Entering God’s Holy Place• We walk in two straight lines.

• We are quiet as soon as we get through the doors.

• We bless ourselves with holy water.

• We genuflect when we go into our seat.

• We sit quietly and keep our feet still.

• We keep our eyes on the altar.

• Father begins Mass with a blessing.

• We bless ourselves.

The Readings

• We listen to a reading from the old Testament and a psalm. We also listen to a letter from the New Testament.

• The priest then reads the gospels. We listen carefully to learn what Jesus did and we think about how we can live like he did.

• The prayers of the faithful are our own prayers.

• We ask God to listen to them by saying “Lord Hear our Prayer”.

The Offertory

• The gifts of the bread and wine are taken up to Father.

• The Eucharistic prayer reminds us that Jesus gave up his life for us. When Father blesses the bread and wine we believe we are receiving the body and blood of Christ.

• This is a very special part of the Mass and we watch and listen carefully to the Eucharistic Prayer.

The Our Father• We pray the Our Father,

which we all know.

• It was the prayer Jesus taught us to say

Sign Of Peace

• We shake hands with those who are beside us. We say “Peace be with you.” We look at them while we say it.

Communion

• Everyone who has made their First Communion goes up to receive communion.

• When we walk up we keep our eyes looking towards the altar.

• We think about what we are receiving.

• We hold our hands out • Father says Body of Christ.

We say Amen

• We walk back to our seats and kneel to say Thank you to God for what we have received. We then sit in silence on the seats.

• Children who have not had communion may receive a blessing. They walk up to father and return to their seats quietly.

• No one speaks at communion time. Receiving the Eucharist is a sacramental time and should be spent in personal prayer.

Final Blessing

• Father finishes Mass and blesses us before he tells us to “go in peace to love and serve the Lord”. These important words give us a command to follow until the next time we are at Mass.