| Twenty-five years ago in graduate school I told my professor
that I thought the prayers of the faithful should be dropped from the liturgy.
I was a brash young thing. To me they seemed either piously insipid (“That
we may wake from sleep and cast off deeds of darkness and live honorably
as in daylight …”) or insufficiently disguised announcements (“For the
ladies sodality, who will meet after the 7 o’clock Mass for coffee and
doughnuts, let us pray to the Lord”). Yawn.
My professor’s response was to assign these prayers as my thesis topic.
Irritated at the time — the triumph in his eyes was unmistakable! — that
moment began my new relationship with the common prayer of the assembly.
For the next 20 years I wrote the intercessions almost every week and,
over the years, I’ve offered several workshops on the crafting and leading
of these prayers. For several years I’ve written these weekly intercessions
for Celebration, published by National Catholic Reporter.
A noble history
The general intercessions, or prayer of the faithful, have their roots
in the synagogue word service. Early Christians adapted these prayers for
their liturgy. The earliest mention is the first letter of Timothy, chapter
2: “I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for everyone.” Justin Martyr (c. 150) mentions them
in his First Apology, and they are referenced by Hippolytus and Tertullian.
By 350 the prayers were solemn and fixed in what we know as the form used
on Good Friday. They included a call to prayer or statement of intention,
silence for prayer, and the concluding collect. They were too long for
ordinary Sundays and were eventually replaced by the Eastern-style litany
and then later moved to before the word with the people responding, “Kyrie
Eleison.”
Meanwhile two other movements were taking place. First, the eucharistic
prayers became more elaborate and, after the institution narrative, prayers
of petition were inserted. To a superstitious faithful, the proximity of
these intercessions to the consecration or words of institution made them
more effective. (It’s possible that the original form survived on Good
Friday because there is no eucharistic prayer.) Second, the liturgy was
more and more the province of the clerics. The disappearance of the prayer
of the faithful reflects the decline of active participation by the faithful
in the Eucharist.
Restoration of the prayer
After a thousand years, the prayer of the faithful was restored to the
liturgy at the Second Vatican Council. Josef Jungmann, SJ, suggested that
the restoration of the prayer of the faithful is a signal of a new ecclesiology.
While these prayers were almost immediately incorporated into every parish’s
worship, there is still a sense that they are pro forma and, if
not the work of clerics, still the work of “those ministers up there.”
There are at least two reasons for this.
1. Identity issues: Prayer is work and it is specifically the
work of the whole community. The effectiveness of common prayer is the
strength of voices raised together or of concentrated silence with all
hearts and minds focused. A typical parish congregation does not yet have
that self-understanding. Many Catholics at worship think of presiders as
praying for them — both for their well-being and in their name. And too
many presiders and worship ministers do not appreciate the work and the
role of the congregation at prayer.
2. Ministry of intercessor: The official minister of the intercessions
is the deacon. In the early church it was the deacon who knew those who
were most in need of the community’s prayers: the sick, the widowed, the
poor, those with special needs. Today’s deacons may or may not fit that
description. Where there is no deacon, the most common parish practice
is that one of the lectors reads the prayers. Even very good lectors who
proclaim well often do not see themselves as prayer leaders and do not
have the necessary understanding of common prayer or the authority to effectively
lead these prayers. Perhaps those called to the ministry of intercessor
should be raised up, trained, and publicly ratified as leaders of prayer
within a congregation.
Should we use canned prayers?
The liturgy is both timeless and timely. Most of the prayers of the
Mass are set, written down, canonized. The prayer of the faithful is the
exception. These intercessions are intended to be immediate, specific,
and very, very real. Though the form and general content is recommended,
these prayers are neither canonized nor canned. They are, as it were, the
incarnate prayer of the Mass — word made here and now.
