Typical Catholic mass?

Here you go:
http://www.cwo.com/~pentrack/catholic/apolo.html#Eucharist

I've been Catholic since before i was born, it feels like, and I've been to several different churches. here are the basics, as I've experienced them.

As you go into the church, you dip your fingers in the fountain of holy water and make the sign of the cross. You choose your pew and before you enter it, you genuflect, or get down on one knee, in honor of the Tabernacle, where the Communion wafers are kept. Once you take your seat, you let down the kneeler, if the church has them, kneel down, and pray for whatever you feel you need to. Once you're done, you put the kneeler back up so other peole can get into the pew and sit down. Then you can sit quietly and wait, or read the Missal, which has all the readings and songs for the year. I like to read this as I wait.

Just before Mass starts, the singer (the person who will lead the congregation in the sung responses), will ask everyone to stand and greet the people around them. Once everyone's had the chance to say hi and shake hands, the singer announces the opening song. How well the congregation sings along depends on the time of day (early Masses don't have lots of singers) or if there's a choir (most people opt out then, too).

While we're all singing, the priest, the altar servers, and the lector (the reader of the day's Bible passages) process up to the front of the church.

Once the song wraps up, the priest blesses us, welcomes us, and asks us to recall our sins. Sometimes we say "I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault. In my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do. And I ask Blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God." But not all the time.

Then we say or sing ( depends on the Church) "Glory to God in the Highest..." (I don't know what that's actually called. As a cradle Catholic, I can tell you what we do, but I usually can't tell you why).

From there, we go to the first reading. It's from the Old Testament, and read by the lector. The Lector ends each reading with "The word of the Lord," and the congregation replies, "Thanks be to God."That's followed by a psalm, lead by the singer, and followed by the congregation.

Second reading is from the New Testament, again read by the reader and ended as above, but followed with "Alleluia," which is sung. The tune varies from church to church. Then the priest gets up and gives a reading from one of the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) The whole congreation stands for this part. For the first two readings, we were sitting.

After the Gospel, the priest give us the homily. In it, he tries to explain what the Gospel and the other two readings were saying about our daily life, and how to make God part of daily life. Unless it's September, when we get to hear the church's annual financial report. Or in my case, when there's new developments in the lawsuit against the diocese (It's being sued about the sexual abuse cases).

After the homily, we sing another song as the collection plate is passed, and the alter servers help the priest ceremonially wash his hands for Communion. Volunteers from the parish bring up the money collected, and the bread and wine. The priest blesses the bread and wine, and then distributes it among more volunteers, called Eucharistic ministers (these are regular people from the Church, who have ahd special training. Don't ask me what kind of training, though, because I don't know. I haven't had it.)

The ushers gesture to the people in the pews when it's their turn to go up and take Communion. First the bread. The Eucharistic minister holds up the wafer to you and says, "The Body of Christ," to which the recipient makes a small bow from the waist and responds "Amen." Then you go to the cup, which is held up to you. This time the EM says "The Blood of Christ." Again, you bow and say "Amen." (I make the sign of the cross after I take the bread and again after the wine. I don't always take the wine, only if there's not a long line for it.)

As you return to your seat, you kneel down and eitehr sing along with the song, or quietly reflect or pray. Once the tabernacle (the special container for the leftover wafers) has been closed, then you can sit down on the pew again. Some congregations wait until the priest is done cleaning up before sitting)

The priest sits for a moment to gather his thoughts (i presume) and then stands up. He reads the announcements from the bulletin. At this time, there may be another collection for a specific cause, like the local food bank, missionaries, or other causes.

At last, the priest says, "Let us stand for the Lord's blessing." he says some sort of prayer (It isn't standardized and varies from week to week), but he always wraps it up with , "May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." As he says this, everyone makes the sign of the cross. The he says, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord," or some variation thereof. The congregation replies with "Thanks be to God."

The Singer announces the final song, and at my church, just how many verses we have to sing before we can go. As we sing, the priest, altar servers, and lector process out again, the reverse of when they came it. Once we finish the song, we kneel down on one knee to the Tabernacle and make the sign of the cross. Then we forget everything we heard about kindness, patience, and loving one another, and fight to get out of the parking lot as fast as we can.

That's basically it. If you have any more questions, you can PM me, and I'll try to answer as best I can. There are lots of books on being Catholic, too. Check out the library to see what they've got.

Good Lord, this is a long post. I wonder if I can add it to my word count...

Pardon me, just another Cradle Catholic butting in.

There are two other options to the penitential rite-- then the Kyrie follows. Sometimes we do either or too.

The "Gloria" is what I think it's called.

