Worship
Mass Schedule
Vigil / Sunday Masses
Saturday
8:00am ➤ | 5:00pm
Sunday
All Sunday Mass in Main Church
7:00am | 9:15am
➤ | 10:45am | 12:15pm | 5:30pm
Weekday Masses
Monday - Friday
6:30am | 12Noon
Main Church
➤ *Watch our Livestream Mass online by clicking the arrow.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Confession Schedule
Monday -Saturday | 7:30 - 7:50am
Saturday | 4:00 - 4:45pm
*Or by scheduling an appointment
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Adoration Schedule
Held in the Little Church
Tuesday & Thursday | 7:00am - 7:00pm
Guide to Mass
The Mass, or also known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is the most important, central, and sacred act of worship in Catholicism. This is because the Holy Eucharist is “the source and summit of Christian Life” (Lumen Gentium; 1964). As Catholics, we believe that during the Mass, the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, called the Eucharist, even though the appearances of bread and wine remain. We firmly maintain that Jesus Christ is really, truly, and substantially present in the Eucharist. It is not simply a sign or symbol, but really Jesus Christ. To help prepare us for encountering Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, we come to Him through Sacred Scripture. Praying with the scripture readings for Mass in advance can further enhance our encounter with Christ at Mass. Click here for the daily Mass readings.
Participation at Mass
During Mass the congregation participates by singing, praying, speaking, sitting, kneeling and so on. The priest is the leader of the prayers during Mass, but the prayers of the people join his.
The Mass has four parts:
In the Liturgy of the Word, we listen attentively to multiple passages read from Sacred Scripture, and then the priest or deacon preaches about the readings to help us understand them, apply them to our lives, and prepare us to meet Jesus in the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Eucharist includes the Eucharistic prayer. During this prayer, Jesus Christ, through His priest, consecrates the bread and wine into His Body and Blood and offers Himself to God the Father. The congregation joins Christ in this prayer by uniting Jesus Christ alive within their souls, along with themselves, to the priest, and through the priest, to Jesus Christ, and they offer all of it to God the Father.
Every person should be disposed to, cooperative with, and willing to accept the supernatural divine graces being bestowed at the Mass. Knowing the responses and postures during Mass can help us better participate and be disposed to receive God's grace. Understanding the Mass can help us be well disposed, too. So, let us be as well-disposed as we can be as we celebrate Mass by learning more about it.
Below is a brochure for the Responses and Postures for the Catholic Mass which can help you know the responses and when to sit, stand, and kneel.
Responses and Postures for the Catholic Mass
Introductory Rights
We prepare ourselves to enter into the sacred mystery of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. These rites include the Procession, Sign of the Cross, Penitential Act, Kyrie, Gloria, and Collect.
The Liturgy of the Word
After the Collect we sit to meditate on a series of Biblical readings. Although the words we hear have been fixed in writing, we remember that they are the inspired Word of God and are truly alive (Heb 4:12). Through these readings, God intends to speak something new to us at this moment. We recall that the Word of God is not a book or a doctrine, it is a Person, Jesus Christ. These readings include a First Reading, typically from the Old Testament (except during Easter), the Responsorial Psalm, the Second Reading, which is always from the New Testament, and a passage from one of the four Gospels.
The homily is meant to explain or reveal the meaning within the Sacred Scriptures and how they apply to us today. Our response to the readings and the homily, is faith which is expressed on Sundays and Solemnities with the Creed. That faith is then used along with hope and charity as we intercede for ourselves and others in the Prayers of the Faithful.
The Introductory Rites and the Liturgy of the Word, prepare us for the climax found in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself on the Cross is made present to us again by the priest who does what Jesus did at the Last Supper.
Within the Liturgy of the Eucharist there are many parts with many subparts. In the Preparation of the Gifts, the altar is prepared and the gifts of bread and wine are presented. These gifts represent the offering of our lives, so we should bring our joys, sorrows, successes, and struggles to the altar. While we desire to make ourselves into a perfect offering to the Father, we can never accomplish this task alone, but we can offer ourselves worthily in union with the perfect offering of Jesus on the Cross.
The Eucharistic Prayer begins with a dialogue. “The Lord be with you … and with your spirit…”and concludes with the Great Amen where the community expresses its assent of this prayer. Through this prayer, offered by the priest for the people, Christ becomes present. Simple bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It is the highest prayer of the Church. As such, it is this part of the Mass that should have our greatest attention. The Eucharistic Prayer includes the Preface, the Sanctus, the Epiclesis, the Consecration, the Memorial Acclamation, Offering, Intercessions, Doxology, and the Great Amen.
We further prepare ourselves to receive Him in Holy Communion in the Communion Rite. This rite includes: The Lord’s Prayer, the Rite of Peace, the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), and Holy Communion. Since we believe that Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist and not everyone shares that belief with us, we respect their beliefs by asking them to refrain from receiving Holy Communion because the very act of receiving communion means that the beliefs of the individual are the same as the community where they receive communion. In other words, to receive Holy Communion means that the person believes in all the teachings of the Catholic Church including the teaching that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.
Concluding Rites
The priest greets the people, blesses them, and then the priest (or deacon) dismisses the people. At the end of Holy Mass, we give thanks and praise to Almighty God and we go out to bring this goodness to others through the conduct of holy lives.