I write prayers for publication, but ideally they should be prepared
each week by someone in the community. When I prepared intercessions for
the weekly liturgy of my parish, I wrote them on Friday afternoon, sometimes
amending them minutes before the Mass. But every parish doesn’t have an
able writer on staff and every parish is a busy place — sometimes too busy
for someone to prepare well-crafted prayers. I confess, many times the
prayers I wrote were also “canned” — that is, taken from my file of prayers
rather than written new each time. And that’s okay. Until we have peace
we can pray for peace and there are only so many ways to say it.
Structure
There is a structure to be observed that respects the people’s role
in these prayers.
1. Invitation: Addressed to the assembly by the presider. The
content is an invitation to pray, perhaps with reference to the season
or the Sunday Gospel, but short, simple, and to the point.
2. Intercessions: Addressed to the assembly by the intercessor.
The content is a series of suggestions for what we should pray.
3. (Time for Prayer): Long silences are awkward for the typical
parish community, but a bit of space here works especially well with an
underlay of instrumental music before a sung or spoken common response.
4. Response: Sung or spoken by the assembly to God the Father
Creator. The specific text may change, but the content is essentially,
“Hear our prayer.”
5. Collect: Addressed to God the Father Creator by the presider.
The content “collects” the people’s prayers into one statement and is concluded
by the assembly’s “Amen.” (Note: This is not the time for a new intercession.)
Forms for intercessions
There are four basic forms of intercession.
1. That Form: “That parents may love their children
and children may respect their parents, we pray.”
2. For-That Form: “For the leaders of nations,
that
they may work for justice and promote peace, we pray.”
3. For Form: For the children of our grade school,
their teachers, and all who are charged with their care and formation,
we pray.
4. Expanded For Form: “For those whose lives must
be protected by others … for the very old and the very young and
those yet to be born … for the disabled … for the very poor
… for the sick and the dying, we pray.
Most parish prayer-writers seem to gravitate toward the first two forms,
which I call “that prayers.” While sometimes useful, I’m careful when I
use this form because it’s too easy to tell God exactly what to do and
to tell people exactly what to pray.
The third form works quite well and adapts well to a litanic feel, with
or without music. The form I almost always use is the Expanded For Form,
which is easily understood with one hearing. First there is the announcement
of the category (those whose lives must be protected by others) and then
those who fit in that category (the very old, and so on).
There’s an amusing — and maybe even true — story about the Expanded
For
Form category. At a Mass at a Catholic University to Remain Nameless,
the presider called for the people’s prayers and a tired woman’s voice
was heard: “For those who suffer … for those in prison, for people with
running sores, and for women in the church, let us pray.”
Content
The name “general intercessions” indicates their content: they are both
general and intercessory in nature. They are not prayers of thanksgiving
(as in, “In thanksgiving for this beautiful weather, let us pray”). We
are to pray for world peace, the church, civil governments, the local community,
the downtrodden, the sick, and the dying — and pretty much in that order,
moving the prayer of the community from the broadest concern to the narrowest.
In small settings, after several “broader” intercessions, I would invite
the members of the community to offer their prayer intentions. In larger
settings, inviting prayers from the community is logistically difficult.
Intercessions are difficult to write. It takes time to craft words that
can be understood with one hearing by many different people and that can
be read by several different ministers. If the prayers ignore the very
thing people have on their minds, they become irrelevant and just so much
pious talk. Yet it can be dicey praying about such things as the sexual
abuse scandal in the Catholic Church; the controversy over entering the
war in Iraq; upcoming presidential elections; or even something as trivial,
but nevertheless all-consuming, as one’s hometown team in the World Series
or the Super Bowl. Prayers must be nonpartisan and unbiased but meaty.
Real but respectful. It’s a tough assignment and it’s why we so quickly
turn to canned (if not canonized) prayers.
10 tips
1. Spell out all words, unless you want someone to pray for Senior Mary
Agnes (instead of Sister Mary Agnes) or to mention Roe vs Wade and do hilarious
things with “vs”. Most folks find it easier to read aloud a spelled-out
word than an abbreviation.
2. If you must include a direction to the reader, be sure to italicize
and even change the font size to give fair warning that this is not to
be spoken aloud. I can’t tell you how many times we prayed for deceased
persons named “Insert Names” before I learned this.
