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Mass is the main
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
ic
liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
service in many forms of
Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
. The term ''Mass'' is commonly used in the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, in the
Western Rite Orthodox Western Rite Orthodoxy, also called Western Orthodoxy or the Orthodox Western Rite, are congregations within the Eastern Orthodox tradition which perform their liturgy in Western forms. Besides altered versions of the Tridentine Mass, congrega ...
, in
Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great Chu ...
, and in
Independent Catholic Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Independent Catholic) and form "micro-churches claiming apostolic succession and valid sacramen ...
churches. The term is used in some
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
churches, as well as in some Anglican churches. The term is also used, on rare occasion, by other Protestant churches. Other Christian denominations may employ terms such as '' Divine Service'' or ''
worship service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sa ...
'' (and often just "service"), rather than the word ''Mass''. For the celebration of the Eucharist in Eastern Christianity, including
Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...
, other terms such as ''
Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ...
'', '' Holy Qurbana'', ''
Holy Qurobo The Holy Qurobo ( syc, ܩܘܽܪܳܒܳܐ ܩܰܕܝܫܳܐ, Qūrōbō Qādīśō) or Holy Qurbono ( syc, ܩܘܽܪܒܳܢܳܐ ܩܰܕܝܫܳܐ, Qurbōnō Qādīśō, the "Holy Offering" or "Holy Sacrifice" in English), "Divine offering" or "Divine Litu ...
'' and ''
Badarak Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Co ...
'' (or ''Patarag'') are typically used instead.


Etymology

The English noun ''mass'' is derived from the Middle Latin . The Latin word was adopted in
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
as (via a
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...
form ), and was sometimes glossed as ''sendnes'' (i.e. 'a sending, dismission'). The Latin term itself was in use by the 6th century. It is most likely derived from the concluding formula ("Go; the dismissal is made"); here is a
Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
substantive corresponding to classical . Historically, however, there have been other etymological explanations of the noun that claim not to derive from the formula . Fortescue (1910) cites older, "fanciful" etymological explanations, notably a latinization of Hebrew () "unleavened bread; oblation", a derivation favoured in the 16th century by
Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; sometimes called Johannes; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522) was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, and Italy and France. Most of Reuchlin's ...
and
Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...
, or Greek "initiation", or even Germanic "assembly". The French historian Du Cange in 1678 reported "various opinions on the origin" of the noun "Mass", including the derivation from Hebrew (), here attributed to
Caesar Baronius Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), wh ...
. The Hebrew derivation is learned speculation from 16th-century philology; medieval authorities did derive the noun from the verb , but not in connection with the formula .''De vocabuli origine variæ sunt Scriptorum sententiæ. Hanc enim quidam, ut idem Baronius, ab Hebræo Missah, id est, oblatio, arcessunt : alii a mittendo, quod nos mittat ad Deum'' Du Cange, et al., ''Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis'', éd. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 5, col. 412b, s.v
4. missa
Thus, (9th century)''De divinis officiis'', formerly attributed to
Alcuin Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...
but now dated to the late 9th or early 10th century, partly based on the works of
Amalarius Amalarius (''c''. 775–''c''. 850) was a Frankish prelate and courtier, temporary bishop of Trier (812–13) and Lyon (835–38), and an accomplished liturgist. He was close to Charlemagne and a partisan of his successor, Louis the Pious, througho ...
and
Remigius of Auxerre Remigius (Remi) of Auxerre ( la, Remigius Autissiodorensis; c. 841 – 908) was a Benedictine monk during the Carolingian period, a teacher of Latin grammar, and a prolific author of commentaries on classical Greek and Latin texts. He is also acc ...
. M.-H. Jullien and F. Perelman, ''Clavis Scriptorum Latinorum Medii Aevii. Auctores Galliae 735–987. II: Alcuin'', 1999, 133ff.; R. Sharpe, ''A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great Britain and Ireland before 1540'' (1997, p. 45) attributes the entire work to Remigius.
explains the word as ("from 'sending', that which sends us towards God"), while
Rupert of Deutz Rupert of Deutz ( la, Rupertus Tuitiensis; c. 1075/1080 – c. 1129) was an influential Benedictine theologian, exegete and writer on liturgical and musical topics. Life Rupert was most likely born in or around Liège in the years 1075-108 ...
(early 12th century) derives it from a "dismissal" of the "enmities which had been between God and men" ().


Order of the Mass

A distinction is made between texts that recur for every Mass celebration (, ordinary), and texts that are sung depending on the occasion (,
proper Proper may refer to: Mathematics * Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact * Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...
). For example, for the
Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...
:


Ordinaries

A ("full Mass") consists of a musical setting of the five sections of the ordinarium as listed below.


