Mass of the Catechumens
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The Mass (or Liturgy) of the Catechumens is an ancient title for the first half of the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox worship service known as the Mass. This part of the Mass is now referred to by the Catholic Church as the Liturgy of the Word. It was originally called the Mass of the Catechumens, because the Catechumens, or candidates for Baptism, were required to leave the ceremony before the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, or Mass, proper.
This exclusion was enforced on the grounds that until Baptism, persons were not fully members of the Church and should not participate in the communal sacrifice that symbolizes and embodies the spiritual union of the Faithful, according to Catholic belief.
In the earliest liturgy there was a service consisting of readings, a homily (explanation of the readings and how to apply them to one's life) and petitionary prayers based on the readings and homily (bidding prayers or prayers of the faithful). This service was called the synaxis (from the Greek synagein,to come together, the same word that is the origin of synagogue, the place where people come together). The synaxis was separate from the Eucharist which was a celebration held in the home. After the Edict of Milan, Christians were given the old Roman basilicas (law courts) to worship in. It was then that the synaxis and the Eucharist were joined into one continuous service, the Mass, with the synaxis becoming the Mass of the Catechumens and the Eucharist becoming the Mass of the Faithful.
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