Acutis library
The Library
Acutis library

The Mass

These pages are James Christopher’s book Rahasia Indah Dibalik Misa (The Beautiful Secret Behind the Mass), set out section by section: the Mass as prayer, its roots in Scripture, covenant and sacrifice, and what to bring to it. Each page can be read in English or in Bahasa Indonesia.

  1. Introduction The Beautiful Secret Behind the Mass: the origins, symbols and meaning of the parts of the Mass. Introduction, author's note and the shape of the book.
  2. The Mass as Prayer What prayer is, why not just pray on your own, why the Catholic Mass, what makes it special, and how it is structured.
  3. The Mass as Biblical Prayer A New Testament musical drama. The shape of the Mass from the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) and the praise and worship of heaven in Revelation.
  4. The Three Themes of the Mass in the Story of God’s Love The history of Christ’s victory: the King appears, a great procession, a great banquet, from the Gospel back to Adam, Moses, David and the prophets.
  5. Covenant: God’s Covenant with Humanity God made a covenant with humanity five times, and the new covenant in Jesus Christ fulfils them all. Consummatum est.
  6. Sacrifice Sacrifice as the strongest form of worship, the liturgy of Yom Kippur, and how Jesus Christ made the last Yom Kippur, which we access at every Mass.
  7. The Our Father: A Eucharistic Prayer The prayer Jesus himself taught, and why the petition “Give us this day our daily bread” stands at its centre.
  8. The Mass as Spirituality The Mass as the relationship of God and man: ascending and descending, dancing with God, and what we carry up as our offering.

Awaiting review The articles in this library are awaiting review by a priest. Until then, read them alongside the Catechism paragraphs they cite, and take questions to your parish.

Acutis library

A library for deepening the Catholic faith, named for St Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), who used the web to show people the Eucharist.

Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.–Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.–Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

The illustrations in The Mass are those of the book it is set from, Rahasia Indah Dibalik Misa.

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church © 2005 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Kompendium Katekismus Gereja Katolik © 2009 Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia and Penerbit Kanisius, translated by Harry Susanto, SJ.

Browse the collections