Meaning of the Ceremonies at Mass

Meaning of the Ceremonies at Mass

1. The Priest Goes to the altar – Christ Goes to Mount Olivet.

2. The Priest Commences Mass – Christ Begins to pray.

3. The Priest Says Confiteor – Christ Falls down and sweats blood.

4. The Priest Goes up and kisses the altar – Christ Is betrayed by Judas with a kiss.

5. The Priest Goes to the Epistle side – Christ Is captured, bound, and taken to Annas

6. The Priest Reads the Introit – Christ Is falsely accused by Annas and blasphemed.

7. The Priest Goes to the middle of the altar and says the Kyrie eleison – Christ Is brought to Caiphas and there three times denied by Peter.

8. The Priest Says the Dominus vobiscum – Christ Looks at Peter and converts him.

9. The Priest Reads the Epistle – Christ Is brought to Pilate.

10. The Priest Says the Munda cor meum at the middle of the altar – Christ Is taken to Herod and mocked.

11. The Priest Reads the Gospel – Christ Is taken back to Pilate and again mocked.

12. The Priest Uncovers the chalice – Christ Is shamefully exposed.

13. The Priest Offers bread and wine – Christ Is cruelly scourged.

14. The PriestCovers the chalice – Christ Is crowned with thorns.

15. The Priest Washes his hands – Christ Is declared innocent by Pilate.

16. The Priest Says the Orate Fratres – Christ Is shown by Pilate to the people with the words, Ecce Homo.

17. The Priest Prays in a low voice – Christ Is mocked and spit upon.

18. The Priest Says the Preface and the Sanctus – Christ Is preferred instead of Barrabas and condemned to crucifixion.

19. The Priest Makes the Memento for the living – Christ Carries the cross to Mount Calvary.

20. The Priest Continues to pray the Canon in a low voice – Christ Meets His Mother and the other pious women.

21. The Priest Blesses the bread and wine with the sign of the cross – Christ Is nailed to the cross.

22. The Priest Elevates the Sacred Host – Christ Is raised on the cross.

23. The Priest Elevates the chalice – Christ Sheds blood from the five wounds.

24. The Priest Prays in a low voice – Christ Sees His afflicted Mother at the cross.

25. The Priest Says aloud, Nobis queque peccatoribus – Christ Prays on the cross for men.

26. The Priest Says aloud the Pater noster – Christ Says the seven last words on the cross.

27. The Priest Breaks and separates the Host – Christ Gives up His spirit and dies.

28. The Priest Lets a small portion of the sacred Host fall into the chalice – Christ His soul descends to Limbo.

29. The Priest Says the Agnus Dei – Christ Is acknowledged on the cross as the Son of God by many bystanders.

30. The Priest Administers Holy Communion – Christ Is laid in the tomb.

31. The Priest Cleanses the chalice – Christ Is anointed by pious women.

32. The Priest Prepares the chalice again – Christ Rises from the dead.

33. The Priest Says the Dominus vobiscum – Christ Appears to His Mother and the disciples.

34. The Priest Says the last prayers – Christ Teaches for forty days.

35. The Priest Says the last Dominus vobiscum – Christ Takes leave of His disciples and ascends to heaven.

36. The Priest Gives the benediction to the people – Christ Sends down the Holy Ghost

37. The Priest Says the Ita Missa est and the last Gospel – Christ Sends the apostles into all parts of the world to preach the Gospel.