I. Kyrie

In the
Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...
, the
Kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...
is the first sung prayer of the
Mass ordinary The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the '' ...
. It is usually (but not always) part of any musical setting of the Mass. Kyrie movements often have a
ternary Ternary (from Latin ''ternarius'') or trinary is an adjective meaning "composed of three items". It can refer to: Mathematics and logic * Ternary numeral system, a base-3 counting system ** Balanced ternary, a positional numeral system, useful ...
(ABA) musical structure that reflects the symmetrical structure of the text. Musical settings exist in styles ranging from
Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...
to
Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...
. In what are presumed to be the oldest versions, the same melody is repeated for the first eight iterations, and a variation used on the final line (that is, formally, AAA AAA AAA'). These repeats are notated by the
Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
"IIJ" (for three times) or "IJ" (for twice). The Kyrie for the
Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
in the has this form. Later Kyries have more elaborate patterns, such as AAABBBAAA', AAABBBCCC', or ABACDCEFE'. The final line is nearly always modified somewhat; in some cases this may be because it leads into the Gloria better. In forms both with and without literal repeats, most Kyries in the have a closing phrase used in nearly all of the lines of the text. This in fact parallels the text, as each line ends with the same word . Because of the brevity of the text, Kyries were often very
melismatic Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is refer ...
. This encouraged later composers to make tropes out of them, either by adding words to the melisma (as how a
sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...
is often considered), or extending the melisma. In fact, because of the late date of most Kyries, it is not always clear whether a particular Kyrie melody or the apparently troped text came first; it could just as easily be the case that a
syllabic Syllabic may refer to: *Syllable, a unit of speech sound, considered the building block of words **Syllabic consonant, a consonant that forms the nucleus of a syllable *Syllabary, writing system using symbols for syllables *Abugida, writing system ...
song was converted into a melisma for a Kyrie verse. In some cases, verses interpolate Latin text between each "Kyrie" (or "Christe") and "eleison". As the Kyrie is the first item in settings of the Mass ordinary and the second in the requiem Mass (the only Mass proper set regularly over the centuries), nearly all of the thousands of composers over the centuries who have set the ordinaries of the Mass to music have included a Kyrie movement. Kyrie movements often have a structure that reflects the concision and symmetry of the text. Many have a ternary (ABA) form known as a three-fold kyrie, where the two appearances of the phrase consist of identical or closely related material and frame a contrasting section. The AAABBBCCC' form is also commonly used which is known as a nine-fold kyrie. Famously, Mozart sets the and texts in his Requiem Mass as the two subjects of a
double fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
.


II. Gloria

The Gloria is a celebratory passage praising God the Father and Christ. In Mass settings (normally in English) composed for the Church of England's ''
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
'' liturgy, the Gloria is commonly the last movement, because it occurs in this position in the text of the service. In Order One of the newer '' Common Worship'' liturgy, however, it is restored to its earlier place in the service.


III. Credo

The
Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – or its shorter version, the Apostles' Creed – in the Mass, either as a prayer, a spoken text, or sung as Gregorian chant or other musical sett ...
, a setting of the Nicene Creed, is the longest text of a sung Mass. Organizers of international celebrations, such as
World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...
, have been encouraged by Rome to familiarize congregants in the Latin chants for the Our Father and the Credo, specifically Credo III (17th century, Fifth Mode) from the . The purpose of singing these two texts in Latin is to engender a sense of unity in the faithful, all of whom thus sing the prayer of Jesus and the shared belief of the universal Church in the same language.


IV. Sanctus and Benedictus

The
Sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...
is a
doxology A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , '' doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derive ...
praising the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
. A variant exists in Lutheran settings of the Sanctus. While most hymnal settings keep the second person
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not c ...
, other settings change the second person pronoun to the third person. This is most notable in
J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
's Mass in B minor, where the text reads ("His glory").
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
's
chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the th ...
''Isaiah, Mighty in Days of Old'', and Felix Mendelssohn's setting of the ( la, Sanctus, links=no) from his also use the third person. The Benedictus is a continuation of the Sanctus. is repeated after the section, often with musical material identical to that used after the , or very closely related. In Gregorian chant the (with ) was sung whole at its place in the Mass. However, as composers produced more embellished settings of the text,


V. Agnus Dei

The
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
is a setting of the " Lamb of God" litany, containing the responses ('have mercy upon us'), repeated twice, and ('grant us peace') once at the end. In a
Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
, the words are replaced by ('grant them rest'), while is replaced by ('grant them eternal rest').


Short and solemn Masses

There is some additional terminology regarding Mass settings indicating whether or not they include all five usual sections of the ordinarium, and whether or not the Mass is intended for exceptionally festive occasions.


(literally "short Mass") may, depending on time and conventions, indicate the setting of a subset of the five ordinary Mass parts (e.g. Masses containing only a setting of the Kyrie and the Gloria), or a Mass containing all these parts, but relatively short in duration, or a Mass in a setting that is less extended in vocal and orchestral forces than that of a Neapolitan Mass. ("long Mass") can indicate the counterpart of when the aspect of duration is considered.


indicates a solemn Mass, usually for special festive occasions and with an extended vocal and orchestral setting. In this sense, is sometimes used to indicate the counterpart of a .


