Church Vs Catholic Church
Worship in the Catholic Church is almost completely centered on the Communion. People who are faithful to this religion are expected to take communion every Sunday and on certain holidays during the year. Mass is held daily in most churches and is essential element of the service at marriages, funerals and other Catholic events. Catholics participate in Mass as a celebration of the Eucharist - A sacrament and the central act of worship in many Christian churches, which was instituted at the Last Supper and in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in remembrance of Jesus' death; Communion (American Heritage Dictionary). Catholics are encouraged to attend mass frequently as a way of acknowledging God and being forgiven for their sins.
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The Mass is made up of several parts of which the longest and most important are what's called "liturgy of the Word" and the "Eucharistic liturgy", during which Holy Communion is distributed. Although the structure of Mass is usually kept the same, many churches have a variation in the use of music, prayer and readings to make service appropriate for a given occasion.
The main difference between a Catholic mass and any other service is that if one happens to be a) non-catholic or b) have not been to confession - that is, been forgiven for your sins by a priest - you may not partake in Communion.
Communion is the most important part of the Catholic mass, as it symbolizes receiving the body and blood of Jesus as represented by bread and wine. People who are not faithful to the Catholic religion are still welcome at the mass. Some religions, i.e., members of Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Polish National Catholic Church may attend mass, and may receive communion however they must do it in the manner that is traditional in their own …show more content…
church.
When a person faithful to the Catholic religion enters the church they dip their fingers in holy water and then genuflect - which is the sign of the cross - across their chest, to show respect to Jesus.
Once the members of the church have genuflected they will go to the pew of choice and pray until the priest appears and then the service will start. This is the start of Mass and is called the "Introductory Rites". At this point the congregation is expected to stand up and sing the "Entrance Song". This is sung as the priest and the alter boys enter the church and proceed to the alter; once they have shown respect, or reverenced the alter, they then go to their chairs. The priest will then greet the congregation by saying "In the name of Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit" - this is the same for every mass. Once this has been said then the congregation will genuflect again and say "Amen. At this point, one of two events may happen, the first is the "Rite of Blessing" and sprinkling holy water - to remind the congregation of their baptism, or the "Penitential Rite" - which is asking God to be forgiven for any sins that may have been committed. In the recent Mass I attended the Penitential Rite was done. Once this has been completed the "Gloria" is then performed, it can be either sung or recited and it this case it was sung. The Gloria is an ancient hymn of praise that is used on all Sundays outside of Advent (the days before Christmas) and Lent (the 40 weekdays before Easter). Once the Gloria has been completed a prayer is said, this may be a silent prayer or an Opening prayer, which is different for each mass. In this case an Opening Prayer was said.
Once the Introductory Rites have been completed the mass then proceeds to the "Liturgy of the Word" which is the major part of the Mass between the Opening Prayer and the preparation of the gifts.
During this time there are several readings made and hymns sung. It starts out with the first reading which is usually taken from the Old Testament; at this recent Mass the readings were read by a member of the congregation, known as a Lector. After this first reading a psalm/hymn is sung and then there is a Second Reading. The second reading is done on Sundays and major events, but not on weekdays and the introduction, conclusion and response of the congregation are the same as the first reading. Once this has been completed there is then either an "Alleluia" or Gospel Acclimation - in this recent mass the priest would say "Alleluia!" and the congregation would sing it afterwards, this was repeated twice. After this the "Homily" was performed, in which the Priest gives a lecture regarding a issue or occasion that is occurring, on this day, the issue of abortion was brought up. The Priest may also participate in or have a reading or discussion about a holiday/feast that is being held. The Priest then proceeds with the "Profession of Faith", this is said one of two ways - the "Nicene Creed" which is recited by everyone - or the "Apostle's Creed" which is used in Celebrations of Masses with Children. After this is completed there is a Prayer of the faithful - on this day a member of
the congregation had written a prayer regarding friends and family that the Priest recited.
