Striking Our Breast

                 At the words “through my fault,” we strike our breast. Why? In the ancient world, striking one’s breast was a sign of mourning. At Jesus’ death on the cross, the Gospel of Luke recounts that the crowd returned to their homes “beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48). Zechariah the prophet had prophesied that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would do this when he said, “When they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child.”

             Our sins are our death warrant. We beat our breasts as we declare our sinfulness in the Confiteor in imitation of the tax collector who “standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ (To beat your breast, make a fist with your right hand and bring it to your chest, and strike it. One should dot his for symbolism rather than for show.)

 Pray for me

 We call upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints in heaven, the people in our midst to pray to God for us.

             Stop and think about this for a moment. The ancient belief of the Church is that when we gather to pray as a Church, the group that gathers is more than meets the eye. Literally, heaven comes down to this spot, and we are joined by all of its inhabitants-the angels and all the saints. Most Catholic churches have art that symbolizes the presence of these others by statues and painted images. As we ask them to join our prayer, we should be mindful of the purity of their prayers-my neighbor might think for a second to pray for me, but surely if I ask the Mother of God, the saints, and the angels to pray for me, they will do so incessantly.

             In a materialistic world, we tend to forget that there is more to the world than meets the eye. We acknowledge the unseen in the signals sent to our cell phones or other wireless devices, but fail many times to call upon the much more powerful force and certainly time tested power of God’s angels and saints.

Give thought to what you are asking the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and the saints to do. Also give thought to what the people gathered with you and the priest are asking you to do and do it. Ask God to hear their prayers!