Latin Mass Readings and Propers: How They Work

The Latin Mass readings are the Epistle and the Gospel appointed for each day in the Roman Missal of 1962, and they belong to a larger set of texts called the Propers: Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gradual, Gospel, Offertory, Secret, Communion and Postcommunion. Unlike the reformed rite, the Traditional Latin Mass follows a one-year cycle: the same Sunday brings the same Epistle and Gospel every year. Which Propers are said on a given day is decided by the traditional calendar.

The unchanging parts of the Mass are called the Ordinary; their Latin text is given in full in the order of the Mass in Latin. The Propers (from the Latin proprium, "proper to" the day) are what make the Mass of one feast different from another, and following them is the key to praying the Traditional Latin Mass with the Church. The Latin-English missal of the Iter Fidei app sets the Propers of each day beside the Ordinary.

The nine Propers of the Latin Mass

Each Mass has its own set of proper texts, nearly all of them taken from Holy Scripture, above all from the Psalms:

• Introit: the entrance antiphon, usually a verse of Scripture with a Psalm verse and the Gloria Patri. It gives the Mass its name: the First Sunday of Advent is Ad te levavi, the Third Gaudete, the Fourth Sunday of Lent Laetare, the Mass for the dead Requiem.
• Collect: the prayer in which the priest gathers the petitions of the faithful into one, addressed to God the Father through Christ.
• Epistle: the first reading, most often from St Paul or the other Apostles, sometimes from the Old Testament or the Apocalypse.
• Gradual with Alleluia (or Tract from Septuagesima to Easter): the chants between the readings. In Paschal time two Alleluia verses replace the Gradual. Five feasts or occasions also have a Sequence: Victimae paschali (Easter), Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost), Lauda Sion (Corpus Christi), Stabat Mater (the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady) and Dies irae (Masses for the dead).
• Gospel: the passage from one of the four Evangelists.
• Offertory: the antiphon read or sung as the bread and wine are offered.
• Secret: the prayer over the offerings, said in a low voice.
• Communion: the antiphon read after the Communion.
• Postcommunion: the closing prayer of thanksgiving.

On some days a lower-ranking feast is commemorated: its Collect, Secret and Postcommunion are added after those of the day. A feast without a complete Mass of its own borrows its texts from the Common of the Saints (of martyrs, confessors, virgins and so on), and the missal also contains Votive Masses and Masses for the dead.

An example: the First Sunday of Advent

The new liturgical year opens on the First Sunday of Advent, which falls on 29 November 2026. Its Mass, called from its first words Ad te levavi, shows how the Propers work together.

Introit (Psalm 24):

Ad te levavi animam meam: Deus meus, in te confido, non erubescam: neque irrideant me inimici mei: etenim universi qui te exspectant, non confundentur. Ps. Vias tuas, Domine, demonstra mihi: et semitas tuas edoce me.

To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on thee shall be confounded. Ps. Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.

Collect:

Excita, quaesumus, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni: ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis, te mereamur protegente eripi, te liberante salvari: Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and come: that from the threatening dangers of our sins we may be found worthy to be rescued by Thy protection, and saved by Thy deliverance: who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Epistle: Romans 13:11-14, "It is now the hour for us to rise from sleep." Gospel: Luke 21:25-33, the signs in the sun, the moon and the stars before the coming of the Son of Man. The Gradual and Offertory take up the Introit's Psalm 24 again, and the Communion antiphon (Psalm 84) closes the Mass with the promise: Dominus dabit benignitatem: et terra nostra dabit fructum suum, "The Lord will give goodness: and our earth shall yield her fruit."

The whole Mass speaks with one voice, of the soul's waiting for its God. That unity of the Propers is characteristic of the old Roman Mass. What the season means, and how the Church keeps it, is told in our article on Advent.

The one-year cycle of readings

The traditional Roman rite reads the same Epistles and Gospels each year. Most of these Sunday readings go back to the Roman lectionaries of the early Middle Ages, so a Catholic who assists at Mass every Sunday hears the same Gospels his ancestors heard on the same days for well over a thousand years: the wedding feast at Cana, the Good Samaritan, the multiplication of the loaves on Laetare Sunday.

