Versus populum is the liturgical stance of a priest who, while celebrating Mass, faces the people from the other side of the altar. The opposite stance, that of a priest facing in the same direction as the people, is today called ad orientem or ad apsidem.
Mass is celebrated in the minor basilica of St. Mary in Bangalore. The assembly can be seen facing the altar from one side, while the priest faces it from the other side with his back to the tabernacle.
A Roman Rite Novus Ordo Pontifical Mass celebrated versus populum in Marikina, Philippines
A priest facing the congregation as he says Ecce Agnus Dei at a Solemn Tridentine Mass.
Ad orientem, meaning "to the east" in Ecclesiastical Latin, is a phrase used to describe the eastward orientation of Christian prayer and Christian worship, comprising the preposition ad (toward) and oriens, participle of orior.
A 15th-century bishop celebrates Mass ad orientem, facing in the same direction as the people
Tridentine Mass, celebrated regularly ad orientem
A Christian cross hanging on the eastern wall of a modern house, indicating the eastward direction towards which prayer is focused
Eastern Orthodox Christian pilgrims making prostrations at Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
