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Meditations Before Mass
English (translation)Original German
204 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
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381 people want to read
About the author
Romano Guardini
381 books166 followersRomano Guardini was a Catholic priest, author, and academic. He was one of the most important figures in Catholic intellectual life in the 20th century.
Guardini was born in Verona, Italy in 1885. His family moved to Mainz when he was one year old and he lived in Germany for the rest of his life. After studying chemistry in Tübingen for two semesters, and economics in Munich and Berlin for three, he decided to become a priest. After studying Theology in Freiburg im Breisgau and Tübingen, he was ordained in Mainz in 1910. He briefly worked in a pastoral position before returning to Freiburg to work on his doctorate in Theology under Engelbert Krebs. He received his doctorate in 1915 for a dissertation on Bonaventure. He completed his “Habilitation” in Dogmatic Theology at the University of Bonn in 1922, again with a dissertation on Bonaventure. Throughout this period he also worked as a chaplain to the Catholic youth movement.
In 1923 he was appointed to a chair in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Berlin. In the 1935 essay “Der Heiland” (The Saviour) he criticized Nazi mythologizing of the person of Jesus and emphasized the Jewishness of Jesus. The Nazis forced him to resign from his Berlin position in 1939. From 1943 to 1945 he retired to Mooshausen, where his friend Josef Weiger had been parish priest since 1917.
In 1945 Guardini was appointed professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Tübingen and resumed lecturing on the Philosophy of Religion. In 1948, he became professor at the University of Munich, where he remained until retiring for health reasons in 1962.
Guardini died in Munich on 1 October 1968. He was buried in the priests’ cemetery of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Munich. His estate was left to the Catholic Academy in Bavaria that he had co-founded.
Guardini was born in Verona, Italy in 1885. His family moved to Mainz when he was one year old and he lived in Germany for the rest of his life. After studying chemistry in Tübingen for two semesters, and economics in Munich and Berlin for three, he decided to become a priest. After studying Theology in Freiburg im Breisgau and Tübingen, he was ordained in Mainz in 1910. He briefly worked in a pastoral position before returning to Freiburg to work on his doctorate in Theology under Engelbert Krebs. He received his doctorate in 1915 for a dissertation on Bonaventure. He completed his “Habilitation” in Dogmatic Theology at the University of Bonn in 1922, again with a dissertation on Bonaventure. Throughout this period he also worked as a chaplain to the Catholic youth movement.
In 1923 he was appointed to a chair in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Berlin. In the 1935 essay “Der Heiland” (The Saviour) he criticized Nazi mythologizing of the person of Jesus and emphasized the Jewishness of Jesus. The Nazis forced him to resign from his Berlin position in 1939. From 1943 to 1945 he retired to Mooshausen, where his friend Josef Weiger had been parish priest since 1917.
In 1945 Guardini was appointed professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Tübingen and resumed lecturing on the Philosophy of Religion. In 1948, he became professor at the University of Munich, where he remained until retiring for health reasons in 1962.
Guardini died in Munich on 1 October 1968. He was buried in the priests’ cemetery of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Munich. His estate was left to the Catholic Academy in Bavaria that he had co-founded.
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backburner
December 2, 2016November 14, 2016: Loaned this to a friend, so I'm putting this on the shelf for awhile.
April 14, 2015: Have been taking this with me and reading and meditating on a chapter before mass. In this single book, through careful study and diligent application, there is here the opportunity to fully maximize one's potential realization of God's Grace in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
They are as follows:
A. Sacred Bearing
1. Stillness: We cannot take stillness too seriously. Not for nothing do these reflections on the liturgy open with it. If someone were to ask me what the liturgical life begins with, I should answer: with learning stillness. Without it, everything remains superficial, vain.
2. Silence and the Word: Only the word that emerges from silence is substantial and powerful. ...for the sake of speech we must practice silence. ...Through the liturgical word our inwardness passes over into the realm of sacred openness which the congregation and its mystery create before God. Even God's holy mystery - which was entrusted by Christ to His followers when He said, "As often as you shall do these things, in memory of me shall you do them" - is renewed through the medium of human words.
