My Simple Mass Book (Sample)

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M y Simple

Mass Book Illustrated by David Belmonte Edited by Bernadette Sweetman & Pierpaolo Finaldi

All booklets are published thanks to the generous support of the members of the Catholic Truth Society

CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY publishers to the holy see

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Contents Prayer Before Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Introductory Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sign of the Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Greeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Penitential Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Lord, Have Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Liturgy of the Eucharist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Prayer over the Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Eucharistic Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Holy, Holy, Holy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 The Mystery of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Doxology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Gloria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Communion Rite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Collect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The Lord’s Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Liturgy of the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 First Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Responsorial Psalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Second Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Nicene Creed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Apostles’ Creed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Bidding Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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The Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Breaking of the Bread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Invitation to Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Prayers Before Holy Communion . . . . . . . . 42 Communion Procession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Prayer After Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Prayers After Holy Communion . . . . . . . . . 46 The Concluding Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

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Prayer before Mass

unday Mass is the highlight of our week.

Dressed in our best, we gather together to worship God, to join in Jesus’s sacrifice and to celebrate his love for us. As you enter the church dip your fingers in the holy water at the entrance and make the Sign of the Cross as a reminder of your Baptism. To show respect for Jesus, we genuflect (‘go down on one knee’) in front of the tabernacle and make the Sign of the Cross. The sanctuary lamp reminds us that Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, reserved in the tabernacle. Before Mass begins, we quietly prepare ourselves to take part fully in this wonderful celebration.

O God, help me to make a good Communion.

Mary, my dearest mother, pray to Jesus for me.

My dear Angel Guardian, lead me to the Altar of God. Amen.

Prayer O God, to whom every heart is open, every desire known and from whom no secrets are hidden; purify the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily praise your holy name.

Amen.

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The Introductory Rites

Sign of the Cross

When the Entrance Chant is concluded, the Priest and the faithful sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross, while the Priest says: Priest: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All reply: Amen.

Greeting

The Priest greets the people, saying:

1. Priest: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Or: 2. Priest: Grace to you and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or: 3. Priest: The Lord be with you.

All reply: And with your spirit.

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e are welcomed to Mass by Jesus himself in the person of the Priest.

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Penitential Act

o prepare ourselves to receive the precious gift of the Eucharist, we remember the times when we have sinned and not been as loving or as forgiving as we ought to be. We ask for forgiveness from God and from each other.

One of the following three options is used: Priest: Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,

(Strike breast) through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore 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.

The absolution by the Priest follows: Priest: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.

All reply: Amen.

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Or:

The absolution by the Priest follows:

Priest: Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

Priest: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.

Priest: Have mercy on us, O Lord.

All reply: Amen.

Lord, Have Mercy

All reply: For we have sinned against you.

Priest: Show us, O Lord, your mercy.

All reply: And grant us your salvation.

The absolution by the Priest follows: Priest: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.

All reply: Amen.

Or: Priest: Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

If either of the first two forms of the Penitential Act are used then immediately after the ‘May almighty God…’ comes the Lord, have mercy.

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he first Christians knew how important it was to ask for God’s Mercy at the beginning of Mass. They prayed in Greek and we still sometimes use their words: ‘Kyrie’ and ‘Christe eleison’, asking God’s forgiveness before we celebrate the Mass.

Priest: You were sent to heal the contrite of heart:

Priest: Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

All reply: Lord, have mercy.

All reply: Lord, have mercy.

Priest: You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy.

All reply: Christ, have mercy.

All reply: Christ, have mercy.

Priest: Christ, have mercy.

Priest: Lord, have mercy.

All reply: Lord, have mercy.

Priest: You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us: Lord, have mercy.

All reply: Lord, have mercy.

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Gloria he Gloria is an ancient hymn of praise to God which echoes the words that the angels sang to the shepherds at Jesus’s birth.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;

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you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

Collect

Priest: Let us pray.

All pray in silence with the Priest who then says the Collect prayer, at the end of which: All reply: Amen.

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Liturgy of the Word

First Reading

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he reader goes to the ambo to read from the Sacred Scriptures. The readings at Mass come from the Bible. Usually, the First Reading comes from the Old Testament. Some of these stories are thousands of years old but they still have an important message for us. They tell us how much God loves us.

Responsorial Psalm

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he Psalms are ancient songs and prayers that were written around the time of King David. They help us to express our worries, gratitude and love of God. Make sure you remember the response and say or sing it with all your heart.

Reader: The word of the Lord.

All reply: Thanks be to God.

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isten carefully to the readings. Picture yourself in the stories and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to what God wants to say to you and what he wants you to do.

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Second Reading

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he second reading is usually a letter from Saint Paul to the first Christians. They had the same joys, problems and worries as we do and his advice is as good for us as it was for them. Think of every reading as a letter to your parish.

We stand and welcome the Gospel by singing: All: Alleluia.

Priest: The Lord be with you.

All reply: And with your spirit.

Priest: A reading from the holy Gospel according to N. All reply: Glory to you, O Lord.

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims: Priest: The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

After the proclamation of the Gospel the congregation sits down to listen to the homily.

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he word Gospel means ‘good news’ and is the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as well as the words he himself said to us. These words are so important that they are read by the priest or deacon and we stand to listen to them.

Reader: The word of the Lord.

All reply: Thanks be to God.

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Gospel

e welcome the good news with great joy singing Alleluia! During Lent we use other words awaiting Easter to sing Alleluia again.

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