Catholic Mass for Dummies

by John Trigilio Jr., Kenneth Brighenti, James Cafone

An unintimidating guide to understanding the Catholic Mass Throughout the centuries, the liturgy of the Church has taken a variety of regional and historical forms, but one thing has remained the Mass has always been the central form of Catholic worship.Catholic Mass For Dummies gives you a step-by-step overview of the Catholic Mass, as well as a close look at the history and meaning of the Mass as a central form of Catholic worship. You'll find information on the order of a Mass and coverage of major Masses.Covers standard Sunday Mass, weddings, funerals, holiday services, and holy days of obligation Provides insight on the events, symbols, themes, history, and language of the Mass Translations of a Mass in Castilian and Latin American Spanish If you're a Catholic looking to enhance your knowledge of your faith, an adult studying to convert to Catholicism, a CCD instructor, or a non-Catholic who wants to understand the many nuances of the Catholic Mass, this hands-on, friendly guide has you covered.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2011

About the author

Father John Trigilio, Jr. is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gannon University in 1983 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts (concentration in Theology and Philosophy). After studying for the Diocese of Erie and then for the Diocese of Arlington, Father Trigilio joined the Diocese of Harrisburg where he was ordained in 1988 by William Cardinal Keeler. He completed his seminary training at Holy Apostles Seminary, Cromwell, CT and at Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, PA. Fr. Trigilio is also a cooperator in the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei.

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide helps you understand the Mass, as it's done in the Latin Church, but also in the Eastern Catholic Church (with Byzantine Rite's Mass shown in same level of detail as the Ordinary and the Traditional Latin Masses). Some of it is slightly US-centric, but only in small ways.
There is talk about the historical background (Old and New Testament, plus later times), symbolisms, meanings, language, orders of various Mass forms, roles of the people during the Mass, and of the objects (I do wish they had had some pictures of the objects in the book). There's also talk of the visuals (architecture and art) and the music.

I liked how the list of contents was in both short and wider detail, just like in other Dummies books. The lists of Tens were two: Ten Eucharistic miracles (of the 40+ confirmed cases), and Ten Comments on the Eucharist from Saints and Beatified people (short but to the point). The smaller details throughout the book (another Dummies thing) was also fascinating, with some information that I definitely didnt know about (like Catholic Armenians, and the Anglicans who have come back to Catholicism). The Eastern Catholic churches were largely unknown to me, or at least I didn't know of their connection to the Latin church so well.

There were plenty of interesting facts, and new things to me. I was impressed how well the book was written, though I did notice some missed spelling mistakes on this. But those mistakes were not frequent nor distracting. This book was very informative and easy to read, so very well worth it.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally became interested in Catholic Mass for Dummies because it might help with answers for our RCIA small group. I learned to trust authors John Trigilio and James Cafone when reading Catholicism for Dummies which was wonderfully informative and also carried the Nihil Obstat* and Imprimatur*.

Joined by Kenneth Brighenti, the same authors have joined forces again to provide this practical, step-by-step guide to the Catholic Mass. This book also has the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur and is fascinatingly informative. The authors not only take us through the standard Roman Catholic Sunday Mass, but also variations for such needs as weddings, funerals, and the like. At pains to explain the history, symbolism and meaning, they also explain the changes to Mass responses which will be instituted when the new liturgical translation begins being used in Advent.

As well as explaining the structure of the Mass, they also discuss the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (Latin Mass), the Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharistic Devotions, and the Byzantine rite Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy. I admit I was fairly stunned to realize that I could take this book to a Latin Mass or Byzantine Mass and follow along. They include all the actions and words of the priests and people for both. The other Catholic rites from East to West are described with the history for everything from Armenian to Dominican to Anglican covered.

In the Tools of the Trade section, we learn about the books, vestments, vessels, architecture, art, and music used in worship. This was one of the most interesting sections to me since much of the symbolism inherent in these items is that which I only knew dimly or guessed at. This section would have been much enhanced with simple sketches or photos of the items being discussed. We may know what a tunic is but an amice is something that I just can't call to mind, no matter how detailed the description. Again in this section as in the rest of the book, the authors take care to call out differences practiced in the different rites of the Church.

I especially liked that the authors were reporting the information and not giving any personal opinions. This makes the book especially useful to the wide variety of people who might be drawn to it, whether the merely curious, Catholics, potential converts, or those with specific questions about a particular practice. This is intended as a reference book and deeper theological reflections, therefore, are not found here. However, just knowing the symbolism that stretches back to the beginning of the Church is often enough to prompt the reader to their own reflections, which I found happening as I read.

There are times when we all just need to know what's going on before we dig deeper. I can think of no better place to find one's footing with the ins-and-outs of the Catholic mass than in this book.

* Official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free from doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who granted the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catholic Mass For Dummies is the latest book from Rev. John Trigilio Jr along with ev. Kenneth Brighenti, Rev. Monsignor James Cafone. They have done other books in the Dummies series such as the excellent Catholicism for Dummies and Saints For Dummies

It is surprising how nice a format the Dummies books are for teaching the Catholic faith. The formatting of the books seem to make them more accessible and the way fonts, titling, notes, and other things are implemented makes reading them some more comfier while still giving solid knowledge. I found the formatting of the YOUCAT to be engaging as our these specific Dummies books.

This book on the Mass is much more thorough than a lot of introductory books to the Mass have been. Just packed for of information and I discovered many things I had not been aware of before. One thing I really liked it that it was not inclusive to the Latin Rite of the Church and the various rites of the Eastern Catholic Churches were covered throughout the book. Plus not only was the Ordinary Form of the Mass was covered in the Latin Rite, but attention was also given to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

Lots of details and tidbits of information were given on the Mass from the liturgy, to architecture, vestments, etc. Really quite a thorough overview. The book is also written in a straight-ahead style that is devoid of any commentary by the authors. For example the chapter on architecture covered modern churches such as the L.A. Cathedral without making remarks that I am confident the authors held about this architectural style.

This book would be at the top of my list to give to converts and people going through R.C.I.A. A lot of information is covered giving you the scope of the Church that is truly universal without having a book the size of a Russian novel.

The only real caveat I had was that I wish there were drawings or graphics accompanying the section on liturgical vestments. Though,in the section on liturgical vestments for the Eastern Catholic Churches I discovered that they really do have the coolest names not only for vestments but other aspects of Divine Worship. The only error I noticed was on the Creed which they said was said Every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, that is true except for Easter.

[Riley Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Sweet and succinct.

[Brent D. Neely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and informative. Several typos, however.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a good job of dissecting the Mass and things that you are supposed to do during it. Great for people who aren't familiar with the Mass, or for Catholics looking to deepen their understanding of what's going on. It's also good because it goes over the basic form of the Mass in both Western and Eastern Rites.

The only thing that I would complain about is the complete lack of illustrations. When they are talking about the various implements used during the Mass, they just describe them. If you've never been to a Mass, this won't really help you out much. This is especially true when describing the vestments the priest wears. Even for people familiar with the Mass, it can be hard to figure out exactly which part the book is describing, especially since some items can be similar. It would be great to have an illustrated edition of this book.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reference book, so I didn't read the whole thing. I studied a few chapters that I was most interested in and it was incredibly helpful.