I thought they were all the same!

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damooster

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I’m … frustrated!

I am in the RCIA and I have been trying to learn the Order of Mass, but every church I’ve been to (fourth different one today) is different. I bought the three book St. Joseph’s missal set to help me learn but it’s kind of “useless” when it is different from what is going on in the church.

For example, the first two readings were not the same ones I had in my missal. The Daily Mass on EWTN read the same readings I have in my missal, so I don’t think my missal is wrong. Also, every church I’ve been to does the Kyrie and Gloria differently; some sing it, some read it, some do it in Latin, others in English. If they do sing it, they all sing it differently.

I guess I’m just venting because it’s very frustrating! I thought Mass was supposed to be celebrated the same, so that I could go to any church at any time and be able to participate. There were other visitors in front of me and to the side of me, and they looked just as lost as I did. One of them made a comment about it when we were leaving. This is nothing new; I seem to run in to fellow lost people at every church I go to.

Sorry for the vent, but this is the first time I went to my “home” parrish. I joined RCIA late and have been attending Mass mostly at the parrish I attend RCIA at. I had every intention of joining my “home” parrish after RCIA but I just felt so uncomfortable there today, and the discrepancies with the Mass didn’t help. I guess if I go there every Sunday, I would learn everything, but I really didn’t feel comfortable.

Oh well, thanks for your attention 🙂
 
damooster said:
I’m … frustrated!

I am in the RCIA and I have been trying to learn the Order of Mass, but every church I’ve been to (fourth different one today) is different. I bought the three book St. Joseph’s missal set to help me learn but it’s kind of “useless” when it is different from what is going on in the church.

For example, the first two readings were not the same ones I had in my missal. The Daily Mass on EWTN read the same readings I have in my missal, so I don’t think my missal is wrong. Also, every church I’ve been to does the Kyrie and Gloria differently; some sing it, some read it, some do it in Latin, others in English. If they do sing it, they all sing it differently.

I guess I’m just venting because it’s very frustrating! I thought Mass was supposed to be celebrated the same, so that I could go to any church at any time and be able to participate. There were other visitors in front of me and to the side of me, and they looked just as lost as I did. One of them made a comment about it when we were leaving. This is nothing new; I seem to run in to fellow lost people at every church I go to.

Sorry for the vent, but this is the first time I went to my “home” parrish. I joined RCIA late and have been attending Mass mostly at the parrish I attend RCIA at. I had every intention of joining my “home” parrish after RCIA but I just felt so uncomfortable there today, and the discrepancies with the Mass didn’t help. I guess if I go there every Sunday, I would learn everything, but I really didn’t feel comfortable.

Oh well, thanks for your attention 🙂
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Even before the Mass of Paul VI the singing of the Ordinary wasn’t the same in every parish. There have been different Mass settings for centuries.

While we may say/sing it in whatever language our community speaks, the official language of the Mass is Latin (and Greek) so don’t be surprised to hear some parts of it sung/said in those languages. In English there are hundreds of musical settings for the different parts of the Ordinary (the Gloria, the Kyrie, the Agnus Dei, Sanctus, dialog, etc. and not every parish will use the same setting on any given Sunday (although I must say that, to my dismay, almost every English parish I’ve been to in the last 5 or 6 years has used the Mass of Creation). Some parishes use the same setting year in and year out while others change the setting they use according to the Liturgical season.

I can’t explain the discrepancy in the readings except that on some Sundays/Feasts there is a choice of readings and on weekdays, if a special Mass is being celebrated in your local Church, the readings may be different from the ones in your book because the priest has a right to do that for a good reason.
 
Even in the good old days before Vatican II, there were over 20 settings of the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, etc.) in the Liber, Graduale, and Kyriale, and hundreds of settings for Choir by later composers.

There’s not just one official chant for everything.
 
bpbasilphx said:
Even in the good old days before Vatican II, there were over 20 settings of the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, etc.) in the Liber, Graduale, and Kyriale, and hundreds of settings for Choir by later composers.
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There still are, or do I pass through some sort of rift in the space-time continuum whenever I attend Mass?

I wish people would stop talking about the Traditional Latin Mass in the past tense… It’s almost as if this 20-year-old is breaking the rules of history by cleaving to the tradition.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I understand that not everything can be exactly the same, it’s just frustrating for someone trying to learn.

I actually found out the problem with the readings; there are two optional readings for today according to the USCCB website, and my missal only had the second option. Now I have to find a more complete missal!
 
damooster said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. I understand that not everything can be exactly the same, it’s just frustrating for someone trying to learn.

I actually found out the problem with the readings; there are two optional readings for today according to the USCCB website, and my missal only had the second option. Now I have to find a more complete missal!
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I’m glad you saw that! I was just going to comment that today’s readings were “quirkier” than usual. 😉
 
There were alternate readings available today. Before the 1st reading the priest told everyone.
 
As Dave said, today there was an alternate reading that could be used… that isn’t normally the case, so you should hear the readings you expect most of the time.
 
Even in my home church we will sometimes sing the gloria and sometimes say it, depending on who is playing the music. Also depending on who is doing the music we might chant the Our Father.

Today we sang the Celtic Alleluia–which I had heard many many before but didn’t know that was what it was called until she said, “We are going to sing the Celtic Alleluia today. You’ll recognize it…” And I don’t even know the name of the Alleluia we usually sing!

I find it comforting that basically the Mass is the same in different parts of the country.

What I miss the most–when I go to a different parish and they don’t have it–is the ringing of the bells at consecration. 🙂
 
The Missalette clearly stated the readings for today AND the alternate readings.
 
kage_ar said:
The Missalette clearly stated the readings for today AND the alternate readings.
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I have the St. Joseph’s missal set, and it didn’t have the alternate readings. I’m thinking that I need to get another one (any recommendations?).
 
I use the St. Joseph’s Sunday Missal and it did list the alternate reading they were listed under year A. There was just a small note that I almost missed noting that the Year B readings were optional but the Year B Gospel was required.
 
blue85 said:
I use the St. Joseph’s Sunday Missal and it did list the alternate reading they were listed under year A. There was just a small note that I almost missed noting that the Year B readings were optional but the Year B Gospel was required.
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I feel so silly, but you’re absolutely right; there is a disclaimer there at the very bottom.
 
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