Steve: Oh, Fidelium is coming at you with Bishop Athanasia Snyder on a new book of his. Let me bring it up. I will put in the share screen through Hickey that this program has. It is very cool. There are the Catholic Mass Steps to Restore the Centrality of God in the Liturgy. Your Excellency, how are you doing?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Thank you.
Steve: Good welcome. Thank you for coming on. And is it morning or afternoon?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: It is morning.
Steve: Good morning. So, tell us of all the Mass books that are out there, and what made you come up with this particular one
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, because the church is currently going through one of the deepest crises in her history. And the reason for this crisis of the church is the Eucharistic crisis, the crisis regarding the Holy Eucharist, and the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. We are witnessing all of this and therefore to restore again the life of the church according to the tradition and unchanging tradition of the church it is necessary to speak again about what the Holy Mass is and explain the meaning of the Holy Mass in all its aspects and the greatness of the Holy Mass the essence the substance of what the Holy Mass is and how we have to behave how we have to celebrate the Holy Mass how we have to participate in order to again live this greatest source of graces which our Lord left us here on Earth.
Steve: In the diocese I am in, they have a kind of cheesy fiftieth anniversary pull-up banner thing, and it has Our Lady on it. I was taking the kids out of Mass, and the parish we were at is in Lincolnton, and you could see the wind in between the entryway, whatever you want to call it. It is a modern-looking church in a sense. The nave is a door with some windows on it, and you can see a reflection of Our Lady. I was in a spot where she seemed to be kneeling next to the altar during the consecration. How do people think about that Because it was a perfect situation in a sense of Our Lady at the side of the altar or the saints in the church the angels that we do not see everything we do not see. There is a sermon called We Are Not Alone at a Mass. Even if we are alone, we are not alone. How do people get their mindset on that when the Mass is going on, heaven is literally there
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, this is true. Heaven is really there because in every Holy Mass we are listening to the preface at the end, before we are praying or singing the Sanctus, the Holy Holy. The church is saying, and with all the angels and the saints, we are now proclaiming Holy Holy. So it is already said by the liturgy of the church itself that we are surrounded in every Holy Mass by the holy angels, by the saints, and in the first place by Our Lady. She was present at the sacrifice on Calvary, and therefore she is, of course, also present in a spiritual way in every Holy Mass, which is the actualization of the Calvary sacrifice of Christ. They have to stress this again and speak about this, and the priest and the people should be aware of this.
Steve: Funny, you brought up the soccer scientist part. I am kind of in that mode, even though I go to a traditional Mass, and sometimes it feels like you are not supposed to sing or anything like that. I would always love to see the wall shaking during that time when everyone is bursting outside to sing in a good reverent way. If you cannot sing, you cannot sing, but that and the credo and things like that should be more of something we know. We should know those prayers, but could the laity be more, I do not know, excited about them instead of just letting the choir do it? Can they be more, you know, like when chanting the credo and unum Deum, be a little more excited instead of just ho hum, we are getting to the sacrifice. A little more excited about it. You understand what I mean.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Well, the expression excited is maybe too external an expression. You can be excited, but what does it mean to be excited? We are not charismatic. And excited, I would say, is not expressed outwardly, but to be touched to be moved by the words of the Holy Mass by these prayers, as you mentioned, the Sanctus, the Credo, and the others. So the laity, the people, should be aware of the richness of the texts, especially the main prayers of the Holy Mass, and pray them with their hearts first. As Saint Benedict said, our mouth and our heart should be united when we are praying, and the same in the Holy Mass. And it depends on the circumstances and the mode of the Holy Mass. It could be a silent Mass also. It is possible to be very much even excited in such a way deeply in your heart when you participate in a silent Mass and meditate on these beautiful prayers. It is also valuable. Or it could be a sung Mass, a solemn Mass with chant on a solemn occasion, and then it depends on the parish. The choir could sing, or the entire assembly of people could sing the Credo and the Sanctus, as you mentioned. It is also possible of course and the church welcomes that the faithful sing in the Holy Mass these beautiful treasures of the prayers.
