Ordo Missae

Scattered people become one assembly. The song says what day this is and the procession shows who is coming to the altar: the Church, led by her ministers, approaches the sacrifice that Christ offered once for all.

After the people have gathered, the Entrance chant begins as the priest enters with the deacon and ministers.

Who and where

The priest, deacon and ministers go in procession with the cross and candles; the priest kisses the altar, goes to the chair, makes the Sign of the Cross and greets the people.

Texts

The entrance antiphon is proper to the day, though another chant may be sung.

Before the word is heard and the gifts are offered the assembly names its need of mercy. Humility is the door: no one comes to the altar on merit, and the rite of reconciliation here does not take the place of the Sacrament of Penance.

Then the priest invites those present to take part in the Act of Penitence, which, after a brief pause for silence, the entire community carries out through a formula of general confession. The rite concludes with the priest’s absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance.

Who and where

The priest invites the assembly to repentance; all say the Confiteor or another form; the priest gives the absolution.

The oldest Greek cry of the Roman liturgy. The assembly does not so much confess as acclaim the Lord, asking his mercy by naming him.

After the Act of Penitence, the Kyrie is always begun, unless it has already been included as part of the Act of Penitence. Since it is a chant by which the faithful acclaim the Lord and implore his mercy, it is ordinarily done by all, that is, by the people and the choir or cantor having a part in it.

Who and where

Sung or said by all, alternating with the choir or cantor, unless it has already been used in the Penitential Act.

The song of the angels at Bethlehem, taken up by the Church. Praise precedes petition: the Church gives glory to the Trinity before she asks for anything.

The Gloria is a very ancient and venerable hymn in which the Church, gathered together in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb. The text of this hymn may not be replaced by any other text.

Who and where

Intoned by the priest, cantor or choir; sung or said by all.

Text

Said on Sundays outside Advent and Lent, and on solemnities and feasts.

The name means a gathering. After a silence in which each person lays their own intention before God, the priest gathers them all into one prayer and presents it to the Father through the Son, and the people make it theirs with Amen.

Next the priest invites the people to pray. All, together with the priest, observe a brief silence so that they may be conscious of the fact that they are in God’s presence and may formulate their petitions mentally.

Who and where

The priest says Oremus, keeps silence with the people, and prays with hands extended; the people answer Amen.

Texts

The collect is proper to the day.

The Church reads the Old Testament as promise: here the history of God’s dealings with his people is opened so that the Gospel can be heard as its fulfilment. Christ is present in his word as truly as in the sacrament, and the Church honours both tables.

In the readings, the table of God’s word is prepared for the faithful, and the riches of the Bible are opened to them. Hence, it is preferable to maintain the arrangement of the biblical readings, by which light is shed on the unity of both Testaments and of salvation history.

Who and where

The lector reads from the ambo; the people sit and listen and answer Deo gratias.

Texts

The readings are those of the lectionary for the day.

The Psalter is the prayer Christ himself prayed. The people answer the word they have heard with the words God gave for answering, so that listening turns to prayer.

After the first reading comes the responsorial Psalm, which is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word and holds great liturgical and pastoral importance, because it fosters meditation on the word of God.

Who and where

The psalmist or cantor sings or says the verses from the ambo; the people reply with the response.

The apostolic witness: how those who knew Christ taught the first Churches to live in him. It prepares the people to receive the Gospel not as a story about the past but as the word of the Lord who is now present.

Who and where

The lector reads from the ambo; the people sit.

Texts

On Sundays and solemnities, usually from the apostles.

A moment of welcome. The assembly rises to greet the Lord who is about to speak, and so it sings, not reads, to receive him.

After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant indicated by the rubrics is sung, as required by the liturgical season.

Who and where

All stand; the cantor and people sing the Alleluia and verse.

Texts

The verse is proper to the day; in Lent the Alleluia is replaced by another acclamation.

The summit of the Liturgy of the Word. The Gospel is honoured with incense, candles, a kiss and a standing posture because it is the voice of Christ. The homily then draws out how what was proclaimed bears on the mystery celebrated today, so that the word leads into the sacrifice.

The reading of the Gospel is the high point of the Liturgy of the Word.

Who and where

The deacon or priest proclaims the Gospel from the ambo and preaches; the people stand for the Gospel and sit for the homily.

The people’s assent. Having heard the word, they say what they believe, in the words the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople gave to the whole Church, and so stand in unity with the faith of every age.

The purpose of the Symbolum or Profession of Faith, or Creed, is that the whole gathered people may respond to the word of God proclaimed in the readings taken from Sacred Scripture and explained in the homily and that they may also call to mind and confess the great mysteries of the faith by reciting the rule of faith in a formula approved for liturgical use, before these mysteries are celebrated in the Eucharist.

Who and where

The priest and people say or sing the Creed together, bowing at the words on the Incarnation.

Text

Said on Sundays and solemnities.

The baptised exercise their priesthood by interceding for others: the Church, those who govern, those in need and the salvation of the whole world. The Mass is never only for those present.

In the Prayer of the Faithful, the people respond in a certain way to the word of God which they have welcomed in faith and, exercising the office of their baptismal priesthood, offer prayers to God for the salvation of all.

Who and where

The priest introduces and concludes from the chair; the deacon, cantor or lector announces the intentions; the people respond.

