Glossary

Liturgy

• Advent

  The four-week season preparing for Christmas—watching for Christ's coming in history, in grace, and at the end of time.

• Antiphon

  A short scriptural or liturgical text sung or said before and after a psalm, canticle, or as a refrain in the Mass and Office.

• Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

  A rite of Eucharistic devotion: the Host exposed, hymns sung, and the priest blessing the people with the Blessed Sacrament.

• Christmas

  The feast of the Nativity and its season—God born in the flesh, prolonged through the octave and Christmastide.

• Compline

  Night Prayer—the final hour of the Divine Office before sleep, classically including the Nunc Dimittis and a Marian antiphon.

• Divine Office

  The Church's daily liturgy of psalms, hymns, and readings sanctifying the hours—also called the Liturgy of the Hours.

• Easter

  The feast of the Resurrection and its fifty-day season—Christ risen, through the octave to Pentecost.

• Exorcism

  A Church command that evil spirits depart; major solemn rites are rare and reserved, while minor exorcisms appear in blessings and baptism.

• Ferial

  A weekday in the liturgical calendar that is not a feast—kept with ferial (weekday) Mass texts rather than a saint's proper.

• Graduale Romanum

  The official book of Mass chants for the Roman Rite — graduals, tracts, alleluias, and related propers as used in the Gregorian tradition.

• Lauds

  Morning Prayer of the Divine Office—psalms of praise at daybreak, classically including the Benedictus.

• Lent

  The forty-day penitential season before Easter—fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in preparation for the Passion and Resurrection.

• Liturgy of the Hours

  The postconciliar name for the Divine Office—the Church's official daily prayer of psalms and readings across the hours.

• Mass

  The Church's central act of worship—the Sacrifice of Calvary made present, and the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood.

• Missal

  The liturgical book containing the texts of the Mass—the priest's altar missal, or a hand missal for the faithful to follow.

• Mode (Gregorian)

  One of eight tonal frameworks of Gregorian chant (modes 1–8); Mode II (Hypodorian) is plagal, lower, and often introspective.

• Octave

  An eight-day liturgical celebration of a great feast, prolonging its joy and mystery through the following week.

• Ordinary Time

  The green seasons of the liturgical year outside Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter—ordered growth in the mystery of Christ.

• Passiontide

  The final stretch of Lent focused on the Passion—traditionally the two weeks before Easter, culminating in Holy Week.

• Pentecost

  The feast of the Holy Spirit's descent—and the close of Eastertide—fifty days after the Resurrection.

• Propers

  The variable prayers and chants of the Mass or Office assigned to a given day—introit, collect, readings, and the like.

• Requiem

  A Mass offered for the dead—praying that God grant them rest, mercy, and the light of His face.

• Rituale Romanum

  The Roman Ritual — the Church’s book of blessings and rites outside Mass, including sacramental blessings such as the St. Benedict medal.

• Tract

  A Gregorian chant sung after the Gradual in penitential Masses when the Alleluia is omitted — often long and meditative (e.g. Qui habitat).

• Vespers

  Evening Prayer of the Divine Office—psalms, a New Testament canticle, intercessions, and often a hymn at day's decline.