Why Do Catholics Offer Mass Every Day? | The Fatima Center (2024)

Origen, the early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who lived from c. 185-253 A.D., wrote, “…the Lord hates those who think that only one day (i.e., Sunday) is a festival of the Lord. Christians partake of the flesh of the Lamb every day, that is, they daily receive the flesh of the Word of God” (Quis dives salvetur, 23).

The Need for a Perfect Sacrifice

First and foremost, the Mass is a Sacrifice. It is NOT a “community gathering” or celebration. In every religion, time, place, and culture, men have offered sacrifice. This is part of the natural law which governs the relation of men to their Creator. Such sacrifice has four ends: adoration, thanksgiving, impetration (to ask, beg), and reparation (atonement, to right wrongs). It is through sacrifice that men worship God and have a right relationship with God. Yet as men are imperfect and finite, so too are their sacrifices. No sacrifice that men can offer is worthy of God.

The only sacrifice fitting for God is an infinite and perfect one. Yet only God can offer such a sacrifice. Thus, Jesus Christ – Who is God – is capable of offering such a sacrifice: Himself. Since the Son of God has assumed human nature, it is right and just for Him to offer it, in His humanity, as our representative, and on our behalf. His sacrifice is one, perfect, and infinite. As God-man, He is the perfect mediator.

**The Sacrifice of the Mass**

Holy Mass is the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. It is a sacrifice that is always efficacious for us as it does not depend on the merits of the priest or of the congregation. In the Mass, the Lord is both Priest and Victim. He is present on the altar of Sacrifice and even the priest acts in persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”) in offering up to the Eternal Father the unblemished Sacrifice during the Canon of the Mass.

A sacrifice rendered to God is meant to be immolated. This is a concrete action by which it no longer remains in the realm of men but is in fact “given over” to God. At Mass, the Holy Sacrifice is consummated when the priest consumes the Body and Blood of the Lord.

The Mass Is Offered Daily to Make Present Every Day the Sacrifice of the Cross for the Salvation of the World.

Since Mass is the Sacrifice of the Cross, it averts the wrath of God, bestows on souls and the world countless blessings, and continues the work of Redemption. Offering Mass daily allows for a continuous stream of prayer to God, interceding for the needs of individuals and the world.

By offering Mass daily, Catholics continually remember and participate in this saving act of Christ presented upon the Catholic altar. Thus do we best fulfill Our Lord’s command “Do this for a commemoration of Me” (Luke 22:19). Catholics also receive graces won by Christ on the Cross by being physically present at the Mass.

The practice of offering Mass daily has been a tradition in the Catholic Church for centuries, going back to Apostolic Times. It fulfills the great prophecy of Malachias that a perfect sacrifice shall be always and everywhere rendered to God.

“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, My Name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation: for My Name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.” – Malachias 1:11

Daily Mass is an ideal discipline that fosters spiritual growth and devotion among the faithful, as Origen affirms. St. Louis de Monfort writes:

“The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass gives boundless honor to the Most Blessed Trinity because it represents the Passion of Jesus Christ and because through the Mass we offer God the merits of Our Lord’s obedience, of His sufferings, and of His Precious Blood. The whole of the heavenly court also receives an accidental joy from the Mass. Several Doctors of the Church – together with St. Thomas Aquinas – tell us that, for the same reason, all the blessed in Heaven rejoice in the communion of the faithful because the Blessed Sacrament is a memorial of the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, and that by means of it, men share in its fruits and work out their salvation.”

Since Mass is the central act of the Catholic religion and it gives “boundless honor” to God, why would the Church not wish for it to be offered each and every day?

Graces Received from Assisting at Holy Mass

The following list of graces received from assisting at (i.e., attending and devoutly hearing) Holy Mass should inspire everyone to attend daily Mass. Assisting at Mass does not mean doing anything visually or vocally. It also does not mean we must receive Holy Communion. It does mean we must be both physically and mentally present at Mass.

The following is quoted from the Pieta Prayer Book, published by the MLOR Corporation:

The Mass is Calvary continued.
Every Mass is worth as much as the sacrifice of Our Lord’s life, sufferings, and death.
Holy Mass is the world’s most powerful atonement for your sins.
At the hour of death, the Masses you have heard will be your greatest consolation.
Every Mass will go with you to judgment and plead for pardon.
At Mass, you can diminish more or less temporal punishment due to your sins, according to your fervor.
Assisting devoutly at Holy Mass, you render to the sacred humanity of Our Lord the greatest homage.
He supplies for many of your negligence and omissions.
He forgives the venial sins which you have not confessed. The power of satan over you is diminished.
One Mass heard during life will be of more benefit to you than many heard for you after your death.
You are preserved from dangers and misfortunes which otherwise might have befallen you. You shorten your Purgatory.
Every Mass wins for you a higher degree of glory in Heaven.
You receive the priest’s blessing, which Our Lord ratifies in Heaven.
You kneel amidst a multitude of holy angels, who are present at the adorable Sacrifice with reverential awe.
You are blessed in your temporal goods and affairs.

As Regards the Priest

While a priest should daily offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the salvation of souls there is no requirement for a priest to do so. A priest is bound to pray daily the Canonical Hours in the Breviary (or some portion of them) but a priest is not actually required to daily offer the Holy Sacrifice. Like every Catholic, the priest is obligated to assist at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.

However, priests should strive to offer Mass every day, and the faithful are encouraged to attend Mass as often as possible – even daily – since the Mass is not about singing hymns, reading Scripture, or having fraternity with others. It is about being present at the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. And for those unable to attend daily Mass, we can still join our morning prayers in union with the Masses said throughout the world each day.[1]

Conclusion

The Church rightfully offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day since Mass is the supreme act of Christian worship, the offering of the Mass bestows countless blessings on the world, and the offering of daily Mass stretches back to Apostolic Times.

ENDNOTE:

[1] INDULGED PRAYER: THE OFFERING TO BE MADE AT THE TIME OF THE HOLY MASS (From the Raccolta):

Eternal Father, I offer to Thee the sacrifice which Thy beloved Son Jesus made of Himself upon the Cross, and now renews upon this altar; and I offer it to Thee in the name of all creatures, together with the Masses which have been celebrated, and which shall be celebrated, in the whole world, in order to adore Thee, and to give Thee the honor which Thou dost deserve; to render to Thee due thanks for Thy innumerable benefits, to appease Thy anger for our sins, and to give Thee due satisfaction for them; to entreat Thee also for myself, for the Church, for the whole world, and for the blessed souls in Purgatory. Amen.