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"At Castelnuovo, where there was a family gathering and great rejoicing, his mother said to him, what he calls "these memorable words": You are a priest. In saying Mass henceforward you are then nearest to Jesus Christ. Remember, however, that to begin to say Mass means to begin to suffer. You will not realize it at once, but little by little you will see that your mother has told you the truth. I am confident that every day you will pray for me, whether I am living or dead: that is enough for me. Henceforward, think only of the salvation of souls, and don't be troubled in mind about me."

Source:  R.F. O'Connor Venerable Don Bosco The American Catholic Quarterly Review ..., Volume 46 1921

"Pope Pius X is convinced that on the character of the clergy mainly depend the present welfare and the future hopes of religion. He is convinced that in modern times the Church needs ministers of more than ordinary virtue, men who are ever ready to spend themselves for Christ and to suffer hard things for His sake. Hence he observes with alarm the growth of a worldly spirit in some of the clergy - disregard for mental prayer, indifference to spiritual reading, neglect of self-examination - and he foretells with sorrow what will be the bitter fruits of such worldliness. Sacred duties will be callously performed, the light of the faith will be darkened, dangerous novelties will be preferred to sound doctrine, human wisdom will be substituted for the Word of God, and pride and contumacy will take the place of the humility and meekness of Christ."

Source: The Priest of Today, His Ideals and His duties, by Thomas O'Donnell C.M. 1910

"St. Thomas Aquinas thus defines man's duties towards God: "Man is bound to render homage to God for these four reasons: because of God's supreme Majesty, of blessings received, of sins committed, of benefits hoped for." When dying on the Cross, Christ rendered this fourfold homage to His Eternal Father. This homage, being the homage of God to God, is of infinite value, but man's homage, the homage of limited, sinful man, is by itself insufficient to render to God what is due to Him. Man's only hope of making his homage acceptable to God, is in the merits of the Cross, and so of Holy Mass; it is in the union of his homage to the homage of the God-Man to the Eternal Father. A Christian is by baptism a member of the Church, but the Church is the Spouse of Jesus, the Royal Prince: Regina Formosissima Christo jugata Principi.

Christ and His Church always act together. Whatever is done by the Church, it is Christ who does it; whatever Christ does in the faithful, He does through the instrumentality of His Church. Christ is one with the Church by bearing her sins; the Church is one with Christ by bearing His Cross. Everything in the Church points to the Altar, to the Sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Mass is the great action of the Church, and through Holy Mass, man is able to pay his fourfold duty to God, to pay full homage to God. These duties, defined by St. Thomas, are summed up in these four words: "Adoration, Thanksgiving, Propitiation, Supplication." These are also four ends as well as the four fruits of Mass."

Source: Report of the Nineteenth Eucharistic Congress, Held at Westminster, London  from 9th to 13th September 1908

"It is not man who causes the things lying on the altar to become the Body and Blood of Christ; but that Christ who was crucified for us. The priest stands performing his office, and pronouncing the words; but the power and grace are the power and grace of God. He says, this is my body, and these words effects the change of the things offered."

Source:The United States Catholic Magazine and Monthly Review, Volume 3. Homely de Prodi. Judae. St. John Chrysostom

"Kneeling indicates and promotes the adoration necessary before receiving the Eucharistic Christ. From this perspective, the then-Cardinal Ratzinger assured that: "Communion only reaches its true depth when it is supported and surrounded by adoration."

Source: The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000), p. 90