Is praying novena in a Holy Mass ok?

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Today our Parish Priest said a novena to a Saint in the mass, after distributing the Holy Eucharist and before the final blessing. Holy Mass is the highest devotion in the Catholic Church and was it OK for a novena to be said in it? I am confused and disturbed.
 
matjam said:
Today our Parish Priest said a novena to a Saint in the mass, after distributing the Holy Eucharist and before the final blessing. Holy Mass is the highest devotion in the Catholic Church and was it OK for a novena to be said in it? I am confused and disturbed.
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As far as I know the Priest has a lot of leeway in that part of the Mass so it was fine.
 
I do pray to Saints. But that’s that. I make sure that it doesn’t cross a limit that it overshadows the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass. I believe from the start of the Holy Mass till the final blessing its only about the Lord and his sacrifice. So when this novena came in between I got confused.
 
He said the prayer during the “announcement time”, at which point he’s allowed to talk about any announcement he thinks is important, whether it’s congratulating the Catholic girls’ soccer team or praying a saint novena.

If you don’t want to pray the optional prayer, then I guess you can just sit there and not join in.
 
Wait. Are you saying that by saying this novena, your pastor did something to overshadow the Liturgy?
 
matjam said:
I do pray to Saints. But that’s that. I make sure that it doesn’t cross a limit that it overshadows the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass. I believe from the start of the Holy Mass till the final blessing its only about the Lord and his sacrifice. So when this novena came in between I got confused.
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I see where you’re coming from. I think it’s a good question. But don’t we do something similar on feast days & solemnities? Except then we invoke that Saint in the Eucharistic prayer.

So while I might have found it awkward I don’t think any undermining was done. But who am I?
 
matjam said:
I do pray to Saints. But that’s that. I make sure that it doesn’t cross a limit that it overshadows the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass.
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But this was after the Liturgy of the Word and after Holy Communion. How was anything “overshadowed?”
 
If I have a choice at announcement time between the priest leading everyone in the Prayer to St. Michael and the priest congratulating various school groups and the choir and us having to applaud for each one (while people who don’t want to hang around for an extra 10 minutes listening to all that get up and walk out of the church), I’ll take the Prayer to St. Michael.
 
DeniseNY said:
Wait. Are you saying that by saying this novena, your pastor did something to overshadow the Liturgy?
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Well that is not the tone of my question. I am never saying that the priest did wrong there. I love the Catholic Church led by Holy Spirit. I am no one to judge the actions of it. I am just asking to clarify.
 
The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (approved by Saint John Paul II on 14 December 2001) includes:

"13. The objective difference between pious exercises and devotional practices should always be clear in expressions of worship. Hence, the formulae proper to pious exercises should not be commingled with the liturgical actions. Acts of devotion and piety are external to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and of the other sacraments.”

The full document is at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...on_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html
 
Justin_Mary said:
But don’t we do something similar on feast days & solemnities?
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Its actually new for me. I started attending latin rite recently and back home in my church (Syro Malabar Church) I have never seen this. Yes there are general announcements before final blessing but everything else is only after the Holy Mass is over (After the final blessing).
 
Do you think God would punish this priest for praying at a Mass?
 
Please. I don’t even have any distant thoughts of that sort. As I said before I love the Catholic Church. It’s only for my understanding and not to judge anyone. Having said that I strongly affirm that there’s no devotion in this world greater than the Holy Mass.
 
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Some priests in the Western Catholic Church will do the extra prayers after the final blessing rather than during the announcement time. I have also seen priests do extra prayers before the Mass begins or during the homily time.

One of the issues in the Western Catholic Church is that we used to have certain prayers called the “Leonine Prayers” instituted by Pope Leo that were said at the end of Mass, for certain intentions involved wiht the protection of the Church. Around the time of Vatican II, the Vatican suppressed these prayers without giving a reason. It was speculated that either the original intention for the prayers was no longer necessary, or that people might be scared by the words of one of the prayers which mentioned Satan, but no definitive answer was ever given as to why these prayers were suppressed. In recent years, a lot of priests and bishops concerned about the state of the Church have returned to saying at least one of the Leonine Prayers at the end of Mass, either at announcement time or after the final blessing.

I’ve also seen a number of priests do particular novenas, either the Miraculous Medal novena or one associated with the patron saint of the parish or sometimes St. Joseph or for a particular intention (St. Junipero Serra being invoked for vocations, for example) at Masses for a set period of time. Often the prayer is meant to help the parish or the Church in general. Often they do them after the final blessing but I’ve also seen them done during announcement time or even during homily time.
 
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