3. Silence and Hearing: The word of God is meant to be heard, and hearing requires silence.
4. Composure: Only the composed person is really someone. Only he can be seriously addressed as one capable of replying. Only he is genuinely affected by what life brings him, for he alone is awake, aware. ... Once composure has been established, the liturgy is possible. Not before.
5.Composure and Action: We do not come to church to "attend the service," which usually means as a spectator, but in order, along with the priest, to serve God. Everything we do: our entering, being present, our kneeling and sitting and standing, our reception of the sacred nourishment, should be divine service. This is so only when all we do "overflows" from the awareness of a collected heart and the mind's attentiveness.
6.Composure and Participation: Composure and the participation springing from it must be practiced. There is a much-aired opinion that only the prayer and religious act rising involuntarily from within are genuine. This is erroneous. Prayer and religious action are life. But life consists only partly in spontaneous acts; most of life is service and conscious effort, both at least as important as impulsive activity. ... When it is service in God's sight rather than man's, it is not only external but also and preeminently inner action, participation. Hence divine serving must be learned, practiced over and over again that it may become increasingly vigilant, profound, true. ... Consciousness of this divine event is doubtless the greatest gift the Mass can give. It comes, however, only when God gives it. Our task lies in the effort and loyalty of service.
7.The Holy Place: How then can a place be holy? Not of itself. No created thing is capable by its own nature of furnishing a dwelling-place for God's holiness. A place becomes holy only when God Himself has sanctified it. This happens and now we touch the heart of our problem through God's visiting that place and establishing it as His residence.
8.The Altar Threshold: Every time we invoke God, we approach His threshold and pass over it. Through Christ's self-sacrifice in salutary death, a sacrifice which presupposed the Incarnation of God's Son, the altar-threshold appears most clearly as the borderline which shows who Holy God is and what our sin. ... The altar is indeed the "holy place" before which we can say as we can nowhere else: "I am here, O Lord."
9.The Altar as Table: God longs for men. He wants to have His creatures close to Him. When Christ cried from the cross, "I thirst," a dying man's bodily torment was indeed expressed, but much more besides (John 19:28). Similarly at Jacob's well, when the disciples encouraged Jesus to eat the food they had brought, He replied: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, to accomplish his work" (John 4: 34). Mysterious hungering and thirsting this the hunger and thirst of God! St. Augustine writes that the receiving of the Eucharist does not mean so much that we partake of the divine life offered us, as that divine life draws us into itself. These thoughts should not be pressed too far, for they are holy. It is important, however, to know that a mystery of divine-human love and communion does exist and that it is realized at the altar.
10.Holy Day: Precisely because Sunday is not a product of the natural life-rhythm, it is vulnerable. ... Work gnaws at it; amusement elbows its way into it, crowding out holiness; the significance of "keeping holy" is itself misunderstood and rest is imposed with a resultant boredom that is worse than if work had continued. Thus Sunday poses a real problem, which each of us must solve according to his own particular circumstances.
11.The Holy Day and the Sacred Hour: It is very important to experience the pass-over of the sacred moment emerging from eternity. It catches us up into itself, and while it lasts we are different from what we are at all other times. Then it dismisses us, and we fall back into the transitoriness of day-to-day existence.
12.The Sacred Act: Man acts; but in his human action is the act of God. ... It is for men to "hear" the Lord and to do as He commands.
13.The Revelatory Word: With (words from revelation) God tells man who He is and what the world is in His eyes; He proclaims His will and gives us His promise. They are Biblical words, and in the celebration of the Lord's memorial they confront us at every step.
14.The Executory Word: The priest pronounces the words, certainly; but they are not his. ... The true speaker remains Christ. He alone can speak thus. The priest merely lends the Lord his voice, mind, will, freedom, playing a role similar to that of the baptismal water, for the new birth is not brought about by its natural cleansing qualities, but by the power of Christ.
