What Is the Ordinary of the Mass?

Have you ever traveled abroad and attended Mass in a language you didn’t understand at all? Chances are you still knew exactly where you were in the celebration — whether to sit, stand, or kneel — even without following a word the priest said or knowing how to respond in a language that wasn’t yours.

You may wonder how that’s possible. How can someone who doesn’t understand a single word of the homily still follow the entire Mass and take part in it as naturally as in their own parish? The answer lies in the Ordinary of the Mass: the set of prayers and rites the Church repeats identically at every Eucharistic celebration, in every corner of the world, no matter the language.

The prayers, acclamations, and rites of the Ordinary stay fixed at every Mass celebrated in the Roman Rite, regardless of the day on the liturgical calendar. The readings, opening prayers, and prefaces, by contrast, change according to the liturgical season or the feast being celebrated.

This article continues our series on Catholic liturgy and looks in detail at what the Ordinary of the Mass is, how it differs from the Proper, how it’s organized within the Roman Missal, what role it plays in the Traditional Latin Mass, and why the postures of the body are such an important part of the Church’s sacred language. If you’ve already read our articles on the liturgical calendar, solemnities, feasts, and memorials, or the saints calendar, this article rounds out the series by explaining the inner structure of the Mass itself.

What Is the Ordinary of the Mass?

The Ordo Missae — Latin for “Order of Mass” — brings together the prayers, dialogues, acclamations, and rites that never change from one Mass to the next. These include:

• The opening greeting,
• The Penitential Act,
• The Gloria,
• The Creed,
• The Our Father,
• The Lamb of God and
• The entire structure of the Eucharistic Prayer.

None of these elements ever varies from one celebration of the Mass to another.

The Proper of the Mass (Proprium Missae in Latin), by contrast, gathers everything that does change:

• The Collect (opening prayer)
• The Prayer over the Offerings
• The Prayer after Communion
• The Preface
• And the Scripture readings assigned to each day of the liturgical year or to the feast of a particular saint

Worth remembering:

The Ordinary ensures that every Mass, anywhere in the world, keeps the same underlying structure. The Proper allows each day of the liturgical year to have its own character within that same structure, depending on the mystery or feast being celebrated.

What’s the Difference Between the Proper and the Ordinary?

The difference is easy to grasp with an example. The Gloria, the Creed, and the Our Father are always the same, no matter what day it is — that’s the Ordinary. The Collect on December 25 speaks of the mystery of Christmas, while the one on Easter Sunday speaks of the Resurrection; those prayers change from day to day, and that’s the Proper.

This distinction protects something essential about Catholic ecclesiology. The one acting in the liturgy is never a single individual, nor a community celebrating however it pleases, but Christ and his Church united as one Body. The Ordinary’s fixed formulas guarantee that the Mass keeps its universal identity instead of depending on arbitrary variations from one parish to the next. They also guarantee that every priest celebrates in communion with the whole Church.

What Is the History Behind the Ordinary of the Mass?

The Roman Rite as we know it today is the fruit of a centuries-long process carried out under the authority of the Holy See. Following the Council of Trent, Pope St. Pius V promulgated the Missale Romanum in 1570 through the apostolic constitution Quo Primum, unifying the liturgy across the Latin Church. Before that, the West had several coexisting rites — the Mozarabic Rite in Spain, the Braga Rite in Portugal, the Ambrosian Rite in Italy — somewhat similar to what still happens in the East today, where multiple liturgical traditions continue to celebrate the sacraments side by side.

That Missal went through several revisions over the centuries: Clement VIII in 1604, St. Pius X’s reform of the Breviary between 1911 and 1920, and St. John XXIII’s Code of Rubrics in 1960, followed by the 1962 typical edition of the Missal — the same one still used today for the Traditional Latin Mass.

The Second Vatican Council called for a deeper revision so that every part of the Mass would express its meaning more clearly and encourage the full, conscious, and active participation of the faithful, what’s known in Latin as actuosa participatio. As a result of that mandate, Pope St. Paul VI promulgated the reformed Ordinary in 1969, and the first typical edition of the Missale Romanum was published in 1970.