The ("short and solemn Mass") is an exceptional format, for its best known instances tied to the
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
of archbishop
Hieronymus Colloredo Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz (Jérôme Joseph Franz de Paula, Count of Colloredo-Wallsee and Mels; ) was Prince-Bishop of Gurk from 1761 to 1772 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1772 until 1803, wh ...
, although earlier examples are extant. Mozart described it thus in a letter he wrote in 1776 ("the Archbishop" in this quotation refers to Colloredo):Walter Senn,
NMA NMA may refer to: *National Management Association, American association for teaching leadership in business management *National mapping agency, organisation that produces topographic maps and geographic information of a country *National Meat Asso ...
Series I: Geistliche Gesangwerke, Group I (Masses and Requiem)
Division I: ''Masses'', Volume 2, Preface, pp. VIII-IX
1975.
The description applies to several of the Masses Mozart composed in Salzburg between 1775 and 1780, the '' Sparrow Mass'' being considered as its first instance for this composer. Tongue-in-cheek, and not indebted to Viennese traditions,
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...
qualified one of his last compositions, a Mass, as both ("small") and ("solemn") (
Petite messe solennelle Gioachino Rossini's ''Petite messe solennelle'' (Little solemn mass) was written in 1863, possibly at the request of Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise to whom it is dedicated. The composer, who had retired from composing operas more ...
). In this case, "small" refers to the modest forces needed for its performance, and "solemn" to its duration, although later commentators would describe the composition as "neither small nor solemn".


Other types of Masses with fewer than five of the usual parts of the ordinarium

During
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
() and Advent () the Gloria is not sung. Thus , "Mass for the period of (Advent and) Lent" indicates a Mass composition without music for the Gloria. Michael Haydn composed a Mass suitable for Lent and Advent, the , in for the modest forces of choir and organ. ("Mass without a Credo") indicates a musical setting of the usual parts of the Mass ordinary with exception of the Credo. A (weekday Mass) leaves out both the Gloria and the Credo.


Other sections

The sixth and last part of the Ordinarium (either , or, in Masses without Gloria, ) is usually not set as part of a Mass composition. In a Tridentine Mass that part of the Ordinarium is usually spoken, or sung to the Gregorian melody provided in the Roman Missal, although early polyphonic settings for the response (e.g. in Guillaume de Machaut's '' Messe de Nostre Dame'') and for the Benedicamus Domino (e.g. in ) are extant. The Proper of the Mass is usually not set to music in a Mass itself, except in the case of a
Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
, but may be the subject of
motets In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Marga ...
or other musical compositions. Some Mass compositions, like for instance Rossini's , do however contain parts outside the Ordinarium. Some Mass compositions even consist entirely of such additions:
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
's , a set of eight hymns with epilogue, is an example of such a Mass. Purely instrumental compositions can also be part of a Mass celebration, e.g. a
Sonata da chiesa Sonata da chiesa (Italian: "church sonata") is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and is regarded an antecedent of later forms of 18th century instrumental music. It generally comprises four movements, t ...
, sometimes with a liturgical function, like Mozart's Epistle Sonatas.


Propers

In a liturgical Mass, there are other sections that may be sung, often in
Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...
. These sections, the "Proper" of the Mass, change with the day and season according to the Church calendar, or according to the special circumstances of the Mass. The sections of the Proper of the Mass include the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract (depending on the time of year), Offertory and Communion. Ordinarium and proprium sections of a specific liturgical Mass are not typically set to music together in the same composition. The one major exception to this rule is the Mass for the dead, or requiem.


Following the distribution of the Sacrament, it is customary in most Lutheran churches to sing the .


Catholic Church

The
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
sees the
Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
or
Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
as "the source and summit of the Christian life", to which the other sacraments are oriented. Remembered in the Mass are
Jesus' Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
life,
Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
, and sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary. The ordained celebrant (priest or bishop) is understood to act ''
in persona Christi ''In persona Christi'' is a Latin phrase meaning "in the person of Christ", an important concept in Roman Catholicism and, in varying degrees, to other Christian traditions, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism. A priest is ''In persona Christi'' ...
'', as he recalls the words and gestures of Jesus Christ at the
Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
and leads the congregation (always "we", never "I") in praise of God. The Mass is composed of two parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Although similar in outward appearance to the Anglican Mass or Lutheran Mass, the Catholic Church distinguishes between its own Mass and theirs on the basis of what it views as the validity of the
orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
of their clergy, and as a result, does not ordinarily permit
intercommunion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, bu ...
between members of these Churches. In a 1993 letter to Bishop
Johannes Hanselmann Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...
of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich. The '' Landesbischo ...
, Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) affirmed that "a theology oriented to the concept of succession
f bishops F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...
such as that which holds in the Catholic and in the Orthodox church, need not in any way deny the salvation-granting presence of the Lord eilschaffende Gegenwart des Herrnin a Lutheran vangelischeLord's Supper." The Decree on Ecumenism, produced by
Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
in 1964, records that the Catholic Church notes its understanding that when other faith groups (such as Lutherans, Anglicans, and Presbyterians) "commemorate His death and resurrection in the Lord's Supper, they profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and look forward to His coming in glory." Within the fixed structure outlined below, which is specific to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the Scripture readings, the
antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...
s sung or recited during the entrance procession or at Communion, and certain other prayers vary each day according to the liturgical calendar. For many variations and options not mentioned here, see the complet
''Order of the Mass''