Steve: I am just one of those weird ones. I was reading Dom Gueranger all through Advent, and by the time Christmas was going I could not wait to hear the Gloria. They talked about him being a doctor of the liturgy. If he could become a doctor of the church, that would be great. But anyway, explain how lay people should have their minds ready for the Mass. You write in the book a few things. What are some key highlights that people should take away for how they should participate, and what active participation actually is?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Active participation is first to be recollected so as not to be distracted. This is the first condition of active participation, to be interiorly recollected, to be concentrated on the prayer and on the presence of God. So when we enter the church and the Holy Mass starts, we have to arrive a little earlier to prepare ourselves and to be aware that we are in the presence of God in the church. And now, when the Holy Mass starts, we have to say to ourselves, we are going, we are climbing Golgotha now spiritually, and heaven is opened now, and Christ our High Priest is celebrating and offering his sacrifice through his priest through the liturgy of the church. This is first. We have to be aware of this and try to be concentrated prayerfully. And then there are different possibilities to be active, but to participate actively could be simply to listen to the songs or to the words of the priest carefully attentively, or to read from a missal and accompany the prayers of the priest in reading.
It is also a help to penetrate deeper into the sense and meaning of the words and the beautiful texts of the Mass. And the highest manner of actively participating in the Holy Mass is the reception of Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Lord, and not only receiving Holy Communion but trying to receive it with spiritual fruit. That is the moment of the highest manner of active participation for lay people during the Holy Mass, the moment of Holy Communion or spiritual communion. Not everyone can participate sacramentally. It depends on the disposition, but it would be very good when possible in every Holy Mass when one is assisting that he can also receive when he is in the right disposition the Holy Communion sacramentally, to be more closely united to the sacrifice of Christ and to His graces which flow from this sacrifice.
Steve: Here is maybe an odd one. Odd question. Is there a harder communion? You probably have not had to worry about this in many years, definitely not with kids. What advice would you give a layman who is walking up the aisle to receive, to get to the altar rail while holding a child or something like that, or who is distracted or fighting distraction? What are some practical ways they can keep their mind ready on the way up to the altar rail?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: I think it is also possible that when a father or a mother has small children, and they have to carry them to the communion rail, they can invite their guardian angel and the guardian angel of their child to accompany them to the communion rail and help them to be concentrated and not distracted, and simply to pray interiorly. It depends on your heart during the Holy Mass. Before communion, you have to make interior acts of faith and desire to receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion.
Steve: I know a priest who used your Dominus Est book to end communion in the hand at his parish. He bought the entire parish your book introduced intinction, gradually took away intinction, and now they are all at the altar rail, and no one is using their hands anymore. What advice, maybe, hopefully, another priest is hearing this and says that is a good idea, let me try that. How should people, while waiting for Father to come down the altar rail what they be thinking before receiving our Lord? How should they be getting their mindset?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, first to be recollected not to be distracted and simply repeat acts of faith and desire to receive the Lord, maybe to speak some words such as come to me, O Lord, I desire to receive you, come into the house of my heart. It depends on you. You can speak some words in your heart before the priest arrives, or simply repeat I believe I adore you, I love you. Such simple words will help you to receive more fruitfully and in a worthy manner our Lord.
Steve: You hear stories like Matt Talbot, who would go into Mass and be at the altar rail the whole time, or Saint Aloysius, who would give thanksgiving for a week prior and a week after receiving Communion. What is your favorite Mass story, a saint’s Mass story like that? There are thousands of them. There was the one man whose queen, Queen Elizabeth, was suspected by her husband of having an affair, so he sent someone to kill the man. The man hears the bells while delivering a piece of bread or something. He hears the bells, walks into the church at the consecration, and stays for the rest of Mass. The king sends someone asking if the job is done, and the man is spared. The Mass saves that gentleman from an unjust action that was going to happen to him. What are some good saint stories of the Mass that should set our hearts on fire even more?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: There are many stories from the lives of the saints, but to me, the most moving are the stories of Christians during persecution. I am very moved, for example, by the stories of the Irish Catholics during the penal times when they were persecuted, and the Mass was forbidden, the celebrations in the woods and on the rocks in Ireland during those difficult times in the past. I would recommend reading a moving book about the loyalty of the Irish Catholics to the Holy Mass by Father Augustine. It was written about one hundred years ago.
There are several scenes where simple people are kneeling on the earth in the rain and participating in the Holy Mass or the Holy Masses in the catacombs during persecution. These can move us to be more faithful to the Holy Mass and even to make sacrifices to participate in the Holy Mass in our days. Maybe there will come situations where we have to travel a longer distance to be able to participate in the Holy Mass. These stories of persecution are good examples. There is a famous painting of a Mass in Ireland in a simple house where a secret young priest is celebrating Holy Mass at a table, and behind him are simple women, children, and men kneeling as he celebrates. This can inspire us to treasure every Holy Mass at which we are assisting.
