Category: Mass

Posted on

Why do the readings change during some Sundays of Lent?

During the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent, some years the readings change from its corresponding liturgical cycle to readings from cycle A, why is this change? In order to answer this question, we must go back to two moments in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ where He leaves us a responsibility, one of them is on Thursday when he celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples, Jesus, took bread, blessed it, broke it and distributed it to his disciples, saying to them “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22:18-20), and it is because of these words that we celebrate the Mass, the readings of which our Holy Mother Church has established in three annual cycles.

Between these words and the following ones that we must evaluate, the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ occurs. His death and resurrection are the most important events in Christian theology. They form the point in Scripture where Jesus gives His ultimate demonstration that He has power over life and death, so He has the ability to give people eternal life.

The second moment comes from the words that our Lord pronounces after his resurrection: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19), this is the call to our mission of evangelization.

When there are people who wish to enter the Catholic Church and receive these three sacraments, the church brings us readings from the Gospel of St. John during these Sundays, to focus on the spiritual journey of those who are preparing to be received into the Catholic faith, emphasizing themes of healing, conversion, and the promise of eternal life.

These readings are part of one of the rites of Christian initiation known as scrutinies. The first scrutiny focuses on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, which symbolizes the thirst for spiritual truth and the offering of Christ as living water.

The second scrutiny focuses on Jesus’ healing of the man born blind, emphasizing the gift of sight and overcoming spiritual darkness, since Christ is the light of the world.

The third scrutiny presents Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, representing Christ’s power over death and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Let us rejoice when we hear these readings outside of their liturgical cycle, for this means that we are fulfilling the mission that our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to us before His ascension into heaven: to evangelize people of all nations and to make them disciples of our Lord.

Posted on

What are the corporal postures I should do during Mass?

In the celebration of Mass, we lift up our hearts, our minds and our voices to God, because we are creatures composed of body and soul and that is why our prayer is not confined to our minds, our hearts and our voices, but is also expressed in our body. When our bodies participate in our prayer, we pray with our whole person, as incarnate spirits just as God created us.

Every bodily posture we assume at Mass emphasizes and reinforces the meaning of the action in which we are engaged. Standing is a sign of respect and honor and so we stand when the celebrant, who represents Christ, enters and leaves the assembly. When we stand for prayer, we assume the fullness of our stature before God, not with pride, but with humble gratitude for the wonderful things God has done in creating and redeeming us. We stand to listen to the gospel, the summit of revelation, the words and deeds of the Lord.

The kneeling posture has come to mean worship. It is for this reason that we kneel throughout the Eucharistic Prayer after the singing or praying of the Saint.

Sitting is the body posture for listening and meditation; therefore, the assembly sits during the pre-Gospel readings.

However, there are other bodily gestures that intensify our prayer at Mass. During the penitential act, the action of beating our chest at the moment of formulating the words “through my fault” can strengthen our awareness that our sin is our fault. In the Creed, we are invited to bow to the words that commemorate the Incarnation: “He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” This gesture signifies our deep respect and gratitude to Christ who, through God, did not hesitate to come among us as a human being and share our human condition to save us from sin and reestablish our friendship with God.

After the Lord’s Prayer comes the Greeting of Peace, a gesture through which we express through a handshake and the devout greeting of peace that accompanies it. This exchange is symbolic. Sharing peace with the people around us represents, for us as well as for them, the totality of the Church’s community and of all humanity.

We make a sign of reverence, before receiving Communion, a bow, a gesture by which we express our reverence and honor Christ, who comes to us as spiritual food. The postures and bodily gestures that we make at Mass fulfill a very important function. The Church sees in these common postures and bodily gestures both a symbol of the unity of those who have come to worship and a means of protecting that unity. We are not free to change these postures to suit our own piety, for the Church makes it very clear that our unity in bodily postures and gestures are an expression of our participation in the one Body formed by those baptized with Christ, our head. When we stand, when we kneel, when we sit, when we bow, as well as when we make a sign as a common action, we unambiguously testify that we are indeed the Body of Christ, united in heart, mind, and spirit.