Introductory rites

The
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
enters, with a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
if there is one, and altar servers (who may act as
crucifer A crucifer or cross-bearer is, in some Christian churches (particularly the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutherans, and United Methodist Church), a person appointed to carry the church's processional cross, a cross or crucifix wit ...
, candle-bearers and
thurifer A thurible (via Old French from Medieval Latin ) is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in Christian churches including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian Church of t ...
). The priest makes the sign of the cross with the people and formally greets them. Of the options offered for the Introductory Rites, that preferred by liturgists would bridge the praise of the opening hymn with the Glory to God which follows. The ''
Kyrie eleison Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...
'' here has from early times been an acclamation of God's mercy. The Penitential Act instituted by the
Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
is also still permitted here, with the caution that it should not turn the congregation in upon itself during these rites which are aimed at uniting those gathered as one praiseful congregation. The Introductory Rites are brought to a close by the Collect Prayer.


Liturgy of the Word

On Sundays and solemnities, three Scripture readings are given. On other days there are only two. If there are three readings, the first is from the Old Testament (a term wider than "
Hebrew Scriptures The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Deuterocanonical Books The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...
), or the Acts of the Apostles during
Eastertide Eastertide (also known as Eastertime or the Easter season) or Paschaltide (also known as Paschaltime or the Paschal season) is a festal season in the liturgical year of Christianity that focuses on celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. ...
. The first reading is followed by a psalm, recited or sung responsorially. The second reading is from the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
epistles, typically from one of the Pauline epistles. A Gospel acclamation is then sung as the Book of the Gospels is processed, sometimes with incense and candles, to the ambo; if not sung it may be omitted. The final reading and high point of the Liturgy of the Word is the proclamation of the
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
by the deacon or priest. On all Sundays and
Holy Days of Obligation In the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation are days on which the faithful are expected to attend Mass, and engage in rest from work and recreation (id est, they are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed t ...
, and preferably at all Masses, a homily or
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...
that draws upon some aspect of the readings or the liturgy itself, is then given. The homily is preferably moral and hortatory. Finally, the Nicene Creed or, especially from Easter to Pentecost, the
Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". The creed most likely originated in 5th-century ...
is professed on Sundays and solemnities, and the Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful follows. The designation "of the faithful" comes from when
catechumens Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
did not remain for this prayer or for what follows.


Liturgy of the Eucharist

The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the preparation of the altar and gifts, while the collection may be taken. This concludes with the priest saying: "Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father." The congregation stands and responds: "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of His name, for our good, and the good of all His holy Church." The priest then pronounces the variable prayer over the gifts. Then in dialogue with the faithful the priest brings to mind the meaning of "eucharist", to give thanks to God. A variable prayer of thanksgiving follows, concluding with the acclamation " Holy, Holy ....Heaven and earth are full of your glory. ...Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." The anaphora, or more properly "Eucharistic Prayer", follows, The oldest of the anaphoras of the Roman Rite, fixed since the
Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
, is called the
Roman Canon The Canon of the Mass ( la, Canon Missæ), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass. The name ''Canon Missæ'' was used i ...
, with central elements dating to the fourth century. With the liturgical renewal following the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
, numerous other Eucharistic prayers have been composed, including four for children's Masses. Central to the Eucharist is the Institution Narrative, recalling the words and actions of Jesus at his
Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
, which he told his disciples to do in remembrance of him. Then the congregation acclaims its belief in Christ's conquest over death, and their hope of eternal life. Since the early church an essential part of the Eucharistic prayer has been the
epiclesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from grc, ἐπίκλησις "surname" or "invocation") refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in reli ...
, the calling down of the Holy Spirit to sanctify our offering. The priest concludes with a
doxology A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , '' doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derive ...
in praise of God's work, at which the people give their
Amen Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and ...
to the whole Eucharistic prayer.


Communion rite

All together recite or sing the "
Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
" ("Pater Noster" or "Our Father"). The priest introduces it with a short phrase and follows it up with a prayer called the
embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas ( gas embolism), amniotic fluid (am ...
, after which the people respond with another doxology. The sign of peace is exchanged and then the " Lamb of God" ("Agnus Dei" in Latin) litany is sung or recited while the priest breaks the host and places a piece in the main chalice; this is known as the rite of fraction and commingling. The priest then displays the consecrated elements to the congregation, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb," to which all respond: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." Then Communion is given, often with lay ministers assisting with the consecrated wine.GIRM, paragraph 160 According to Catholic teaching, one should be in the state of grace, without mortal sin, to receive Communion. Singing by all the faithful during the Communion procession is encouraged "to express the communicants' union in spirit"GIRM, paragraph 86 from the bread that makes them one. A silent time for reflection follows, and then the variable concluding prayer of the Mass.


Concluding rite

The priest imparts a blessing over those present. The deacon or, in his absence, the priest himself then dismisses the people, choosing a formula by which the people are "sent forth" to spread the good news. The congregation responds: "Thanks be to God." A recessional hymn is sung by all, as the ministers process to the rear of the church.


