Explanation of Mass and Church Tour

Today for Religious Ed we had an explanation of the Mass by Father John and then a church tour. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of the church tour because Miss Stephanie's camera battery died!

Fr. John taught us about the different parts of the church.

We learned about the Baptismal font. The word "font" comes from the word "fountain". Our baptismal font is new and has been in for about 8-9 months. It is filled with Holy Water. It is used to bless people when they come into church and especially for baptisms.

Fr. Jon had volunteers come up and try to guess the objects we were talking about.

Next we talked about the chalice, wine, and holy water. He is holding the chalice in his left hand and the wine in his right (in the photo below). The wine and holy water are in special cruets. The priest adds just a little bit of holy water to the wine.

Here he is holding the paten (plate) and the host.  The paten holds unleavened bread (which means bread that doesn't rise). The host he is holding is big so people all the way in the back can see it!

Next we learned about the Lectionary. That is the book that holds the stories we read at church. The 4 authors of the Gospel are Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The lectors (readers) read from the Ambo. Stories are read from the Lectionary. The first part of Mass is the Liturgy of the Word and that is when we read and hear stories from the Bible.

The altar is the table where the priest prepares the Eucharist (Communion). The second part of Mass is the Liturgy of the Eucharist and that is when we prepare and consume Jesus' body and blood.

The next book we learned about is the Sacramentary. It helps the priest celebrate the sacraments and helps him know what to say during Mass and other special occasions.

This is incense. It is most often used at funerals, but also at other special times.

The Holy Water bucket it on the ground and the priest uses it to sprinkle Holy Water during Mass. We also learned about the Holy oils. There are 3 oils. 

Next we learned about the clothes the priest wears. This is the alb. It is the white garment he wears under everything.

Next is the chasuble (the big garment that covers the alb). It can be colored depending on the liturgical season. On top is the stole and it goes over his shoulders. It also changes color depending on occasional and season.

We really enjoyed learning a lot from Father John through his presentation and answering our questions and taking a tour around the church. 

Ask your child:

-Why does water baptize a baby? (The water and the words together welcome the child into the church). 

-What story the Stations of the Cross tell? (The Stations are the pictures all around the walls of the church and they tell the story of Jesus carrying the cross, dying on the cross, and then rising on Easter to save us from our sins). 

-Why are the extra hosts put in the chapel? (People can come during the week to pray in the chapel, these hosts are also used for Ministers of Care who bring communion to people who are sick).

Don't Forget!

Saint Projects are going to be presented next week at class! Dress up and be ready to present on your saint!