Adding prayers to mass?

[Jragzz123]

I go to daily mass at a local college catholic center. The mass is right before lunch so the priest blesses the food (bless us o lord and these thy gifts…) however he does it before the mass has ended. From my understanding you’re supposed to wait for the mass to end before adding prayers like this. Does anyone know if this is allowed or not?

 

[truthnlife]

From my understanding you’re supposed to wait for the mass to end before adding prayers like this. Does anyone know if this is allowed or not?

Is there ever a bad time for prayer? What of us who pray throughout the Mass for our daily intentions? Does that detract from the efficacy of the Mass?

Just wondering.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Does he do it during the “announcement time”, just before the final blessing?

Priests who wish to say extra prayers will often put them either during “announcement time” or during the homily time. In that way, they technically get around the concern about adding extra prayers to Mass, because they’re saying the prayers during a space when the priest is permitted to speak about things he feels are important.

 

[Jragzz123]

He doesn’t do announcements. But it’s right before the final blessing so it would be in the slot that the announcements would usually fit in

 

[Gorgias]

But it’s right before the final blessing so it would be in the slot that the announcements would usually fit in

The way I’ve always heard it is that the Mass is complete following the “Prayer After Communion” – the only thing left is the dismissal. So, announcements (which aren’t really proper during Mass) are OK then. By the same logic, so would be a blessing of the food… no?

 

[joseie]

Strictly speaking Mass is a sacrifice.We sacrifice the most precious thing namely the body and blood of Jesus.The purpose of sacrifice right from the beginning is adoration of God and as a penance for the sins committed and nothing else.Praying for any particular favours during mass,blessing food or other things etc.can’t therefore be part of the Mass ,IMHO.

 

[Irishmom2]

Every once in a while we have a visiting priest that likes to add in a Hail Mary prayer. What about that? I can’t imagine that Jesus is looking in on the mass saying “What? A prayer about my mother? Nope! That is not allowed.”

A blessing for food may not be a part of mass, but I for one, would not object or even be bothered by something like that. It just isn’t a concern.

 

[Gorgias]

Praying for any particular favours during mass,blessing food or other things etc.can’t therefore be part of the Mass ,IMHO.

So… praying a Mass for the soul of a loved one or for the intention of a person isn’t allowed?

You might want to let the Church know that they’ve been wrong about the whole “Mass intentions” thing all along, then…

 

[Mary888]

I find it normal. In the East there is a special liturgy said especially for blessing food which includes some prayers and Bible texts about food and is called the “Liturgy of the Pre-holied Gifts” (I hope I translated this correctly). People bring food and put it on a table in the middle of the church (cooked or uncooked) and after it ends they take the food home and eat it or use it to cook meals.

 

[joseie]

Actually we offer mass(sacrifice) for the atonement of the sins of the dead…

 

[Gorgias]

Actually we offer mass(sacrifice) for the atonement of the sins of the dead…

Nope. You said “The purpose of sacrifice right from the beginning is adoration of God and as a penance for the sins committed and nothing else.”

Even so, you’re saying that a Mass intention for a living person is improper. That just ain’t so…

 

[truthnlife]

Praying for any particular favours during mass,blessing food or other things etc.can’t therefore be part of the Mass

“part” and “intent” are two very different things…my personal view of God (and this is not meant to detract or discount your’s) is that “praying for any particular favors during mass” does not detract, but only enhances the sacrifice and meaningful intent of the Mass!

 

[tafan2]

I believe you are wrong. It is allowed for a special prayer to be said right before the final blessing. I would be open to someone with knowledge of the actual rubics to correct me, but two or three parishes in this area have a special prayer they say at this time. At least two of these parishes tend to be very strict as to doing things correctly liturgically, so I would be surprised to find out it is not allowed.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

By the same logic, so would be a blessing of the food… no?

I would hope so given that the Bishop did one for St. Joseph’s Day a couple days back.

 

[Gorgias]

Gorgias:

By the same logic, so would be a blessing of the food… no?

I would hope so given that the Bishop did one for St. Joseph’s Day a couple days back.

Actually, if memory serves, that blessing is in the “Book of Blessings”, and there are versions for “during Mass” and for “outside of Mass”.

That brings up another rebuttal for @joseie, it seems: there are liturgical books with blessings that are additions to the Mass, and which are officially approved.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

two or three parishes in this area have a special prayer they say at this time. At least two of these parishes tend to be very strict as to doing things correctly liturgically, so I would be surprised to find out it is not allowed.

Yeah, I have seen bishops and wannabe bishops who are pretty conservative guys doing a short prayer of some type right before the final blessing. Often it’s the St. Michael Prayer, it could also be a blessing of food or a prayer for unity in the church etc.

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

The purpose of sacrifice right from the beginning is adoration of God and as a penance for the sins committed and nothing else.Praying for any particular favours during mass,blessing food or other things etc.can’t therefore be part of the Mass ,IMHO.

So what of the Prayers of the Faithful? We shouldn’t be praying for our civil leaders, for those sick and dying in the parish, for those facing hard times, for rain in time of drought, for abundance in time of famine, in thanksgiving for blessings already received?

 

[joseie]

Please go through the various types of sacrifices offered as mentioned in the Bible ,such as burnt offering,grain offering etc.All these were only prelude to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.
Asking for any favours,offering for any particular intentions etc were not all their purpose.My view is based on this only…

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

Actually we offer mass(sacrifice) for the atonement of the sins of the dead…

Actually, we also offer Masses for the repose of the souls of the dead without any mention of satisfaction of their sins. We also offer Masses for the intentions of particular individuals, for the conversion of others, and in thanksgiving for God’s blessings. Last Wednesday our parish offered a Mass for the return of our sacramental records which were stolen along with a safe from the office. The following Saturday we offered a Mass in thanksgiving for the return of those same records! Was this inappropriate?

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

That brings up another rebuttal for @joseie, it seems: there are liturgical books with blessings that are additions to the Mass, and which are officially approved.

Yup! In the back of my missal there are loads of extra collects for various occasions. On Ember Wednesday our priest added two of these the the standard one: a collect for the perseverance of the Pope and one for the sanctification of priests throughout the world and for future holy priests. As I understand it the Ember Days were originally set apart as proper days for ordinations and so I think these “extra prayers” were quite appropriate.