Dear Father,
Can you please explain those prayers we hear about halfway through Mass? They seem awfully repetitious to me. Also, I asked the priest to pray for my 98-year-old sister, but I never did hear any more on that during those prayers at Mass.
-Quana
Dear Quana,
It seems that you are referring to the Prayer of the Faithful, also known as the Universal Prayer at Mass. Some also call it the General Intercessions.
The Universal Prayer happens at the very end of the Liturgy of the Word and just before the offering of gifts at the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Its format is in three parts: an introductory call to prayer, a set of intercessions and a concluding prayer.
In the Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 53, we read: “Especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation there is to be restored, after the Gospel and the homily, ‘the common prayer’ or ‘the prayer of the faithful.’ By this prayer, in which the people are to take part, intercession will be made for holy Church, for the civil authorities, for those oppressed by various needs, for all mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world.”
That’s why the intercessions should be carefully crafted in order to avoid being redundant with the Eucharistic Prayer. We want to avoid being repetitious when those very same intercessions are found later in the Mass.
We instinctively want to pray for the pope and bishop, but we do that in each of the Eucharistic Prayers. A better use of the intercession for the pope and bishop is to make the prayer broader, that is, for the entire Church, but with a special emphasis. For example, a formulation for the Church could be “For our diocese, that, with the entire Church, it may grow in charity and in numbers; we pray to the Lord; Lord, hear our prayer.”
Remember that these intercessions are meant to be broad in scope and not individualistic. In the example above, the diocese, is referenced within an even broader body, the Church. It is good to limit the number to about five so that this Universal Prayer does not encumber the Mass, which is in itself one great prayer.
Likewise, when we pray for the special intention of the Mass, rather than saying “For John Doe, for whom this Mass is offered,” the intention should be something like “For all who have asked our prayers, especially John Doe.” Or for the dead: “For all who have died, especially Jane Doe.”
It is most inappropriate to use the Universal Prayer intercessions to announce the news, such as “For Mildred Smith, who fell and broke her hip last Thursday and is now facing surgery and a lengthy stay in a rehab center …” It’s enough to pray: “For all the sick and suffering, especially the members of our parish.” Remember, these intentions are “general,” not specific.
God doesn’t need all the details of what we pray for. He already knows our needs before we ask. We offer prayers so that we can grow in trust as we surrender our needs and intentions to God’s providential care.
Also to be avoided is the opening of the Universal Prayer to each person present to speak his or her intercession. Again, this is a time of “universal,” not “particular,” prayer. Our particular intentions are made in silence before Mass begins and again remembered at the Offering of the Gifts at the hands of the priest. The people’s part in the Universal Prayer is to say “Lord, hear our prayer” after each intercession and “Amen” after the priest’s concluding prayer.
The introduction by the priest, not the lector or deacon, is simply an invitation to the congregation to give their attention to interceding for the stated intercessions. It should be short and to the point rather than a dissertation on how to pray. Rather than “During these blisteringly hot days, we take comfort in knowing that God is cool and sees every detail of our lives, which gives us comfort in praying that these needs of our will be fulfilled,” the introduction could simply be “We now give voice to the needs of the Church and the world.”
Likewise, the concluding prayer, always offered by the priest and not the deacon or lector, should be a direct and succinct offering rather than a run-on demand made to God. For example: “Father, we offer these intentions with trust in your constant care, through Christ our Lord.” Even the newest ordained priest is more than capable of offering a summary prayer without needing a special book.
By the way, the concluding prayer is addressed to the Father through the Son. Therefore, other prayers are inappropriate as a conclusion to the Universal Prayer. This includes the St. Michael prayer, the Hail Mary and similar devotional prayers. The priest alone extends his hands in the orans position.
Questions about the sacraments should be sent to sacraments101@columbuscatholic.org.