Holy Mass (from the Dominican Priory of St. Michael the Archangel (Blackfriars), Cambridge)

The Mass is the source and summit of the life of the Church, because in it Jesus Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice on the cross; it perpetuates that sacrifice for all time, and through it the grace of salvation is poured out on the Church, Christ’s Body.

In the Mass, we acknowledge our sinfulness and seek forgiveness for our sins, the Word of God is proclaimed through readings from the Bible and then thanks is given to God the Father for his blessings and above all for the gift of his Son. In that thanksgiving, undertaken at Christ’s command given at the Last Supper, the bread and wine upon the altar become his Body and Blood, in which we are called to share.

The Mass gets its name from a word in the dismissal at its end which in Latin is: Ite, missa est.

The texts used at Mass can be found on the Universalis website: prayers and readings for today.

On the Blackfriars website one can access the following texts and music (for Masses during Lockdowns in 2020, most recent first):

Date	Celebration	Hymns	Mass	Creed	Other texts
29 November	First Sunday of Advent	Hymns	Mass XVII	Credo I	Readings
22 November	Christ the King	Hymns	Missa de Angelis	Credo III	Readings
15 November	Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time	Hymns	Missa Orbis Factor	Credo I	Readings
8 November	Remembrance Sunday	Hymns	Requiem*	Credo I	(* including Officium and Communio)
28 June	Feast of Saints Peter and Paul	Hymns	Missa de Angelis	Credo III
21 June	Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time	Hymns	Missa Orbis Factor	Credo I
14 June	Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)	Hymns	Missa de Angelis	Credo III
7 June	Trinity Sunday	Hymns	Missa de Angelis	Credo III
31 May	Pentecost Sunday	Hymns	Missa Lux et Orgo	Credo I
24 May	Seventh Sunday of Easter	Hymns	Missa Lux et Orgo	Credo I
21 May	The Ascension of the Lord		Arundel Mass
17 May	Sixth Sunday of Easter	Hymns	Missa Lux et Orgo	Credo I
10 May	Fifth Sunday of Easter	Hymns	Missa Lux et Orgo	Credo I
3 May	Fourth Sunday of Easter	Hymns	Arundel Mass	Credo III
26 April	Third Sunday of Easter	Hymns	Missa Lux et Origo	Credo I
23 April	St George’s Day		Arundel Mass
19 April	Second Sunday of Easter	Hymns	Missa Lux et Origo	Credo I
12 April	Easter Sunday	Hymns	Missa de Angelis	Credo III
11 April	Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter		Order of Service
10 April	Celebration of the Passion of the Lord	Hymns
9 April	Mass of the Lord’s Supper	Hymns	Missa de Angelis
5 April	Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord	Hymns

When we cannot receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion sacramentally, we can make an act of spiritual communion, for example using the following words based on a prayer of St Alphonsus Liguori.

My Jesus,

I believe that you are present in this Holy Sacrament of the altar.

I love you above all things

and I passionately desire to receive you into my soul.

Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally,

come spiritually into my soul

so that I may unite myself wholly to you now and forever.

Amen.

More information about the Dominican Priory of St. Michael the Archangel (Blackfriars), Cambridge can be found on its website.

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