E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

CHAPTER the SEVENTH.
THE INTROIT, KYRIE, AND GLORIA IN
EXCELSIS.
AFTER kissing the altar and saying the lastmentioned
prayer, the priest proceeds to the Epistle
side of the altar, and with the sign of the Cross, begins
the Introit.
THE INTROIT. 1
The Introit (introitus) is, as the word indicates, the
"
" entrance to the Mass. Here the Mass may be said
to begin. The prayers at the foot of the altar may be
considered the introduction to the Mass. There are
1 Over the Introit in the Roman Missal on all Ember days,
on the Sundays in Advent, and on all ferial Masses from Septuagesima
to Low Sunday, we find such inscriptions as Statio ad
S. Mariam Majorem Station at the Church of St. Mary Major;
Statio ad S. Crucem in Jerusalem Station at the Church of the
Holy Cross in Jerusalem, &c. These words indicate the church
where Holy Mass was said after a solemn procession in which
the Pope, clergy, and laity joined. The church where the
procession halted and Mass was celebrated was called the
Station Church (static, a halting-place). The Station with full
solemnity consisted of three things. First, the assembling in a
and
certain church ; next, the procession to the Station Church ;
thirdly, the Mass said there. The preparatory assemblage of people
was called collecta ; because clergy and people collected together
previous to the solemn procession to the Station Church. The
banner of the Cross headed the procession; Psalms were chanted,