I would like to show you from the beginning what is happening during the Holy Mass and the workings of the hidden symbols within it, symbols which today are not completely understood. Everything begins with the ascension of the priest on the Mountain of Golgotha, so-called the steps of the Altar. It indicates the readiness to make the Sacrifice, the suffering of God connected with his own suffering. The priest, by proceeding on the steps of the Altar, must be aware that he himself becomes a sacrifice for God, because Christ, by making him a priest, has made Himself a Sacrifice within this priest and his body serves as the Ark of the Covenant for Christ on earth. This is what every priest walking on earth became: a dwelling for the living God, who acts, suffers, teaches and dies within him. So, by ascending the steps of the Altar, the priest should profess in his heart his readiness to suffer with Jesus. Each member of the Church should come to the Holy Mass with the desire to participate in and with the readiness to accept even a part of the suffering of the Savior, or at least to alleviate His suffering through sincere compassion.

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Translated from: Tajemnica Mszy świętej według św. Ojca Pio na podstawie Orędzi na Czasy Ostateczne które własnie nadeszły, Grzechynia 2013, p. 18-19 –

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