Have you ever heard the priest say “Lift up your hearts” just before the Holy, and wondered what that part of the Mass means exactly? The Preface of the Mass is the solemn opening of the Eucharistic Prayer—the moment when the whole Church, united with the priest, gives thanks to God the Father for the particular mystery being celebrated that day.
At this moment, the assembly responds to God’s blessings with a joyful profession of faith that joins the voice of the pilgrim Church to the liturgy of heaven.
This article continues our series on the Catholic liturgy and explains in detail the meaning of the Preface in the Mass, its parts, its history, and the different prefaces appointed according to the liturgical season or the day’s celebration.
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What does “preface” mean in the Mass?
The word preface comes from the Latin praefatio, formed by the prefix prae (before, in front of) and the verb fari (to speak, to proclaim). In everyday language, a preface is a minor introduction—something you can skip without losing much. In the liturgy, its meaning is far richer: it denotes a solemn proclamation, spoken aloud (fari) before God and before the whole gathered assembly (prae).
The Preface of the Mass, then, is not an optional preamble. It is the first great movement of the Eucharistic Prayer: the moment when the Church praises the Most Holy Trinity for creation, for the mystery of Redemption, and for the ongoing sanctification of the People of God, before arriving at the heart of the Consecration.
To remember: The Preface of the Mass is a solemn thanksgiving, the gateway into the most sacred moment of the celebration, when Christ Himself becomes present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
What are the parts of the Preface of the Mass?
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), in numbers 78 and 79, describes three constituent parts in the structure of the Preface of the Mass.
The opening dialogue
It begins with the priest’s greeting: “The Lord be with you”, to which the assembly responds: “And with your spirit”. This greeting reaffirms Christ’s presence in the midst of the assembly and the grace by which the priest acts in persona Christi Capitis (in the person of Christ the Head).
The priest continues: “Lift up your hearts” (Sursum corda, in Latin). The people respond: “We lift them up to the Lord”. This invitation asks us to detach our minds from earthly concerns and fix our attention on heaven, where Christ intercedes at the right hand of the Father. The dialogue closes with the priest’s exhortation: “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God”, and the assembly’s response: “It is right and just”.
The body of the Preface of the Mass
The priest takes up that final response from the people and develops it in a text proper to each Mass, which usually begins with the formula “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks…”. From there, he sets forth the specific reason for that day’s thanksgiving: it may be the mystery of the Incarnation, the Passion, the Resurrection, the sending of the Holy Spirit, or the life of a saint, according to the liturgical season or the feast being celebrated.
The linking clause to the Sanctus
The Preface concludes by proclaiming that the Church on earth does not praise God alone, but in union with the heavenly choirs—Angels, Archangels, and the multitude of the saints. This final line leads directly into the chant of the Holy (Sanctus), the biblical acclamation inspired by Isaiah’s vision (Is 6:3) and the Book of Revelation (Rev 4:8), joined to the messianic greeting of Palm Sunday (Mt 21:9).
How is the Preface for today’s Mass determined?
The Preface is not always the same. It changes according to the current liturgical season or the specific celebration of the day: it may be a Preface of Advent, of Lent, of a Sunday in Ordinary Time, or of the feast of a particular saint. This variety is one of the distinctive features of the Roman Rite, and it follows a simple principle: the reason for thanksgiving must correspond to the mystery the Church celebrates that day.
To know which Preface is used for today’s Mass, the simplest approach is to consult the Ordo or liturgical calendar of your diocese, which indicates the liturgical season, the color of the day, and the corresponding Preface. You can also pay attention during the celebration itself: as soon as the Sursum corda dialogue begins, you will know you are entering that moment of the Mass, regardless of which of the many Prefaces in the Missal is used that day.
How many Prefaces are there in the Roman Missal, and how are they classified?
The third typical edition of the Roman Missal offers more than one hundred Prefaces, organized according to the liturgical season and the celebrations of the saints:
- For Advent and Christmas there are eight Prefaces in total: four for Advent, which speak of Christ’s twofold coming (in the humility of the flesh and in final glory), and three for Christmas and Epiphany, which contemplate Christ as the Light of the world.
- For the Paschal cycle there are ten Prefaces for Lent and Passiontide, centered on fasting, prayer, and conversion, and eight Prefaces for Easter and Ascension, which sing of Christ as victim and eternal priest.
- Ordinary Time has ten proper Sunday Prefaces, which trace praise for creation, salvation history, and the life of the Church.
