While we’re griping about bad liturgical music and bad translations, how about bad prayers of the faithful? Kelly Clark relates some hair-raising stories of intercession-related free-for-alls. It can get bad especially when the celebrant asks for extemporaneous contributions from the congregation. Ad-libbing during Mass is almost always a bad idea, but especially when it involves the general public.
My pastor does this sometimes and while I think he’s a great guy and a great priest, this is one area where he and I disagree. From the cringe-worthy prayers for disgusting cat diseases (do I really need to know that?) to mumbled exhortations that no one can hear (what did we all just ask God to do?), this can get ugly. However, I’ve never seen a case as ugly as the one Kelly describes, including the ultimate abuse of the Eucharist later in the Mass.
For my part, when I used to be a lector I had a blanket permission from my pastor to substitute the prayers of the faithful with a selection of those printed in the Magnificat for the day. They were usually so much better than those offered by the book the secretary uses.
“those offered by the book the secretary uses”
Speaking of BAD examples of the Prayers of the Faithful!
The Prayers of the Faithful are supposed to be just that—prayers of the faith community which prays them, not the self-congratulatory and PC prayers of some quasi-monastic group from Minnesota! They may be the prayers of THAT group of “faithful,” but they’re never OURS!
Along with the use of canned homilies, canned Prayers of the Faithful are a sign of slothful and slovenly leadership. We must do better.
Some BAD examples—real-world:
—Let us pray for an end to oppression and abuse of power by the Church hierarchy (Our Lady’s in Newton, last weekend)
—Let us pray for an end to the unjust war in Iraq where so many of our own men and women and innocent Iraqi citizens are being killed because of the U.S. occupation (St. Charles Borromeo in Waltham)
If we refer to these prayers by their more proper name, the General Intercessions, that might go a long way to keeping them in check. The problem with calling them the “prayers of the faithful” is that this title leads to the erroneous assumption that all the faithful should be invited to chime in, which of course is not a problem as long as their “chime” consists of “Lord, hear our prayer.”
No problem with Prayer of the Faithful. Father will allow a pause for a moment of personal prayer but they are SILENT.
I’ve often wondered who composes these prayers at my church, because I’m usually impressed by the beauty of the prayers. Someone over there has a talent for general intercessions.
Be that as it may, a long time ago I started listening carefully to each of the intercessions and making a conscious decision whether to pray the response or not depending upon my own personal intention on the subject. Any other approach seems like hypocrisy. And yes, sometimes I don’t respond.
I wonder what would happen if the whole congregation took this approach?
Ad libed or not, even if drawn from ‘official’ sources the Prayers of the Faithful so often teach the wrongs things about God.
I have a copy of a ‘Prayers of the Faithful’ manual with an imprimatur of James Mahoney of the Archdiocese of New York, published in 1977.
What is most offensive about these intercessions, is the way they seem more DIRECTED TO PEOPLE THAN TO GOD. There is also something arrogant about using these intercessions as a means of teaching some form of left-wing morality.
Examples:
From the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C:
“For those people who are embarassed at being alive, who hate their bodies and speak in a hush and do not feel our warmth, let us pray.”
From the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C:
“That we will reverence the mystery of other people’s lives and of our own life when we use words like Negro, middle-class, culturally-deprived, and PhD. We pray to the Lord.”
On the Feast of Christ the King, B:
“For Latin American peasants we label communists every time they try to share in the profits of their work, let us pray to the Lord.”
And in case you were doubting whether the nuns and priests that framed these prayers were trapped in the own subjectivity, hear this:
“For the people who laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round, for the people who laughed when Edison recorded sound, and for the people who laughed at me wanting you, let us pray to the Lord.”
And at funeral rites, the community was to pray:
“As Hiroshima has risen from the ashes, our brother/sister N. shall rise to his/her God, we pray to the Lord.”
These are all real ‘Prayers of the Faithful’ published with an imprimatur! I’m not kidding.
I found this book of Prayers of the Faithful on a bookshelf at a local parish.
It’s inspired me to compose an intercession of my own:
“Lord God, when I die, may the church not compare me to Hiroshima’s ashes!”
Worst I’ve ever heard: “For universal health care”
Best I’ve ever heard: “For the total destruction of Planned Parenthood” (EWTN)
I really think this needs to be curbed also, especially when:
a) it’s canned beyond recognition
b) it sounds like we’re talking to each other
c) it gets political
or in small groups, starts being a litany of all someone’s relatives relationship problems…….
In a) and b), one wonders if it’s prayer at all; in c), it’s clearly telling God what we think he ought to do; in the last case, I don’t know what it is, but it sounds way too much like psychology run amok…..