15.The Word of Praise: The word of praise asks to become our own, that we give it our best or rather ourselves that we let it sweep us along with it, teaching us what real prayer is that we may outgrow the narrowness and pettiness of self.
16. The Word of Entreaty: The Holy Spirit is the power by which we are meant to accomplish both the oneness with Christ and the movement toward the Father.
17. The Congregation and Injustice Rectified:
18. The Congregation and the Church:
19. Hindrance: Habit:
20. Hindrance: Sentimentality:
21. Hindrance: Human Nature:
B. The Essence of the Mass
1. Prefatory Note:
2. The Institution:
3. The Memorial:
4. The Memorial of the New Covenant:
5. Reality:
6. Hour and Eternity:
7. Mimicry or Liturgical Form:
8. Christ's Offering of Self:
9. Encounter and Feast:
10. Truth and the Eucharist:
11. The Mass and the New Covenant:
12. The Mass and Christ's Return
April 14, 2015: Have been taking this with me and reading and meditating on a chapter before mass. In this single book, through careful study and diligent application, there is here the opportunity to fully maximize one's potential realization of God's Grace in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
They are as follows:
A. Sacred Bearing
1. Stillness: We cannot take stillness too seriously. Not for nothing do these reflections on the liturgy open with it. If someone were to ask me what the liturgical life begins with, I should answer: with learning stillness. Without it, everything remains superficial, vain.
2. Silence and the Word: Only the word that emerges from silence is substantial and powerful. ...for the sake of speech we must practice silence. ...Through the liturgical word our inwardness passes over into the realm of sacred openness which the congregation and its mystery create before God. Even God's holy mystery - which was entrusted by Christ to His followers when He said, "As often as you shall do these things, in memory of me shall you do them" - is renewed through the medium of human words.
3. Silence and Hearing: The word of God is meant to be heard, and hearing requires silence.
4. Composure: Only the composed person is really someone. Only he can be seriously addressed as one capable of replying. Only he is genuinely affected by what life brings him, for he alone is awake, aware. ... Once composure has been established, the liturgy is possible. Not before.
5.Composure and Action: We do not come to church to "attend the service," which usually means as a spectator, but in order, along with the priest, to serve God. Everything we do: our entering, being present, our kneeling and sitting and standing, our reception of the sacred nourishment, should be divine service. This is so only when all we do "overflows" from the awareness of a collected heart and the mind's attentiveness.
6.Composure and Participation: Composure and the participation springing from it must be practiced. There is a much-aired opinion that only the prayer and religious act rising involuntarily from within are genuine. This is erroneous. Prayer and religious action are life. But life consists only partly in spontaneous acts; most of life is service and conscious effort, both at least as important as impulsive activity. ... When it is service in God's sight rather than man's, it is not only external but also and preeminently inner action, participation. Hence divine serving must be learned, practiced over and over again that it may become increasingly vigilant, profound, true. ... Consciousness of this divine event is doubtless the greatest gift the Mass can give. It comes, however, only when God gives it. Our task lies in the effort and loyalty of service.
7.The Holy Place: How then can a place be holy? Not of itself. No created thing is capable by its own nature of furnishing a dwelling-place for God's holiness. A place becomes holy only when God Himself has sanctified it. This happens and now we touch the heart of our problem through God's visiting that place and establishing it as His residence.
8.The Altar Threshold: Every time we invoke God, we approach His threshold and pass over it. Through Christ's self-sacrifice in salutary death, a sacrifice which presupposed the Incarnation of God's Son, the altar-threshold appears most clearly as the borderline which shows who Holy God is and what our sin. ... The altar is indeed the "holy place" before which we can say as we can nowhere else: "I am here, O Lord."