Oh man... I'm sorry to hear about that. Yesterday our rector gave the financial report. He was quite good about discussing the subject, quite subtle and smooth about it. We're doing well. Our Archdiocese seems to have weathered the scandal storm. It was pretty bad here too for awhile.

The "Nicene Creed" is said just before the gifts are gathered. It's the profession of faith. Sometimes the Apostles' Creed is said instead and it's not said when there are baptisms or other professions of faith during the Mass. Then the prayers of the faithful-- where the Deacon leads the prayer and we say "lord hear our prayers" after him.

Sadly, that's true. Of course, at my parish most people sneak out after communion before the dismissal and blessing to get out of the parking lot. One time our pastor had one of the kids from the youth group count all the people who left early and then reported the number back to us the following week. Of course, I think the sneaking in late is just as bad. I'm usually never on time, but I've never come in after the "Gloria" . And then the cell phones that go off. The last time, our senior assistant asked if God was calling the last time a phone rang during Mass.

I also think you can look at the General Instruction of the Roman Missal online to see exactly how the Mass is done. (I should review it for my own story.)

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Maria
http://cosmicink.livejournal.com/
A Promise Unfulfilled '06

"…therein is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident." H.L. Mencken

As an interesting note, the order of the procession is different in different churches, but the presiding priest (or bishop, but that wouldn't be an ordinary Mass) is always last.

If someone is carrying a processional cross, they'll be first.

Sometimes the altar servers go here, other times they're before the priest (or priests) and/or deacon walk in. Sometimes they carry lit candles.

The lector isn't part of the procession at all churches. For churches where two different people read the two different readings before the Gospel, sometimes both walk in, sometimes just the one reading the first reading. Also, the first reading isn't always from the Old Testament; it's from the Acts of the Apostles, in the New Testament, during the Easter season.

Sometimes the communion ministers walk in. If they do, they're usually after the lector(s). Their proper title is Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion - only a priest (or bishop) is a minister of the Eucharist and only a priest (or bishop) or deacon is an ordinary minister of holy communion.

If a deacon is present, sometimes he walks in beside the priest, other times in front. If two priests are present, they either walk in side by side or the one who is presiding walks last.

If a deacon is present, he may say the Kyrie (the Lord Have Mercy) instead of the priest. He will probably read the Gospel rather than the priest. He may give the homily, but that's not very common - it happens sometimes if there's a visiting priest, though. He will be the one to tell the people that they may share a sign of peace after the Lord's Prayer. He will also be the one to announce, "The Mass has ended; go now to serve the Lord" or some variation thereof.

It's important to note that Catholics do not believe that the priest merely blesses the bread and wine. The order of the second half of Mass goes:
The offering is collected, bread and wine are brought to the altar, then the bread and wine are blessed.
The priest has a short dialogue with the people: "The Lord be with you." ("And also with you.") "Lift up your hearts." ("We lift them up to the Lord.") "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." ("It is right to give him thanks and praise.") That may be sung instead of recited. I find that most Catholics would know the chant melody for that, even if they don't think they do.
The priest prays a short prayer usually specific to the day. Then the priest and people sing (or say) the Sanctus, in English (or whatever the common language of the rest of the Mass has been) or Latin. (In English, it's "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.")
At this point people kneel, in most churches, and the priest prays a longer prayer that doesn't change from day to day. After he says, "This is my body," he will raise either the plate with the wafers or a single wafer so that everyone may see it. At this point Catholics believe that the wafer is no longer bread, but is really, truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus.
Then he will pray over the wine, and after, "which will be given up for you," he raises the chalice. At this point Catholics believe that what is in the chalice is no longer wine, but is really, truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus.
Then he will say, "Let us proclaim the mystery of faith," and a short response is said or sung.
People will remain kneeling and the priest will continue praying, until he lifts up both the plate and the cup (if a deacon is present, he may hold the cup), prays a brief prayer, and then everyone sings "Amen" several times. (If there's no music, they only say 'Amen' once.)
Then comes the Lord's Prayer, and after that the sign of peace. In the US, usually people near each other shake hands and say, "Peace," or "Peace be with you." Family members often hug or kiss instead.
After that, the priest and people say or sing the Agnus Dei in English or Latin (usually the same language that the Sanctus was in - in English the words are "Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.")
In some parts of the world, people kneel again, and remain kneeling until their pew goes up for communion. In others, people remain standing. This is even different in different parts of the US.
The rest is as you said.

Historical note from another cradle Catholic:

According to Vatican II (a.k.a. "the second vatican council") in the 1960's, masses are usually said in the dominant language of the area. IE: in most of the US, it's in English but churches offer masses in other languages widely spoken in the area. A lot of churches here in Texas have Spanish masses and I would imagine there might be French masses near and in Quebec? My family is from the Midwest and I swear I heard of one church that had mass in Polish.

