Latin Mass Responses — every response, in order, with pronunciation.

1. The Asperges — before the principal Sunday Mass

Cue: If the priest enters in a cope and sprinkles holy water, Mass has not started yet — this is the Asperges.

In Eastertide the antiphon is replaced by the Vidi aquam (VEE-dee AH-kwahm — “I saw water”), and alleluia is added to the versicles. When the sprinkling ends, the priest changes from cope to chasuble — and the Mass itself begins.

2. The Prayers at the Foot of the Altar (Psalm 42)

Kneel. The priest and servers pray in a low voice at the altar steps.

Psalm 42 — Judica me (Psalm 43 in modern numbering) — follows as a dialogue between priest and servers. It is omitted in Passiontide and at Requiem Masses, in which case the prayers continue directly at the Adjutorium:

The priest then prays the Confiteor — the confession of sin — and the servers answer on behalf of all:

The servers then pray the Confiteor themselves — in the people's name — and the priest answers with the same Misereatur (“Misereatur vestri…”) and the Indulgentiam, asking pardon and absolution for all. The dialogue resumes:

3. Kyrie, Gloria, and Collect

Cue: The Kyrie is ninefold in the 1962 rite — and it is Greek, not Latin, one of the oldest survivals in the Roman liturgy.

The Gloria in excelsis Deo (GLOH-ree-ah een ek-SHEL-sees DEH-oh) follows on Sundays and feasts — stand when it is intoned at a Sung Mass; it is omitted in Advent, in the pre-Lenten Septuagesima season, and in Lent (though it is sung on feasts falling even within those seasons). The Collect, the day's gathering prayer, ends with the cue every Catholic ear learns fast:

4. Epistle and Gospel

Sit for the Epistle. Stand for the Gospel.

Gesture: with the priest, trace a small cross on your forehead, lips, and breast — the Gospel in your mind, on your lips, in your heart.

5. The Credo

Stand. All genuflect with the priest at the words Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine: et homo factus est — “and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: and was made man.”

At a Sung Mass the people traditionally sing the Credo with the choir — it is one of the five Ordinary chants the 1958 instruction encourages the faithful to learn (De musica sacra n. 25b). The genuflection at the Incarnation is the one moment the whole church drops to one knee together: God became man, and the body says so.

6. The Offertory and the Suscipiat

Sit during the Offertory. The Suscipiat is the longest response in the Mass — worth learning whole.

7. The Preface Dialogue

Stand at a Sung Mass. This is the most ancient dialogue in the liturgy — Christians have exchanged these lines since at least the third century.

8. The Sanctus

Kneel. The bell rings. After the Sanctus, the Canon — the most sacred stretch of the Mass — is prayed in silence. There are no responses to make: adore.

The silence that follows is not absence — it is the Roman Canon, the consecration at its heart. The bells will tell you when the Host and the Chalice are elevated: look up, and adore. The silence of the Canon is the old rite's loudest moment.

9. The Pater Noster

Key point of accuracy: in the 1962 rite the priest prays the entire Our Father alone, in the name of all. The response is only the final line.

At a Dialogue Mass the people may recite the whole Pater noster together with the priest, in Latin, where that custom is established. Shortly after comes another familiar exchange:

10. The Agnus Dei

Kneel. Strike your breast lightly at each invocation, with the priest.

11. Domine, non sum dignus

Kneel. The priest holds up the Host. Strike your breast at each of the three repetitions.

These are the centurion's words to Christ (Matthew 8:8). The Catechism says that before so great a sacrament, the faithful “can only echo” them (CCC 1386). Even at a Low Mass, many of the faithful pray this quietly with the servers — it is the prayer of every man who knows what he is about to receive.

12. Holy Communion

At the rail: kneel, receive on the tongue, and say nothing — the priest says the entire formula, Amen included.

Full posture guidance — including what to do with your hands and what to do if you cannot kneel — is in the Communion section below this list.

13. Postcommunion, Dismissal, and Blessing

Cue: “Dominus vobiscum → Et cum spiritu tuo,” the Postcommunion prayer ends “…per omnia saecula saeculorum → Amen,” and then:

Occasionally you will hear Benedicamus Domino (beh-neh-dee-KAH-moos DOH-mee-noh — “Let us bless the Lord,” used when another liturgical function follows); the response is the same Deo gratias. At Requiem Masses the dismissal is Requiescant in pace (reh-kwee-EH-skahnt een PAH-cheh — “May they rest in peace”), answered Amen.

Kneel for the blessing.

14. The Last Gospel

Stand. The priest reads the opening of St. John's Gospel at the altar. All genuflect with him at Et Verbum caro factum est — “And the Word was made flesh” (et VER-boom KAH-roh FAHK-toom est).

Don't reach for your keys yet: after most Low Masses the priest kneels at the foot of the altar and leads the customary Prayers after Low Mass — three Hail Marys, the Salve Regina with its collect, the St. Michael Prayer, and the threefold “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us” — usually in English. Kneel and pray them with everyone, then go.