Hello everyone.
I am a Southern Baptist and I’m currently exploring Catholicism. I am planning on attending my first mass tommorow evening, and maybe RCIA in the future.
To sum this up, I’ve never been to mass before so I’m a little nervous as to how I should conduct myself. What should I do when I first enter the building? Should I sit in the back or not? Do I need to kneel if I pass by the altar? I don’t know anyone at the particular parish I am going to, so it’s just a little nervewracking, but they love Christ so it’s all good!
First of all, congratulations on trying out your first Mass!
As to what to do, there’s no need to be nervous. Plenty of people start going to Mass while they’re still trying to learn about the Church, and if by chance someone notices that you’re new and says, “Hi, are you new?”, they’ll be happy that you’ve come whatever you say. On the other hand, sometimes Protestants (depending on the kind of church they’ve come from) are surprised
not to be noticed, that nobody particularly greets them or makes overtures about joining the Church, etc. One of the things we could probably get better at is that sort of welcoming, so don’t be too shocked if you go, people smile, but no one really grabs you and tries to bring you in.
During Mass you can sit wherever you’d like, but if you sit nearer the back it would be easier to see what other people are doing and not to feel like everyone’s eyes are on you. When people stand, please stand, as it is a sign of respect for the Gospel and the liturgy. Kneeling is a sign of adoration and worship, so if you don’t yet know whether you’re comfortable with that you can remain sitting. (If there’s someone directly behind you, at least scoot forward though, since it is hard to kneel with your face in someone’s back.) If you want to, of course, you can by all means kneel, genuflect toward the tabernacle as you enter the pew, cross yourself with holy water from the font, and so on. As a non-Catholic, really the only two things you can’t do at Mass are receiving Communion in the Eucharist, and certain liturgical functions at Mass like proclaiming the readings (a couple of Protestants have posted here that they’ve attended Mass so often that people just assumed they were Catholic and asked them to do a reading!)
Since this will be a Wednesday night Mass, is it a school group or something? Generally turnout at your standard weekday Mass will be fairly low, and some of the elements of the ordinary Sunday Mass, like the Nicene Creed and the Sign of Peace, are omitted. If the Sign of Peace is done, people near you will generally turn toward you, extend their hand for a handshake, and say, “Peace be with you” as a sign of Christ’s peace (it’s Jesus’ greeting from Luke 24:36 and John 20:21). You don’t have to participate, but the ordinary thing would be to shake hands and return the same greeting.
By the way, don’t worry about making any of the responses to the things the priest says. If you want, you could find a missal (the texts of the Mass) online, and many churches will have them in the pews or at least some at the entrance for people who want them. But a missal can be tricky to use for people who have never tried before, and you might miss more by flipping around to find your place in the book than you would gain. Trust me, no one will notice that you aren’t making the responses (people often say they worry about this!) and no one will care.
Here’s a basic example of the texts of the Mass, but this doesn’t include the readings, which change each day, a variety of other prayers in the Mass that also change each day, etc.
You might like to pray the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) when it comes. Many Protestants do, since it is one of the great prayers that joins us all together. If you do, please note that we do not do the Doxology right after “but deliver us from evil”; the priest says a short prayer in between. Here is the text we use:
Priest: Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Savior gave us.
or Jesus taught us to call God our Father, and so we have the courage to say:
or Let us ask our Father to forgive our sins and to bring us to forgive those who sin against us.
or Let us pray for the coming of the kingdom as Jesus taught us.
All:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Priest: Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
All:
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
That’s all I can think of to mention. God bless!