USCCB, “Posturas y gestos corporales en la Misa”, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, accessed 17 November 2024, https://www.usccb.org/es/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/posturas-y-gestos-corporales-en-la-misa

Posted on

How are the readings at Mass selected?

When you enter an old-style Church, it usually has stained-glass windows. In medieval churches, for a populace that couldn’t read, they often beautifully communicated biblical truths essential to the Catholic Faith. 

While literacy is no longer rare, we sometimes remain like the medieval faithful. If we are a bit lackadaisical, it can happen that we are mostly exposed to the essential narrative of our Faith at church. That means the readings we hear from Scripture must be selected like stained glass windows.

The narrative of biblical history can’t fit into individual window frames, so scenes are chosen, capable of imprinting themselves on the mind and stirring the imagination to meditation. If the only place we hear the Word of God is at Mass, the Church in her wisdom does something similar for us. She selects complementary scenes. 

On Sundays, these consist of a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, a Psalm, a New Testament reading, and a reading from the Gospels. These are chosen to fit beautifully into the frame of the Mass. We’re obligated to be present on Sundays, so the Church knows this is her chance to reach us with an exposure to God’s Word that will leave a lasting impression on our hearts, usually with an apprehendable theme.

Did you ever notice how the readings we hear at any one Mass seem to make special sense when taken together? On the seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary time of Cycle B, we heard about Solomon as a youth (1 Kings 3:5-7). Daunted by his own inexperience, he asked God for wisdom. So moved by the humble insight of his prayer, which sought God’s will above material things, God grants him the surpassing wisdom for which he is remembered.

When we then hear God’s Word from his very own lips in the Gospel, it is after meditating on this wisdom. Jesus speaks to us about the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:44-46). Its value is such a treasure—like a pearl of great price—that one who recognizes it would rid himself of everything else he has to obtain it. This recognition is wisdom par excellence, and the sentiment echoes the Psalm, which joyfully exclaimed that God’s law “is more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Psalm 119).

It’s quite amazing how often this happens. To do it, while also meeting the goal of ensuring that even the most lukewarm souls present are guaranteed as complete an exposure to the whole of the Bible as possible if they meet their minimal obligations as a Catholic, the Church has organized the Lectionary .  

In short, Sunday readings repeat every three years, called A, B, and C.  In year A, the Gospels are mostly from Matthew, year B is mostly Mark, and year C is mostly Luke. The Old Testament reading is selected to reflect a theme from the Gospel, and the Psalm often does the same. The second reading, usually an Epistle, typically follows in order of the Sunday preceding. Where’s John’s Gospel, you may ask? We mostly hear the Gospel of John during the Easter season of every year. 

Let’s be attentive every Sunday to the Word of God, Lectures, Psalm and Gospel as they are being read, as our mother Church has prepared them to fit a theme of the history of salvation and to elevate our soul to our God and Savior.

Cardinalli, AnnaMaria. “How to Understand the Cycle of Readings at Mass”, Ascension Press, 20 August 2020, Accessed 19 August 2024, https://media.ascensionpress.com/2020/08/20/how-to-understand-the-cycle-of-readings-at-mass/

Posted on

What can be sung at Mass?

We do not sing at Mass; we sang Mass. Therefore, not just anything can be sung during a Eucharistic Celebration.

The texts that appear in the Roman Missal, whether they are from the ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Holy, Our Father, Lamb of God) or from the proper of the day (collect prayers, on offerings, post communion, preface), can be sung with different tones or melodies. You just have to respect the text and not change it. For example, at the beginning of the Rite of Communion it is not possible to sing “Our Father, You who are in those who love the truth…” because it is the time to pray the Lord’s Prayer; we cannot change the words with which Jesus himself taught us to pray for others.

There are other moments when one can sing, but in which there is no text given by the Roman Missal. This is the case of entrance, the preparation of the gifts and communion. In these cases, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal provides for the singing of the antiphon provided for each celebration by the Roman Gradual or the Simple Gradual (nn. 48, 74, 87).

The Roman Gradual, the latest version of which is from 1974, includes the texts set to music for these parts of the Mass. The Second Vatican Council asked that “an edition be prepared containing simpler modes, for the use of the minor churches” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 117). That is why a simplified version called ” Simple Gradual” was published.

However, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal permits that, instead of the antiphons of the Gradual, in the entrance, in the preparation of the gifts, and in communion, other chants be used, but it establishes that the texts of these chants must be approved by the Conference of Bishops (GIRM 48, 74, 87, 390). That is to say, not just any musical composition that is made will do; It must be approved by the Episcopal Conference to ensure that its text is in accordance with the faith.

For example, not singing the song “Jesus the Friend” at communion. In the text it is said “in every mass you repeat your sacrifice”. However, in the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 7:27) it is said that Jesus offered his sacrifice once and for all; that is, in the Mass the sacrifice is not repeated as the song says; it would have to be said that sacrifice is renewed (CCC 1364, Lumen Gentium 3)

The texts of the graduals are, fundamentally, verses of Sacred Scripture, which gives a clue to the songs that have to be composed for these moments: they must have a biblical basis.

In addition to being approved by the Conference of Bishops, care must be taken that the songs are appropriate to the nature of the sacred action, to the liturgical day or season (GIRM 48). It is not relevant, for example, to sing “Forgive us, your people” at Christmas; or “Soon and Very Soon” on Easter Sunday.

When choosing music for the mass, we are to select songs that have been composed solely for the liturgy, let us promote the songs adequate with the liturgical season, so that music may be a unity with the liturgy, to be perceived by our senses and thus transform our hearts to be ready to listen to the voice of God.

Papal Liturgy, “¿Qué se puede cantar en Misa?” LiturgiaPapal.org, Accesed 6 August 2024, https://liturgiapapal.org/index.php/manual-de-liturgia/m%C3%BAsica-lit%C3%BArgica/780-%C2%BFqu%C3%A9-se-puede-cantar-en-misa.html

Posted on

Why do we come to Mass?

Do we really know why we come to Mass, or just think we know? Are we like the disciples in the road to Emmaus, that thought that they really knew what happened on the first Good Friday? Our Lord Jesus Christ had to explain to them why those events had to happen when he opened their eyes to what the scriptures said about Him.

He may have started with how Abraham brought his son up to mount Moriah, having Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice on his back (Genesis 22:6), the same way as Jesus Christ carried the wooden cross on His back for the sacrifice of the Son of God (John 19:16-17).

How the ram that was finally sacrificed by Abraham instead of his only beloved son had its head entrapped in thorns (Genesis 22:13), as our Lord’s head was also surrounded by a crown of thorns in the way to Calvary.

How in the time right before Exodus, God tells Moses how His people can save themselves from the last plague and be free from slavery: to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, and to mark their doors with the blood of the lamb, and to eat its flesh. How He as a sinless man, saves and frees us from the slavery of sin through His blood and His flesh.

How on what we currently know as Palm Sunday, but in Jesus times would be the day when the sacrificial lambs for Passover would be brought into the city, Jesus the Sacrificial Lamb of God also entered Jerusalem on the same day.

Then He may have asked them what happened on that Friday on Mount Calvary, were they may have thought it was an execution, but it was really the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, were Jesus Christ as High Priest offers the sacrifice of His life in the altar of His body. How that by His passion, death and resurrection; our Lord Jesus Christ, God and man, bridged the unbridgeable gap created by sin between God and humanity.

Do we come to mass then because Jesus is present in the Mass? is the point of the mass the Incarnation of Jesus Christ? The Incarnation makes the point of the Mass possible, but it is not the point of the Mass.

When the priest holds the Body and Blood of Christ in his hands and says: “Thru Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever” (Eucharistic Prayer I), that is the moment when Jesus in the cross says “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit” (Luke 23:45) were with His last ounce of breath He offers His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity to God the Father.

Let’s recognize our Lord in the transubstantiated species, and that we come to Mass to commemorate this passion, death and resurrection, from which the salvation of humanity was brought to us, that we are saved from the death of sin by the blood and flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Schmidt, Michael “The Greatest Love Story” 10th National Eucharistic Congress, 18 July 2024, Indianapolis, Indiana

Posted on

What is the importance of the concluding rites of the Mass?

