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Tomorrow, we will test drive the Catholic church at a local parish in our town. I'm looking forward to the scenery above all else. So far, I have only entered three Catholic facilities in my entire life: Cathedral of the Madeleine, San Felipe de Neri parish, and another far, far away. Honestly, I'm pretty excited for the opportunity. I have no idea what happens at mass. I assume it might be sort of like Mormon sacrament. Maybe I'll see her:

Is that Our Lady of Perpetual Motion?

Here are a few basics.

1. The mass is more formal than an LDS sarament meeting. There are set prayers, greetings, responses, and gestures. There is also a certain level of participation by the congregation in the form of responses, standing, and kneeling. Don't worry about trying to keep up with it all. Just take it in.

2. The mass is divided into two basic parts, the liturgy of the word and the eucharist (LDS sacrament). This basic form goes all the way back to the second century. For the first some scripture passages will be read and a sermon given. The second part consists of a rather drawn out consecration of the bread and wine and then communion by the congregation. Since you are not catholic you should not take communion.

3. I think it helps with the appreciation of the mass to realize that catholics believe that the bread and wine become in some real sense the body and blood of Christ. So when the priest holds up the eucharist and says 'Behold the Lamb of God!' They mean it in more than a merely figurative sense

4 be prepared for a more relaxed dress code and probably less 'fellowshiping' than you may find in a LDS ward

5 this sunday is the first sunday of advent, the christmas season. If you get a chance attend a christmas eve midnight mass. I went to my first last year. If nothing else it is a pleasant way to celebrate the holiday.

Interesting! Thank you for the information.

Why do they call it a "mass," anyway? Why not call it "density" or something?

It comes from the phrase ite missa est which roughly means, "Go, it is finished" which are the last words said in a Latin Rite service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ite_missa_est

Mass can have a lot of pomp and ceremony or it can be performed in as little as 15 minutes. What a marvelous opportunity to get exercise by standing up, sitting and kneeling repeatedly while worshiping. Hope you enjoyed it. Wish more people could joyfully experience the religious traditions of others, so they would not seem so "other".

Good for you, quark. My mom is Catholic and I dated a French Catholic for a few years when I was young, so I've attended mass a number of times, in both English and French.

Aside from the ritual aspects of mass (call and answer, communal prayer, the eucharist), what strikes me as most interesting in comparison to the LDS is how much more respect people have for the service itself. The priest is always prepared with something quite interesting to say, unlike the repeated copypasta that is heard in LDS services, and the congregants take the communion with a heightened reverence that I never experience in Mormon services.

I've also attended Anglican and United Church services, and in my observation of those services is akin to what I have seen in Catholic mass.

Have a great experience.

H.

Aristotle Smith wrote:It comes from the phrase ite missa est which roughly means, "Go, it is finished" which are the last words said in a Latin Rite service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ite_missa_est

Kind of funny if you think about. Calling the service something like 'it's over!'. Maybe its because back when it was done in latin, everyone was listening for that key phrase so they could finally go home.

Don't Catholics have a reputation for bolting out the door at the end of the service?