That being said, the current powers that be in the Vatican are encouraging mass to be said in Latin the way it was pre-Vatican II when my mom was a child. I said something to her about this recently and she said something to the effect of "yeah, but who understands Latin anymore?"
Some people might prefer the Latin mass because it's more authentic or whatever.

If your memory is foggy about the times you've been with relatives, here's what I remember from my first few visits to a Catholic mass as an "outsider" (and Catholics, please don't take offense -- I'm married to a Catholic, these were just the things that struck me as different from the church I grew up in):

* You're heading to sit down, you and your friends/family spot a space in a pew (or are lead there by an usher) -- you almost run into the person in front of you as they unexpectedly kneel before going in

* Everything's normal, procession, quick greeting from priest, then all of the sudden, everyone around you chants in unison, "And also with you."

* Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down.

* Lots of things to recite at length, with everyone but you doing it from memory (someone will give you a copy of "some book" from which to read the Nicene creed -- there's also a fun part when you realize you're reciting an oath before God stating "I believe in one holy and catholic and apostolic church")

* Just when you're into the swing of the Lord's Prayer, happy you remember something to recite from memory, they cut you off

* The response that has the entire congregation chanting, in a unison monotone, "It is right to give Him thanks and praise" is always jarring to me.

* At the church where my ILs attend, if anyone tried to sneak out after communion, the priest would have called them out on it. As in, right then, in front of everyone. Or at a minimum (if he was still doing communion), he would have poked fun at them after they left so that if they were parishioners thier friends would tease them.

* If you're looking for a joke, I was amused one day when instead of the usual, "Mass is ended, go in peace," the priest echoed my thoughts and said, "Mass is ended, thanks be to God."

:)

This caught my (Baptist-raised) husband by surprise the first time. Most Catholic churches end the Lord's Prayer with "and deliver us from evil. Amen." Then the priest says a couple of prayerful lines, and the congregation then says the power, glory, etc. part (which I can't remember right now). Though sometimes, I've seen the priest say this part by himself without the congregation. Depends on the church, I suppose.

Also, I've noticed a trend in the Catholic churches around here cutting out most of the traditional kneeling during the Mass. I admit I've been lax about going to Mass in the past several years, and this surprised me the first time I saw it. There's nothing like getting confused about something you think you could do in your sleep! Suddenly I knew how all the non-Catholic guests felt, not knowing when to stand or sit.

For the sake of fairness, we always said the Apostle's Creed (which is incidentally common in masses said in Catholic schools because it's shorter and easier for children to remember, but says some of the same things, including that) in the Methodist church in which I was raised. When I asked my grandfather, who was a minister, about why we proclaimed belief in the holy catholic church, he explained that it was "catholic with a little C" because the word means "universal" and Christ's church is for everyone in the world.

For the sake of fairness, we always said the Apostle's Creed (which is incidentally common in masses said in Catholic schools because it's shorter and easier for children to remember, but says some of the same things, including that) in the Methodist church in which I was raised. When I asked my grandfather, who was a minister, about why we proclaimed belief in the holy catholic church, he explained that it was "catholic with a little C" because the word means "universal" and Christ's church is for everyone in the world.

(If this showed up twice, I'm sorry. It appeared that the forum ate my post.)

When I was growing up, the priest at my home parish sang that dialogue (the thanks and praise one - the one that I said most Catholics will know the melody for even if they don't realize it). When I visited other parishes and heard people reciting it in a unison monotone, I agree with you, it's a little disconcerting. :)

I was raised Catholic, and your post made me laugh out loud. I thought Dagny's observations were wonderful! Seriously, there are tears in my eyes from laughing with you. I've always thought the mass must seem very strange indeed to people who are not Catholic, but I always presumed that they were getting hung up on communion.

I dated someone who rolled right into "For the Kingdom ..." during our interval in the Lord's Prayer. He gave me such a dirty look, and then we both had to keep from giggling. I think he thought all the standing, sitting and kneeling were ways for us to identify visitors as well.

Of all the responses in the mass, I think "It is right to give Him thanks and praise" is probably the one that makes us sound the most like the pod people to visitors. I don't know if it's our monotone delivery or the use of "It is right."

Dagny, I loved your note about suddenly realizing that there is apparently a loyalty oath written into the Nicene Creed. For many years, I actually thought the little "c" in "catholic" was a misprint. I was in an Episcopal high school before I learned what it meant.

I just had to weigh in here. Thanks, Dagny. And no offense to anyone, of course.