the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the Patronal Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

“Frequently at Mass, [St. Thomas Aquinas] was literally overcome … for he was consumed by the great mystery of this holy sacrament,” said Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, O.P., secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass.

Archbishop Di Noia used St. Thomas Aquinas as an example of how Catholics today might reinvigorate their experience at Mass, an experience that to some becomes full of distractions, a routine, or an experience that feels “old,” he said.

Rather than thinking this way, Archbishop Di Noia said, “What we should do is ask ourselves, ‘What am I missing?’ ” He recommended that people take more time to reflect on the deep mysteries of the Catholic faith.