Month: February 2024

After the “Gloria” has been sung or recited, the priest invites the assembly to pray. Then the priest says the “collect” prayer and by which the character of the celebration is expressed. The collect prayer is usually addressed to God the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and is concluded with a trinitarian ending. The people, uniting themselves to this entreaty, make the prayer their own with the acclamation, Amen. (GIRM 54)

The Collect the introductory rites of the Mass conclude and then proceeds to the Liturgy of the Word.

The Liturgy of the Word is to be celebrated in such a way as to promote meditation, and so any sort of haste that hinders recollection must clearly be avoided. It is also appropriate to include brief periods of silence, in which, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the word of God may be grasped by the heart. It may be appropriate to observe such periods of silence, before the Liturgy of the Word itself begins, after the first and second reading, and lastly at the conclusion of the homily (GIRM 56).

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. Moreover, it is unlawful to substitute other, non-biblical texts for the readings and responsorial Psalm, which contain the word of God (GIRM 57).

The function of proclaiming the readings is ministerial, not presidential. The readings, therefore, should be proclaimed by a lector; On the other hand, the deacon, or in his absence, the priest, will proclaim the Gospel (GIRM 59).

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.  It is preferable that the responsorial Psalm be sung, at least as far as the people’s response is concerned. Hence, the psalmist, or the cantor of the Psalm, sings the verses of the Psalm from the ambo or another suitable place (GIRM 61).

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 The Alleluia is sung in every season other than Lent (GIRM 62).

The homily is part of the Liturgy for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life (GIRM 65). The homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself, He may entrust it, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person (GIRM 66).

Let us listen attentively to the readings and the Gospel that are the living word of God and nourishment of our spirit, let us also listen attentively to the homily which calls us to reflect on the Scriptures and their application to our lives.

When the entrance procession is over, and the priest and the deacon have been venerated at the altar, and after incensing it in the case of solemn celebrations, the priest goes to his chair and, together with the whole assembly, makes the sign of the cross, while saying: “In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” to which the assembly responds “Amen,” thus acknowledging that God is one expressed in the Holy Trinity.

The priest then salutes the assembly, which can be given in its short version: “The Lord be with you” or in its longer form: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”, (Roman Missal 2), the response of the assembly being “And with your spirit”. It is through this greeting and the response of the assembly that the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest (GIRM 50)

The priest then invites those present to take part in the Act of Penitence which, after a brief pause of silence, is carried out by means of the formula of the general confession of the whole community, and concludes with the absolution of the priest which, however, lacks the efficacy of the sacrament of Penance (GIRM 51). Which means, this absolution is only for those venial sins of which we are truly repentant, for in order to be absolved of mortal sins we must attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance.

Once the Act of Penitence is over, it is always followed by the “Lord, have mercy…”  where, after having confessed ourselves to be sinners, we ask for the mercy of our Lord, so that he may accept our sacrifice and find us worthy to receive him in communion.

The introductory rites conclude with the “Gloria” in which we join the angels of heaven in proclaiming the immeasurable glory of God, we ask our Lord Jesus Christ to hear us and have mercy on us, since He is the one who takes away the sin of the world. It should be noted that at the mention of our Lord’s name we bow, not only following the norms of the Church (GIRM 275), but also the scriptures (Philippians 2:9-11). The singing or recitation of the Gloria is suspended during the liturgical seasons of preparation, Lent and Advent.

Let us participate attentively in the introductory rites of the Mass, for they not only prepare us to be nourished by the Word of God and the Body and Blood of our Lord, but they work for the purification of our soul and prepare us to be one with Jesus Christ.

The formal beginning of the Mass is the entrance procession. Even if, for some reason, ministers do not enter a large procession from the back of the church, a formal entrance must be made. This entry is usually accompanied by a song. This song opens us to the action of the Holy Spirit. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal points out that singing is a way of showing and intensifying our unity with one another (GIRM 47), that is why the choir or cantor leads the assembly so that all together they sing this song of praise.

The Mass begins with a procession in which the celebrant and assistants approach the presbytery in procession, the order of the participants in the procession is established as follows: The thurifer with the smoking censer, when incense is used; the ministers or altar servers who carry the lighted candles and in the midst of them the acolyte or a minister carrying the processional cross; acolytes and other ministers; the deacon or, in his absence, the assigned lector carrying the Book of the Gospels elevated; and finally the priest who is going to celebrate Mass (GIRM 210).

Once the procession reaches the presbytery, the priest and all the members of the procession bow to the altar, the Book of the Gospels is placed on the altar, the priest and deacon approach the altar and kiss it at the same time, and depending on the occasion, the priest incenses the altar. All this is done because during the Mass, the altar represents Jesus Christ, as it carries in its mensa five crosses, one for each of the five wounds of Jesus Christ bore on the cross; when a church and its altar are consecrated, the altar is anointed by the bishop with the same oil that is used to consecrate the hands of priests and the heads of bishops (Dedication of a Church and an Altar 16a ). This is why, during Mass, reverence is made towards the altar.

Let us spiritually accompany the priest and his ministers during the entrance procession, for this also means for each of us a procession from our earthly nature to the Kingdom of God, from whom we will hear during Mass and share the banquet that He Himself has prepared for us so that we may have eternal life.

During Mass, the priest that presides is always reading from the book placed on the altar. Why is that? Shouldn’t he already know what is said at Mass? The book from which the priest reads is called the Roman Missal, which contains the structure and prayers that will be made during the Mass according to the liturgical season, as well as the Eucharistic prayers. This book also contains special indications for the celebrant called rubrics, where the rules according to which the liturgy is celebrated are indicated, they bear this name because they are written in red ink on the missal to distinguish them from the rest of the prayers.

The use of the missal is very important, since it means that Masses follow the same format in all the places where they are celebrated, thus forming a fundamental part of the unity and universality of the Church.

In the Roman Missal we can also find the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which establishes the norms of how the Mass is to be celebrated, either with only the priest (GIRM 120-170), with the priest and a deacon (GIRM 171-186), or a concelebrated Mass (GIRM 199-251); what should be the order of the participants of the entrance procession (GIRM 120); at what times genuflection and bowing should be made (GIRM 274-275), what words should be said on certain occasions, for example, when distributing communion (GIRM 286-287).

Let us celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice wherever we are, whether at home, visiting someone, or on vacation, for our Holy Mother Church has allowed us to feel at home every time we attend Mass, which we recognize by praying the Creed when we say the phrase “I believe in One,  Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”