The Four Ends of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

The four ends of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass — adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition — provide us with a wonderful schema for an encounter with God in the Divine Liturgy and a blueprint for successful relationships between us all.

Through adoration we give glory to God. In thanksgiving we develop a sensitivity as we see more clearly through the lens of humility all God has bestowed upon us. In reparation we make amends for ourselves and for other's faults. Finally, petition draws us to beseech the Almighty for our needs in the order of grace and in the order of nature.

Together adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition are aspects of an intimate exchange of persons that bind us deeper into the mystery of love. Today allow the Holy Mass to become the nuclear core of your relationships.