After communion, it is appropriate to leave a time of silence so that both the priest and the faithful can take advantage of these moments of intimacy with the Lord. The Holy Father, in his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, affirms in this regard: ” Furthermore, the precious time of thanksgiving after communion should not be neglected: besides the singing of an appropriate hymn, it can also be most helpful to remain recollected in silence.” (Sacramentum Caritatis 50).

To complete the prayer of the People of God and conclude the entire rite of Communion, the priest pronounces the post-communion prayer, in which he prays that the mystery celebrated may bear abundant fruit in the faithful and in the Church (cf. GIRM 72).

After the post-communion prayer, the priest greets the people and blesses them by tracing the sign of the cross and invoking the Trinity: “May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit descend upon you.” It is necessary to point out that the priest does is to transmit, with the efficacy and certainty of the liturgy, a blessing, which Christ finally grants to his people. So that, just as the Lord, in taking leave of his disciples at the moment of their ascension, “lifted up his hands and blessed them; and while he was blessing them, he was separated from them and taken up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51), so now, through the priest who represents him, the Lord blesses the Christian people, who have gathered to the Eucharist to celebrate the memorial of “his saving passion, and of his marvelous resurrection and ascension into heaven, while awaiting his glorious coming” (Eucharistic Prayer III).

Finally, the priest bids farewell to the people. The celebration of the Eucharist ends with the sending of Christians into the world. Nor is it a question of a simple exhortation, “Let us go in peace”, hardly significant, but of something more important and effective. In fact, just as Christ sends his disciples before ascending into heaven to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), so now Christ himself, at the conclusion of the Eucharist, through the priest who acts in his name and makes him visible, sends all the faithful to return to their ordinary lives.  and in it always proclaim the Good News with words and even more with deeds.

Through these words the link that must exist between the liturgy and the Christian life is manifested. Every man who truly receives the Body of the Lord must necessarily be a witness of his love in the world, he must be a lamp placed on the top of the lampstand so that it may illuminate all those in the house. Participation in the Eucharist cannot be reduced to an intimate experience of union with God, but must spur all the faithful to be witnesses of Christ in the world. The authentic experience of the Eucharist produces apostles.

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and Queen of the Apostles, teach us to combine these two realities that are intimately united: the Church lives from the Eucharist, she increases her union with Christ in the Sacrament of Love, and at the same time, the Church must find in Christ in the Eucharist the strength of witness, of proclamation,  so that all men and women may come to know Jesus Christ and to live from him, participating in that abundant divine life that he has come to bring on earth.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Final Prayer and Concluding Rites”, Home of the Mother, accessed 25 June 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2441-concluding-rites

Posted on

How should I receive Holy Communion?

The Eucharistic sacrifice, is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life (Lumen Gentium 11). The other sacraments, as well as with every ministry of the Church and every work of the apostolate, are tied together with the Eucharist and are directed toward it. The Most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, that is, Christ himself, our Pasch and Living Bread (Prebysterorum Ordinis 5).

The Eucharistic Sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through communion; we receive the very One who offered himself for us, we receive his body which he gave up for us on the Cross and his blood which he “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28) The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself as our nourishment (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 16).

Knowing now the importance of such a sacred sacrament, how then should we receive communion? First of all, we must be free from sin, we must have confessed any mortal and venial sins we have committed since our previous confession, we must have fasted for at least one hour before receiving communion.

At the time of communion, process in an orderly manner and with respect for the priest or ministers to receive communion. When we arrive in front of the ciborium with the consecrated hosts, we must make a bow (Redemptionis Sacramentum 90), since we are in the presence of Christ, in body, blood, soul and divinity, at that moment the priest or the minister raising the consecrated host, will say to us: “the Body of Christ”, to which we will respond “Amen”, thus recognizing this truth of faith. We can receive the host either on the tongue, or in the hands, extending the hands one over the other at the height of the ciborium, taking care that they are flat as if presenting an altar where we will receive the Body of Christ, once the host is received, it must be consumed immediately.

