facing the same way to God?
 
ProVobis said:
From what I understand, you’re saying it’s more important that the priest faces you rather than everyone praying and facing the same way to God?
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Erm, no I didn’t say that. The high altar is the one where the priest celebrates mass facing God as the head of the congregation. And I’m quite happy that we still have such an altar and are too poor to remove it!
Is that clearer now?
 
Incomplete said:
But is this the opposite experience? You both felt great joy at and after Mass. There is a place for both forms.
Click to expand...
Opposite in the sense that I found this joy while I saw him celebrate from behind the altar for the first time and she experienced a mass ad orientem for the first time.
I never said there wasn’t aplace for both forms even though I prefer ad orientem because it just feels right to me. But at the end of any given day I am just happy if I could make it to mass, ad orientem or from behind the altar!
 
Hoernchen said:
Opposite in the sense that I found this joy while I saw him celebrate from behind the altar for the first time and she experienced a mass ad orientem for the first time.
I never said there wasn’t aplace for both forms even though I prefer ad orientem because it just feels right to me. But at the end of any given day I am just happy if I could make it to mass, ad orientem or from behind the altar!
Click to expand...
No, I know you never said that. Because there is a certain amount of bickering on these boards about that, I just wanted to clarify, because I thought your post was great and I don’t want it to get into the whole “which form is best” thing. When I saw that whole “opposite” thing, I wanted to be certain that it was as you said it, not which form is better.

As for your last sentence, yes, I understand completely!
 
Yes. In our Church too, there is one mass in a portable free standing table every week, Saturday night. Different people, some even receive the sacrament into hand; but it is soul elevating to see how carefully the priest makes the ‘dish-work’.One should sit of the side, because there is a quite large wooden cross at middle of the altar.

This is one of the points how the forms of the masses are helping each other to better reverence
 
Hoernchen said:
Erm, no I didn’t say that. The high altar is the one where the priest celebrates mass facing God as the head of the congregation. And I’m quite happy that we still have such an altar and are too poor to remove it!
Is that clearer now?
Click to expand...
So the architecture is such that you can view him from behind the high altar if you wish? I think that’s what you implied in your OP.
 
ProVobis said:
So the architecture is such that you can view him from behind the high altar if you wish? I think that’s what you implied in your OP.
Click to expand...
Ah, now I get it. No, I actually had to go to a neighbouring parish to be able to see that. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, I wasn’t too clear about that.
 
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