St Catherine's prayer against invalid consecration

No Catholic should have to wonder if the consecration at Mass was valid. since intent is as important as form and matter, no priest should give rise to questions regarding his intent. Should a priest through his preaching put forth that he does not believe in either the priesthood or the hierarchy are of divine origin, then it follows that he also believes communion is a memorial meal in the protestant sense rather than the sacrifice of Calvary in the Catholic sense. For if Christ did not ordain those first apostles at the last supper, but rather this was the work of the primitive church... Then "this is my body..." really isn't any more than a metaphor.

Here are some of St Catherine's thoughts on the subject of invalid consecration (although in a different context) and a prayer.


CHAPTER CXXVI II.

How pride reigns among these ministers, by which they lose their knowledge; and how, having lost their knowledge, they fall into the sin of seeming to consecrate, while they do not really do so.

“I WILL now speak to thee of the third column—that of pride—which I have placed last, for it is both last and first, for all the vices are flavored with pride, as the virtues all receive life from charity. Pride is born and nourished from sensual self-love, of which I said to thee, that it was the foundation of these three columns, and of all the evils which are committed by creatures, for he who loves himself with disordinate love, is deprived of My love. and not loving Me he offends Me, because he does not observe the commandment of the law, which is to love Me above everything, and one's neighbour as one's self. This is the reason why those who love themselves with a sensual love neither serve nor love Me, but the world; for neither sensual love nor the world have conformity with Me. There being no conformity between Me and the world, it must needs be that he who loves and serves the world with sensual love, should hate Me; while he who loves Me truly hates the world. For this reason My Truth said : ‘No one can serve two masters, for if he serve the one, he will not content the other.’ See then how self-love deprives the soul of My love, and clothes it with the vice of pride, whence through the principle of self-love is borne every kind of sin. I grieve over this in all My rational creatures, but particularly in My anointed ones, who ought to be humble, not only because every one should possess the virtue of humility, which nourishes charity, but also because they have become the ministers of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son. Are they not ashamed, and for that matter should not the whole human race be ashamed, when they see Me, God, humbled to man, giving you the Word, My Son, in your own flesh? They see My Word eagerly humbling Himself to the shameful an extent that they sometimes fall into a sin of which I will speak to thee. Some of them are such incarnate devils 'that they often appear to consecrate, when they do not in reality, through fear of My judgment, and to free themselves from any bridle and fear of sin. Such a man rises in the morning from impurity, having passed the preceding evening in disordinate banqueting, he is obliged to satisfy the people, and considering his own iniquities, sees that he cannot celebrate with a good conscience ; wherefore he fears My judgment, not through hatred of vice, but through self-love. See, dearest daughter, how blind he is; he does not have recourse to contrition, with hatred of sin and a firm purpose of amendment ; he takes the alternative remedy of not consecrating. And the blind man does not see that his error and sin is greater than before, for he makes the congregation commit idolatry, causing them to adore an unconsecrated host, as if it were the body and blood of Christ, My only ‘begotten Son, wholly God and wholly man. No; the Host is indeed this when it is consecrated, but otherwise it is only bread.

“ See, now, how great is this abomination, and how great the patience with which I endure it. But if they do not correct themselves, every grace of their state will turn to their perdition. What should the congregation do in order not to fall into such a snare? They should pray under condition in this wise:

‘If this minister has said that which he ought to say, I truly believe that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, given to me as food by the fire of Thine inestimable charity; and in memory of Thy most sweet passion, and the great benefit of the blood which Thou didst shed with such fire of love to wash away our iniquities.’

By this means the blindness of the priest will not bring them into darkness, causing them to adore one thing for another, the guilt will attach to the miserable minister alone, the congregation will only commit a material mistake.


**By the way, this is from the 1896 edition of Algar Thorold's translation of The Dialogue. The TAN book reprint is from a highly abridged version, so get the whole thing from Google Books!