The days of Lent, the Ember Days and the major vigils have their own proper readings; the Ember Saturdays read several lessons from the Old Testament before the Epistle. On other weekdays the priest either takes the Mass of the saint of the day or repeats the Mass of the preceding Sunday.

The reformed rite of 1969 follows a different plan: a three-year cycle on Sundays and a two-year cycle on weekdays, with an Old Testament reading and a Psalm added. That is why the readings of a given Sunday in the traditional rite are often not those of the new lectionary. The other differences between the two rites are set out in the Tridentine Mass vs the Novus Ordo.

How the Propers of the day are chosen

The Propers are governed by the traditional Roman Catholic calendar. Each day belongs to the temporal cycle (the seasons: Advent, Christmastide, Septuagesima, Lent, Passiontide, Paschal time, the time after Pentecost), carries a feast of the sanctoral cycle (Our Lady and the saints), or both. The rank of each, from first to fourth class in the rubrics of 1960, decides which Mass is said and which is reduced to a commemoration. A Sunday of Advent or Lent, for instance, takes precedence over every feast of a saint, with the single exception of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December.

Where to find today's Latin Mass readings

• A hand missal. The classic way: a 1962 daily missal prints the Propers of every day in Latin and English beside the Ordinary. How to use one with two ribbons is explained in the Latin Mass missal.
• An ordo. The small yearly booklet that gives, day by day, the Mass to be said, its color and its commemorations.
• Online. Our page of today's Gospel gives the Gospel of the day in the traditional rite, and the liturgical calendar lists the coming days. Divinum Officium prints the full Propers of any date according to the 1962 rubrics.
• The Iter Fidei app, which carries the complete Mass of each day.

At Mass itself, the Epistle and Gospel are read or sung in Latin; on Sundays the priest usually reads them again in English from the pulpit before the sermon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Propers of the Latin Mass?

The Propers are the texts of the Mass that change with the day: Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gradual (with Alleluia or Tract), Gospel, Offertory, Secret, Communion and Postcommunion, to which a Sequence is added on five occasions. The Ordinary, by contrast, stays the same at every Mass.

What are the Latin Mass readings today?

The readings of the day depend on the traditional calendar: the Sunday or season, or the feast of a saint. You can find them in a 1962 hand missal, on our page of today's Gospel, or in the Iter Fidei app, which serves the full Propers of each day in Latin and English.

Are the Latin Mass readings the same as in the Novus Ordo?

Often not. The Traditional Latin Mass has a one-year cycle with two readings, the Epistle and the Gospel. The reformed rite of 1969 has a three-year Sunday cycle and a two-year weekday cycle, usually with three readings on Sundays. Some passages coincide, but on most Sundays the readings differ.

How many readings are there at a Traditional Latin Mass?

Usually two: the Epistle and the Gospel. Some days have more, such as the Ember Saturdays, which add several Old Testament lessons, and Good Friday and the Easter Vigil, which have their own order of readings.

What is the difference between the Ordinary and the Propers?

The Ordinary contains the fixed prayers: the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, the Offertory prayers, Sanctus, the Roman Canon, Pater noster, Agnus Dei and the Last Gospel. The Propers are the texts proper to the day. A missal prints the Ordinary once, in the middle of the book, and the Propers of each day in the Proper of the Time and the Proper of the Saints.

Can the faithful pray the Propers at home?

Yes. Those who cannot attend Mass, or who wish to prepare for it, can read the Introit, Collect, Epistle and Gospel of the day at home. Generations of Catholics have done so on Sundays when they were sick or far from a church.

The Iter Fidei app carries the complete Propers of every day, from the Introit to the Postcommunion, in Latin and English, with the Ordinary of the Mass and the traditional calendar. Join early access here.

Sources. Missale Romanum, editio typica 1962: Proper of the Time, Proper of the Saints, Common of the Saints, Rubricae generales (1960); Holy Scripture, Psalm 24, Psalm 84, Romans 13:11-14, Luke 21:25-33 (Douay-Rheims).