Now begins the "Liturgy of the Eucharist". It starts out with a presentation of gifts. In modern times these gifts usually take the form of money. At this time there were four members of the congregations of who had baskets which were used to collect the gifts. During the time that the gifts are being collected there may be a prayer said aloud or a song sung, in this case it was the latter and then the priest thanked the members of the congregation for their gifts. A prayer, which is different every mass, is then said over the gifts and the members will respond with "Amen". The Eucharistic Prayer is then read, there are roughly 13 different Eucharistic Prayers that can be read depending on the occasion with each prayer having a similar structure.
Now begins the Communion Rite, the core of the Catholic Mass and what separates a Catholic service from all other Christian services. It starts out with the priest asking the congregation to pray and the congregation reading the Lord's Prayer aloud. Once the prayer is completed the Priest will then announce the "Sign of Peace" in which he will ask the congregation to offer each other a sign of peace. At this point bread and wine (or something representing wine) is brought out as symbols of Jesus' body and blood and the priest will bless it. At this time members of the congregation, specifically those who have already confessed their sins before the mass will walk up to the Alter to receive communion. This is done by kneeling at the Alter in front of the priest as he blesses the person and will ask the recipient "Do you accept the blood of Christ?" and then the person is given a sip of wine, then "Do you accept the body of Christ?" at which time a wafer (which represents bread) is placed on the tongue. Once this has been completed the person stands up and returns to their place in the congregation. During the receiving of the Communion a song will be sung by the remainder of the congregation which is then followed by a prayer.
Once the Communion has been completed the "Concluding Rites" are then done. The Concluding Rites can be done in one of two ways; either the Priest will say "The Lord be with you" and the congregation will reply "And also with you." Or the congregation will turn to one another and greet the fellow member with the same words and a handshake or hug/embrace will be followed. Once the greeting has been completed the Priest will then Bless the congregation or say a short prayer for the people and then will Dismiss the congregation signifying that the mass is then over.
The Catholic mass has changed very little over the past two thousand years and while the Catholic Church has had to modernize in many ways to keep people attending and keep interest up, the structure to the Mass has changed very little. More recently the Church has realized that it must 'market' itself to the people requiring some more major changes - such being the inclusion of English rather than Latin singing and specific prayers or blessings for children, as the Catholic religion is very adult oriented. With less and less religious people attending Church it will be very interesting to see what changes must be made by the Church as our society become more based on technology and digresses from religion.
The Mass is made up of several parts of which the longest and most important are what's called "liturgy of the Word" and the "Eucharistic liturgy", during which Holy Communion is distributed. Although the structure of Mass is usually kept the same, many churches have a variation in the use of music, prayer and readings to make service appropriate for a given occasion.
The main difference between a Catholic mass and any other service is that if one happens to be a) non-catholic or b) have not been to confession - that is, been forgiven for your sins by a priest - you may not partake in Communion.
Communion is the most important part of the Catholic mass, as it symbolizes receiving the body and blood of Jesus as represented by bread and wine. People who are not faithful to the Catholic religion are still welcome at the mass. Some religions, i.e., members of Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Polish National Catholic Church may attend mass, and may receive communion however they must do it in the manner that is traditional in their own …show more content…
church.
When a person faithful to the Catholic religion enters the church they dip their fingers in holy water and then genuflect - which is the sign of the cross - across their chest, to show respect to Jesus.
Once the members of the church have genuflected they will go to the pew of choice and pray until the priest appears and then the service will start. This is the start of Mass and is called the "Introductory Rites". At this point the congregation is expected to stand up and sing the "Entrance Song". This is sung as the priest and the alter boys enter the church and proceed to the alter; once they have shown respect, or reverenced the alter, they then go to their chairs. The priest will then greet the congregation by saying "In the name of Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit" - this is the same for every mass. Once this has been said then the congregation will genuflect again and say "Amen. At this point, one of two events may happen, the first is the "Rite of Blessing" and sprinkling holy water - to remind the congregation of their baptism, or the "Penitential Rite" - which is asking God to be forgiven for any sins that may have been committed. In the recent Mass I attended the Penitential Rite was done. Once this has been completed the "Gloria" is then performed, it can be either sung or recited and it this case it was sung. The Gloria is an ancient hymn of praise that is used on all Sundays outside of Advent (the days before Christmas) and Lent (the 40 weekdays before Easter). Once the Gloria has been completed a prayer is said, this may be a silent prayer or an Opening prayer, which is different for each mass. In this case an Opening Prayer was said.
