My Lord and My God during Eucharistic Prayer

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anrmenchaca47

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This is the situation:

At my church, during the Eucharistic Prayer in which the priest says, “…this is my body which will be given up for you…” the laity have pretty much decided to add the following words, as the priest lifts up the communion bread, saying “Mr Lord and My God.”

Now question is, are the laity supposed to say that response? Because according to this The GIRM is here quoting the Vatican II Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium , 22.3:

Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the Liturgy on his own authority.

In addition, Redemptionis Sacrament

Is it wrong for the Laity to say "My Lord and My God?
 
In the Latin mass people say “My Lord and My God” in their head. Never have I heard it being said outloud.
 
In the pre-Vatican II church, at the elevation of the host, people struck their breast and said quietly to themselves, “My Lord and My God”.

At the elevation of the chalice, they did the same and either said “My Jesus, mercy” or they said a longer affirmation, the wording of which I forget but it’s about one sentence long and some people still use it.

You then bow when the priest bows.

In the post-Vatican II church, some people maintained this practice as a way of venerating the Body and Blood at the consecration, and in recent years many more people are doing it. It is considered generally okay to do.

At most Masses this is just something people say quietly to themselves, and the only way you know they’re doing it is if you’re sitting close enough to hear them whisper or mumble, or if you see them bow.

At a handful of churches, primarily the Spanish Masses I’ve been to, there will be somebody saying it loudly and then everybody is kind of bowing together. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a church or two out there where a group of people are saying it loudly. I can’t see how it would be considered an “addition to the Mass” when the practice has been around for many, many decades, just usually said quietly by individuals.
 
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They really shouldn’t say it aloud, but if that’s what they have always done, and it’s not something the priest is specifically asking them to do or leading them in, I’m with @Tis_Bearself on this one.
 
Yet shouldn’t it be the priest job to correct it? I mean there needs to be a clear explanation one how to properly say it, which is to say it to yourself.
 
So are you saying that the parishioners say it out loud, at full volume? I just want this cleared up.
 
He could, but there may be more pressing issues that need his attention, and this may not be a matter of concern - especially if it’s considered customary here. As the saying goes, “there are bigger fish to fry.”
 
It is an old pious custom based on the words of St. Thomas. With all the shenanigans that go on that undermine the truth of the Mass, why undermine a traditional custom–even one that may be a bit exaggerated in this case–that supports Eucharistic piety? I guarantee the people that say this believe in the truth of the Eucharist at a much better rate than we’ve seen in recent polls.

As an aside, for the elevation of the precious blood, I was taught to pray “Be mindful of thy creature, O Lord, whom thou hast redeemed by thy previous Blood.”
 
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Genesis315 said:
It is an old pious custom based on the words of St. Thomas. With all the shenanigans that go on that undermine the truth of the Mass, why undermine a traditional custom–even one that may be a bit exaggerated in this case–that supports Eucharistic piety?
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I pray the “My Lord and My God” prayer silently at the Consecration and have for years. But a traditional liturgical abuse is still a liturgical abuse.

Say the black, do the red.
 
The real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is so real to me that I can’t help but whisper “my Lord and my God”. The person next to me may hear me but I definitely don’t say it out loud. What we should be concerned about is that many Catholics don’t believe the Eucharist is really the body and blood if Christ. I find this terribly sad.
 
OP, are you new to this parish? Is this a new thing they’ve just started? I ask because as I said above, if it’s customary (and not a recent thing) for them, it may not even qualify as “abuse”. In fact, it could be perfectly within the acceptable realm of “do the red, say the black.”
 
Agree that in this world of every decreasing Faith, this affirmation of piety seems harmless at worst and quite lovely at best.
 

Question:​

May a priest add the words "My Lord and my God, I believe" after the consecration?

Answer:​

No, those words of prayer are not contained in the Roman Missal and therefore should not be said by the celebrant. When a priest celebrates Mass he is celebrating the liturgy of the Church, not his own personal spiritual production.

The origins of this practice are that in 1907 St. Pius X issued an indulgence for the prayer “My Lord and my God” during the elevation by the priest. This indulgence, however, was for the lay faithful, since this prayer was not contained in the ritual book and to purposely stray from the ritual book was a mortal sin for the priest celebrant ( De Defectibus , V, 20).

Today many faithful continue to piously pray “My Lord and my God” after the consecration of the host and chalice; however, there is nothing in the Roman Missal that would permit a priest to add any words at that point of the Mass. While the Church no longer holds the priest to the exact liturgy under the pain of mortal sin, the Church still forbids adding anything to the Mass that is not present in the Roman Missal (canon 846 §1).
 
anrmenchaca47 said:
I mean there needs to be a clear explanation one how to properly say it, which is to say it to yourself.
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As Prodigal and I said, at Spanish Masses they tend to say it out loud. This makes me wonder if it was actually the custom in some parts of Latin America or South America to say it out loud.
 
The reason to undermine the ‘old pious custom’ is that the ‘old pious custom’ involved silent prayer, not spoken aloud.

It is not ‘undermining’ to insist that people say the black and do the red.

It is precisely because there is always somebody who says, “oh this one thing is so ‘small’, it can’t possibly be a problem”, “oh this one thing has such good intentions, it can’t possibly be a problem”, "Oh this one thing surely can be allowed because after all, it’s so ‘petty’, so ‘small’, so ‘pious’, so whatever. . .

That we now have parishes throughout the US and the world where all those ‘one little things’ now reign and breed more little things, and bigger things, and bigger things.

"But Father allowed this one little thing, and this other little thing is so meaningful, so prayerful, so beloved, so pious. Why make a big old fuss? Aren’t you just glad people come to Mass?"\

It’s such a ‘little thing’, but now apparently it’s the reason people come to Mass? It’s so petty, but if they can’t have it, they won’t show up?

Apparently over the decades we have come to have a majority, or a sufficiently vocal and pushy minority, that thinks it’s a majority, who feel that Mass is their own personal canvas and they’re the world’s greatest artists, and that in order to ‘feed their needs’ they must have the freedom to say what they want, do what they want, etc.

If it’s such a dang ‘little thing’, why can’t they submit, "I love this idea but it’s not part of the Mass, so I’ll refrain’.

Oh heck no. It is such a major big thing for them that they will scream, cry, swear, curse, threaten, and above all, lie and cheat to get it. Lying, "It’s such a little thing’. . . but apparently they need it at all costs. . .
 
stpurl said:
The reason to undermine the ‘old pious custom’ is that the ‘old pious custom’ involved silent prayer, not spoken aloud.
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Could you please find the directive where the Holy Father stated this was to be prayed silently by the faithful?
MiserereMeiDei said:
The origins of this practice are that in 1907 St. Pius X issued an indulgence for the prayer “My Lord and my God” during the elevation by the priest.
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This is an indulgenced prayer by the faithful.

Edit to add another indulgence referenced:

For adoring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at the Elevation at Mass, saying at the same time some short prayer. GREGORY XIII., 10th April 1580.) – 365 Days.
 
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