77 Fruits of Holy Mass
By: Father M. von Cochem
Martin of Cochem (born at Cochem on the Mosel, 13 December 1630 or 1634; died in the convent at Waghäusel, 10 September 1712) was a German Capuchin theologian, preacher, and ascetic writer.
To omit hearing Mass merely from carelessness or indolence would be proof that we were either ignorant of, or indifferent to, the divine treasures it contains. God grant that those who read this may in future appreciate more fully this pearl of great price, value it more highly, seek it more diligently. Ponder this.
Martin of Cochem (born at Cochem on the Mosel, 13 December 1630 or 1634; died in the convent at Waghäusel, 10 September 1712) was a German Capuchin theologian, preacher, and ascetic writer.
To omit hearing Mass merely from carelessness or indolence would be proof that we were either ignorant of, or indifferent to, the divine treasures it contains. God grant that those who read this may in future appreciate more fully this pearl of great price, value it more highly, seek it more diligently. Ponder this.
1. For your salvation God the Father sends his beloved Son down from heaven.
2. For your salvation the Holy Spirit changes bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ.
3. For your sake the Son of God comes down from heaven and conceals Himself under the form of the sacred host.
4. He even abases Himself to such an extent as to be present in the minutest particle of the Sacred Host.
5. For your salvation He renews the saving mystery of the Incarnation.
6. For your salvation He is born anew into the world in a mystic manner whenever Holy Mass is celebrated.
7. For your salvation he performs on the altar the same act of worship He performed when on earth.
8. For your salvation He renews His bitter passion in order that you may participate in it.
9. For your salvation He mystically renews His death, and sacrifices for Thee His precious life.
10. For your salvation He sheds His blood in a mystic manner, and offers it up for you to the Divine Majesty.
11. With this Precious Blood He sprinkles your soul and purifies it from every stain.
12. For you Christ offers Himself as a true burnt-offering, and renders to the Godhead the supreme honor which it is due.
13. By offering this act of worship to God, you do make reparation for the glory which you have failed to give Him.
14. For you Christ offers Himself to God as a sacrifice of praise, thus atoning for your omissions in praising His Holy Name.
15. By offering to God this oblation which Christ offers, you give Him greater praise than do the Holy Angels.
16. For you Christ offers Himself as a perfect sacrifice of thanksgiving, making compensation for all failures on your part to render thanks.
17. By offering to God Christ’s act of thanksgiving, you do make ample acknowledgment of all the benefits He had bestowed on you.
18. For you Christ offers Himself as the all powerful victim, reconciling you to the God Whom you have offended.
19. He pardons you for all your venial sins, provided you art firmly resolved to forsake them.
20. He also makes repartition for many of your sins of omission, when you did leave undone the good you might have done.
21. He removes many of the imperfections attaching to your good deeds.
22. He forgives you the sins, unknown or forgotten, which you have never mentioned in confession.
23. He offers Himself as a victim to make satisfaction for a part at least of your debts and transgressions.
24. Each time you hear Mass you can not do more to pay the penalty due to your sins than by the severest work of penance.
25. Christ places to your credit a portion of His merits, which you may offer to God the Father in expiation of your offences.
26. For you Christ offers Himself as the most efficacious peace-offering, interceding for you as earnestly as He interceded for His enemies on the cross.
27. His Precious Blood pleads for you in words as countless as the drops which issued from His sacred veins.
28. Each of the adorable wounds His sacred body bore is a voice calling aloud for mercy for you.
29. For the sake of this propitiatory victim, the petitions proffered during Mass will be granted far sooner than those that are proffered at other times.
30. Never can not you pray so well as whilst present at Mass.
31. This is so because Christ unites His prayers to yours, and offers them to His heavenly Father.
32. He acquaints Him with your needs and dangers to which you art exposed, and makes your eternal salvation His particular concern.
33. The angels also, who are present, plead for you, and present your poor prayers before the throne of God.
34. On your behalf the priest says Mass, by virtue of which the evil enemy will not be suffered to approach you.
35. For you and for your everlasting salvation he says Mass, and offers that holy sacrifice to God Almighty.
36. When you hear Mass, you are yourself in spirit a priest, empowered by Christ to offer the Mass both for yourself and others.
