De la sainte messe
Formation in Eucharistic Reverence
Children are guided into the habit of attending Mass with discipline, prioritizing their spiritual formation over mere presence.
After Terce, they all go to holy Mass, except for the very little ones, or a few who would still be flighty and playful; and in that case a sister stays to look after them and to have them hear holy Mass with the same reverence as in church. They are trained from childhood to hear holy Mass on their knees; experience has shown that this posture isn't so hard once you're used to it from an early age. It has been judged much better, when the children are little or too flighty, to keep them in the room when there is no obligation to go to church, than to let them form a bad habit of talking or fooling around there.
The Interior Spirit of the Sacrifice
The children are taught to approach the Mass with outward posture and inward reliance on the Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of the Sub tuum praesidium, and so on, which is an antiphon of the Blessed Virgin sung immediately before Holy Mass, they all kneel two by two in the middle of the choir, spaced slightly apart, with hands joined over their scapulars, and without gloves for the entire duration of the Mass. They must remain there with deep reverence, their attention fixed on God; that is why we take care to instruct them thoroughly in all the ceremonies and parts of the holy sacrifice. For this, they use the Practice and Explanations of M. de Saint-Cyran on Holy Mass;1 de Saint-Cyran on Holy Mass; and they are taught to receive from God the prayers they ought to make, by being taught that they cannot make any that are pleasing to God unless the Holy Spirit forms them within them—because it is he who groans and prays in us.✦
The Necessity of Holy Respect
Strict adherence to reverence in church is required, with disciplinary measures used to ensure the children understand the gravity of the holy sacrifice.
I can't help saying here that you can never recommend too strongly to the children respect in church, and especially during holy Mass; and that the faults committed there must be firmly punished, and even that they should be kept from entering the church except on feast days, for as long as this deprivation is judged necessary for their good—even if they are the oldest ones. For if they are older, they should be wiser.
Read the original Latin
Ensuite de Tierce, toutes vont à la sainte messe, si ce n'est de fort petites, ou quelques-unes qui seraient encore légères et badines, et en ce cas il demeure une sœur pour les garder, et leur faire entendre la sainte messe dans le même respect qu'à l'église. On les accoutume de jeunesse à entendre la sainte messe à genoux ; l'on a éprouvé que cette posture n'est pas si difficile quand on y est accoutumé de bonne heure.
On a jugé qu'il vaut beaucoup mieux, quand les enfants sont petites ou trop légères, de les retenir à la chambre, lorsqu'il n'y a pas d'obligation d'aller à l'église, que de leur laisser prendre une mauvaise habitude d'y parler ou d'y badiner.
Au commencement du Sub tuum præsidium, etc. , qui est une antienne de la sainte Vierge qu'on chante immédiatement devant la sainte messe, elles se mettent toutes à genoux deux à deux au milieu du chœur, un peu éloignées les unes des autres, les mains jointes dessus leur scapulaire, et sans gants tout le long de la messe. Elles s'y doivent tenir dans un grand respect et application à Dieu : c'est pourquoi on tâche de les bien instruire sur toutes les cérémonies et parties du saint sacrifice. Elles se servent pour cela de la pratique et des Explications de M. de Saint-Cyran sur la sainte messe, et on les instruit à recevoir de Dieu les prières qu'il faut qu'elles fassent, en leur apprenant qu'elles n'en sauraient faire qui soient agréables à Dieu, si le Saint-Esprit ne les forme en elles; parce que c'est lui qui gémit et qui prie en nous.
Je ne puis m'empêcher de dire ici que l'on ne saurait trop recommander aux enfants le respect à l'église, et particulièrement pendant la sainte messe; et qu'il faut punir avec force les fautes qui s'y commettent, et même les priver d'entrer en l'église hors les jours de fête, autant de temps que l'on jugerait cette privation nécessaire pour leur bien, quand ce serait les plus grandes. Car si elles sont plus âgées, elles doivent être plus sages.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rom.8.26 — In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
Notes
- 1 ↩Sentence is cut mid-title before the author name; continued in s5 as M. de Saint-Cyran. 'la pratique et des Explications' likely names a known devotional title pair used for Mass instruction.
Règlement pour les enfants companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit