My favorite parts of the Mass

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I love the Mass in its entirety, but there are some parts that are favorites.
First and foremost, receiving Holy Communion. What can be better than communing with our Lord?
I love singing the Gloria, I love hearing the Readings, and I love saying the Great Amen.
What are some of your favorite parts of the Mass?
 
Concur: nothing tops receiving Jesus!

The Gloria in certain musical settings; certain hymns really evoke an emotional response for me. The Preface and Responsorial Psalm are somethings I usually pay particular attention to when my children aren’t distracting me. The Preface because I was taught it’s supposed to summarize the Church’s teaching for the day (as a fail-safe against poor homilies), and the Resp. Psalm was something a previous pastor had advised that makes a good “personal mantra” for the day or week ahead - repeat it to yourself periodically throughout the day.

In just the last few years in our area, the full purification of all vessels along with clearing the corporals, chalice veil, etc. after Communion has been restored to the altar. I find this to be a particularly humbling and prayerful moment, too.
 
I don’t much like the Gloria and so forth any more because the musical settings and the wording have all changed since I was young. There were two Glorias constantly in use then that I would love to hear again, but I doubt I ever will because of the change in wording of the prayer. In addition, one of the settings was part of a full Mass that included similar settings for the Great Amen and the memorial acclamation. I don’t hear those versions either and of course the acclamation that went “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” was removed from use entirely.

So I just grin and bear having to sit through all the new settings and wordings.

I do like the Consecration. I always wish I could see the angels. I tell God I believe they’re there even if I can’t see them. Maybe one day I’ll get to see them.

Receiving Holy Communion is of course a main reason to go, though not the only reason.

I also like the final blessing. I can use all the blessings I can get. It bugs me that people leave before the blessing. Is being first out of the parking lot more important than getting a blessing? I bet if the priest was handing out free 20 dollar bills they’d stick around.
 
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Yes it can be irritating to see people leave before the final blessing, but that is their loss.
I, too, need all the blessings I can get.
Mass is wonderful.God is great. It is a blessing that we as brothers and sisters can share the experience of the Mass. 🙏🙏🙏
 
You’re right, I should give thanks that I live in areas where multiple Masses are available to me every day and people attend them. I try to focus on this when so many may only have Mass said near them a few times a week or even once a week or less, or they are ill or homebound and can’t go. I shouldn’t complain.
 
We are Catholics. We are human. We complain. God forgives us. That’s the way it works. Hallelujah.
 
The Consecration. That moment when Heaven and Earth meet, when the fabric of the cosmos is torn asunder, when Calvary is revisited through time and space and Christ becomes truly present in the Eucharist.
 
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I miss some of the Gloria’s that we won’t use anymore due to the language update, but most of the musical settings, save one or two, are still around. Do you happen to know which ones they were, from your younger days?

I never cared all that much for that particular Memorial Acclamation, but the new ones don’t sing well, either. I miss the old wording of “D” which is now sort of there in a reworked way in 1-2 of the new ones.
 
I cannot find it on Youtube but the Great Amen from when I was young was almost always in major key, something like half notes E, D, C, B for “A-men, a-men” and then quarter notes A-D-C-B-C for the final “A-a-a-a-men.”

The “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” followed the exact same note pattern.

You can play it here to hear the notes.
https://www.apronus.com/music/flashpiano.htm

The Great Amen’s I hear nowadays are either variations in a minor or mostly minor key (sometimes switch to major at the end) or they’re by Dan Schutte or other composer.

Edited to add, I should just blow 10 bucks to buy an old 70s “Monthly Missalette” off Abebooks so I can have this stuff handy. We probably have one or two at my mother’s somewhere but it will take me 20 years to find in all her stuff.
 
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My guess is one of these two Mass Settings is the one you were use to with the original lyrics:




Go to 6:24 in the third video, you will hear Christ has died…

Let me know if those are what you were thinking of, if not I’m sure I can find it. I know my mass settings 😎
 
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The first two don’t fit at all.

The third one, Haugen’s “Mass of Creation”, I’m familiar with, but the Gloria is not the one I am referring to. I do remember that Gloria as well but I still hear it played today, and I think Haugen revised the Mass which may be why one still hears that Gloria played.

The “Christ is Risen” from the third one is the same one I posted, but I’m wondering if Haugen wrote that setting or just reused it from another source.

I’ll look on Youtube to see if either one of the GLorias I remember are on there. One was the “general use” one for most Sunday Masses and the second one was arranged for a choir and was primarily sung by the choir.
 
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