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In the Roman Catholic tradition, the main Sunday service is called the Mass. In some churches there are four or five masses said each Sunday, as well as during the week.

There is a common structure for every Mass and a priest of the Catholic Church must always lead it. The service will vary from week to week depending on the Church calendar, but the basic order always remains the same. The order of service is taken from a book called the lectionary.

The word ‘M������’ refers to the whole service, while the word ‘E�ܳ��󲹰�������’ refers to the part of the service where the bread and wine are blessed and distributed. The Eucharist is offered to baptised Catholics over the age of eight.

How the service is conducted

As they enter the church the worshipper makes the sign of the cross and kneels for a short prayer in preparation for worship. As the priest and his servers make their way through the church, the congregation sing a psalm or hymn. The priest holds the lectionary high as he walks to the front and places it on the lectern ready for use.

The Mass proceeds as follows:

1. Greetings and Penitential Rite – together the priest and people admit their faults and ask for forgiveness from God and each other before the Mass. The priest tells the people of God’s forgiveness, saying, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” A hymn of praise called the Gloria is then sung.

2. The liturgy of the Word – there are readings from the Old Testament, the epistles and the gospels. Before the Gospel reading the priest makes the sign of the cross over the Bible and the censer of incense is swung to remind the congregation of the importance of the Gospel. The people will stand and make the sign of the cross over themselves. A short sermon or homily follows where the priest will develop a theme from the Bible readings or teach people how to live a better Christian life.

3. The creed and prayers of the faithful – the Nicene Creed is said. This is a summary of faith about God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It binds worshippers together and binds them to the past. This is followed by prayers of intercession where the people pray for the world, the Church and the needy in the community.

4. The offertory – The people bring up the bread and wine and money offerings. They present these to the priest. He places the plate with the bread and the chalice with the wine on the altar. He says a prayer of acceptance over them and the censer of incense is swung again. The priest washes his hands and invites the people to join him in prayer. He asks that the forthcoming sacrifice might be acceptable to God.

5. Preface and Eucharistic prayer – The preface is the introduction to the Eucharistic prayer. It reminds everyone of their duty to give thanks to God. The people show their agreement by reciting the great hymn of praise, the Sanctus. The word ‘E�ܳ��󲹰�������’ literally means ‘t�󲹲԰�����������Բ�’, and in this prayer worshippers thank God for sending Jesus to die on the cross so their sins can be forgiven. They also ask for God’s blessing on the Church.

6. Invocation - The priest prays that the Holy Spirit will consecrate the gifts of bread and wine (that is, to make them holy). Next follows the narrative of the Last Supper where the priest relates the words said by Jesus regarding the bread and wine. Then comes the elevation, as the priest raises the plate of bread and the chalice of wine for all to see. At the elevation, a bell is rung three times and the incense is swung. It is at this moment that Roman Catholics believe transubstantiation takes place, where the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Jesus. The priest reminds those who eat that they proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again.

7. Our Father and the sign of peace – worshippers will say the Lord’s Prayer together then they will offer each other the sign of peace. This usually takes the form of a handshake as they say to each other “The peace of the Lord be with you.”

8. Communion – the priest eats the communion wafer (the bread) and drinks the wine. Then he holds up a communion wafer and invites the people to receive the gift that God has given them by saying the words, “This is the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.” The people then leave their seats and come to the altar. As each person receives communion the priest (or the Eucharistic minister assisting him) will say “The body of Christ” and he or she will answer “A�����”. Only on rare occasions do people receive the wine. After communion, the worshippers pray privately.

9. Final blessing and dismissal – at the end of the Mass the priest reminds worshippers that they have a responsibility to go out from the Mass and help others. He says “Go in peace to love and to serve the Lord.”