The quiet prayers are a reminder of the holiness necessary to celebrate the liturgy
By Father Randy Stice
This month, I want to look at what you don’t hear at Mass. In the Mass, the priest proclaims three different kinds of texts. First, he proclaims the orations, the Eucharistic Prayer, and other prayers in the name of the Church and the assembly. Second, when he says the words of consecration over the bread and wine, the words that Christ spoke at the Last Supper, the priest “puts his voice at the disposal of the One who spoke these words in the Upper Room.”1 Third, “at times he prays only in his own name, asking that he may exercise his ministry with greater attention and devotion.”2 He says these prayers quietly, so they are not heard by the congregation. This month, I want to look at a few of these prayers.
The first prayer I want to consider is the prayer said by the priest after he has said the prayers blessing God and placed the bread and wine on the altar. Making a profound bow, he says, “With humble spirit and contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.” This prayer, which has been part of the Mass for over a thousand years, is taken from the Book of Daniel. In the midst of the fiery furnace, Azariah prayed on behalf of himself and his friends Shadrach and Meshach: “But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; as though it were burnt offerings of rams and bulls, or tens of thousands of lambs, so let our sacrifice be in your presence today and find favor before you; for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame” (Daniel 3:39-40). Exiled in Babylon, cut off from the Temple and its sacrifices, “Azariah asked instead that their own hearts might serve a fitting sacrifice to the Lord.”3 The Lord answered their prayer by making “the inside of the furnace as though a dew-laden breeze were blowing through it” (Daniel 3:50). This is the priest’s personal prayer that he and all “who participate may offer a genuine sacrifice, and, imitating the sacrifice of Christ, they may be one with the gift offered.”4
Following this prayer, the priest washes his hands. The washing of hands was practiced in Judaism and the early Church, and there is evidence from the fourth century that the hand-washing was done “at the very start of the Liturgy of the Eucharist as a symbol of the interior purity with which one wanted to enter into the sacred mystery.”5 While washing his hands, the priest expresses his personal “desire for inner purification,”6 saying quietly, “Wash me, O Lord, from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” This is taken from Psalm 51, David’s prayer after he sinned with Bathsheba, asking, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (51:4).
Before Communion, the priest quietly prays for his own worthy reception of the body and blood of the Lord. He has the choice of two prayers. The first dates from the ninth century and was widely used during the Middle Ages: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who, by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit, through your death gave life to the world, free me by this, your most holy body and blood, from all my sins and from every evil; keep me always faithful to your commandments, and never let me be parted from you.” This prayer is notable for its emphasis on the Paschal Mystery as the work of the Trinity, the need to be freed from sin and evil, and the desire for fidelity and unity with the Lord. It is a concise description of God’s saving work and the desire for salvation.
The second option is from the 10th century: “May the receiving of your body and blood, Lord Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation, but through your loving mercy be for me protection in mind and body and a healing remedy.” The reference to “judgment and condemnation” is an allusion to St. Paul’s warning to the Corinthians that the one who receives communion in “an unworthy manner … eats and drinks judgment upon himself” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). This prayer is the priest’s plea for mercy, protection, and healing.
These prayers said quietly by the priest are a reminder of the holiness necessary to celebrate the holy sacrifice of Mass. They also touch on important aspects of the Mass: sacrifice, protection, and healing. And they encourage the priest to cultivate diligently the dispositions necessary for a fruitful celebration of the Mass: humility, contrition, freedom from sin, and fidelity to God. These prayers are important in shaping the priest’s eucharistic piety and informing his celebration of the Mass, but they can be fruitfully used by the faithful outside of the liturgy for meditation and devotional prayer.
1 St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 7, italics original
2 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), 33
3 Mystical Body, Mystical Voice, p. 164
4 Ibid
5 The Mass: An Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Survey, p. 189
6 GIRM, 76
Father Randy Stice is director of the diocesan Office of Worship and Liturgy. He can be reached at frrandy@dioknox.org.