Can you describe "the liturgy of the Eucharist?" As I say, I have been to Mass before and I may have witnessed this but didn't know what it was.
A Mass is essentially divided into 2 parts...(1) the Liturgy of the Word, which encompasses the Entrance Rite (the altar servers, deacon(s) and priest(s) enter the sanctuary), the Penitiential Rite (this is usually started with "I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters"...and is followed by, or replaced by the Kyrie, that is "Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have Mercy"), this is followed in every season except Advent and Lent by the Gloria, the Glory to God. After this comes the readings, which are (1st reading) from the Old Testament, (2nd reading) from the New Testament, and (3rd "Gospel" reading), which comes from either the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, or Luke, or the Gospel of John. Afterh tis comes the homily (sermon), in which the priest or the deacon teaches on the readings and Gospel of the day. After this comes the Nicene Creed, followed by the Mass intentions (the "Lord hear our prayer")
The Reception of the Gifts is where the collection is taken up, and the gifts (the collection, bread, and wine) arre brought up to the altar, the table of the Lord.
(2) the Liturgy of the Eucharist follows...when the wine is brought to the priest or the deacon, a small bit of water is added to the wine, and the following prayer is said quietly by him..."through the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share the Divinity of Christ, who humbled Himself to share in our humanity"...the priest then takes the paten (plate) and the chalice (cup) lifts them up and says..."Blessed are you Lord God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread and wine to offer, which earth has given, and human hands have made, it will become for us the bread of life and our spiritual drink"...sometimes, these 2 are separated. The people respond "Blessed be God forever". This is followed by "Lord God, we ask you to receive us and be pleased with the sacrifice we offer you with humble and contrite hearts." The priest then goes to the side, where there are 2 altar servers (or sometimes 1), and he washes his hands while silently praying "Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me from my sin." Standing at the center of the altar, facing the people, he extends and then joins his hands, saying:
Pray, brethren, that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father
P. May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, and the good of all his Church.
The people respond "Amen"
The priest begins the eucharistic prayer. With hands extended he sings or says:
"The Lord be with you"
the people respond "and also with you"
P: "Lift up your hearts"
C:"We lift the up to the Lord"
P: "Let us give thanks tot he Lord our God"
C: "It is right to give Him thanks and praise"
(the following can vary, depending of the Eucharistic Prayer the priest is using, either I, II, III, IV)
P: "Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks."
"Source of all goodness, you have created all things, to fill your creatures with every blessing and lead all men to the joyful vision of your light.
Countless hosts of angels stand before you to do your will; they look upon your splendor and praise you, night and day
United with them, and in the name of every creature under heaven, we too praise your glory as we say:"
(this is either said or sung by the whole congregation)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might, Heaven and Earth are full of your Glory, Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest
The congregation kneels (though our visiting brethern may sit).
There follows one of the Eucharistic Prayers (I, II, III, IV)
I will use I
This is the priest alone who says this part (the plus sign indicates the priest making the sign of the cross over the gifts)
"We come to you, Father, with praise and thanksgiving, through Jesus Christ your Son
Through him we ask you to accept and bless + these gifts we offer you in sacrifice
We offer them for your holy catholic Church, watch over it, Lord, and guide it; grant it peace and unity throughout the world. We offer them for N. our Pope, for N. our bishop, and for all who hold and teach the catholic faith that comes to us from the apostles.
Remember all of us gathered here before you. You know how firmly we believe in you and dedicate ourselves to you. We offer you this sacrifice of praise for ourselves and those who are dear to us. We pray to you, our living and true God, for our well-being and redemption.
In union with the whole Church we honor Mary, the ever-virgin mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God. We honor Joseph, her husband, the apostles and martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, (James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude; we honor Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian) and all the saints. May their merits and prayers grant us your constant help and protection.
(Through Christ our Lord. Amen.)
Father, accept this offering from your whole family. Grant us your peace in this life, save us from final damnation, and count us among those you have chosen.
Bless and approve our offering; make it acceptable to you, an offering in spirit and in truth. Let it become for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your only Son, our Lord."
The words of the Lord in the following formulas should be spoken clearly and distinctly, as their meaning demands."The day before he suffered"
He takes the bread and, raising it a little above the altar, continues:
"he took bread into His sacred hands, and raising it to Heaven said"
"
Take this all of you and eat it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you"
the priest raises the Eucharist up, then, lowering it, places it on the paten, and kneels or bows.
then he takes the chalice raises it and says:
"When supper was ended, he took the cup into His sacred hands, again He gave you thanks and praise and giving it to His disciples said":
"
Take this, all of you, and drink from it, this is the cup of My Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasing covenant, ti will be shed for you, and for all, so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me."
then the priest says:
this is the mystery of faith.
which is followed by the response
"Christ has died, Christ has Risen, Christ will come again.
This is followed by the rest of the Eucharistic Prayer, and ends in the doxology, with plate and cup raised:
P: "Through Him, with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all Glory and Honor are yours, forever and ever"
C: Amen
This is followed by the Lord's Prayer, and then by the peace rite, when we all shake, hands, hug, kiss our spouses, etc (lol).
This is followed by the Communion Rite, which is begun: "Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, hear our prayer"
The priest again holds up the fractured bread (Eucharist) and says:
"This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, happy are those who are called to His supper"
The people respond:
"Lord, I am not worthy to recieve you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed" (these words come from the words of the centurion, who asked Jesus to come to his house to heal his servant, and told Jesus"Lord I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, but say the word, and my servant shall be healed" Matthew 8:8)
Communion then follows, with those who beleive in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist coming up to recieve the Body and Blood, and those who are of other beliefs welcome to come up and receive a blessing, if they so desire.
This is followed by the recessional prayers, and the recessional rite when the altar servers, deacon (s), and priest(s), leave.
All of this takes place in the space of an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, unless it is a Christmas Mass, or a mass during Holy Week, or the Mass of Easter Vigil, when you have people being brought into the Church.
Sorry this was so long.