ASK THE ACOLYTE
Mark Biolo
The missalette gives different options for some
of the prayers for Mass, including the Eucharistic prayer. Is there some rhyme
or reason as to which ones are used?
Right you are! There are a number of options for the various
"presidential" (those said by the presider)
prayers of the Holy Sacrifice of the
The penitential rite is followed by the great hymn of praise, thanks, and
triumph, the Gloria. Because of the triumphalist joy
of the Gloria, it is omitted completely when the Mass is of a penitential or
simple character, in Advent, Lent, and on ordinary weekdays.
After the Gloria comes the first of "the three great prayers of the
Mass". (We’ll meet the other two later on.) The priest invites us to pray
and there is a silence during which each one of us makes a silent prayer for
the needs of the Church and the world. The priest then collects all these
silent prayers in a brief Opening Prayer, formerly called the Collect
for this reason. The Missal contains a number of options for this prayer. For
certain days they are fixed, for instance Christmas, Easter, and other great
feasts. On other days some prayers are suggested but others can be used. You
have no doubt noted that the missalette always lists
the suggested Opening Prayer and an alternative. Both of these set the theme of
the Mass but Fr. Paul usually prefers the regular Opening Prayer as opposed to
the alternative as it is more concise and usually easier to understand.
The Liturgy of the Word follows the Opening Prayer or Collect and I refer
you to our previous discussion on the readings for more detail. (You can find
that tract on our website, www.straymond.us.) As you
know, the readings for most days are specified in the Lectionary, though on a
few rare occasions the Church does let us select readings from a pre-approved
list (weddings, funerals, the Feast of All Souls, and some Sundays in Lent).
Our Profession of Faith is never optional on Sundays or Solemnities. Most of
the time we make this profession in the form of the Nicene Creed though the
Apostles Creed may be used during special Masses for children. The occasion of
a baptism offers us the opportunity to renew our baptismal vows and this too
serves as a profession of faith so may be done in lieu of saying the Creed.
The Offertory concludes with the Prayer Over the
Gifts, the second of the three great prayers of the
After the Offertory we the priest says the Preface which is, as its
name implies, an introduction to the Eucharistic prayer, when Jesus is made
fully present on the altar. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek Eucharistia, meaning "thanksgiving". The
Preface gives a specific reason for our thanksgiving and there are many
options. The Roman Missal now contains no fewer than eighty-one Prefaces and
there are many more in various supplements to the Missal. The choice of the
Preface is dependent on the day, the season, or the occasion. Some are fixed:
that for the Annunciation, Feast of the Sacred Heart, Easter Vigil or
Pentecost. On other occasions there is a limited choice, for instance, there
are four more Prefaces of Eastertide that can be used after the Easter octave
as alternatives to the first Easter Preface and there are several for feasts of
the apostles. There are options for votive Masses, weddings, and funerals as
well.
In making the choice of Preface, the priest is guided not only by the
specific recommendations in the Missal but by his judgment of which Preface
fits in best with the readings or theme of his homily. A special case is the
Preface to Eucharistic Prayer IV, which belongs solely to that canon, which
cannot be used without it.
What all Prefaces have in common is that they begin by addressing God the
Father, picking up the words of the congregational response to the invitation
to pray. The middle paragraph of the Preface gives the theme or motive for
thanksgiving, referring to the season, occasion, or saint. The closing
paragraph then sums up our praise and thanksgiving, leading into a song of
acclamation, the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy . . .)
The Preface leads to the Eucharistic Prayer of which there are four in the
English edition of the Roman Missal, and a further five in appendix or special
supplement. Eucharistic Prayer I (known also as the "Roman Canon") is
the longest and is typically used on special feast days and great solemnities.
Eucharistic Prayer II is the shortest and is generally reserved for weekday
Masses. Eucharistic Prayer III is the most common on Sundays of Ordinary Time,
though Fr. Paul will occasionally use Prayer IV, a modern translation of the
Eucharistic Prayer used primarily in the Byzantine Catholic rite. During Lent,
Fr. Paul prefers the optional Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I.
The Closing Prayer or Prayer After Communion is the
last of the "three great prayers" and is associated with the Opening
Prayer and Prayer over the Gifts. It will make mention of the fact that we have
just received Holy Communion and some mention of the season or feast being
celebrated.
Finally, the Final Blessing may be of the simple type or the solemn type.
The solemn blessing, usually used on feasts and holy days, begins with an
invitation from the priest or deacon to bow and pray. There are then three
exhortations over the people, each one inviting the response "Amen",
before the final blessing. A third form is the "Prayer Over the
People", which is structured as a collect, addressed to the Father,
specifically asking a blessing on the gathered congregation, again after the
priest or deacon has invited them to bow and pray.
Finally, I should note that the ringing of bells at Mass is optional. For
many years at St. Raymond we rang the bells only during the elevations of the
host and chalice. Now, in our desire to increase the sense of the sacred in our
worship, we ring the bells at the epiclesis (when the priest calls on the power
of the Holy Spirit) as well.