“Even though the man Christ Jesus, in the form of God together with the Father with Whom He is one God, accepts our sacrifice, nonetheless He has chosen in the form of a servant to be the sacrifice rather than to accept it. Therefore, He is the priest Himself Who presents the offering, and He is what is offered.” St. Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church)
“It [Holy! Holy! Holy!] may be also said thrice because this sacrament is composed of three things, one ancient, one new, one eternal. First, the matter of Christ’s body, which came from the ancient stock of Adam, though sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Second, His human soul that was created from nothing by the Father and filled with all holiness and grace and wisdom. Third, His deity, which joined to itself the holy body and soul in the Person of the Son. The heavens are full of His glory because those whom this sacrifice commemorates and praises are triumphant in beatitude. The earth means those who dwell and do battle upon the earth, for whom this sacrifice is offered as help and food. It means too those suffering punishment under the earth, for whom it is offered as a prayer. Sabaoth [of hosts] means ‘ of powers’ or ‘of armies’. For to the devil, the holy Church militant and triumphant is terrible as an army set in array.” St. Albert the Great (13th century, Doctor of the Church)
“The whole life and passion of Christ is expressed in the Mass. So when the priest raises the sacred Host and chalice, he represents how Christ was raised high upon the Cross. All must humble themselves and bend the knee when the Body of Christ is raised up, for the true Christ Who is in heaven is in the Host.” St. Vincent Ferrer (14th-15th centuries)
“For as there is renewed in the Mass the offering which Jesus has already made on the cross to the eternal Father for the sins of the whole world, that same divine Blood which was once paid as the general ransom of the human race comes to be applied to each of us individually, by being offered at Mass for the sins of him who celebrates and of all those who assist.” St. Leonard of Port Maurice (17th-18th centuries)
“How happy is that guardian angel who accompanies a soul to Holy Mass!” St. John Vianney (18th-19th centuries)
“Though this is to be the work of antichrist: he will take every possible means to prevent the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Mass.” Servant of God Prosper Gueranger (19th century)
“The Church wishes to point out that there is but one sacrifice: the immolation which is accomplished mystically on earth is one with the offering that Christ our high priest makes of Himself in the bosom of the Father, to Whom He offers for us the satisfactions of His Passion.” Bl. Columba Marmion (19th-20th centuries)
“Holy Mass is like the sun of this earth. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and it is a blessed day. Rise from the earth and enter into communion with God.” St. Luigi Guanella (19th-20th centuries)
“The Mass is the adorable sacrifice in which God Himself is at the same time Victim, Priest, and the divine Majesty to Whom the sacrifice is offered; not merely the symbol of the sacrifice of the Cross but the sacrifice itself, mysteriously renewed and reenacted for ever, without the shedding of blood…It is impossible to find or imagine a closer bond between Man and God.” Pope St. John XXIII (19th-20th centuries)
“If we only knew how God regards this Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina (19th-20th centuries)
“The Mass is the Sacrifice of the Mystical Body of Christ, and is one with Calvary, which was the sacrifice of the physical body of Christ. The Mass, in other words, is a supra-temporal reality, by which the glorified Christ in Heaven prolongs His sacrifice on the cross by and through us.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries)
“For the Mass is the very breath of our spiritual life. There we are face to face with the Lord of Hosts. There we become one with Him. Then, refreshed and strengthened beyond our understanding, we once more can face whatever the day may bring…We find Love bending down to us, Love lifting us, ever higher, to Himself, until all things are right and well with us. For we have our being in Him already on this earth. The Mass is the sum total of all our prayer life.” Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty (20th century)