If it is offered at Mass and it is our desire, we can also receive communion of the Blood of Christ, for which we approach the minister with the chalice, and we bow when we arrive before the chalice, since Christ is completely in the consecrated species, the minister will say to us “Blood of Christ” and we will also respond “Amen”, thus recognizing the presence of our Lord in the consecrated wine. The minister will then hand us the chalice for us to take a small sip, after which we hand the chalice back to the minister.

Having received the communion of Christ, we are to go to our places, and take advantage of this sacred moment that we are in communion with Christ to present our prayers to Him. It is tradition to pray on one’s knees and remain so until the priest stores the consecrated hosts that may have remained in the tabernacle.

Let us partake of the sacrament of Holy Communion with great faith, let us prepare our souls for this great mystery by going to the sacrament of reconciliation, and thus be one with Christ.

Posted on

Why is it important to receive Communion at Mass?

Communion is the moment towards which the whole Eucharistic celebration converges, since, on the one hand, the table of the Word asks to be completed with the table of the Eucharistic Bread and, on the other, the consecration of the gifts aims not only to make Christ glorify and give thanks to God, but also to the faithful to be united to Christ sacramentally.  eating the Body that is given and the Blood that is shed for the salvation of men. “The celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us” (CCC 1382).

Communion is first of all the culmination of the Mass, since it is “at the same time and inseparably the sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet, in which through the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the people share in the goods of the paschal sacrifice.  it renews the covenant between God and men, and in faith and hope it prefigures and anticipates the eschatological banquet in the Kingdom of the Father” (Eucaristicum Mysterium 3).

Sacramental communion with Christ increases our union with Him, separates us from sin, renews, strengthens and deepens our incorporation into the Church accomplished by Baptism.

Eucharistic communion is the most loving and profound, most certain and sanctifying spiritual encounter we can have with Christ in this world. It is an ineffable spiritual union with the glorious Jesus Christ. It is, in the order of love and grace, an ineffable mystery. Christ gives himself in communion as food, as “living bread that came down from heaven”, who transforms into him those who receive him. To these, who welcome him into communion with faith and love, he promises immortality, abundance of life and future resurrection. Indeed, he assures them of a perfect vital union with Him: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” (John 6:56-57).

Being such an extraordinary moment of grace, we must be ready to live it with intense faith, with a sense of adoration and complete surrender to his will. Only the grace of God, who acts through prayer, can adequately prepare us.

Communion is a pledge of future glory, it is a foretaste of heaven, where our whole existence will be to love and adore Christ. Once again, let us allow gratitude and amazement to be renewed in us at the love of a God who becomes the Eucharist to allow himself to be eaten, to unite us to him and to transform us into him.

Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, grant that we may receive your Son in the Sacrament of love with an open and pure heart, simple and obedient like yours, so that we may be transformed into a living sacrifice, into a “Body that gives itself” for the life of the world.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – Communion”, Home of the Mother, accessed 11 June 2024,
https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2416-communion

Posted on

How important is the fraction of the bread in Mass?

From the beginning and for several centuries, the breaking of consecrated bread was a practical and necessary gesture to prepare the particles that were distributed in communion. As there were no small forms, it was celebrated with unleavened bread that then had to be broken to be distributed to the faithful. This gesture also had several symbolic meanings referring to the Eucharist. Everyone could see a clear relationship between this moment and the moment of the institution of the Eucharist where Jesus, like the Jewish paterfamilias, gives his disciples the nourishment of his Body and Blood.

Then, during this moment of the liturgy, the song of the Lamb of God was introduced. In this way, a new reality was emphasized, the sacrificial and salvific dimension of the Eucharist. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The food he distributes is his slain body. In this way, the sense of communion and the sense of sacrifice are presented together. The fraction prepares the food of Christians, which is the sacrificial Body of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of the new Passover (cf. Revelation 5, 6 and 13).

In this way, the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself as a sacrificed bread-body is clearly manifested. When the faithful receive it worthily, the Eucharist makes both Christ and the faithful one body. In this way, the Mystical Body of Christ is constantly renewed, and can thus live by His life (1 Corinthians 10:17).

A simple and important gesture at the same time is the conmixtio, which consists of the priest introducing a small particle of the Body of Christ into the chalice (GIRM 72). The union of the two species of consecrated bread and wine, which had hitherto been separated, symbolizes the one person of the glorious Christ, vivified by the Holy Spirit.

