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Zabdi_Premjit
Guest
Can someone please explain “mass intentions” to me? How is a mass offered for someone? Isn’t every mass for everyone?
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MilitiChristi
Guest
Yes Mass is for everyone but specifically you can have a Mass said for a particular person. For instance my friend who is a priest said a Mass for my wife who went on travel with my kids. It was for her safety. I believe the intentions are added at a particular time by the priest specifically for you. But the Mass will always be for everyone. Its actually something nice you can do for someone you care for or as a gift.
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MaryT777
Guest
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midori
Guest
Suppose you and 100 people go to Mass. The Mass is a sacrifice, and sacrifices are offered for a purpose, right? Everyone who is present will benefit in some way, spiritually speaking, from having participated in the sacrifice of the Mass with their prayerful presence. But not everyone benefits in the same way. The people who are mindful of what is happening will benefit in a different way than the people who are just going through the motions.
Say 50 people are just sitting there, and 50 people are there with their specific intentions. Praying for an out-of-work spouse, or a sick relative, or the soul of someone who has passed away, or for their children, or in thanksgiving, or in gratitude, or in contrition, or for any number of intentions. One exercise some people do is to imagine their guardian angels approaching the altar with their intentions-- does your angel go up empty-handed?
More intentions are offered during the Eucharistic Prayer, like:
Say 50 people are just sitting there, and 50 people are there with their specific intentions. Praying for an out-of-work spouse, or a sick relative, or the soul of someone who has passed away, or for their children, or in thanksgiving, or in gratitude, or in contrition, or for any number of intentions. One exercise some people do is to imagine their guardian angels approaching the altar with their intentions-- does your angel go up empty-handed?
More intentions are offered during the Eucharistic Prayer, like:
When you read or hear that a certain Mass is being offered for a specific intention, it means that the priest has committed to uniting his prayers with what someone has requested-- “for rain”, “for the souls in Purgatory”, “for the soul of so-and-so”, being some of the most common ones. But it doesn’t mean that other intentions are being excluded from the offering of that particular Mass.
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Zabdi_Premjit
Guest
I am wondering if perhaps there is a semantic issue at work here.
In the Byzantine-rite, the Divine Liturgy is offered for all. Included in the liturgy, there are various petitions for the relevant hierarchs, catechumens, the sick, etc. Those petitions are always there, but then there are some that are not always there. For example, a parishioner may request prayers for someone and the priest will make an additional petition for that person in the context of the Divine Liturgy, or the priest might add a petition within the Divine Liturgy for victims of a recent disaster, on-going war, etc. Is this similar to what you are talking about?
Would I be correct to say that “mass intentions” and “offering a mass for someone” are colloquialisms used by Roman Catholics to refer to a priest making a special petition for a specific person or need, often upon request, within the context of the Eucharistic liturgy?
In the Byzantine-rite, the Divine Liturgy is offered for all. Included in the liturgy, there are various petitions for the relevant hierarchs, catechumens, the sick, etc. Those petitions are always there, but then there are some that are not always there. For example, a parishioner may request prayers for someone and the priest will make an additional petition for that person in the context of the Divine Liturgy, or the priest might add a petition within the Divine Liturgy for victims of a recent disaster, on-going war, etc. Is this similar to what you are talking about?
Would I be correct to say that “mass intentions” and “offering a mass for someone” are colloquialisms used by Roman Catholics to refer to a priest making a special petition for a specific person or need, often upon request, within the context of the Eucharistic liturgy?
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CB_Catholic
Guest
Yes. But also we can make our own private intentions, not necessarily shared with the priest or the congregation.
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tawny
Guest
Well stated.
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Zabdi_Premjit
Guest
How?
Can you explain how this private intention is made?
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CB_Catholic
Guest
Personally, before the beginning of Mass I pray something like “Lord, I offer up this Mass for the return of my son to the Church,” or for whatever I want to petition the Lord for. Just like when I say my prayers or Rosary at home. My own personal intentions. No one else needs to hear them, just as no one else hears my other prayers when I am praying alone. But God hears them.How?
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