Page:TheDailyPrayerBook.pdf/103



The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, tells us that we have all four special debts which we owe to Almighty God, answering to the four great ends for which Jesus Christ instituted the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar. These are: —

1. To praise and honour the infinite Majesty of God, in acknowledgment of His supreme dominion over us.

2. To satisfy Almighty God for the sins we have committed against Him.

3. To thank him for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

4. To implore His divine grace and assistance.

The method for hearing Mass here given is especially conformable to the spirit of the Church, whose wish it is that we should, when assisting at Mass, unite our intention to that of the priest, who offers up the Holy Sacrifice for the four ends just mentioned; by so doing we shall be able, according to St. Thomas, to pay, in the most efficacious manner, the four debts which we have contracted with Almighty God.