Then the priest, showing the people the consecrated host, repeats the words of John the Baptist: “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And he adds the words that, according to the Apocalypse, he says in the heavenly liturgy: “Blessed are those who are invited to the supper of the Lord” (Revelation 19:1-9).

The assembly then responds by repeating the words of the Roman centurion, who amazed Christ with his humble and bold confidence: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8-10).

Without a doubt, knowing the meaning of the words and gestures of the liturgy helps us to enter into communion with the Lord. But living faith in those who participate in the Eucharist is essential. To discover the presence of the Lord, his love that becomes self-giving in order to enter into communion with us. “The Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, manifesting God’s infinite love for every man” (Sacramentum Caritatis 1).

Let us ask Mary, the Eucharistic woman, to help us not to waste the treasure that God has given in the Eucharist, but that by loving and living the mystery of Christ we may be transformed into Him.

López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Breaking of the Bread and the Lamb of God”, Home of the Mother, accesed 22 June 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2415-lamb-of-god

Posted on

What is the importance of the rite of peace?

Peace, in the biblical sense, has an enormous richness. It symbolizes the sum of all goods. Sin separates man from God, divides humanity into opposing parts, and also introduces into the heart of man a myriad of contradictions and anxieties.

Peace was awaited as one of the fruits and signs of the coming of the Messiah, who would overcome sin and restore the order willed by God. The Messiah is announced by Isaiah as “the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:5-6). Only he will be able to restore to mankind the peace lost through sin (Ezekiel 34:25; Joel 4:17ff; Amos 9:9-21).

We recognize in Jesus the Messiah foretold. At His birth, the angels announce that the Child brings on earth “peace to men who are beloved of God” (Luke 2:14). Through his paschal mystery, the Lord Jesus has brought about the reconciliation of men with the “God of peace” (Romans 15:33).1

“Peace I leave you, my peace I give you” (John 14:27) are the words with which Jesus promises his disciples gathered in the Upper Room, before facing the Passion, the gift of peace, to infuse them with the joyful certainty of his permanent presence. After his resurrection, the Lord fulfills his promise by standing in their midst in the place where they were in fear of the Jews, saying, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19-23). Peace, the fruit of the Redemption that Christ brought to the world with his death and resurrection, is the gift that the Risen Lord continues to offer today to his Church, gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist, so that she may bear witness to it in her daily life. (Cañizares and Roche, 1)2

The priest offers peace to all, saying, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” After this, the faithful can give each other a greeting of peace to symbolize it, as well as expressing ecclesial communion and mutual charity, before sacramental communion.

However, it is necessary that at the time of giving us peace some abuses must be avoided: (Cañizares and Roche, 6f)3

  • There is no such thing as a “song for peace.”
  • The faithful should not move to exchange peace.
  • The priest must not leave the altar to give peace to some of the faithful.
  • Peace should not be an occasion to congratulate or express condolences

As for the sign for peace, it must be said that there is no universal gesture, since the episcopal conferences must determine the concrete gesture taking into account the idiosyncrasies and customs of the peoples (GIRM 83 and 390).

It should be noted that the greeting of peace is not an obligatory gesture. The Roman Missal (128) expressly says that this greeting is to be invited “if it is judged opportune.” That is, you can perform or omit that act that is significant, but not essential, depending on various factors.

Let us solemnly give ourselves the sign of peace, only those who are around us, avoiding falling into abuses, since the most solemn moment of the Mass is approaching, which is the breaking of bread and communion with the body of Christ.

[1] López, Félix “Explanation of the Mass – The Rite of Peace”, Home of the Mother, accesed 22 May 2024, https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/eucharist/549-explanation-of-the-mass/2436-rite-of-peace

[2] Cañizares and Roche, “The Ritual Expression of the Gift of Peace at Mass”, Congregation for Divine Workship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Rome, 8 June 2014, https://www.liturgybrisbane.net.au/media/1182/the-ritual-expression-of-the-gift-of-peace-at-mass1.pdf

[3] Cañizares and Roche, loc.cit.