9.The Altar as Table: God longs for men. He wants to have His creatures close to Him. When Christ cried from the cross, "I thirst," a dying man's bodily torment was indeed expressed, but much more besides (John 19:28). Similarly at Jacob's well, when the disciples encouraged Jesus to eat the food they had brought, He replied: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, to accomplish his work" (John 4: 34). Mysterious hungering and thirsting this the hunger and thirst of God! St. Augustine writes that the receiving of the Eucharist does not mean so much that we partake of the divine life offered us, as that divine life draws us into itself. These thoughts should not be pressed too far, for they are holy. It is important, however, to know that a mystery of divine-human love and communion does exist and that it is realized at the altar.
10.Holy Day: Precisely because Sunday is not a product of the natural life-rhythm, it is vulnerable. ... Work gnaws at it; amusement elbows its way into it, crowding out holiness; the significance of "keeping holy" is itself misunderstood and rest is imposed with a resultant boredom that is worse than if work had continued. Thus Sunday poses a real problem, which each of us must solve according to his own particular circumstances.
11.The Holy Day and the Sacred Hour: It is very important to experience the pass-over of the sacred moment emerging from eternity. It catches us up into itself, and while it lasts we are different from what we are at all other times. Then it dismisses us, and we fall back into the transitoriness of day-to-day existence.
12.The Sacred Act: Man acts; but in his human action is the act of God. ... It is for men to "hear" the Lord and to do as He commands.
13.The Revelatory Word: With (words from revelation) God tells man who He is and what the world is in His eyes; He proclaims His will and gives us His promise. They are Biblical words, and in the celebration of the Lord's memorial they confront us at every step.
14.The Executory Word: The priest pronounces the words, certainly; but they are not his. ... The true speaker remains Christ. He alone can speak thus. The priest merely lends the Lord his voice, mind, will, freedom, playing a role similar to that of the baptismal water, for the new birth is not brought about by its natural cleansing qualities, but by the power of Christ.
15.The Word of Praise: The word of praise asks to become our own, that we give it our best or rather ourselves that we let it sweep us along with it, teaching us what real prayer is that we may outgrow the narrowness and pettiness of self.
16. The Word of Entreaty: The Holy Spirit is the power by which we are meant to accomplish both the oneness with Christ and the movement toward the Father.
17. The Congregation and Injustice Rectified:
18. The Congregation and the Church:
19. Hindrance: Habit:
20. Hindrance: Sentimentality:
21. Hindrance: Human Nature:
B. The Essence of the Mass
1. Prefatory Note:
2. The Institution:
3. The Memorial:
4. The Memorial of the New Covenant:
5. Reality:
6. Hour and Eternity:
7. Mimicry or Liturgical Form:
8. Christ's Offering of Self:
9. Encounter and Feast:
10. Truth and the Eucharist:
11. The Mass and the New Covenant:
12. The Mass and Christ's Return
April 11, 2024
This book provides some great reflections to meditate on prior to mass and are formatted in just the right length making it very manageable to read. In it, Guardini discusses how to prepare your mind, heart, and soul through mental and bodily recollection (a good reminder for those of us who are restless and can’t ever seem to sit or stand still). Guardini also spends several chapters elaborating on components of the prayers offered during Mass, reflecting upon some key elements of the liturgy, and diving into the source and summit of our faith—The Eucharist.
When used properly, this book helped me engage and participate more fully in the sacrifice of the Mass. Unfortunately, between sacristaning and feeling rushed when the priest started processing, I often did not give myself enough time to let Guardini’s words sink in. I will certainly have to return to this book again to experience the depths of its contents—especially as I am still not spiritually/theologically mature enough to fully grasp some of Guardini’s writing.
My favorite line comes at the end of the book, and it gets at the essence of how one should approach Mass: “We will realize how essential it is for us, and it will become an hour of profoundest tranquility and assurance. Throughout the noise and tension of the day, thought of the Mass will sustain us. The mind will reach out to it like a hand stretched out—each time to receive new strength.”