Holy Days of Obligation Mass Schedule
6:30am, 8am, 12 noon, 5pm, & 7pm in the Main Church
- January 1: The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God
- August 15: Assumption of Mary into heaven
- November 1: All Saints' Day
- December 8: The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
- December 25: Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord
Note: Whenever January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption; November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints; or December 8, The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is removed.
Children's Liturgy
Children's Liturgy is offered at both the 9:15am and 10:45 am Masses on most Sundays (typically not Christmas or Easter). Children ages preschool to 2nd grade (before First Communion) are invited to come together for the Children's Liturgy of the Word immediately following the priest's welcome. The children go to a room in the back of the church with adult volunteers to participate in the liturgy at a child's level and they return during the offertory.
No prior sign up is needed. We hope your family will join us!
In addition to Children's Liturgy of the Word, we also offer Little Lambs Sunday School.
Little Lambs is a preschool age Sunday School program that introduces little ones to the teachings of our faith with age appropriate activities that enrich their understanding and love of the Catholic Faith. The session for Sunday School is 10:30 – 11:45am.
This allows for parents to attend the 10:45am Mass at the same time. **Students must be potty trained!
We meet in the Pre-K classroom in the Ascension school building.
Please Contact Kathy Nickel, Little Lambs Director, at (636)391-8624 or knickel@ascensionchesterfield.org
Little Lambs Registration Form
Confessions are available in the Main Church. See our regular schedule below.
Monday-Saturday
7:30 AM - 7:50 AM
Saturday Afternoon
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Anytime: Make an Appointment by emailing one of the priests
Call the Parish office: 636-532-3304
It's never too late to go back to the Sacrament of Confession. Click here for our guide on How to Go to Confession.
Confession is a sacrament in which the sins we committed after baptism are confessed to God through His priests. Jesus Christ forgives the person seeking forgiveness through His priests when the priest acting in the person of Christ says the words, "...I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." This sacrament is also called Reconciliation and Penance.
How to go to Confession
The basic requirement for a good Confession is to have the intention of returning to God like the “prodigal son” and to acknowledge our sins with the true sorrow before the priest.
Sin in My Life
Modern society has lost a sense of sin. As a Catholic follower of Christ, I must make an effort to recognize sin in my daily actions, words and omissions. The Gospels show how important is the forgiveness of our sins. Lives of saints prove that the person who grows in holiness has a stronger sense of sin, sorrow for sins, and a need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession.
The Differences in Sins
As a result of Original Sin, human nature is weakened. Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, takes away Original Sin, and turns us back toward God. The consequences of this weakness and the inclination to evil persist, and we often commit personal or actual sin. Actual sin is sin which people commit. There are two kinds of actual sin, mortal and venial. Mortal sin is a deadly offense against God, so horrible that it destroys the life of grace in the soul. Three simultaneous conditions must be fulfilled for a mortal sin: 1) the act must be something very serious; 2) the person must have sufficient understanding of what is being done; 3) the person must have sufficient freedom of the will.
Remember
If you need help—especially if you have been away for some time—simply ask the priest and he will help you by “walking” you through the steps to make a good confession.
Before Confession
Be truly sorry for your sins. The essential act of Penance, on the part of the penitent, is contrition, a clear and decisive rejection of the sin committed, together with a resolution not to commit it again, out of the love one has for God and which is reborn with repentance. The resolution to avoid committing these sins in the future (amendment) is a sure sign that your sorrow is genuine and authentic. This does not mean that a promise never to fall again into sin is necessary. A resolution to try to avoid the near occasions of sin suffices for true repentance. God’s grace in cooperation with the intention to rectify your life will give you the strength to resist and overcome temptation in the future.
Examination of Conscience
Before going to Confession you should make a review of mortal and venial sins since your last sacramental confession, and should express sorrow for sins, hatred for sins and a firm resolution not to sin again. A helpful pattern for examination of conscience is to review the Commandments of God and the Precepts of the Church Click here for an examination of conscience.
During Confession
After examining your conscience and telling God of your sorrow, go into the confessional. You may kneel at the screen or sit to talk face-to-face with the priest.
Begin your confession with the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. My last confession was ____ weeks (months, years) ago.” The priest may, but usually does not, read a passage from the Holy Scripture.
Say the sins that you remember. Start with the one(s) that is most difficult to say. (In order to make a good confession the faithful must confess all mortal sins, according to kind and number.)
After confessing all the sins you remember since your last good confession you may conclude by saying, “I am sorry for these and all the sins in my past life.”
Listen to the words of the priest. He will assign you some penance. Doing the penance will diminish the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.
When invited, express some prayer of sorrow or Act of Contrition such as:
Act of Contrition (Traditional)
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.
or
An Act of Contrition (Alternate Form)
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because I have offended You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
or
Act of Contrition (Used by our students)
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
At the End of Confession
Listen to the words of absolution, the sacramental forgiveness of the Church through the ordained priest. As you listen to the words of forgiveness you may make the sign of the cross with the priest. If he closes by saying, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good,” answer, “For His mercy endures forever.”
After Confession
Give thanks to God for forgiving you again. If you recall some serious sin you forgot to tell, rest assured that it has been forgiven with the others, but be sure to confess it in your next Confession.
Do Your Assigned Penance
Resolve to return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation often. We Catholics are fortunate to have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is the ordinary way for us to have our sins forgiven. This sacrament is a powerful help to get rid of our weaknesses, grow in holiness, and lead a balanced and virtuous life.
