A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do in the Liturgy by Edward Sri

Author:Edward Sri
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Churches & Church Leadership, Inspirational, Catholicism, Prayer, Clergy, Devotionals, Christian Living, Religion & Spirituality, Christian Books & Bibles
Publisher: Ascension Press
Published: 2011-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

12. The Prayer of the Faithful

The Liturgy of the Word culminates in what is known as “The Prayer of the Faithful.” This is one of the most ancient parts of the Mass, already attested to by St. Justin Martyr in A.D. 155. St. Justin wrote to the Roman emperor explaining what Christians did at Mass, giving an outline of the prayers and rituals. In this letter, he described the intercessory prayers offered after the readings from Scripture and the homily: “Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves…and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.”[62]

This, of course, is quite similar to the “Prayer of the Faithful” we have in the Mass today—intercessory prayers that stand in a tradition that goes back at least to Justin Martyr’s time in the second century.

But the practice of intercessory prayer goes back even further in Christian history. When Peter was imprisoned by Herod, the church in Jerusalem offered up “earnest prayer for him,” and that night an angel came to release him from his chains (Acts 12:1-7). When St. Paul gave instructions to his disciple Timothy, he told him to intercede for all people: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:1-4). Paul himself prayed constantly for the needs of his communities (1 Thess 1:2-3) and pleaded with them to pray for his ministry (2 Cor 1:11). With this strong call for intercessory prayer in the New Testament, it is fitting that general intercessions formally found a home in the Mass from the earliest centuries of Christianity.

Priestly Intercession

These general intercessions at Mass represent a significant moment for the faithful. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal notes that in these intercessions, the faithful “exercise their priestly function.”[63] That all of God’s people—ordained priests, religious, and laity—are given a priestly role is well attested in Scripture. We are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood” (1 Pt 2:9), for Christ has made us “a kingdom [of] priests” (see Rv 1:5-6). One way our priestly office is exercised in the Mass is in the prayers of the faithful, whereby we participate in Christ’s priestly prayer for the entire human family. Jesus poured out his heart in loving intercession for the whole world (Jn 17). He is able to save others “who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25). We participate in Christ’s intercession in a particular way at this moment of the liturgy.

The Catechism notes that intercessory prayer is “characteristic of a heart attuned to God’s mercy.

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