Alongside the Missal came the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), the document that lays out the theological and pastoral norms for every part of the celebration. The GIRM has had three typical editions: 1970, 1975 under Paul VI, and 2002 under St. John Paul II — the last of which remains in effect today. In the English-speaking world, the current translation of the Missal, closely aligned with the 2002 Latin edition, was introduced in 2011, replacing the earlier translation that had been in use since the 1970s.

How Many Parts Does the Ordinary of the Mass Have?

The Ordinary is organized into two main sections — the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist — framed by the Introductory Rites and the Concluding Rites. Together, these four parts form a single act of worship, even though each one has its own purpose.

The Introductory Rites

Their purpose is to gather the scattered faithful into one body and to prepare their hearts to hear the Word and celebrate the Eucharistic mystery. They begin with the entrance procession and the opening hymn. The priest venerates the altar with a profound bow and a kiss, makes the Sign of the Cross together with the assembly, and greets the people in the Lord’s name.

Next comes the Penitential Act, in which the whole assembly confesses its sins using the I confess or one of its alternate forms, and receives the priest’s absolution — which does not take the place of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for serious sins. The invocations Lord, have mercy (Kyrie Eleison) are then sung. On Sundays outside Advent and Lent, and on solemnities and feasts, the Gloria is sung. The Introductory Rites close with the Collect, the prayer the priest offers after a brief invitation to silence, which sums up the meaning of that day’s celebration.

• You may be interested in: The Sacrifice Begins: The Introductory Rites of the Mass

The Liturgy of the Word

This is when God speaks to his people. On Sundays and solemnities there are three readings: the first, from the Old Testament or from the Acts of the Apostles during the Easter season; the Responsorial Psalm, which helps the assembly take the reading to heart; and the second reading, from the apostolic letters or the Book of Revelation. After the Alleluia, an ordained minister proclaims the Gospel, the high point of this part of the Mass.

The Homily follows, reserved exclusively to ordained ministers — priests or deacons — and then the Creed, through which the assembly gives its assent of faith to what it has just heard. The Liturgy of the Word concludes with the Prayer of the Faithful, in which the congregation, exercising its baptismal priesthood, brings forward intentions for the Church, civil leaders, those in need, and all of humanity.

• You might also like: Hearing the Word of God: The Liturgy of the Word

The Liturgy of the Eucharist

This part re-enacts what Jesus did at the Last Supper: he took the bread and wine, gave thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples. It unfolds in three moments. The Preparation of the Gifts begins with the bread and wine being carried to the altar, ideally by the faithful themselves in procession. The priest blesses the gifts, invites the people to pray with the words Pray, brothers and sisters, and concludes with the Prayer over the Offerings.

The Eucharistic Prayer then begins — the center of the entire Mass. It opens with the Preface dialogue and the singing of the Holy, Holy, Holy, continues with the Epiclesis — the invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the gifts — and reaches its central moment in the Institution Narrative and Consecration, when the priest, acting in persona Christi, speaks the words Christ himself spoke at the Last Supper. What follows is the Anamnesis, the memorial of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension; the intercessions for the Church; and the final Doxology, sealed by the assembly’s Amen.

The Communion Rite begins with the Our Father, continues with the Sign of Peace and the Breaking of the Bread, accompanied by the singing of the Lamb of God. The priest holds up the Host and the assembly responds with the words of the centurion: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. After Communion and a period of silence, the Prayer after Communion is prayed.

• You might also like: The Liturgy of the Eucharist: The Heart of the Mass

The Concluding Rites

The Mass closes with brief announcements if needed, the priest’s blessing, and the dismissal — the historic Ite, missa est — which sends the faithful out to live, in their everyday lives, what they have just celebrated.

• You might also like: What Are the Final Rites of the Mass?

