Go deeper, for parents
Heaven at Mass
How the Mass joins the worship of heaven, with the angels and saints.
What your child reads
At the “Holy, Holy, Holy” we join the angels’ song, the same one the prophet Isaiah heard in his vision of heaven.
From “Lift up your hearts” and Holy, Holy, Holy, Mystery of Faith and the Great Amen
A foretaste of heaven
“In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem”: “with all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord” (CCC 1090). Teaching
What heaven’s worship looks like
Revelation shows a throne, “the Lamb, ‘standing, as though it had been slain’”, the angels and all creation, the elders, Mary and “a great multitude which no one could number” (CCC 1137–1138; Revelation 4; Revelation 5). “It is in this eternal liturgy that the Spirit and the Church enable us to participate” (CCC 1139). Teaching
The Holy, Holy
The whole congregation sings it “joining with the heavenly powers” (GIRM 79b). Its words come from the angels in Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. Teaching
With Mary and the saints
“To the offering of Christ are united not only the members still here on earth, but also those already in the glory of heaven”, “in communion with and commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints” (CCC 1370). The Eucharistic Prayer also prays for the dead (CCC 1371). Teaching
Questions children ask
- Are the angels really there?
- The Church says that at Mass “with all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord” (CCC 1090). We can’t see them, but we sing with them.
Words to avoid
“Pretend the angels are here.” The Church says we really join them (CCC 1090, 1139).