Cheat Sheet
Catholic Mass For Dummies
The heart and soul of Catholic Christianity is the Holy Mass. Going back 2,000 years, this religious ceremony is considered the most sacred and precious of all rites by Roman Catholics around the world. For the believer, the Catholic Mass is direct pipeline to God’s divine grace. Catholicism teaches its members that the Mass is a reenactment of both the Last Supper and Jesus’s crucifixion.
An Outline of the Ordinary Form of the Catholic Mass
The Ordinary form of the Catholic Mass is the normal or standard form of Mass with which most Catholics are generally familiar. The Ordinary form differs from the Extraordinary form and Tridentine Mass (sometimes called the Traditional Latin Mass).
The following list outlines the rites of the Catholic Mass from start to finish.
Introductory Rites
Greeting
Rite of Sprinkling or Penitential Rite
Confiteor
Kyrie
Gloria
Opening Prayer (Collect)
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading
Psalm
Second Reading
Gospel
Homily
Profession of Faith (Creed)
Prayer of the Faithful (General Intercessions)
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Preparation of Gifts (Offertory)
Offertory Prayer
Preface and Sanctus
Eucharistic Prayer
Pater Noster (Our Father or Lord’s Prayer)
Sign of Peace
Fraction Rite — Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
Communion Rite
Prayer after Communion
Concluding Rite
