How to Attend Mass
By Padre Pio
It is a must read and I pray
that after you read this you make copies of it and pass it out in your parish.
Padre Pio to Annita
Rodote
Beloved
daughter of Jesus,
May Jesus and our Mother always smile on your soul, obtaining for it, from Her
most holy Son, all the heavenly charisms!
I am writing to you for two
reasons: to answer some more questions from your last letter, and
to wish you a very happy names-day in the most sweet
Jesus, full of all the most special heavenly graces. Oh! If
Jesus granted my prayers for you or, better still, if only my prayers were
worthy of being granted by Jesus!
However, I increase them a hundredfold for your consolation and
salvation, begging Jesus to grant them, not for me but through the heart of his
paternal goodness and infinite mercy.
In order to avoid
irreverence and imperfections in the house of God, in church - which the divine
Master calls the house of prayer - I exhort you in the Lord to practice the
following.
Enter the church in silence
and with great respect, considering yourself unworthy
to appear before the Lord's Majesty.
Amongst other pious considerations, remember that our soul is the temple of God and, as such, we must keep it pure
and spotless before God and his angels. Let us blush for having given access to
the devil and his snares many times (with his enticements to the world, his
pomp, his calling to the flesh) by not being able to keep our hearts pure and
our bodies chaste; for having allowed our enemies to insinuate themselves into
our hearts, thus desecrating the temple of God which we became through holy
Baptism.
Then take holy water and
make the sign of the cross carefully and slowly.
As soon as you are before
God in the Blessed Sacrament, devoutly genuflect. Once you have found your place, kneel down
and render the tribute of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament. Confide all your needs to him
along with those of others. Speak to him
with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart and give him complete
freedom to work in you as he thinks best.
When assisting at Holy Mass
and the sacred functions, be very composed when standing up, kneeling down, and
sitting, and carry out every religious act with the greatest devotion. Be modest in your glances; don't turn your
head here and there to see who enters and leaves. Don't laugh, out of reverence for this holy
place and also out of respect for those who are near you. Try not to speak to anybody, except when
charity or strict necessity requests this.
If you pray with others, say
the words of the prayer distinctly, observe the pauses well and never hurry.
In short, behave in such a
way that all present are edified by it and, through you, are urged to glorify
and love the heavenly Father.
On leaving the church, you
should be recollected and calm. Firstly
take your leave of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; ask his forgiveness for the
shortcomings committed in his divine presence and do not leave him without
asking for and having received his paternal blessing.
Once you are outside the
church, be as every follower of the Nazarene should be. Above all, be extremely modest in everything,
as this is the virtue which, more than any other,
reveals the affections of the heart.
Nothing represents an object more faithfully or clearly than a
mirror. In the same way, nothing more
widely represents the good or bad qualities of a soul than the greater or
lesser regulation of the exterior, as when one appears more or less
modest. You must be modest in speech,
modest in laughter, modest in your bearing, modest in walking. All this must be practiced, not out of vanity in order to display one's self, nor out of
hypocrisy in order to appear to be good to the eyes of others, but rather, for
the internal virtue of modesty, which regulates the external workings of the
body.
Therefore, be humble of
heart, circumspect in words, prudent in your resolutions. Always be sparing in your speech, assiduous
in good reading, attentive in your work, modest in your conversation. Don't be disgusting to anybody but be
benevolent towards all and respectful towards your elders. May any sinister glance be far from you, may
no daring word escape your lips, may you never carry out any immodest or
somewhat free action; never a rather free action or a petulant tone of voice.
In short let your whole exterior be a vivid
image of the composure of your soul.
Always keep the modesty of
the divine Master before your eyes, as an example; this Master who, according to
the words of the Apostle to the Corinthians, placing the modesty of Jesus
Christ on an equal footing with meekness, which was his one particular virtue
and almost his characteristic: "Now
I Paul myself beseech you, by the mildness and modesty of Christ" [Douay-Rheims, 2 Cor. 10:1], and
according to such a perfect model reform all your external operations, which
should be faithful reflections revealing the affections of your interior.
Never forget this divine
model, Annita.
Try to see a certain lovable majesty in his presence, a certain pleasant
authority in his manner of speaking, a certain pleasant dignity in walking, in
contemplating, speaking, conversing; a certain sweet serenity of face. Imagine that extremely composed and sweet
expression with which he drew the crowds, making them leave cities and castles,
leading them to the mountains, the forests, to the solitude and deserted
beaches of the sea, totally forgetting food, drink and their domestic duties.
Thus let us try to imitate, as far
as we possibly can, such modest and dignified actions. And let us do our utmost to be, as far as
possible, similar to him on this earth, in order that we might be more perfect
and more similar to him for the whole of eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem.
I end here as I am unable to
continue, recommending that you never forget me before Jesus, especially during
these days of extreme affliction for me.
I expect the same charity from the excellent Francesca to whom you will
have the kindness to give, in my name, assurances of my extreme interest in
seeing her grow always more in divine love.
I hope she will do me the charity of making a novena of Communions for
my intentions.
Don't worry if you are
unable to answer my letter for the moment.
I know everything so don't worry.
I take my leave of you in
the holy kiss of the Lord. I am always
your servant.
Fra Pio, Capuchin
A Letter from St. Padre Pio to Annita Rodote
Pietrelcina, July 25, 1915
Pietrelcina, July 25, 1915
Volume III of "Correspondence with
his Spiritual Daughters"
Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary, San Giovanni Rotondo,
Italy, 1994,