Crossword Genius

Mother joins the saints in a church service (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mass

'a church service' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'mother joins the saints' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma is a kind of mother).
'joins' says to put letters next to each other.
'the saints' becomes 'ss'.
'ma'+'ss'='MASS'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for mass that I've seen before include "state, in short" , "Lump of material" , "Rite; quantity of matter" , "RC ceremony" , "Lots of people" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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