37. By offering this Holy Sacrifice, you do present to the Blessed Trinity the most acceptable of all oblations.
38. You do offer an oblation precious indeed, of greater value than all things in heaven and earth.
39. You do offer an oblation precious indeed, for it is none other than God himself.
40. By this sacrifice you honor God as He alone is worthy by you, to be honored.
41. By this sacrifice you do give infinite satisfaction to the Most Holy Trinity.
42. You may present this glorious oblation as your own gift, for Christ Himself gave it to you.
43. When you hear Mass correctly, you do perform an act of highest worship.
44. By hearing Mass you do pay the most profound reverence, the most loyal homage, to the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord.
45. It is best means whereby to venerate the Passion of Christ, and obtain a share in its fruits.
46. It is also the best means of venerating the blessed Mother of God, and increasing her joy.
47. By hearing Mass, you can not also enrich your soul more than anything else in the world.
48. By hearing Mass devoutly, you can not give greater honor to the angels and the saints than by reciting many prayers.
49. For this in fact you do perform a good work of the highest value.
50. It is a signal exercise of pure faith, which will receive a great reward.
51. When you do bow down before the Sacred Host and the Sacred Chalice, you do perform a supreme act of adoration.
52. For each time you gaze reverently upon the Sacred Host you will receive a recompense in heaven.
53. Each time you do strike your breast with compunction, some of your sins are remitted to you.
54. If you hear Mass in a state of mortal sin, God offers you grace of conversion.
55. If you hear Mass in a state of grace, God gives augmentation of grace.
56. In Holy Mass you do spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink His blood.
57. You are privileged to behold with your eyes Christ hidden under the sacramental veil, and to be beheld by Him.
58. You do receive the priest’s benediction, which is confirmed by Christ in heaven.
59. Through your diligence in hearing Mass, you will also obtain corporal and temporal blessings.
60. Furthermore, you will be preserved from many misfortunes that would otherwise have vanquished you.
61. You will also be strengthened against temptations which would have otherwise have vanquished you.
62. Holy Mass will also be to you a means of obtaining grace of a holy death.
63. The love you have shown for Holy Mass will secure for you the special succor of angels and saints in your last moments.
64. The remembrance of the Masses heard in your lifetime will be a sweet solace to you in the hour of death, and inspire you with confidence in the divine mercy.
65. They will not be forgotten when you do stand before the strict Judge and will incline Him to show you favor.
66. You need not a fear a long and terrible Purgatory if you have already to a great extent atoned for your sins by frequently assisting at Holy Mass.
67. One Mass devoutly heard will do more to mitigate the pains of Purgatory than any act of penance, however difficult of performance.
68. One Mass in your lifetime will be of greater service to you than many said for you after death.
69. You will attain a high place in heaven, which will be your to all eternity.
70. Your felicity in heaven will, moreover be increased by every Mass you heard on earth.
71. No prayers offered for your friends will be as efficacious as a single Mass heard and offered on their behalf.
72. You can not amply recompense all your benefactors by hearing Mass for their intention.
73. The best help, the greatest consolation, for the afflicted, the sick, the dying is to hear Mass for them.
74. By this same means you can even obtain for sinners the grace of conversion.
75. You can also earn for all faithful Christians saving and salutary graces.
76. For the suffering souls in Purgatory you can procure abundant refreshment.
77. And if it is not within your power to have Mass said for your departed friends, you can by devout assistance at the Holy Sacrifice release them from the tormenting flames.
What do you now think of the Holy Mass, O Christian? Can it be supposed that in the whole world there is any other good work whereby so many graces and fruits are placed within our reach? It is no longer possible to question the truth of the words of Father Sanchez:
If Christians only knew how to profit by Holy Mass, they might acquire greater riches than are to be found in all things God has created.
If Christians only knew how to profit by Holy Mass, they might acquire greater riches than are to be found in all things God has created.
adapted by: Hank Facer December 2016