Following the Collect, at High Mass the subdeacon chants and at Low Mass the celebrant reads the first biblical reading, the Epistle of an Apostle or other biblical lesson.
At the conclusion, the deacon or the server together with the congregation answer:
r. Deo gratias.
r. Thanks be to God.
After the Epistle the Gradual is sung or read, followed by the Alleluia and versicle. (The Gradual is replaced by an Alleluia during Paschaltide, and the Alleluia and versicle, by the Tract after Septuagesima.)
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(The practice of readings from Sacred Scripture is rooted in the synagogue service, where two passages usually were read, one from the Law and the other from the Prophets. A similar custom was followed in the early Christian communities, resulting in the practice of two biblical readings, the second of which was always from the Gospels.)