Western Rite Orthodox Churches

Since most
Eastern Orthodox Christians Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
use the Byzantine Rite, most Eastern Orthodox Churches call their Eucharistic service "the
Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ...
." However, there are a number of parishes within the Eastern Orthodox Church which use an edited version of Latin liturgical rites. Most parishes use the "Divine Liturgy of St. Tikhon" which is a revision of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, or "the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory" which is derived from the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite Mass. These rubrics have been revised to reflect the doctrine and dogmas of the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
. Therefore, the
filioque ( ; ) is a Latin term ("and from the Son") added to the original Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (commonly known as the Nicene Creed), and which has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. It is a term ...
clause has been removed, a fuller
epiclesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from grc, ἐπίκλησις "surname" or "invocation") refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in reli ...
has been added, and the use of leavened bread has been introduced.


Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory

* The Preparation for Mass * Confiteor * Kyrie Eleison * Gloria in excelsis deo * Collect of the Day * Epistle * Gradual * Alleluia * Gospel * Sermon * Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed * Offertory * Dialogue * Preface * Sanctus * Canon * Lord's Prayer * Fraction * Agnus Dei * Prayers before Communion * Holy Communion * Prayer of Thanksgiving * Dismissal * Blessing of the Faithful * Last Gospel


Anglicanism

In the Anglican tradition, ''Mass'' is one of many terms for the Eucharist. More frequently, the term used is either ''Holy Communion'', ''Holy Eucharist'', or the ''Lord's Supper''. Occasionally the term used in Eastern churches, the ''Divine Liturgy'', is also used. In the English-speaking Anglican world, the term used often identifies the
Eucharistic theology Eucharistic theology is a branch of Christian theology which treats doctrines concerning the Holy Eucharist, also commonly known as the Lord's Supper. It exists exclusively in Christianity and related religions, as others generally do not cont ...
of the person using it. "Mass" is frequently used by
Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...
s.


Structure of the rite

The various Eucharistic liturgies used by national churches of the
Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
have continuously evolved from the 1549 and 1552 editions of the ''
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
,'' both of which owed their form and contents chiefly to the work of
Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...
, who in about 1547 had rejected the medieval theology of the Mass. Although the 1549 rite retained the traditional sequence of the Mass, its underlying theology was Cranmer's and the four-day debate in the House of Lords during December 1548 makes it clear that this had already moved far beyond traditional Catholicism. In the 1552 revision, this was made clear by the restructuring of the elements of the rite while retaining nearly all the language so that it became, in the words of an Anglo-Catholic liturgical historian (Arthur Couratin) "a series of communion devotions; disembarrassed of the Mass with which they were temporarily associated in 1548 and 1549". Some rites, such as the 1637 Scottish rite and the 1789 rite in the United States, went back to the 1549 model. From the time of the
Elizabethan Settlement The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Implemented between 1559 and 1563, the settlement is considered the end of the E ...
in 1559 the services allowed for a certain variety of theological interpretation. Today's rites generally follow the same general five-part shape. Some or all of the following elements may be altered, transposed or absent depending on the rite, the liturgical season and use of the province or national church: * Gathering: Begins with a
Trinitarian The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...
-based greeting or
seasonal A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
acclamation ("Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy spirit. And Blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen"). Then the Kyrie and a general confession and absolution follow. On Sundays outside Advent and Lent and on major festivals, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is sung or said. The entrance rite then concludes with the
collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...
of the day. * Proclaiming and Hearing the Word: Usually two to three readings of Scripture, one of which is always from the
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
s, plus a
psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
(or portion thereof) or
canticle A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Catholic Church ...
between the lessons. This is followed by a
sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...
or homily; the recitation of one of the Creeds, viz., the Apostles' or
Nicene The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
, is done on Sundays and feasts. * The Prayers of the People: Quite varied in their form. * The Peace: The people stand and greet one another and exchange signs of God's peace in the name of the Lord. It functions as a bridge between the prayers, lessons, sermon and creeds to the Communion part of the Eucharist. *The Celebration of the Eucharist: The gifts of bread and wine are brought up, along with other gifts (such as money or food for a food bank, etc.), and an offertory prayer is recited. Following this, a
Eucharistic Prayer The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a thanksgiving prayer by virtue of which the offerings of bread and wine are believed to be consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the us ...
(called "The Great Thanksgiving") is offered. This prayer consists of a dialogue (the Sursum Corda), a preface, the
sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...
and
benedictus Benedictus may refer to: Music * Benedictus (Song of Zechariah), ''Benedictus'' (''Song of Zechariah''), the canticle sung at Lauds, also called the Canticle of Zachary * The second part of the Sanctus, part of the Eucharistic prayer * Benedictus ...
, the Words of Institution, the Anamnesis, an
Epiclesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from grc, ἐπίκλησις "surname" or "invocation") refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in reli ...
, a petition for salvation, and a Doxology. The Lord's Prayer precedes the fraction (the breaking of the bread), followed by the Prayer of Humble Access or the
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
and the distribution of the sacred elements (the bread and wine). *Dismissal: There is a post-Communion prayer, which is a general prayer of thanksgiving. The service concludes with a Trinitarian blessing and the dismissal. The liturgy is divided into two main parts: The Liturgy of the Word (Gathering, Proclaiming and Hearing the Word, Prayers of the People) and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (together with the Dismissal), but the entire liturgy itself is also properly referred to as the Holy Eucharist. The sequence of the liturgy is almost identical to the Roman Rite, except the Confession of Sin ends the Liturgy of the Word in the Anglican rites in North America, while in the Roman Rite (when used) and in Anglican rites in many jurisdictions the Confession is near the beginning of the service.


