Metro Detroit — In the early 1990s, Walt Romano and his wife were planning out a youth retreat for the teens of their parish, the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak.

Romano was taking classes at Sacred Heart Major Seminary at the time, including a liturgy and sacraments course. He was amazed at the history and beauty of the Church’s sacraments, and decided he wanted to present this knowledge to the parish youth.

But then he thought “If one of these high school kids asks you if you really believe this, if you really think this is true, why aren’t you going to Mass every day?”

“The only answer I could come up with was ‘sleep,’” Romano told The Michigan Catholic in a recent phone conversation.

Romano had felt an “inkling of the Holy Spirit” in the past, urging him to consider attending daily morning Mass, but this revelation confirmed what he needed to do.

“I thought, ‘I am sacrificing Jesus in the Eucharist every single day for an extra hour of sleep,’” he said. “It hit me. I thought, ‘that’s it, I’m doing it.’”

None of the teens asked that question, by the way, but Romano has made the effort to attend daily Mass ever since.

 

Good perspective

Romano said he is grateful that Shrine offers both a 6:30 a.m. Mass and an 8 a.m. Mass on weekdays; he is able to get to the 6:30 every day before work.

He considers morning Mass “definitely a true sense of peace to start off my day” and says it “sets the tone for being open to the Holy Spirit the rest of the day.”

Additionally, his early-morning devotion puts the rest of his day into perspective, especially if he is anxious or struggling with priorities.

“And I see my parents every day because they’re there,” he added.

Romano said his coworkers know about his daily Mass attendance, and will ask him to pray for them at church.

“It’s become a part of my life; something I become excited about every day,” he said. “You don’t look at it as an obligation. A lot of people see Sunday as … ‘something you have to do.’”

But with the conscious choice to attend daily Mass, the thought is “I’m going to make every day the Lord’s day.”

 

Lenten promise

Jerry Ashe, a parishioner of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Farmington, decided to start attending daily Mass for his Lenten devotions this year.

“I see it as a way of thanking Jesus for his sacrifice that he did for us,” Ashe said. “I also use it as a good way to start my day in a loving, prayerful manner.”

Ashe said he expects to continue after Easter and that starting during Lent simply “jump-started me into it.”

A daily Mass is not entirely different from a Sunday Mass, he said — it’s still Mass, after all — but it is shorter. And somewhat “unfortunately,” he added, “there are less people.”

However, with the smaller, more intimate setting, “I can concentrate more and have less distraction, (and) concentrate on those I want to pray for in a deeper fashion.”

Some people might think daily Mass takes too much time out of a busy day, but Ashe encourages them: “I’d advise them to give it a try, and to start (their) day off in a prayerful, spiritually fed way.”

“It’s a shorter Mass, from 30-40 minutes,” he said.

Ashe said morning Mass influences his perspective on the rest of the day, such as if he has a meeting or other appointment. He said it helps him become “more Christ-like throughout the day.”

Starting with Mass, he added, helps him be “more understanding of difficulties that other people have.”

 

Quiet time

Mark Maisonneuve and his family have moved around Metro Detroit over the years, but he has always kept up a practice of attending daily Mass.

Maisonneuve currently goes to morning Mass at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, but in the past has attended at St. Basil Parish in Eastpointe, St. Lucy Parish in St. Clair Shores, St. Mary Magdalen in Hazel Park, St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores,  St. Veronica in Eastpointe and others.

He credits the website MassTimes.org in helping him find daily Mass wherever he goes.

“I’ve been to a number of different parishes for morning Mass, (and it) varies all over the map,” he said.

Maisonneuve said the morning Masses he usually prefers “tend to be quiet, with no organ music.”

He appreciates what he calls the “silent spaces” during daily Mass, where he finds it easier to “mentally insert my own prayers, petitions.”

He said after going to daily Mass for many years, he tends to recognize the other faces in the pews. St. Joan of Arc Parish actually has a daily Mass get-together once a year with pastries and coffee, he said, since “we see you every day, so why not?”

Maisonneuve said daily Mass homilies are “pithier” since they are shorter and usually only focus on one point.

He also enjoys following the Scripture stories over the course of several days, such as recently following the story of Ruth, and the story of Daniel.

“It’s nice,” he said.

 

Daily Mass schedules

Weekday Masses can be in the morning, at noon, or in the evening. For daily Mass times near you, visit www.aod.org/mass-times.