The Mass of the Catechumens

 Many people may not know this, and it was poorly explained to me when I was in the process of joining the Catholic Church, through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, RCIA, but the Mass has two parts to it. The mass being separated by intent separates the people at the Mass. Those who are not fully initiated in the Sacramental Nature of the Church, and those who are fully initiated. The first half is called the Mass of the Catechumens, and the second half is called Mass of the Faithful, which you will read about on the next page. For now, let's learn about the Mass of the Catechumens.

First what is a Catechumen? We it is someone in the process of learning the Faith, and what the Faith teaches, but also in the process of learning about and receiving the Sacraments. They, and the faithful at large, is who the Mass of the catechumens are for. Here in the Mass of the Catechumen, you receive instruction. Below are the contents of the Mass of the Catechumens, let us go through them together.

For the parts of the Mass I will be referring to the readings from the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which occurs on the third Friday after Pentecost. 

• Prayers at the foot of the Altar
• Introit
• Kyrie
• Gloria
• Collects
• Epistle
• Gradual and Alleluia
• Gospel
• Homily/ Sermon
• Creed

We offer up our prayers to God, and we receive instruction from Him. This is the Mass of Preparation. 

Prayers at the foot of the Altar -

As the Ordinary of the Mass describes, the Prayers at the foot of the Altar consist of: Sign of the Cross, Psalm 42 (Judica me), The public confession, and then the Priest goes up to the Altar for Mass. Everyone makes the sign of the cross at the start of the Mass, this is because we go all good thing in the + Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost +, and the celebration of the Mass is the most good thing that someone can participate in. Psalm 42, commonly known, in the liturgy, as Judica Me. This is because it starts with "Judica Me", we're an imaginative bunch, but it calls to mind a Psalm of Joy, a Psalm of Praise, and adoration of the Lord our God, and declaring that we come before His altar to worship Him. The public confession, is a means of us confessing our sins and asking one another, including the Saints, in praying for us. A reminder of our sinful nature, and the need of the Savior, Whom we encounter in the Mass in the Most Holy Eucharist!! A confession of our sins is necessary prior to presenting ourselves before the Altar to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist.

The Priest now approaches the Altar and does the following.

Introit - 

The Introit, much like the Judica Me is a Psalm that is sung or chanted as a processional psalm as the Priest approaches the Altar. The Introit, in this case Psalm 32, is the Antiphon of verses 11 and 19 sung at the beginning and end of Psalm 32. 

Kyrie - 

The Kyrie Elesion is the most recognizable Greek in any Mass, The majority of the Traditional Latin Mass is in, you guessed it Latin, but the Kyrie has always been in Greek. This way we can claim being bilingual (Latin and Greek). Joking aside, this is due to its use beginning in Antioch, which was in the Greek-speaking part of the world. This is a prayer to the Holy Trinity and goes like this: Kyrie, Elesion; Kyrie, Elesion; Kyrie, Elesion; Christe, Elesion; Christe, Elesion; Christe, Elesion; Kyrie, Elesion; Kyrie, Elesion; Kyrie, Elesion. Translated it means: Lord, have mercy (x3); Christ, have mercy (x3); Lord, have mercy (x3). The first is to God the Father, then God the Son Jesus Christ, and then to God the Holy Ghost. Each person is invoked three times in honor of the Holy Trinity and the relationship int eh Holy Trinity called Perichoresis. For more on Perichoresis, I will be doing a section on the Holy Trinity in Module three. 

Gloria - 

Following the tradition of naming things by their Incipit, the Gloria is called thus because the first word is "Gloria". The "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Glory to God in the highest), is also called the Great Doxology as it is a great prayer or verse praising God in the Trinity, all doxologies do this. However, where there is a Great Doxology there is a Minor Doxology, Cf. Gloria Patri. This being a song of joy, it is not sung during penitential times such as: Advent, Septuagesima, and Lent. Nor is it sung for a Mass of the Dead, done at funerals or in remembrance of a loved one who has died, such as the Gregorian Masses for a person after they died.

Collect - 

The Collect, pronounced kall-ect, is simply a prayer meant to gather in or gather up the intentions of the mass. For example, the Collect for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus brought to mind the intention of the Mass, namely His Sacred Heart, wounded for us on Calvary, and is an abode of infinite love for us.

Epistle - 

As the name suggests it can have something to do with one of the Epistles of the New Testament. However, Epistle is Greek for letter, but contained a lesson of note. The Epistle in the Mass, can be one of the letters from the New Testament, from the Acts of the Apostles, The book of Revelation, or a passage from the Old Testament. It like any other varying part of the Mass, also known as the Propers, changes with the Mass of the day. For the Feast of the Sacred Heart the Epistle was from the Letter to the Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19.

Gradual and Alleluia - 

The Gradual and Alleluia, or Tract depending on the liturgical season, is named so as it is introduced from the steps of the pulpit, or ambo in the liturgical name. The reason being is that gradual comes from gradus which means step. It is a Psalm that is specifically chosen the harmonize with the other readings of the day. For the Sacred Heart is was Psalm 24: 8-9. The Alleluia comes from the Hebrew Hallelu which means to "let us praise" and Yah was added as a shortened form of Yahweh (a name of God), and to mean "Let us praise God". During Lent the Alleluia is not said, but the tract is which is a passage taken from the Psalms.

The Gospel - 

The Gospel is proclaimed or announced by the Priest, or a Deacon during a Solemn High Mass. The Gospel is the fifth and last Proper, or variable part of the Mass the rest is the Ordinary, And we make three crosses on ourselves before the Gospel is proclaimed. A cross on the forehead, our lips, and our heart, asking our Lord to forever keep His Word in our thoughts, words, and deeds this day and always. On the Feast day the Gospel was from the Gospel according to St. John 19:31-37.

The Creed - 

The Creed is the final part of the Mass of the Catechumens, and ends with a firm declaration of what we believe as Catholics, and what we should believe as Christians as a whole. If you remember, the Creed teaches us a lot about our faith. Specific things taught to combat heresy, and to teach key facets of our Faith in an easy to learn manner. It fought heresies such as Arianism, Gnosticism, Marcionism, Docetism, and the Macedonian Heresy. This is repeated in every Mass as a final point of instruction for the catechumens, as they would then depart from the Mass, and remain outside while the Mass of the Faithful would begin. This is because only those who believe in what we believe, may recieve the sacraments. They are baptized, confess their sins, are confirmed, and are then able to receive the Lord our God Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist. Nowadays the Catechumens are not separated like that, meaning they aren't sent out of the Church, they remain for the Mass of the Faithful, but they may not receive the Most Holy Eucharist at the moment of Communion.