Mass Monday: Kyrie and Gloria

Welcome to Mass Monday: a chance to examine the Mass as the central act of Catholic worship.

KYRIE: This ancient prayer gets its name from the Greek word for Lord: Kyreion. It is one of the oldest unchanged parts of the Mass—many of the earliest Christians spoke Greek, including the Apostles Matthew and Paul. The ancient words are:

Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison,
Kyrie eleison.

These words means “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” Once again, we are calling on God and asking for his mercy and forgiveness. All of the parts of the Mass lead up to the central event, which is the receiving of the Eucharist, so they are all designed to prepare our hearts and souls to welcome Jesus.
After the Kyrie, on Sunday and special feasts, we sing the “Gloria,” which is an adaptation of the hymn of praise the angels sang when Jesus was born. In the Mass, the Gloria is our thanks and celebration of God’s mercy, recognizing that his boundless love is showered on us, preparing us for the coming of his Son into our bodies.

Mass Monday: Confiteor

Welcome to Mass Monday: a chance to examine the Mass as the central act of Catholic worship.
After the Mass begins, practically the first thing we do is confess our sinfulness to God, and ask for His help to participate in the Mass worthily. This is not the same kind of confession as in the Sacrament of Confession, but instead an expression of sorrow for all our sins, all the time. We know that we are humans and constantly disappointing God, so we take a moment at the beginning of Mass to admit our faults and ask for help.
The prayer for this confession is called the “Confiteor", which comes from the first word of the prayer in Latin:

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, et vobis fratres, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo opere et omissione: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, omnes angelos et Sanctos, et vobis fratres, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum. Amen.

It means “I confess.” This prayer is an act of contrition. When we say it with perfect contrition, the venial sins which we have committed are forgiven. This is a very special grace God gives, in order to help us be as pure as possible before receiving Jesus in the Eucharist.
The Confiteor is very interesting for American Catholics this year, since it is one of the very few congregational prayers that has been re-translated. Starting in Advent, we will use a wording that’s a little different than what we’re used to:

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,
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.

Did you notice the sections in bold? Those are the ""changed” parts. When you go to Mass next weekend, keep an ear open for the Confiteor and notice the difference between our words now and the ones printed above.
Etra credit: Find someone who can read Latin, and ask them to literally translate the Latin prayer at the top of this post. Does it sound familiar?

Mass Monday: Introibo!

Welcome to Mass Monday: a chance to examine the Mass as the central act of Catholic worship.
The “Introit”, or entrance, is the first thing that happens at every Mass.  Most of us are used to this entrance being in the form of a hymn, sung by the congregation as the priest and servers process into the church building.

However, there is a rich meaning behind that hymn, going back to the oldest recorded prayers from the Mass, the special prayers said by the priest and servers at the foot of the altar in the Latin Mass.  The first word of those prayers, “introibo” means, “I will go!”  This is where we get the words introit and entrance. All three words signal a beginning, the first step.  The priest and servers are quoting King David’s psalms, “I will go up to the altar of God!”

Today at Mass, the priest says a small part of those old prayers when he goes up to the altar and kisses it.  Do you know why he kisses the altar?  Inside every altar in the world is a little stone with the relics of a saint inside.  He kisses the little stone and asks those saints to pray for him and all the congregation during Mass.  While he says the little prayer to the saints, the people say or sing the “introit” song (in Latin Mass, this is usually another psalm) or an “entrance hymn” whose words are about the same theme as the readings for the day.

Once all these are finished, the priest will be standing at his chair and ready to begin the Mass.  Did you know that so many important things happened before Mass even begins?  Thinking about the words of the song, and knowing that the priest is already asking for help from the saints to celebrate Mass worthily, should help us concentrate on the Liturgy and remind us that we have come to a holy place. 

I will go!