"There is one truth, which is generally lost in sight, a truth which, however, explains in a particular way the liturgy of the holy mass. Namely, that the holy Sacrifice is not dedicated to God by the priest only, but by all those who are present. The priest is the consecrated minister of the Sacrifice, deputed by holy Mother Church; but the faithful ,joined with the priest, are invested with a kind of priesthood. They say mass together with the priest. They are offering with the priest . The priest celebrating mass, speaks the language of a multitude , and so he says in the plural "Oremus" (Let us pray.) "Offerimus" (We offer) "Orate fratres, ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium fiat apud Deum trem omnipotentem" (Pray brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be made acceptable to God the almighty Father.)
Is it possible to think of this and to content oneself with saying some prayers with a distracted mind, without paying attention to the sublime office with which one is invested? The faithful are offering themselves to the Lord, our Father in heaven, with Jesus Christ, oresent on the altar.
This is brought before us in the prayer after the offering of the wine, In spiritu humilitatis.
Always bear this in mind when hearing mass, and you will never recite prayers too quickly , without paying attention to the wonder that is taking place only a few steps from your place. The best way of hearing mass is to join oneself in spirit and sentiment with the priest and to follow closely all that happens at the altar.
Never forget what we have said about the significance of the mass, and think that you are beneath the cross of the dying Jesus, to catch in your soul a drop of the divine blood that has power to deliver the whole world from sin."
This is from my 1934 Daily Roman Missal, before the order of mass. So next time a radical traditionalist says that Vatican II invented this way of seeing the mass, copy/paste and show them wrong.
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