When used properly, this book helped me engage and participate more fully in the sacrifice of the Mass. Unfortunately, between sacristaning and feeling rushed when the priest started processing, I often did not give myself enough time to let Guardini’s words sink in. I will certainly have to return to this book again to experience the depths of its contents—especially as I am still not spiritually/theologically mature enough to fully grasp some of Guardini’s writing.
My favorite line comes at the end of the book, and it gets at the essence of how one should approach Mass: “We will realize how essential it is for us, and it will become an hour of profoundest tranquility and assurance. Throughout the noise and tension of the day, thought of the Mass will sustain us. The mind will reach out to it like a hand stretched out—each time to receive new strength.”
December 30, 2014
Meditations before Mass is a classic in the Catholic realm. Written by Romano Guardini, one of the 20th centuries greatest theologians, this work as well as several others by him gained popularity in the 1990s and were translated from German to English. The Introduction of this book states that the purpose of the discourses in this book were "simply to reveal what the Mass demands of us and how those demands may be properly met." Part One aims for total concentration of mind and heart to God in the Mass, and Part Two discusses the essence of the Mass and what it means to us as Catholics.
It was interesting to learn both about aspects of the Mass such as its institution and liturgical form. However, the chapters that spoke to me the most dealt with hindrances we encounter when participating in the Mass as we should. Guardini notes three specific hindrances - 1. Habit, 2. Sentimentality, and 3. Human Nature. I learned several important points from these chapters. For starters, any boredom or monotony we experience at Mass comes from us and not the Mass. The Mass is inexhaustible. Sentimentality is a desire to be moved and can be dangerous when it comes to the Mass. To put it in simple terms, you shouldn't go into Mass looking to see what you can get out of it, but what you can put into it. Lastly, celebration of Mass depends on human people, because it is a living thing.
If you are looking to deepen your understanding and appreciation of the Mass, I highly recommend this book. It not only educates you, but it invites you to examine both the Mass and yourself. I am extremely pleased that more and more titles of Guardini are being translated into English. This man was a mentor to both Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), so any book you can read of his I'd highly recommend. In fact, after you get done reading and reflecting on this book, check out another book by Guardini entitled Jesus Christus, which is a series of sermons on the life of Christ.
It was interesting to learn both about aspects of the Mass such as its institution and liturgical form. However, the chapters that spoke to me the most dealt with hindrances we encounter when participating in the Mass as we should. Guardini notes three specific hindrances - 1. Habit, 2. Sentimentality, and 3. Human Nature. I learned several important points from these chapters. For starters, any boredom or monotony we experience at Mass comes from us and not the Mass. The Mass is inexhaustible. Sentimentality is a desire to be moved and can be dangerous when it comes to the Mass. To put it in simple terms, you shouldn't go into Mass looking to see what you can get out of it, but what you can put into it. Lastly, celebration of Mass depends on human people, because it is a living thing.
If you are looking to deepen your understanding and appreciation of the Mass, I highly recommend this book. It not only educates you, but it invites you to examine both the Mass and yourself. I am extremely pleased that more and more titles of Guardini are being translated into English. This man was a mentor to both Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), so any book you can read of his I'd highly recommend. In fact, after you get done reading and reflecting on this book, check out another book by Guardini entitled Jesus Christus, which is a series of sermons on the life of Christ.
December 15, 2018
A good reminder, will also help beginners but it will be good as a spiritual read to those more familiarized.
December 2, 2023
Thought provoking. Would be good to revisit every few years.
December 12, 2025
I love Guardini's work and the essays on silence, composure, hindrance, and Christ's return/expecting the Lord were excellent, replete with theological reflection and practical import.
I found most of the others good but not notably so. The chapter on the offertory weirdly dichotomizes speech and action in a way that seems especially inapt in a liturgical setting.
I found most of the others good but not notably so. The chapter on the offertory weirdly dichotomizes speech and action in a way that seems especially inapt in a liturgical setting.
