Currently, there are about twenty members of the parish who read at the Saturday evening and Sunday Masses, each doing so about once every five or six weeks. The group is equally divided between men and women and includes one teenager. All are well experienced, many, in fact, having been readers for quite a number of years. The monthly schedule of reading assignments is prepared in the rectory, with subsequent changes and substitutions being the responsibility of the readers concerned Each reader has a copy of the current Workbook For Lectors And Gospel Readers, and many say that they find this to be quite helpful in their preparation.

The guidelines now in effect for St. Cecilia’s readers were essentially written four or five years ago, with a few modifications made recently by Fr. Clenaghan. These guidelines prescribe only one reader for each Mass, he or she: (1) reading the two scriptural passages, the psalm, and either some of the intercessions or all of them, the latter depending on whether or not the deacon is also participating in the Mass; (2) having the option of either saying or singing “The word of the Lord” at the end of each passage and having the same choice regarding the gospel acclamation and verse; and (3) leading the congregation in reading the Entrance and Communion Antiphons and in saying “the Lamb of God...” prayer. In some of these procedures, and in some other ways as well, our guidelines differ from those prepared by the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission and disseminated by the Archbishop as a “working document” on November 27, 1994. Robes are not worn, nor has any standard of dress been specified

The same procedures used at the weekend Masses are followed by the reader at a weekday Mass or communion service except that, in the latter cases, he or she does not participate in the intercessions. Although no one is specifically assigned to read on a weekday, among the regular attendees there is almost always someone who will volunteer to do so. The coordinator of the readers is Don Harrington.