The Catholic Mass
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50 free The Catholic Mass trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Mass is the central act of Catholic worship, celebrated every day in almost every country on earth. Much of it has barely changed in many centuries, and nearly every gesture, object and phrase has a story behind it: why the priest's clothes change colour, where the word Mass itself comes from, what is sealed inside the altar. This quiz covers the whole celebration: the order of the service and its best-known prayers, the cups, plates and cloths set out for it, the robes worn by the clergy, the calendar of feasts and fasts, and the councils and popes who shaped the rite. The questions start gently and get harder, so they suit children preparing for First Communion, students in religion class, altar servers and catechists, and adults who have sat through hundreds of Masses and want to know how much they took in.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which day passes with no Catholic Mass, only Communion from bread consecrated the evening before?
Good Friday
Good Friday passes without a Mass as the Church marks the death of Jesus. The altar is left bare, without cross, candlesticks or cloths.
Q 02Which event, painted by Leonardo da Vinci on a convent wall, does every Catholic Mass recall?
The Last Supper
The Last Supper is where Jesus shared bread and wine and told his followers to do the same in his memory. Leonardo's mural captures the moment just after he announces a betrayal.
Q 03Which name for a Catholic Mass for the dead also titles famous choral works by Mozart and Verdi?
Requiem
Requiem is the first word sung at the start of the Mass, the Latin for rest. Mozart left his setting unfinished when he died in 1791, and other composers completed it.
Q 04Which feast do Catholics greet with a Midnight Mass, followed by Masses at dawn and during the day?
Christmas
Christmas has three Masses of its own: in the night, at dawn and in daytime. The pilgrim Egeria saw a similar night vigil at Bethlehem in the 380s, kept there on 6 January.
Q 05Which cup, often made of precious metal, does a Catholic priest raise after consecrating the wine?
Chalice
The chalice holds the wine that Catholics believe becomes the blood of Christ. Church rules say its bowl must be made of a material that does not absorb liquid.
Q 06Which gathering of Catholic bishops, opened in 1962, cleared the way for Mass in local languages?
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council let local languages into a liturgy celebrated almost entirely in Latin for centuries. It permitted the change without requiring it.
Q 07What do Catholic altars traditionally hold sealed inside, recalling Masses said over martyrs' tombs?
Relics of saints
Relics of saints are sealed in or under the altar, a custom that looks back to the persecuted early Christians. Older rules required relics of at least two saints.
Q 08Church law says the unleavened bread for a Catholic Mass must be made from which grain?
Wheat
Wheat is the only grain the Latin Church allows for the bread, which must also be recently baked. It is left unleavened, as bread is at the Jewish Passover.
Q 09The name Mass probably comes from 'Ite, missa est', Latin words spoken at which point in the service?
The dismissal
The dismissal probably gave the whole service its name, since 'missa' simply meant a sending away. Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the word had come to imply a mission.
Q 10Which colour do priests wear at Mass during Ordinary Time, the longest season of the Catholic year?
Green
Green marks Ordinary Time, the 33 or 34 numbered weeks that fall outside the Church's great seasons of fasting and feasting.
Q 11Which words taught by Jesus himself do the people say together at Mass shortly before Communion?
The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer asks for daily bread, which the Church links to the bread of Communion that follows. Catholics often call it the Our Father, after its opening words.
Q 12Which posture do Catholics take when the Gospel is read at Mass, unlike for the earlier readings?
Standing
Standing marks the Gospel as the high point of the readings, while people sit for the ones before it. They also rise for the acclamation sung just beforehand.
Q 13Which locked box, whose name comes from the Latin for tent, holds the consecrated bread in a Catholic church?
Tabernacle
Q 21Who proclaims the Gospel at a Catholic Mass when present, a task otherwise left to a priest?
The deacon
The deacon reads the Gospel whenever one is serving, and first bows to ask the priest's blessing. Lay readers may proclaim the other Scripture passages.
Q 22Which word for the Communion wafer comes from the Latin for a sacrificial victim?
Host
Host comes from the Latin hostia, meaning a sacrificial victim. In the Western Church the wafers are typically thin, round and unleavened.
Q 23Which act of reverence, bending the right knee to the floor, do Catholics make before the Eucharist?
Genuflection
Genuflection signifies adoration, so it is reserved for the Blessed Sacrament. A priest makes three during Mass, the last just before Communion.
The tabernacle keeps the Eucharist so it can be carried to the sick and given at later services. Church rules require it to be immovable, solid and not see-through.
Q 14Which colour do priests wear at Mass on Pentecost, Palm Sunday and the feasts of martyrs?
Red
Red at Pentecost symbolises joy and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Roman rules assign the same colour to every celebration of Christ's Passion.
Q 15Which talk on the Scripture readings at Mass may be given by clergy but never by a layperson?
Homily
The homily is meant to open up the day's readings for the listeners. On Sundays and holy days of obligation it may not be left out without a serious reason.
Q 16What do Catholics exchange with those nearest them at Mass shortly before receiving Communion?
A sign of peace
A sign of peace takes different forms around the world, because the bishops of each country choose a gesture that suits local custom.
Q 17Which short plea for mercy near the start of Mass is said in Greek even when the rest is in Latin?
Kyrie
The Kyrie echoes a Greek cry for help that people address to Jesus in the Gospels. The same phrase is among the most often repeated in Eastern Christian worship.
Q 18What is added in a small quantity to the wine when the cup is prepared at a Catholic Mass?
Water
Water is mingled with the wine in a gesture read in several ways, one being Christ's human and divine natures joined together. Mixing the two was once ordinary practice around the ancient Mediterranean.
Q 19Sunday Mass marks which event, said to have happened on the first day of the week?
The Resurrection
The Resurrection is why Christians made Sunday, not the Jewish Sabbath, their main day of worship. Each Sunday Mass is a weekly memorial of it.
Q 20Which unaccompanied Latin singing style, linked by legend to a pope, holds pride of place at Mass?
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant takes its name from Pope Gregory I, though scholars believe most of its melodies took shape well after his day.
Q 24Which word of praise, sung to greet the Gospel at Mass, is dropped altogether during Lent?
Alleluia
Alleluia comes from a Hebrew phrase meaning praise the Lord, and is sung in every season except Lent. A different acclamation takes its place for those weeks.
Q 25On which day of the year does the evening Mass include the priest washing parishioners' feet?
Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday recalls Jesus washing his disciples' feet on the night before he died. Since 2016 the rite has been open to women as well as men.
Q 26Which night-time Mass begins outdoors with a new fire, from which a tall candle is lit?
Easter Vigil
The Easter Vigil is held in darkness after sunset and should end before dawn. The lit candle is carried into the unlit church, stopping three times on the way.
Q 27What does an altar server sound at Mass as the priest shows the consecrated bread and wine?
A bell
A bell signals the moment to the congregation, though the custom is left to local choice. A server may also ring one shortly before the consecration.
Q 28Which of the two main parts of the Mass comes first and centres on readings from Scripture?
Liturgy of the Word
The Liturgy of the Word is so closely tied to the half that follows that the Church calls the two one single act of worship.
Q 29From which Old Testament book does the sung response after the first reading at Mass usually come?
Psalms
Psalms supplies the responsorial song, in which a cantor sings the verses and the people repeat a refrain. The Church prefers it sung rather than read.
Q 30Which statement of faith, named for a council held in 325, do Catholics recite at Sunday Mass?
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed was first adopted at Nicaea and enlarged at a second council in 381. Catholics say or sing it on Sundays and major feasts.