Steve: Yeah, I am reading the book Mementos of English Martyrs and Confessors for Every Day of the Year by Sebastian Bowden. I know the Irish; they already contacted me. I will get to the Irish after I finish English. But there are a couple of stories like Edmund Campion talks about how some laymen would get upset at priests back then because they did not have an hour and a half or hour hour-long Mass; if it went so quickly, they were upset. It is kind of like Nigeria; I hear it is an all-day event. How can people start to? We do not live in a situation like that, some places we do. I know a friend a priest friend of who did a sermon on bringing up the Mass rocks. In Persia, they get threatened and could be killed going to Mass in the Middle East, and yet we in the West are terrified right now to go to Mass. How do they change that mindset?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, it depends on your faith and indicates what your faith about the Holy Mass is and what the Holy Mass means for you. When the Holy Mass is really for you, the sacrifice of Christ on Golgotha is the same as Golgotha. It is the greatest treasure on earth and the greatest source of graces and strength, and consolation. Therefore, you will do all you can and even make sacrifices to participate in the Holy Mass.
Steve: With all that happened in the last year and a half, people are terrified to breathe, having basically heard fear preached from a lot of pulpits. What can lay, faithful people do who actually go to Mass? I have not stopped going myself, mostly on travel. Our friends out in the mostly no sort of Paris. You see Chicago closing 123 parishes, Cincinnati closing 70. I am sure they are not the only ones. Think about closing because the Mass numbers are so low. What can we tell our friends and family to get back to Mass?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: First, we have to teach again what the Holy Mass is, the meaning of the Holy Mass, the richness of the Holy Mass, the beauty of the Holy Mass, and the prayers. First, what the Holy Mass means, the sacrifice of Christ, and show the greatness of the sacrifice of Christ. Then explain this, and also the prayers and the beautiful rite of the Holy Mass. Use examples from the lives of the saints, how they participated in the Holy Mass. This can help today to bring people back to a more conscious, faithful participation in Holy Mass.
Steve: What can people do between Masses? Say they only go from Sunday to Sunday. I do every day of the week, but say the majority only from Sunday to Sunday. What can they do mentally or throughout their days to unite themselves to a Mass going on somewhere in the world? Saint Pio talked about it obviously, the world cannot survive without the Mass more than the sun. But every time of the day there is a Mass going on somewhere in the world. How can lay people, during work or all the busyness of the day, concentrate on the next Mass?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: It is a good practice in the morning to make a short prayer saying O my Lord I am uniting myself now to every Holy Mass which is being celebrated all over the world and I am placing there all my entire creations of this day and asking you to grant me the graces I need this day from your sacrifice which is celebrated now in so many places. This could be a good exercise in the morning so that your entire day will be sanctified by the graces of the Holy Mass. Also, during the day, you could do at least a short mental prayer to make a spiritual Holy Communion. It is sufficient to say in your heart a short prayer inviting the Lord to come to visit your heart and soul with the graces of Holy Communion, and the Lord will do this. These acts help us be more united with the Lord during the day and to appreciate even more the Holy Mass.
Steve: What is your favorite part of the Mass? I know that is probably like asking a parent what their favorite is. I know there are priests who look into the chalice and see the reflection of the Precious Blood. What is your personal favorite part of the Mass? When you are about to perform the Eucharistic prayers, what goes through your mind?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: For me personally, the most moving and powerful spiritual words are, of course, the words of the consecration, which are the words of the Lord Himself. This is my body and the words about the chalice. These are really divine words, and I am very moved every time I pronounce them. In these words is contained in some way the entire richness of the Holy Mass. These are divine words. Other moments for me personally very moving are the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, the canon, when the priest says through him in him and with him per ipsum all the glory and honor is given to God the Father in the Holy Spirit to the Holy Trinity. This is for me also a very moving high point, because this is the meaning of the entire creation of our existence. This is the meaning of heaven. This is the deepest meaning of the Golgotha sacrifice to give honor and glory to glorify God Most Holy Trinity.
Steve: So everyone, his book is that Sophia Press, The Catholic Mass Steps to Restore the Centrality of God in the Liturgy. I have it in the show notes underneath the video. Your Excellency, any final thoughts for people?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Yes, I would encourage people to ask the Lord for the grace to love ever more the Holy Mass because the Holy Mass contains the entire work of our salvation and the entire good of the holy church. The Holy Mass is our greatest spiritual treasure here on Earth, and therefore, I would very much encourage people to love the Holy Mass and to live the Holy Mass during their lives. The graces of the Holy Mass.
Steve: Can I beg for your final blessing for everybody?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: Dominus vobiscum, et cum, spiritu tuo. Et benedictio dei omnipotentis, Patris et Filii et spiritus Santi descendant, super vos et maneat semper
Steve: Amen, Your Excellency, thank you for your time!
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: You are welcome!