Texts

The intentions are composed for the day.

Ordinary bread and wine, “fruit of the earth and work of human hands”, are brought forward with the gifts for the poor, and with them the offering of the people’s own lives. Nothing is yet sacrifice; this is the setting of the table.

The bread and wine are placed on the altar by the priest to the accompaniment of the prescribed formulas. The priest may incense the gifts placed upon the altar and then incense the cross and the altar itself, so as to signify the Church’s offering and prayer rising like incense in the sight of God.

Who and where

Members of the faithful bring the gifts; the priest receives them, places them on the altar with the prescribed prayers, mixes water with the wine and washes his hands.

Text

The offertory antiphon is proper to the day.

The Eucharistic Prayer opens as a thanksgiving, the meaning of the Greek word “eucharist”. The assembly is told to lift up its heart and is joined to the angels in the song of Isaiah’s vision, so that the earthly liturgy is a share in the heavenly one.

Thanksgiving (expressed especially in the Preface): In which the priest, in the name of the entire holy people, glorifies God the Father and gives thanks for the whole work of salvation or for some special aspect of it that corresponds to the day, festivity, or season.

Who and where

The priest sings or says the dialogue and Preface; all sing or say the Sanctus, standing or kneeling according to local norm.

Texts

The preface is proper to the season or feast; the dialogue and Sanctus are fixed.

The centre of the whole celebration. By the words and actions of Christ at the Last Supper the one sacrifice of the Cross is made present under the signs of bread and wine, and the Church offers it to the Father with Christ, in the Spirit, and offers herself with it. The parts below are those the Church names.

Now the center and summit of the entire celebration begins: namely, the Eucharistic Prayer, that is, the prayer of thanksgiving and sanctification.

Who and where

The priest alone speaks the prayer in the person of Christ; the people listen in reverent silence, and join in the Sanctus and the Memorial Acclamation.

Text

One of the Eucharistic Prayers of the Roman Missal; the form is fixed, the choice varies.

The whole prayer is gathered into one act of praise: “through him, with him, in him”. The people’s Amen is not an afterthought but their consent to everything the priest has said in their name, and the oldest acclamation of the Eucharistic assembly.

Final doxology: By which the glorification of God is expressed and which is confirmed and concluded by the people’s acclamation, Amen.

Who and where

The priest raises the paten and chalice; the people answer Amen.

The prayer of the children of God, as ordinary as bread and as large as the Kingdom. Here the petition for daily bread is heard as a petition for the Eucharistic bread, and the petition for forgiveness as a preparation to receive it.

In the Lord’s Prayer a petition is made for daily food, which for Christians means preeminently the Eucharistic bread, and also for purification from sin, so that what is holy may, in fact, be given to those who are holy.

Who and where

The priest introduces it, all say it, and the priest adds the embolism, “Deliver us, Lord”, to which the people answer with the doxology.

Before sharing the one bread the assembly asks for the peace that only Christ gives and expresses the communion it already has in him. It is a sign of reconciliation, not a greeting.

The Rite of Peace follows, by which the Church asks for peace and unity for herself and for the whole human family, and the faithful express to each other their ecclesial communion and mutual charity before communicating in the Sacrament.

Who and where

The priest prays for peace and says “The peace of the Lord be with you always”; the deacon or priest may invite the sign of peace.

To “break bread” was the first name Christians gave to the whole Eucharist. The one bread is broken so that it can be shared, and the people, naming Christ as the Lamb, ask mercy and peace.

The priest breaks the Eucharistic Bread, assisted, if the case calls for it, by the deacon or a concelebrant.

Who and where

The priest breaks the host and places a particle in the chalice while the Agnus Dei is sung or said.

The purpose of the whole Mass: the faithful are united to Christ and to one another by receiving his Body and Blood. The song and the procession express one communion; the silence afterwards lets the gift be received.

While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion.

Who and where

The priest shows the host and says “Behold the Lamb of God”; the people answer “Lord, I am not worthy”; the priest and ministers distribute Communion while the communion chant is sung.

Texts

The communion antiphon is proper to the day.

The Church thanks God and prays that what has been received in the sacrament may become fruitful in life. This is the last of the three presidential prayers, and it completes the Communion Rite.

To bring to completion the prayer of the People of God, and also to conclude the entire Communion Rite, the priest says the Prayer after Communion, in which he prays for the fruits of the mystery just celebrated.

Who and where

After a period of sacred silence or a hymn of praise, the priest says the prayer from the chair; the people answer Amen.

Texts

The prayer after communion is proper to the day.

The people are sent out under the blessing of the Trinity. What has been received at the altar is now to be carried into ordinary life.

The priest’s greeting and blessing, which on certain days and occasions is enriched and expressed in the prayer over the People or another more solemn formula.

Who and where

After any brief announcements, the priest greets the people and blesses them; the people answer Amen.

Text

A solemn blessing or prayer over the people may be used on some days.

The word “Mass” itself comes from this sending: Ite, missa est. The assembly disperses to love and serve the Lord in their daily lives.

The dismissal of the people by the deacon or the priest, so that each may go out to do good works, praising and blessing God.

Who and where

The deacon or priest dismisses the people; they answer Deo gratias; the priest venerates the altar and the ministers withdraw.