How long does mass last?
What should I do?
What shouldn’t I do?
What kinds of things will I see?
Thanks for reading
Generally speaking, a parish will have several Masses on a weekend–at least one ‘Sunday-anticipated’ Mass on Saturday afternoon or evening (for those unable to attend Mass on Sunday for some reason) and anywhere from one to three or more Masses on Sundays. Typically the Saturday evening Mass and the early-morning Sunday Masses are very very brief, often geared toward those who are travelling, working, or otherwise busy. The Masses towards the middle of the morning–at 9:00 AM and thereafter–will have more music, possibly incense, and possibly someone sprinkling water over the congregation.
The Tridentine or “Extra-ordinary Form” Masses (nearly always done in Latin) will tend to be the most impressive for their ritual, followed by a Novus Ordo or “Ordinary Form” Mass done in Latin. Very few parishes will offer either the Extraordinary Form or an Ordinary Form Mass in Latin. The Extraordinary Form Mass is the Mass that was used in the Western Church from the time of the Council of Trent until the Second Vatican Council in 1962-65. The Ordinary Form is the Mass that was adopted after Vatican II. The first put more emphasis upon the priest and people praying to and worshipping God together; the second put more emphasis upon the act of worship bring people together in community. The differences are subtle to articulate but very real to perceive–if you have a chance to attend both sorts of Mass you will see fairly quickly.
Most of the time, the entire Mass will be done in the local language. Following what is going on requires either a “Missal” or a “Missalette”–a Missal is a book or set of books which contain the prayers and scripture readings for the Mass for every day of the year. A missalette is basically a quarterly magazine which does the same thing. Most of the time, a missalette is simpler and more straightforward to use–but I’ve seen some that were quite confusing. For your first few visits, you might want to skip trying to manage the missalette, and focus just on what the folks around you are doing.
Don’t sit in the front during your first visits. There is a lot of standing, kneeling, and sitting, and you won’t know when to do these things. Sit near the middle and try to follow what most of the other folks are doing. Don’t worry about getting things right–no one is likely to be watching you. Some members of the congregation will do certain things that most others won’t: signing themselves at the mention of the Trinity, for example, or bowing during the recitation of the Creed. These are pious actions–I think the rubrics actually call for people to bow during the Creed–but not everyone follows the same customs.
In some parishes, people not receiving Holy Communion are invited to come forward with the rest of the congregation and to cross their arms over their chests as a signal they are not receiving communion. If you do this, the priest will bless you but not give you communion. This isn’t done in all parishes, I’m told. If you don’t feel comfortable lining up for the blessing, just don’t. A lot of others will usually stay in the pews as well.
Generally people dip their fingers in a little dish of holy water when entering and leaving the sanctuary. You don’t have to do this. Folks also bow or genuflect (drop down onto one knee) before sitting in the pew. I suggest that you DO do this, since everyone else will notice if you don’t. It’s an act of respect for the Tabernacle, where the consecrated communion Bread is usually kept, and which Catholics believe is the Real Presence of Christ. Generally, Catholics don’t chat in the sanctuary at all–there are exceptions to this, but most unnecessary conversation is saved for the foyer or other areas away from the sanctuary.
The link someone else provided will give you more info on the actual form of the Mass.
