At the Mass, there are many things said or read throughout the Mass, but around 70% of everything that is said is not being said to us in the pews. So to whom are these words being addressed?

The sixth chapter of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) is dedicated to sacred music. The document states that: "The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy“(SC,, 112).

Throughout lands of the former Roman Empire, one will encounter triumphal arches: a very large stone archway supported by two massive stone piers, sometimes with two accompanying smaller archways on each side of the center large one, with a passageway running through it below the arch, but not made for the purpose of supporting any structure above it crossing the passageway.

In the Encyclical Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII states that it "is not a cold and lifeless representation of the events of the past, or a simple ... record of a former age. [The liturgical year] is rather Christ Himself who is ever living in His Church. Here He continues that journey of immense mercy which He lovingly began in His mortal life ... with the design of bringing men to know His mysteries and in a way live by them. These mysteries are ever present and active" (III Divinum Officium et Annus Liturgicus, II Cyclus Mysteriorum).

The Catholic Church not only ranks its members in a hierarchy, but its buildings too. Not every large and impressive church is a cathedral, and not every small local church you attend Mass at may be a parish.

I said in an article a few weeks ago that Auxiliary Bishops are bishops of their own dioceses; however, the "titular dioceses" these bishops belong to no longer have any jurisdiction over a geographical area or any people.

Immediately after recalling Jesus' Last Supper, [Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) of the Second Vatican Council] speaks of the Eucharist in Augustinian terms. For Christians, taking part at the Lord's table means being "instructed by God's word and ... nourished ... [giving ] thanks to God"(cf. SC, 48) ... The Eucharist is the sacrament of the Kingdom that is to come. It is the Bread for the journey that leads us to our heavenly homeland, until that blessed day when "God will be all in all" (1 Cor 15:28).

The Church has two types of public prayer it offers to God on behalf of all the world: the Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office, is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer. The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer.