offertory

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun One of the principal parts of the Eucharistic liturgy at which bread and wine are offered to God by the celebrant.
• noun A musical setting for this part of the liturgy.
• noun A collection of offerings at a religious service.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of offering, or the thing offered.
• noun Eccles.: In medieval usage — A cloth of fine linen or richer material used to receive the bread offered by the people.
• noun A cloth with which the deacon or assistant at mass lifted the chalice.
• noun A strip of silk worn like a scarf, with which the acolyte, or afterward the subdeacon, held the empty paten from the time of the lesser oblation till the end of the canon. Also called the offertory veil.
• noun In the mass of the Roman Catholic and in the communion office of the Anglican and Protestant Episcopal churches— The verses or the anthem said or sung while the gifts of the people are received and the celebrant is placing the unconsecrated elements on the altar; also, the musical setting of such verses or anthem.
• noun The money (or, as formerly, other gifts) then received from the people.
• noun The oblation of the unconsecrated elements then made by the celebrant. Also called the lesser oblation. See oblation, 3.
• noun The part of the service beginning with the offertory verses or anthem and ending before the Sursum Corda.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun Obs. or R. The act of offering, or the thing offered.
• noun An anthem chanted, or a voluntary played on the organ, during the offering and first part of the Mass.
• noun That part of the Mass which the priest reads before uncovering the chalice to offer up the elements for consecration.
• noun The oblation of the elements.
• noun The Scripture sentences said or sung during the collection of the offerings.
• noun The offerings themselves.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun money offered or donated during a church service
• noun the part of a church service when offerings are collected
• noun music sung or played during the offertory of a church service

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the offerings of the congregation at a religious service
• noun the part of the Eucharist when bread and wine are offered to God