- The sanctoral cycle adds five Marian Prefaces, two for Apostles, and more than fifteen formulas for martyrs, pastors, virgins, and religious saints.
- The Prefaces for Masses for the Dead, for their part, are five, and they offer the consolation of Christian hope with one of the most beautiful expressions in the liturgy: “Life is changed, not ended”.
- Prefaces for the celebration of the sacraments.
Which Preface is used for the most important celebrations of the year?
Some solemnities have their own proper Preface, written specifically to express the mystery of that feast.
Preface of the Mass of the Most Holy Trinity
The Preface of the Mass of the Most Holy Trinity proclaims the unity of the three divine Persons in one God, and it is one of the most dogmatically dense texts in the entire Missal.
V. The Lord be with you
R. And with your spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.
It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God:
For with your Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit
you are one God, one Lord,
not in the unity of a single Person,
but in a Trinity of one substance.
For what you have revealed to us of your glory
we believe equally of your Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
so that, in the confessing of the true and eternal Godhead,
you might be adored in what is proper to each Person,
their unity in substance,
and their equality in majesty.
For this is praised by Angels and Archangels,
Cherubim, too, and Seraphim,
who never cease to cry out each day, as with one voice:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
The Preface of the Mass of Christ the King
The Preface of the Mass of Christ the King, used on the solemnity that closes the liturgical year, celebrates the eternal and universal kingship of Christ—a kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love, and peace.
V. The Lord be with you
R. And with your spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.
It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God:
For you anointed with the oil of gladness
your Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
as eternal Priest and King of the universe.
He, the spotless and peaceful victim,
offered himself on the altar of the Cross,
bringing about the mystery of human redemption.
Thus he subjected all creation to his rule,
that he might present to you, almighty Father,
an eternal and universal kingdom,
a kingdom of truth and life,
a kingdom of holiness and grace,
a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.
And so, with Angels and Archangels,
with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
we sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Preface of the Chrism Mass
The Preface of the Chrism Mass, celebrated on Holy Thursday morning with the blessing of the sacred oils, has a distinctive character tied to the priesthood: it gives thanks for Christ’s anointing as Priest, Prophet, and King, and for the ministerial priesthood that He bestows upon His Church.
V. The Lord be with you
R. And with your spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts.
R. We lift them up to the Lord.
V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
R. It is right and just.
It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father,
almighty and eternal God:
You established your Only Begotten Son
as High Priest of the new and eternal covenant
by the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
and in your saving plan you willed
that his one priesthood should endure in the Church.
He not only adorns with a royal priesthood
the people you have made your own,
but with brotherly love he also chooses men
to share in his sacred ministry
through the laying on of hands.
Your priests, O Father, renew in the name of Christ
the sacrifice of human redemption,
prepare your children for the Paschal banquet,
lead your holy people in charity,
nourish them with your word and strengthen them with your sacraments.
By giving their lives for you, O Father,
and for the salvation of their brothers and sisters,
they are to be conformed to Christ
and to bear constant witness of fidelity and love.
And so, O Father, with all the Angels and Saints
we praise you, and sing with joy:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Which Preface is used in the so-called “Gregorian Masses”?
It is worth clarifying a point that often causes confusion. The expression Gregorian Masses does not refer to a particular Preface, but to a devotional practice: the celebration of thirty consecutive Masses for the soul of a deceased person, a tradition that goes back to Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the sixth century.
Each of those thirty Masses is celebrated with the Preface proper to the liturgical day on which it falls (that of Ordinary Time, that of a solemnity if it coincides, or one of the five Prefaces for the Dead, as the calendar permits). There is, therefore, no distinct “Preface of the Gregorian Masses” different from the others: what distinguishes this practice is the sustained intention over thirty days, not an exclusive liturgical text.
Who may say the Preface of the Mass?
The Preface of the Mass is part of the Eucharistic Prayer, and its recitation is reserved exclusively to the celebrating priest. The Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, in number 51, states that it is a grave liturgical abuse for parts of the Preface or the Eucharistic Prayer to be recited by the deacon, by lay ministers, or by the whole assembly in unison.
Nor is it permitted for the priest to modify the approved formulas or to compose Prefaces of his own. The same number of Redemptionis Sacramentum notes that no minister has the authority to alter the official liturgical texts on his own initiative. This discipline protects the Eucharist from subjectivism and ensures that every member of the faithful, in any parish in the world, receives a liturgy that expresses the faith of the whole Church, not a minister’s personal interpretation.
The assembly, for its part, participates by uniting its intention in silence during the priest’s proclamation and by responding with the acclamations provided in the opening dialogue and in the Sanctus.
What is the historical origin of the Preface of the Mass?
During the first three centuries of Christianity, the Eucharistic Prayer was not read from fixed books. The bishop or the celebrating priest improvised the thanksgiving according to theological patterns inherited from Jewish blessings (berakhot). Around the fourth and fifth centuries, the libelli missarum began to be written—small booklets with prayers for specific feasts—and with them the variability of Prefaces was born.
The Veronese Sacramentary (6th–7th centuries), preserved in Verona, gathers an enormous collection of variable Prefaces, many of them lengthy and tied to the theological controversies of the time. The Gelasian Sacramentary (8th century) organized the texts into three books and blended Roman and Gallican traditions. The great transformation came with the Gregorian Sacramentary (7th–9th centuries), associated with Pope Saint Gregory the Great, which drastically reduced the number of Prefaces and gave the Roman liturgy its characteristic sobriety.
After the Council of Trent, the Missal of Saint Pius V (1570) fixed a reduced catalog of barely a dozen Prefaces, in force for nearly four centuries. The Second Vatican Council, through the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, encouraged the recovery of the richer formulas of the ancient sacramentaries, and the Missal of Saint Paul VI expanded the repertoire to the well over one hundred Prefaces used today.
Would you like to learn more about the Holy Mass? Take a look at these articles that may help you:
- What Is the Mass, and What Miracles Take Place in It?: Do you go to Mass on Sundays? Do you know what the Mass is? Have you heard about the miracles that occur? Discover why the Mass is the great miracle.
- What Are the Four Ends of the Mass?: Since it is a renewal of Christ’s sacrifice, the ends of the Mass are the same as those of the sacrifice on the Cross: to adore, to give thanks, to make reparation, and to ask.
- What Are the Parts of the Mass and Their Meaning?: Do you know the parts of the Mass and what they mean? Go deeper into the structure of the Catholic rite and live the Eucharistic celebration with greater devotion.
- Liturgy of the Eucharist: The Heart of the Holy Mass: The Liturgy of the Eucharist is the heart of the Mass. Jesus offers Himself and renews His sacrifice for our salvation. Meditate on this mystery.
What is the Preface of the Mass?
The Preface of the Mass is the solemn opening of the Eucharistic Prayer, in which the priest, in the name of the whole assembly, gives thanks to God the Father for the particular mystery being celebrated that day, before arriving at the Consecration.
What are the parts of the Preface of the Mass?
It has three parts: the opening dialogue (the priest’s greeting, the Sursum corda, and the invitation to give thanks), the central body, which develops the theological reason for the celebration, and the linking clause, which leads into the chant of the Holy.
What does “preface” mean in the Mass?
It comes from the Latin praefatio (a solemn proclamation made publicly). In the liturgy it does not mean a minor introduction, but the first great act of thanksgiving of the Eucharistic Prayer, in which the Church on earth joins her voice to the heavenly liturgy.
What is today’s Preface?
It depends on the liturgical season or the day’s celebration. You can consult it in the Ordo or liturgical calendar of your diocese, which indicates each day the liturgical season, the color, and the corresponding Preface.
What is the Preface of the Mass in the liturgy?
It is the introductory section of the Eucharistic Prayer, governed by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (numbers 78–79). It is an integral part of that Prayer, not an independent prayer, and its recitation is reserved to the celebrating priest.
What is the Preface for the Mass for the Dead?
There are five Prefaces for the Dead in the Roman Missal. All revolve around the hope of the resurrection and express that the life of believers, at death, does not end but is changed into an eternal dwelling with God.
Who may say the Preface at Mass?
Only the celebrating priest. The Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (no. 51) forbids the deacon, lay ministers, or the assembly from reciting parts of the Preface, and it also forbids the priest to modify texts approved by the Holy See.
Where can I find the full text of the Prefaces of the Missal?
The full text is found in any complete edition of the Roman Missal, available in Catholic bookstores and on the websites of the episcopal conferences of each country, which often publish the liturgical Ordo with the Preface appointed for each day.
Are there resources in Spanish to go deeper into the Preface of the Mass?
Yes. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, available on the Holy See’s website, is the most complete official source. Several dioceses and Catholic universities also offer introductory courses in liturgy, and some Catholic podcasts devote episodes to explaining, part by part, the structure of the Mass for a non-specialist audience.
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