An online course for lectors
A twelve-part video course on preparing, pronouncing, and proclaiming the readings — for anyone who has ever stood at the ambo wondering if they got it right.
Start the course See what's insideEach one runs ten to fifteen minutes. Work through them in order the first time, then come back to any module before a Sunday you're reading.
What a lector is actually doing at Mass, and why preparation isn't optional.
Understanding a passage on the page before you try to say it out loud.
A simple day-by-day rhythm so the reading isn't a scramble on Saturday night.
Handling unfamiliar names and phrasing, and marking your text so it works for you.
What to do the night before, and how to settle in before Mass begins.
Projecting without shouting, and letting silence do some of the work.
Standing, eye contact, and what to do with your hands.
Reading — or leading — the psalm as prayer rather than announcement.
Mispronunciations, lost place, microphone trouble — and how to recover without drama.
Funerals, weddings, and readings to children — adjusting without changing the text.
Genealogies, difficult prophetic language, and passages that resist a natural rhythm.
Where to go after the course, and how experienced lectors keep improving.
Written for parish life, not for broadcasting or drama school.
This course is built from A Guide for Readers at Catholic Mass, a book on lector preparation now used in parishes and training workshops. The course keeps the book's structure but adds video: seeing the pacing, the pauses, and the posture in practice rather than reading about them.
Written and presented by Donal Thompson
Donal has trained lectors for years through parish workshops and is the author of the book this course is drawn from. He filmed every module himself, one camera, no studio — the same conditions most readers prepare in.
The full course is available now. Work through it at your own pace, and return to any module before your next reading.
Enrol in the course