Once the Introductory Rites have been completed the mass then proceeds to the "Liturgy of the Word" which is the major part of the Mass between the Opening Prayer and the preparation of the gifts.
During this time there are several readings made and hymns sung. It starts out with the first reading which is usually taken from the Old Testament; at this recent Mass the readings were read by a member of the congregation, known as a Lector. After this first reading a psalm/hymn is sung and then there is a Second Reading. The second reading is done on Sundays and major events, but not on weekdays and the introduction, conclusion and response of the congregation are the same as the first reading. Once this has been completed there is then either an "Alleluia" or Gospel Acclimation - in this recent mass the priest would say "Alleluia!" and the congregation would sing it afterwards, this was repeated twice. After this the "Homily" was performed, in which the Priest gives a lecture regarding a issue or occasion that is occurring, on this day, the issue of abortion was brought up. The Priest may also participate in or have a reading or discussion about a holiday/feast that is being held. The Priest then proceeds with the "Profession of Faith", this is said one of two ways - the "Nicene Creed" which is recited by everyone - or the "Apostle's Creed" which is used in Celebrations of Masses with Children. After this is completed there is a Prayer of the faithful - on this day a member of
the congregation had written a prayer regarding friends and family that the Priest recited.
Now begins the "Liturgy of the Eucharist". It starts out with a presentation of gifts. In modern times these gifts usually take the form of money. At this time there were four members of the congregations of who had baskets which were used to collect the gifts. During the time that the gifts are being collected there may be a prayer said aloud or a song sung, in this case it was the latter and then the priest thanked the members of the congregation for their gifts. A prayer, which is different every mass, is then said over the gifts and the members will respond with "Amen". The Eucharistic Prayer is then read, there are roughly 13 different Eucharistic Prayers that can be read depending on the occasion with each prayer having a similar structure.
Now begins the Communion Rite, the core of the Catholic Mass and what separates a Catholic service from all other Christian services. It starts out with the priest asking the congregation to pray and the congregation reading the Lord's Prayer aloud. Once the prayer is completed the Priest will then announce the "Sign of Peace" in which he will ask the congregation to offer each other a sign of peace. At this point bread and wine (or something representing wine) is brought out as symbols of Jesus' body and blood and the priest will bless it. At this time members of the congregation, specifically those who have already confessed their sins before the mass will walk up to the Alter to receive communion. This is done by kneeling at the Alter in front of the priest as he blesses the person and will ask the recipient "Do you accept the blood of Christ?" and then the person is given a sip of wine, then "Do you accept the body of Christ?" at which time a wafer (which represents bread) is placed on the tongue. Once this has been completed the person stands up and returns to their place in the congregation. During the receiving of the Communion a song will be sung by the remainder of the congregation which is then followed by a prayer.
Once the Communion has been completed the "Concluding Rites" are then done. The Concluding Rites can be done in one of two ways; either the Priest will say "The Lord be with you" and the congregation will reply "And also with you." Or the congregation will turn to one another and greet the fellow member with the same words and a handshake or hug/embrace will be followed. Once the greeting has been completed the Priest will then Bless the congregation or say a short prayer for the people and then will Dismiss the congregation signifying that the mass is then over.
The Catholic mass has changed very little over the past two thousand years and while the Catholic Church has had to modernize in many ways to keep people attending and keep interest up, the structure to the Mass has changed very little. More recently the Church has realized that it must 'market' itself to the people requiring some more major changes - such being the inclusion of English rather than Latin singing and specific prayers or blessings for children, as the Catholic religion is very adult oriented. With less and less religious people attending Church it will be very interesting to see what changes must be made by the Church as our society become more based on technology and digresses from religion.