Mass. In a Catholic church, the common name for the Eucharist. It comes from the final phrase of the Mass in Latin, missa est (be sent out). It was the main service in any medieval Suffolk church, several Masses being said each day, and images of it taking place can be seen on seven sacrament fonts. It was replaced at the Reformation by the services of Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. Its use was reintroduced into the Anglican church under the influence of the Oxford Movement in the late 19th century, either as an alternative name for Cranmer's communion service, or, in the spikier Anglo-catholic churches, a version of the Roman Mass itself. The word continued to be used by Anglo-catholic churches into the 20th century, although this particular usage seems to have fallen away quite dramatically in the last ten years, and only militant Forward in Faith parishes are likely to use it now.