April 23, 2021
This is a perennially valuable book for anyone who wishes to understand and love the Mass more deeply. Msgr. Guardini actually gave these high-level reflections about the Mass to his parishioners in the 50s as a sort of catechesis prior to beginning the Sunday Masses. Astounding! The theology is deep and it is a challenging read because it causes you to think (!), but you will come away from it with a profound love of the Mass and appreciation for the holy sacrifice as the very Presence of God in our world. We don't appreciate it enough. I gave it four stars because it's not a book for everyone. It's not written in a popular style; it's very academic and can be a bit tedious at times. It's value lies in its truth, however, which overflows from the author into the soul of the reader.
July 7, 2017
I always admire Msgr Guardini's work. Part One I especially liked; part two, on the other hand, I found rather more dense and frequently repetitive.
November 20, 2018
Lots of helpful meditations before Mass, some I enjoyed some more than others. At the end of the day, he emphasizes the importance and significance of Mass that is the absolute center of our earthly lives, which many of us neglect to recognize as pattern and repetition dulls the mind.
May 7, 2023
There were some really good meditations to start this book off, but then it either went way past me or just didn't move me enough. This is more like a 3.75. Guardini is certainly a great theologian and there's a lot here to consider but the impact was less than desired.
March 11, 2018
Truly wonderful and still pertinent for any practicing Catholic, despite the fact that the Mass has changed some since this book was written.
April 23, 2020
Profound insights into the Mass. Easy to read.
December 26, 2020
Excellent short reads to help you better enter the mystery of the Mass
October 28, 2022
In altum
August 27, 2024
Short chapters readable in a brief sitting present different aspects of the Mass with some refreshing and deepening insights. Well worth the read.
May 14, 2025
Algunas partes me abrieron horizontes interesantes, otras me costaron trabajo... en general me gustó
August 31, 2025
Pub. 1956
August 14, 2017
Excellent! Part 1, "Sacred Bearing," is on how we should conduct ourselves before and during Mass, as Guardini says in the foreword: "what the Mass demands of us and how those demands may be properly met" (vii). Stillness, silence, and composure. Not only bodily stillness, "our thoughts, our feelings, our hearts must also find repose. Then genuine stillness permeates us, spreading ever deeper through the seemingly plumbless world within.... Stillness is the tranquility of the inner life; the quiet at the depths of its hidden stream. It is a collected, total presence, a being 'all there,' receptive, alert, ready" (4-5). We should be as dignified in our behavior as the Mass is dignified in its actions and in the events taking place. In Part 2, "The Essence of the Mass," Guardini brings us to contemplate "the heart of the direct relationship between God and believer" (118). "From God to man and from man to God runs a bond more real and more vital than any bond uniting one being with another on earth. This bond between God and man, its effects on man's experience, thought, and action is our religious life" (117). I read this book before Sunday Masses a little at a time and it was a great help in coming to that stillness, silence, and composure needed for a fuller participation in the Mass.
September 15, 2015
This is a well-written, beautiful treatise on the Catholic Mass and the wealth of theological significance - written by the man known as "Pope Benedict XVI's Theologian".
These meditations also include a practical guide to liturgical worship along with meditation before the Holy Eucharist, as well as during Mass.
This book is must-reading for Catholics.
I look forward to reading many more of Fr. Guardini's insightful writings.
These meditations also include a practical guide to liturgical worship along with meditation before the Holy Eucharist, as well as during Mass.
This book is must-reading for Catholics.
I look forward to reading many more of Fr. Guardini's insightful writings.
Want to read
June 3, 2009Want to read
December 24, 2009Listed by Patrick Madrid in the Reading Plan of Search and Rescue in Phase 1 (Preliminary).
August 26, 2016
Still soaking it in.
Very much worth the time.
Unique thoughts; not a short meditation book like I expected.
Very much worth the time.
Unique thoughts; not a short meditation book like I expected.
Read
September 8, 2016I had an aha moment while reading this, so I think it is very worthwhile to read it!
September 23, 2018
Good info. Just written in a way that my mind doesn't easily follow!
September 2, 2016
Like it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews