The Meaning of each Song at Mass

• Opening/Gathering Song: is intended to unite us and open our hearts to hear God’s voice. It gathers God’s people together in community.
• Kyrie: The sung Kyrie follows the penitential rite. The plea “Lord, have pity on us” can be heard throughout the Gospels (Matthew 9:27, 15:22, 20:30; Mark 10:47; Luke 16:24, 17:13). The Kyrie in the Mass is an acclamation of praise for the mercy of God.
• Gloria: was originally composed in Greek during the second century. The opening line of the hymn is taken from Luke 2:14, when the angel of the Lord after announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds, praised God with a multitude of heavenly host. The Gloria allows us, assembled in the Holy Spirit, to express our praises and as a community, becoming one in heart and voice.
• Psalm: These are sung at Mass because they were originally written as hymns of praise by King David - you can find all these psalms in Bible in the Book of Psalms. The Responsorial Psalm is sung after the first reading. It corresponds to each reading and puts on our lips, words that sum up the day’s scripture; Recalling God’s great works for us.
• Gospel Acclamation and Acclamation of Eucharistic Prayer: Allow us to acclaim the presence of Christ in his Gospel and on the Altar, at the two most solemn moments of the Mass. We praise and welcome and greet the Lord, who is about to speak to us in the Gospel and profess our faith in liturgical song.
• Preparation of the Gifts: A song appropriate to the day and season may be sung during the collection and procession bringing the gifts.
• Sanctus: Core musical element of the Eucharistic Prayer. In this Acclamation we join the angels in the praise of divine glory. The first part of Sanctus is bases upon Isaiah 6:3 and Daniel 7:10. The second part is based on Matthew 21:9. The Sanctus invites us to lift up our hearts to the Lord in prayer and thanks AND unites Heaven and Earth (the Communion of Saints - the Angels and saints; both those who are Saints and our loved ones who have gone before us to Heaven and Purgatory). The meaning of the prayer is that the entire congregation joins themselves to Christ in acknowledging the great things God has done and in offering the sacrifice.
• Memorial Acclamation/Assent: (Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again.) Recalling His death, His resurrection, His coming again. This is our Mystery of Faith. If this were not true we would not have a religion or faith. Thus we proclaim our faith at every Eucharistic celebration.
• Agnus Dei and Communion Songs: The Breaking of Bread (the gesture of Christ at the last Supper). This signifies the sharing in the one bread of life, which is Christ, who died and rose for the salvation of the world. We express our unity in the Christ we receive, becoming one with His sacrifice. We are supposed to stand united during Communion and praise God together for having given us his son as ransom for our salvation.
• The Closing Song: Sends us out inspired…Going in peace to love and serve the Lord; being Christ for others until the next gathering (I.E. going "BEYOND THE DOORS").