3. Speaking of font size, give your reader a break and use a large one
— never smaller than 12-point.
4. Too often the prayers are read too fast. Consider inserting ellipses
(…) between phrases to give the reader a visual cue to slow down or pause.
But be careful about inserting the word “pause.” I’ve heard that read,
too.
5. If your presider ignores the introduction you write, then be careful
to include necessary information — such as a change in the congregation’s
response — in the first intercession. Example: “As we begin this
season of Lent, let us pray: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. For peace
among nations, we pray: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.”
6. It’s important to mention the category first. I remember a startled
congregation when they heard, “For Greg Holtmeyer, Bill Stevens, and Alicia
Watkins … that God keep them safe in their travels.” Before the lector
got to the end, several folks thought those named had died.
7. If someone has died recently, it may be important to include this
simply as information before the intercession. Example: “Last night,
Sister Virginia, who served on our staff for many years, died in her sleep.
Let us remember her in our prayers. For Sister Virginia and all those we
love who have gone before us, we pray.”
8. If something notable happens after the prayers have been written
and before the Mass, find a way to add a prayer. It’s disconcerting to
read a headline in the Sunday paper about a devastating hurricane or a
tragic accident and then not pray about it in church.
9. If something is on people’s minds, include it in the intercessions.
Yes, it is difficult to write about controversial matters, but if the prayers
are to be real, they must include the difficult issues.
10. It means a lot to folks to hear prayers that include their difficult
situation with respectful, sensitive language. Examples: “For those
living with divorce and for those waiting for annulments ….” “For those
struggling with depression, anxiety and other conditions that make it difficult
to cope with day-to-day life ….” “For those who are lonely during the Christmas
season ….”
In these prayers, today’s suffering is brought before the worshiping
community and today’s headlines meet the gospel. The restoration of these
ancient prayers can be interpreted as a signal that the church is all of
the people of God standing together and that it is the obligation of the
whole church to enter into the work of prayer. ML
Parts of this article were published in Celebration (May 2005).
Paige Byrne Shortal earned a bachelor’s degree in theology at St.
Louis University and a master’s degree in pastoral studies at Aquinas Institute
of Theology. She spent 28 years in full-time parish ministry and now writes
from her home in rural Missouri, where she lives with her husband, Pat.
[sidebar]
Sample Prayer of the Faithful for Easter
Sunday
Presider: Today we proclaim that God is God of the whole world
and that the salvation won by Jesus Christ is salvation for all. Let us
remember our duty as believers and pray for the whole world.
Minister: For those places where the risen Jesus is proclaimed
amidst violence … for those who celebrate Easter in nations at war … for
neighborhoods where people live in fear … for those whose faith in the
risen Christ is a proclamation of light in their dark world, we pray.
Minister: For those places where the risen Jesus is proclaimed
amidst suffering … for those who celebrate Easter in hospital rooms and
nursing home chapels; in prison cells; and in the prison of drug abuse,
alcoholism, and mental illness … for those whose faith in the risen Christ
is a proclamation of light in their dark world, we pray.
Minister: For those places where the risen Jesus is proclaimed
amidst poverty … for those who celebrate Easter without food or shelter
or someone to care for them in their infirmity … for those who celebrate
Easter hoping for a better world … for those whose faith in the risen Christ
is a proclamation of light in their dark world, we pray.
Minister: For those who have died … (insert names) … for
those who mourn their passing and for those who die for whom no one mourns
… for those who celebrate Easter with their faith realized in that world
where there is no darkness, only light, we pray.
Minister: For this community, where the risen Jesus is proclaimed
amidst all cares, worries, and anxiety … for those newly received into
the church … for each person here as we face the struggles of this life,
confident in the light of Jesus, we pray.
Presider: Merciful and loving God, you revealed the mystery of
your love that we might share your life. Hear the prayers of your people
on this Easter Day and fill us with faith in your love for us and confidence
in your power to provide what we need. We ask this through Jesus, our risen
Lord. Amen.
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