Catholic Mass Liturgy resources to help you grow in your understanding of our highest form of prayer!
Dear “Part-Time” Catholics, How are you? It’s been a while. You only show up some of the time, like Easter and Christmas (hence, the nickname “Cr-easters”), so we don’t know each other very well. But, I think I like a lot about you. You probably expected me to be all...
I tease that I grew up as a “Metho-byterian-ist of God” - I was baptized United Methodist, sang in a Presbyterian traveling youth choir, went to Wednesday night Bible study with my Baptist friends, and often visited an Assemblies of God church with a guy I dated. As...
A Prayer Before Mass Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of...
With Christmas on a Monday this year, you'll need to get creative about when you go to Mass. Here are some options to get you thinking about how to spend this Holy Day! Christmas Mass Strategy Image Created By: Christify Artworks | Project Catholic
St. John Chrysostom wonderfully tells us that when the devil sees us returning from the sacred Banquet of the Eucharist, he flees from us as if he has seen a lion “breathing forth flames from his mouth!” Why? Because in the precious sacrament of the Eucharist,...
One of the great mysteries of life is understanding the motivations our own hearts. I can look at the sky, see the moon, and if it catches my fancy, look up all sorts of facts about it. I can know how big the moon is, what it’s made of, how far away, how fast it...
Have you ever noticed how much buzz there is around the Mass that uses the Missal of 1962, commonly referred to as the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM)? I mean, if you're into Catholic Twitter, YouTube, or any other social media, you can't miss it. It seems to dominate a...
When I was growing up, there were no "altar servers," only altar boys. Having been raised in a Catholic religious household, my three older brothers all served as altar boys. When they attended Mass and the priest walked out with no altar boy, one or two of my...
“You are what you eat.” This popular phrase is usually related to eating healthy food, but some have raised the question as to whether this applies to eating the Body and Blood of Christ[JR1] . When I first heard someone connect the two several years ago, I wondered...
We can see it. Church attendance is down. We view people who attend Mass monthly as our “engaged Catholics.” Those who attended out of habit and lukewarm faith fell out of the habit of coming to church when we closed parishes for the Covid-19 pandemic. Do we even...
What is the Liturgical Movement? In Desiderio desideravi (2022), Pope Francis writes, “We owe to the [the Second Vatican] Council – and to the liturgical movement that preceded it – the rediscovery of a theological understanding of the Liturgy and of its importance in...
While death was not a part of God’s original plan for the world, due to the fall of mankind with Adam and Eve, it is a sad reality of the world we live in. As Christians however, we do not believe that death is the end. On the contrary, our death on earth signifies a...
When you love someone, you don’t just hang out with them once a week for Friday night dates. You want to be with them, in person, every moment you can. You don’t need entertainment. You don’t always need to understand each other or even say much. You just want to be...
As Catholics, we have a desire to know the Lord, to deepen our relationship with God. To somehow invite Jesus Christ, who pursues us each personally, into every part of our lives. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also...
“So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. “ Luke, 2:3 It is easy to imagine the chaos that consumed Bethlehem during Caesar’s census. It is fitting, because like Mary and Joseph, we too are likely spending this time of year traveling, visiting the places and...
In Communion with Those Whose Memory We Venerate In the Roman Canon, the First Eucharistic Prayer, in the section called the Communicantes, we are reminded of our communion with the Apostles and Martyrs. After the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph are mentioned, then many...
Lay Liturgical Ministries in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite, there are a few lay liturgical ministries that are worth examining in detail. There has been a great deal of confusion in the past decades about some of these ministries. This article will not likely...
Who Was Pope St. Pius X? Born in 1835 in Venice, Guiseppe Melchiorre Sarto was pope from 1903 to 1914 under the name Pius X. He was a staunch defender of the truth, a liturgical reformer, and a man of great faith. Pope St. Pius X is well known globally for his...
How can billions of men and women believe that what their eyes see as bread is God? How can sane people support the claim by the Catholic Church according to which, at Holy Mass, bread becomes the Body of Jesus, and wine becomes His Blood? The Church teaches that the...
To us, also, your servants, who, though sinners, hope in your abundant mercies, graciously grant some share and fellowship with your holy Apostles and Martyrs: with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity,...
What is Desiderio desideravi? Desiderio desideravi, the title of Pope Francis’ 2022 document on the Sacred Liturgy, comes from the Latin version of Luke 22:15: “I have earnestly desired (desiderio desideravi) to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Pope...
What is the Roman Missal? The Roman Missal is (mostly) the big red book that the priest uses at the altar and at his chair when celebrating Mass. I say “mostly” because the Lectionary (which contains the readings) and the liturgical books containing the rites for the...
Gospel of John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week,when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,for fear of the Jews,Jesus came and stood in their midstand said to them, “Peace be with you.”When he had said this, he showed them his hands and...
The Feast of Corpus Christi on June 19, 2022, will mark a special moment in Eucharistic devotion for the United States. The USCCB will launch a multi-year Eucharistic revival which will culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress. Throughout the next three years,...
The Sabbath Day Sunday, the seventh day of the week is the sabbath, a day of solemn rest, that is set aside for the Lord. This goes all the way back to the dawn of creation when God made everything in six days and then rested on the seventh. The Sabbath day also marks...