What Are the Ordinary Chants of the Mass?

The ordinary chants are the sung parts of the Ordinary that don’t change with the liturgical season: the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Creed, the Sanctus (with the Benedictus), and the Agnus Dei. Throughout the history of sacred music, these five texts have inspired countless musical settings — from Gregorian chant to the great polyphonic Masses of composers like Palestrina, Mozart, or Beethoven — precisely because the words never change, which makes it possible to compare very different musical settings of the exact same text.

These are distinct from the proper chants — the entrance chant, the offertory, the communion antiphon — whose text does change from day to day throughout the liturgical year.

What Is the Ordinary of the Traditional Latin Mass?

The Ordinary of the Traditional Latin Mass, also called the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, follows the 1962 Missal, the last typical edition before Pope St. Paul VI’s reform. Its structure differs in several notable ways from today’s Ordinary: the priest offers the Mass mostly in Latin, celebrates ad orientem — facing the altar together with the people, rather than facing the assembly — and the prayers at the foot of the altar, the Offertory, and the Last Gospel all take a different form than in the current Missal.

Although both forms of the Roman Rite share the same theological foundation — making present the one sacrifice of Christ — their texts, gestures, and the structure of the Ordinary itself reflect different centuries of liturgical development. Both forms are fully legitimate within the Catholic Church, and each has its own edition of the Missal as its normative reference.

What Is an “Ordinary Form” Mass?

It’s worth not confusing “the Ordinary of the Mass” with the phrase “Ordinary Form Mass.” In everyday usage, “Ordinary Form” distinguishes the Mass celebrated according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite — the Missal of Pope St. Paul VI, celebrated in most parishes around the world since 1970 — from the Mass celebrated according to the Extraordinary Form, the Traditional Latin Mass. Used this way, “Ordinary Form” simply refers to the Mass that follows today’s Roman Missal, not a separate kind of celebration within it.

What Do the Postures Mean in the Ordinary of the Mass?

The liturgy understands the human person as a unity of body and soul, so physical posture during Mass is never just a matter of etiquette. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, in paragraph 42, explains that a uniform posture observed by the whole assembly is a visible sign of the unity of the Body of Christ.

According to GIRM 43, the faithful stand from the beginning of the entrance chant until the end of the Collect, during the Alleluia, the Gospel, the Creed, and the Prayer of the Faithful, and from the invitation Pray, brothers and sisters until the end of Mass, except where another posture is indicated. The congregation sits for the readings before the Gospel, the Psalm, the Homily, the Preparation of the Gifts, and the period of silence after Communion.

Kneeling expresses adoration and humility before the real presence of Christ. The norm calls for kneeling during the Consecration, except for serious reasons of health or lack of space — in which case at least a profound bow is asked for at the priest’s genuflection. Bishops’ conferences may adapt these norms to local custom, and in many countries the faithful kneel from the Sanctus through the end of the Eucharistic Prayer.

Why Can’t the Ordinary of the Mass Be Changed Freely?

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, in paragraphs 6 and 24, states that the liturgy belongs neither to individuals nor to the celebrating priest. The priest is a servant of the sacred action and has no authority to add, omit, or change texts or rites on his own initiative.

This teaching was reaffirmed with particular force by the doctrinal note Gestis Verbisque, issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2024, which warns that arbitrarily altering the essential formulas or elements of the Ordinary is not only illicit but, in serious cases, can affect the very validity of the sacrament, undermining the faithful’s right to receive the Eucharist as the Church actually celebrates it.

In the apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi (2022), Pope Francis warned against two opposite distortions in how the liturgy is lived out: neo-Pelagianism, which turns the Mass into a stage for aesthetic perfection or purely human effort, and gnosticism, or rigid rubricism, which reduces it to the mechanical fulfillment of rules without ever entering the mystery being celebrated. The ars celebrandi — the art of celebrating well — means presiding over and taking part in the rite with fidelity, understanding that liturgical law exists to serve sacramental truth, not the other way around.