Special Masses

The Anglican tradition includes separate rites for nuptial, funeral, and votive Masses. The Eucharist is an integral part of many other sacramental services, including
ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...
and Confirmation.


Ceremonial

Some
Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...
parishes use Anglican versions of the Tridentine Missal, such as the ''
English Missal ''The English Missal'' is a translation of the Roman Missal used by some Anglo-Catholic parish churches. After its publication by W. Knott & Son Limited in 1912, ''The English Missal'' was rapidly endorsed by the growing Ritualist movement of Ang ...
'', ''
The Anglican Missal The Anglican Missal is a liturgical book used liturgically by some Anglo-Catholics and other High Church Anglicans as a alternative or supplement to editions of the ''Book of Common Prayer''. The ''Anglican Missal'' is distinct from the similar ...
'', or the '' American Missal'', for the celebration of Mass, all of which are intended primarily for the celebration of the Eucharist, or use the order for the Eucharist in '' Common Worship'' arranged according to the traditional structure, and often with interpolations from the Roman Rite. In the
Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop ...
, a traditional-language, Anglo-Catholic adaptation of the 1979 ''Book of Common Prayer'' has been published (''An Anglican Service Book''). All of these books contain such features as meditations for the presiding celebrant(s) during the liturgy, and other material such as the rite for the blessing of palms on Palm Sunday,
proper Proper may refer to: Mathematics * Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact * Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...
s for special feast days, and instructions for proper ceremonial order. These books are used as a more expansively
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
context in which to celebrate the liturgical use found in the Book of Common Prayer and related liturgical books. In England supplementary liturgical texts for the proper celebration of Festivals, Feast days and the seasons is provided in '' Common Worship; Times and Seasons'' (2013), '' Festivals (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)'' (2008) and '' Common Worship: Holy Week and Easter'' (2011). These are often supplemented in Anglo-Catholic parishes by books specifying ceremonial actions, such as ''A Priest's Handbook'' by Dennis G. Michno, ''Ceremonies of the Eucharist'' by Howard E. Galley, '' Low Mass Ceremonial'' by C. P. A. Burnett, and ''Ritual Notes'' by E.C.R. Lamburn. Other guides to ceremonial include the
General Instruction of the Roman Missal The ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'' (GIRM)—in the Latin original, ''Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani'' (IGMR)—is the detailed document governing the celebration of Mass of the Roman Rite in what since 1969 is its normal form. ...
, ''Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite'' (Peter Elliott), ''Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described'' (Adrian Fortescue), and ''
The Parson's Handbook ''The Parson's Handbook'' is a book by Percy Dearmer, first published in 1899, that was fundamental to the development of liturgy in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion. The 19th-century Oxford Movement brought the high ...
'' (
Percy Dearmer Percival Dearmer (1867–1936) was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of ''The Parson's Handbook'', a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy, and as editor of ''The English Hymnal''. A lifelong socialist, he was an early ad ...
). In Evangelical Anglican parishes, the rubrics detailed in the ''Book of Common Prayer'' are sometimes considered normative.


