Singing of a hymn starts the mass. It is thought to start the blessing by first uniting thoughts and voices in common word, rhythm, and melody. The beginning hymn is not always the same. It changes depending on what the sermon is about. For instance, since I observed a mass on Easter, the choir and the worshipers sang an Easter hymn. The hymn was “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today” and was sang by the choir and the worshipers who were singing along with the piano. But the people would not sing along with the choir, the churchgoers would only sing the chorus. In today’s church, depending on the funds, churches might have more or less instruments to play during mass. The St. Johns church has an electric piano. Some other churches may have an organ, guitar, and tambourine. But what stays constant is the vocals of the people. At St. Joseph’s, the choir consists of men and women of all ages.

The hymn “Gloria”, which is a constant hymn that is sang in all masses can be dated back to the sixth century. At first, “Gloria’ was not to be sang at mass. Pope Telesphorus ordered that Gloria should be said on the Birth of the Lord Masses at night and that it should said before the sacrifice. Then Pope Symmachus ordered that the hymn, Gloria should be said every Sunday and on the martyrs. We see it then introduced first for Christmas, then extended to Sundays and certain great feasts, but only for bishops. But towards the end of the same century the Gloria was said by priests as well as by bishops. It then became, as it is now, an element of every Mass except in times of penance. Even in Advent, until ninth century, it was said during Advent "in some places". This would apply, of course, to bishops' Masses on Sundays and feasts at that time. Advent was gradually considered a time of penance in imitation of Lent. The singing of Gloria was left out during it.

Mass is a ritual that is worshiped by the Catholics. It is performed at least once a week and even daily. A good way to describe the Mass is to say that it is Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday made present today in one ritual. St. John’s Catholic Church (M.AC. in E. Lansing) for example has daily mass. When observing the mass and interviewing church staff, I realized that mass is a constant step by step process. When entering the church, the organizations of mass are (1) sta

Some topics in this essay:
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