New Lector Procedures Dress appropriately – No jeans, shorts, t-shirts, low-cut blouses or spaghetti straps.  We’re attending the banquet of the Lord, after all!   Arrive at church at least 10 minutes before Mass.   Check with Father to be sure there are no changes in anything.  Before Mass, go over the readings then place the lectionary on the lectern, turn on the light and adjust the microphone.  Return to the sacristy and make sure the sound system is on.   If there is no deacon, the Book of the Gospels will be carried by one of the lectors and laid on the altar.  Make a profound bow to the altar and return to your seat.   The first reader should go to lectern after the Opening Prayer – wait for about 10-15 seconds before going up.  Sunday 10:30 Mass has the Children’s Liturgy of the Word, so please wait until they have recessed.  Make a profound bow to the altar before entering the sanctuary (no genuflection or sign of the cross, because of the centrality of the altar).    After announcing “A reading from….” Count 1-1000, 2-1000 – before beginning to read.  Don’t rush.  Speak into the microphone, but don’t crowd it.  Be aware of your speed, inflection and eye contact.  Reading should not be memorized but proclaimed (it may be the only scripture some people hear all week).  Read it like you mean it!!   At the end of the reading, pause few seconds, then say “The Word of the Lord.”   After you have finished the reading, leave the sanctuary and turn and make a profound bow to the altar before you go back to your seat.   After the psalm is proclaimed, the second reader enters the sanctuary in the same manner as did the first reader.  At the end of the second reading, lector should place lectionary on shelf underneath with binder on top of it.  After leaving the sanctuary, turn and make a profound bow to the altar before going back to your seat.   If there is no deacon present, the second reader should go to the lectern at the words in the Creed, “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.”  Don’t rush, but be at the lectern and ready for the prayer when Father ends his introduction to the Prayer of the Faithful.   Lectors do not go out in the recessional line.   Lector is responsible for taking collection to Sacristy.  After the Sunday evening Mass, place in a bag and put in the safe next to the door (if two collections, use two separate bags).  After the Saturday evening Mass, merely place the money in a bag (or two if necessary) and place in the left-hand top drawer.