The Mass They Made

What Catholics Believe about Worship

Many Protestants do not know what happens in a typical Catholic Mass.

As the Catholic faithful enter the building, they cross the threshold, symbolizing leaving the world and entering God’s house. They immediately encounter the baptistry, symbolizing that entrance into Christ and his Church is through the sacrament of baptism; indeed, they believe that is necessary for salvation. They take a quantity of holy water and make the sign of the cross by which they remember their baptism into the name of the triune God; the motion is with their right hand from their forehead (for the Father), to their lower chest (for the Son), to their left shoulder then their right shoulder (for the Holy Spirit).

As they approach a pew, they kneel as an indication of reverence. At the front of the building is the altar on which the sacrifice of Christ will be re-presented during the sacrament of the Eucharist. At the left of the sanctuary stands the tabernacle, a sacred receptacle in which the leftover communion elements are stored so the faithful can worship the Lord who is present in those elements.

On the walls of the building are the fourteen stations of the cross, paintings or sculptures depicting the key events of Jesus’s crucifixion. The building also houses paintings, mosaics, and sculptures of Jesus, Mary, saints, and angels. Church leaders wear garments symbolizing their office — the diaconate, the priesthood, or the bishopric — as well as the season in which the Mass is being celebrated (for example, violet for Advent, white for Easter). Read More