Lutheranism

In the
Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since ...
, Article XXIV ("Of the Mass") of the Augsburg Confession (1530) begins thus:
Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. We do not abolish the Mass but religiously keep and defend it. ...We keep the traditional liturgical form. ...In our churches Mass is celebrated every Sunday and on other holy days, when the sacrament is offered to those who wish for it after they have been examined and absolved (Article XXIV).
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
rejected parts of the Roman Rite Catholic Mass, specifically the Canon of the Mass, which, as he argued, did not conform with . That verse contrasts the Old Testament priests, who needed to make a sacrifice for sins on a regular basis, with the single priest Christ, who offers his body only once as a sacrifice. The theme is carried out also in , , and . Luther composed as a replacement a revised Latin-language rite, ''
Formula missae Formula missae et communionis pro ecclesia Vuittembergensi (1523) was a 16th-century Latin liturgy composed by Martin Luther for Lutheran churches in Wittenberg. ''Formula missae'' was based on the medieval Mass, only replacing the Canon of the ...
,'' in 1523, and the vernacular
Deutsche Messe ''Deutsche Messe'' ("German Mass"; full title: , "German Mass and Order of Worship") was published by Martin Luther in 1526. It followed his work '' Formula missae'' from the year 1523, pertaining to the celebration of a Latin mass. Both of these ...
in 1526. As such, historically, the Lutheran Church has stated that the Lutheran Mass is "the only Mass founded in the Scriptures of God, in accordance with the plain and incontestable institution of the Saviour." Scandinavian,
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
, and some
English speaking English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the i ...
Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
, use the term "Mass" for their Eucharistic service, but in most German and English-speaking churches, the terms "Divine Service", "Holy Communion, or "the Holy Eucharist" are used. The celebration of the Mass in Lutheran churches follows a similar pattern to other traditions, starting with public confession (
Confiteor The (; so named from its first word, Latin for 'I confess' or 'I acknowledge') is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Luther ...
) by all and a
Declaration of Grace In Lutheranism, the Declaration of Grace is the words that are said in the Divine Service by the pastor, following the congregation reciting the Confiteor The (; so named from its first word, Latin for 'I confess' or 'I acknowledge') is one ...
said by the priest or pastor. There follow the ''
Introit The Introit (from Latin: ''introitus'', "entrance") is part of the opening of the liturgy, liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, Psalms, psalm verse and ' ...
'', ''
Kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...
'', '' Gloria'',
collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...
, the readings with an
alleluia Alleluia (derived from the Hebrew ''Hallelujah'', meaning "Praise Yahweh") is a Latin phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of ...
(alleluia is not said during
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
), homily (or sermon) and recitation of the Nicene Creed. The Service of the Eucharist includes the
General intercessions The General Intercessions or Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful are a series of prayers which form part of the liturgy in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist and other Western Liturgical Churches. History The Christian custom of of ...
,
Preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...
, ''
Sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...
'' and
Eucharistic Prayer The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a thanksgiving prayer by virtue of which the offerings of bread and wine are believed to be consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the us ...
, elevation of the host and chalice and invitation to the Eucharist. The ''
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the " Lamb of God" is honoured within the Catholic Mass and other Christian liturgies descending from the Latin liturgical tradition. It is the name given to a specific prayer that occurs in these liturgies, and ...
'' is chanted while the clergy and assistants first commune, followed by lay communicants.
Postcommunion Postcommunion (Latin: Postcommunio) is the text said or sung on a reciting tone following the Communion of the Mass. Form Every Postcommunion (and secret) corresponds to a collect. These are the three fundamental prayers of any given Proper Mass. ...
prayers and the final blessing by the priest ends the Mass. A Catholic or Anglican of the Anglo-Catholic party would find its elements familiar, in particular the use of the sign of the cross, kneeling for prayer and the Eucharistic Prayer, bowing to the processional crucifix, kissing the altar, incense (among some), chanting, and vestments. Lutheran churches often celebrate the Eucharist each Sunday, if not at every worship service. This aligns with Luther's preference and the Lutheran confessions. Also, eucharistic ministers take the sacramental elements to the sick in hospitals and nursing homes. The practice of weekly Communion is increasingly the norm again in most Lutheran parishes throughout the world. The bishops and pastors of the larger Lutheran bodies have strongly encouraged this restoration of the weekly Mass. The celebration of the Eucharist may form a part of services for weddings, funerals, retreats, the dedication of a church building and annual synod conventions. The Mass is also an important aspect of ordinations and confirmations in Lutheran churches.


Methodism

The celebration of the "Mass" in Methodist churches, commonly known as the Service of the Table, is based on ''The Sunday Service'' of 1784, a revision of the liturgy of the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' authorized by
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
. The use of the term "Mass" is very rare in Methodism. The terms "Holy Communion", "Lord's Supper", and to a lesser extent "Eucharist" are far more typical. The celebrant of a Methodist Eucharist must be an ordained or licensed minister. In the
Free Methodist Church The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...
, the liturgy of the Eucharist, as provided in its ''Book of Discipline,'' is outlined as follows: *The Invitation: You who truly and earnestly repent of your sins, who live in love and peace with your neighbors and who intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God and walking in His holy ways, draw near with faith, and take this holy sacrament to your comfort; and humbly kneeling, make your honest confession to Almighty God. *
General Confession The General Confession is a prayer of contrition in various Christian denominations, including Anglicanism, Methodism, and Roman Catholicism. Anglicanism and Methodism In Anglicanism, the "General Confession" is the act of contrition in Thomas ...
*
Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
*Affirmation of Faith *
Collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...
*
Sanctus The Sanctus ( la, Sanctus, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' ( el, ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition. In Western Christianity, th ...
**
Gloria Patri The Gloria Patri, also known as the Glory Be to the Father or, colloquially, the Glory Be, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. It is also referred to as the Minor Doxology ''(Doxologia Minor)'' or Lesser ...
* Prayer of Humble Access * Prayer of Consecration of the Elements *
Benediction A benediction ( Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposit ...
Methodist services of worship, post-1992, reflect the
ecumenical movement Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
and
Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement was a 19th-century and 20th-century movement of scholarship for the reform of worship. It began in the Catholic Church and spread to many other Christian churches including the Anglican Communion, Lutheran and some other Pro ...
, particularly the ''Methodist Mass'', largely the work of theologian Donald C. Lacy.


