Jan
24
Written by:
Fr. Gary Zerr
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Mass in Numbers
Pastor’s Column
3rd Sunday Ordinary Time
January 24, 2009
How much do you know about the Mass? There are so many interesting things to learn. It is amazing how we can attend Mass week after week, and yet not notice the most obvious things!
Test yourself! See how many of these questions you can answer! On the opposite side of this page are the answers to these questions. Don’t look right away – try to figure it out first and see if I have missed any!
Father Gary
1. How many formal processions can you count at a typical Sunday Mass?
2. The four elevations of the Eucharist during Mass (we will count this one only from the consecration onwards).
3. Things which come in threes at Mass.
4. The three places where the priest makes a large cross with his hand during Mass.
5. Significant twos (I have listed only the most important of them, because I ran out of room: see how many more you can find!)
Answers
There are normally five processions at Sunday Mass:
· The entrance procession, when the priest, lector, servers and ministers come in
· The gospel procession with priest or deacon, servers and candles.
· The offertory procession with the gifts of bread and wine and the collection.
· The communion procession where we come forward to receive the Lord.
· The closing procession, when the priest, lector, servers and ministers go out.
The four formal elevations of the Eucharist at Mass
· At the consecration of the bread and wine.
· At the doxology (“Through him, with him, in him”).
· At the Lamb of God (“This is the Lamb of God …”).
· At communion (when each communicant receives a personal elevation before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ).
Things which come in threes at Mass
· 3 “presidential prayers” (the 3 prayers that begin with “let us pray”).
· 3 readings (on Sundays) during the Liturgy of the Word.
· 3 times at the Sanctus we say “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
· 3 times we say “Lamb of God…”
· 3 times we will say “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault (in the new missal); we never stopped saying this in Spanish.
· 3 bells if you include 2 at the consecration and 1 at the Epiclesis (the calling down of the Holy Spirit); some parishes still do this.
· Three small crosses at the gospel over the forehead, mouth, and heart.
· 3 principal parts to the Creed: Father, son and Spirit
The three places a large cross is used during the Mass
· At the beginning (“in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”).
· Right before the consecration (the priest makes a large cross over the gifts of bread and wine).
· At the conclusion of Mass (when the priest blesses the congregation).
Significant twos:
· The 2 parts of the Mass (Liturgy of the Word; liturgy of the Eucharist).
· 2 Epiclesis or calling down of the Holy Spirit – once over the bread and wine (that it may become the Body of Christ : “Father, send forth your Spirit over these gifts…”), and then after the consecration, a second prayer sending the Holy Spirit over the people, who also form the Body of Christ in a different way.
· Mass can be thought of in two complimentary ways: The Mass is a Sacrifice because it makes present Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross; and Mass is a Sacred Meal where each of us and all Christians together dine with the Lord, feasting on his Body and blood and on the Word of God.