Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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DRY MASS

A shortened form of the Mass, customary in the Middle Ages, in which the Offertory, Canon, and Communion were omitted. It was used on a variety of occasions, such as when a second Mass on the same day was forbidden; at a pilgrimage; when a priest who was still fasting was not available; on board ship in stormy weather, then called a "naval Mass"; and during hunting expeditions, called a hunter's Mass. It survives among certain priest-monks who say a Dry Mass of Our Lady, and in the ceremony for the blessing of Palms on Palm Sunday.

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