Calendrical usage

The English suffix ' (equivalent to modern English "Mass") can label certain prominent (originally religious) feasts or seasons based on a traditional liturgical year. For example: * Candlemas * Childermas *
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
*
Johnmas The Nativity of John the Baptist (or Birth of John the Baptist, or Nativity of the Forerunner, or colloquially Johnmas or St. John's Day (in German) Johannistag) is a Christianity, Christian feast day celebrating the birth of John the Baptist. I ...
*
Lammas Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon ''hlaf-mas'', "loaf-mass"), also known as Loaf Mass Day, is a Christian holiday celebrated in some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere on 1 August. The name originates from the word "loaf" in reference ...
*
Martinmas Saint Martin's Day or Martinmas, sometimes historically called Old Halloween or Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated in the liturgical year on 11 November. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, ...
* Michelmas


See also

* Black Mass * Blue Mass *
Chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...
*
Eucharistic theologies contrasted Eucharistic theology is a branch of Christian theology which treats doctrines concerning the Holy Eucharist, also commonly known as the Lord's Supper. It exists exclusively in Christianity and related religions, as others generally do not cont ...
*
Gnostic Mass A Gnostic Mass is a liturgical Mass administered by a Gnostic church. Several such churches exist, each with its own version of the Mass. Some of these are: * Ecclesia Gnostica celebrates a traditional Gnostic Mass called the Gnostic Holy Euchari ...
*
Gold Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...
*
Liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII The liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII took place mostly between 1947 and 1958. Groundwork On 20 November 1947, Pius XII issued the encyclical ''Mediator Dei''. It included the statement: "the use of the mother tongue in connection with several ...
* Mass (music) * Mass in the Catholic Church *
Mass of Paul VI The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It is a form of the Latin Church's Roman Rite and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969, published by him in the 19 ...
*
Pontifical High Mass A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word "pontifical" is almost exclusively associated with the pope, an ...
*
Red Mass A Red Mass is a Mass celebrated annually in the Roman Catholic Church for all members of the legal profession, regardless of religious affiliation: judges, lawyers, law school professors, law students, and government officials, marking the openin ...
*
Redemptionis Sacramentum ''Redemptionis sacramentum'' ("Sacrament of Redemption") is an instruction on the proper way to celebrate Mass in the Roman Rite and others, and considered as well the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It was issued by the Congregation for Divine ...
* Requiem Mass *
Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of th ...
* Sacraments of the Catholic Church * White Mass


Notes


References


Bibliography

*


Further reading

*Balzaretti, C., (2000). ''Missa: storia di una secolare ricerca etimologica ancora aperta''. Edizioni Liturgiche *Baldovin, SJ, John F., (2008). ''Reforming the Liturgy: A Response to the Critics.'' The Liturgical Press. * *Bugnini, Annibale (Archbishop), (1990). ''The Reform of the Liturgy 1948–1975.'' The Liturgical Press. *Donghi, Antonio, (2009). ''Words and Gestures in the Liturgy''. The Liturgical Press. *Foley, Edward. ''From Age to Age: How Christians Have Celebrated the Eucharist'', Revised and Expanded Edition. The Liturgical Press. * *Johnson, Lawrence J., (2009). ''Worship in the Early Church: An Anthology of Historical Sources''. The Liturgical Press. *Jungmann, Josef Andreas, (1948). ''Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman Mass'' (2 volumes). Herder, Vienna. First edition, 1948; 2nd Edition, 1949, 5th edition, Herder, Vienna-Freiburg-Basel, and Nova & Vetera, Bonn, 1962, . *Marini, Piero (Archbishop), (2007). ''A Challenging Reform: Realizing the Vision of the Liturgical Renewal''. The Liturgical Press. *Martimort, A.G. (editor). ''The Church At Prayer''. The Liturgical Press. * *Stuckwisch, Richard, (2011). ''Philip Melanchthon and the Lutheran Confession of Eucharistic Sacrifice''. Repristination Press.


External links

Roman Catholic doctrine
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1322–1419
*


Catholic Apologetics of America
Present form of the Roman rite of the Mass


Fr. Larry Fama's Instructional Mass

Today's Mass readings
( New American Bible version)
The Readings of the Mass
(
Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...
version)
Mass Readings
(text in official Lectionary for Ireland, Australia, Britain, New Zealand etc.)
http://Mass-online.org
Tridentine form of the Roman rite of the Mass
SanctaMissa.org: Multimedia Tutorial on the Latin MassThe Holy Mass: A Pictorial Guide with Text
(For links on Post-Tridentine vs. "Tridentine" controversy, see
Mass of Paul VI The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It is a form of the Latin Church's Roman Rite and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969, published by him in the 19 ...
) Anglican Doctrine and practice
The Anglican Missal onlineThe Book of Common Prayer(1662) and Common Worship (2002)
Lutheran doctrine

, regarding the Mass

, regarding the Mass

including the orders for High and Low Mass {{DEFAULTSORT:Mass (Liturgy) Eucharist Catholic liturgical rites Mass Sacraments Anglican sacraments Anglican Eucharistic theology Lutheran Eucharistic theology Christian terminology
Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...