Best I’ve ever heard: “For the end to abortion, and all other forms of child abuse.”
As long as people want to make up their own prayers of the faithful one may as well try to make a point with the priest. One or two orthodox but politically incorrect prayers will put an end to it.
For example; “For the complete eradication of the syncretist Islam religion and their conversion to the Catholic Church.”
“Lord hear our prayer.”
It is a completely right and just thing to pray for but you can bet the priests knees will go weak when he hears that one.
Shortly after the election of BXVI, up in my old childhood parish in Bangor, ME: something to the effect of
“That Church leaders not be tyrants, but rather listen to the needs of the community of God.”
I only had about 2 seconds to decide if I would respond or not, and although I suppose I can find some way to reconcile that with orthodoxy now, I didn’t have enough time to come up with a synthesis then, so I didn’t respond.
Given this parish’s reputation though, I knew exactly what they were saying. It’s easy to imagine that they were less than happy with the election of BXVI.
Someone is writing warm and fuzzy Penitential Rite invocations at our parish. typically one of the Deacons reads it, so I do not know if it is the Pastor or Deacons who put it together each week.
“Mary, you bore a Son”…Lord have mercy.
“Lord God, You created us”…Lord have mercy.
I’m missing what is penitential and reflective about such…
Worst I’ve heard: “For tolerance by Church leaders of diverse lifestyles.”
This during the Mass when Father Personality was instructed to read the Bishop’s letter denouncing homo marriage. The letter was not read and we got this little ditty.
Bye, bye, Father Personality!
Those last “things” posted by dpt are a total load of crap. How about, “Lord God you gave us Black Angus beef and Guiness Stout.”
It’s a test to see what they can get away with before someone calls their bluff.
We should not sit idly in the pews and suffer this nonsense. We the laity have a God given right to a proper liturgy and when we are deprived of that right we need to put serious pressure on the pastor to make him change it.
They need to feel very uncomfortable anytime they pull a stunt like this. Since the first thing in their mind is obviously not giving God what is due Him it needs to be “If I try this all hell’s gonna break loose after Mass with Mr. Smith, Jones and Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Johnson.”
I’m not advocating anarchy but this liturgical nonsense is only going to get worse if we don’t put an end to it. Since the Bishops and the USCCB have abrogated their leadership roles it’s up to the laity.
The Lenten appeal is coming up folks and they’ll be asking for our support again. Give the bishops advance notice that they’ll get $00.00 unless they square themselves away. Make a photocopy of a check you’ll be sending to an orthodox seminary or other charity and let them know that this will be mailed to this charity in lieu of your normal contribution to your particular Bishops Lenten Appeal.
From the GIRM (General Instruction to the Roman Missal) regarding the “Penitential Rite”:
KYRIE ELEISON
30. Then the Kyrie begins, unless it has already been included as part of the penitential rite. Since it is a song by which the faithful praise the Lord and implore His mercy, it is ordinarily prayed by all, that is, alternately by the congregation and the choir or cantor.
As a rule each of the acclamations is said twice, but, because of the idiom of different languages, the music, or other circumstances, it may be said more than twice or a short verse (trope) may be
interpolated. If the <Kyrie> is not sung, it is to be recited.
Note first that the primary option for the “Penitential Rite” is the Confiteor, the conclusion of which is Kyrie eleison…, Christe eleison…, Kyrie eleison…
If one of the other options is used (which is unfortunately the rule rather than the exception hereabouts), then it is to be understood as “a song by which the faithful praise the Lord and implore His mercy.”
Thus, the person who announces this litany of praise—that is, either the presider or a deacon if he is present—is to make each of the invocations a statement of praise about the Lord, since the “impore His mercy” part is taken care of by the “Kyrie eleison” (or “Lord, have mercy”).
You can take two things away from what I’ve said: first, that such apparent banalities as, “Lord Jesus, You changed water into wine—Lord, have mercy” are indeed permitted, even if they lack. Second, the use of the Confiteor is MUCH preferable and, since it has pride of place in the Roman Missal, should be used most frequently.
After reading the petitions cited above, I’m appreciating the ones used at my church even more!
My own pet peeve with the petitions is the last one where we are told to add our own requests in the silence of our hearts. Sometimes the length of time to compose that petition is so short I can barely get the word “Lord” formulated. At other times the “Lord have mercy” is not said after the period of silence.
Both of these problems have been corrected at my parish recently.
Fr. Jim Clark,
The explanation is much appreciated! Peace, dpt