Prayers at the Foot of the Altar

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Spencer3096

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Hello all.

I’ve read some older posts here on CAF, and I noticed that a couple of posts briefly mentioned praying the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar privately by laymen before the start of an OF Mass. This piqued my curiosity, and prompted a couple of questions:
  1. Is this practice “OK” since it’s done privately before Mass (assuming of course that it’s not being done with an attitude that disparages the OF)?
  2. What would one do about the Confiteor? Would one cut out the “et tibi pater/et te pater” or what? Would any other changes need to be made?
I ask this because, although I usually attend an EF Mass on Sundays, I also attend the OF occasionally. I’ve thought about doing this myself, but additional (name removed by moderator)ut would be nice. 🙂
 
Since it is devotional and not a part of the OF rite of Mass, you can do whatever you want. I would probably keep the Confiteor intact.
 
I pray the Confiteor on my own because oftentimes the Penitential Rite is omitted.
 
R_C said:
I pray the Confiteor on my own because oftentimes the Penitential Rite is omitted.
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Is it omitted or abbreviated? The rubrics allow for just the Kyrie to be used without the confetior. Though I rarely see it omitted in my neck of the woods.

For the rest . . . the prayers at the foot of the altar can be said as private prayers before the mass begins. You cannot insert prayers into the mass with two exceptions that I know of. You can blend the LOTH with mass, if you’re custom is to pray the hours. But there is a structure to what goes where. The other is at the end of the homily. You may call the congregation to pray for some special intention, such as we just did for the families of 9/11.
 
Thank you for your responses. 🙂
Windmill said:
Since it is devotional and not a part of the OF rite of Mass, you can do whatever you want. I would probably keep the Confiteor intact.
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The reason I asked specifically about the Confiteor is because it would seem strange to “double” it – there would be no dialogue between yourself and a priest – and omitting the “et tibi pater/et te pater” would make sense linguistically for the same reason. I did see the Confiteor thru “Indulgentiam, absolutionem &c.” as follows on the following website for saying the Divine Office in Latin:

divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl
from Compline:
Confíteor Deo omnipoténti, beátæ Maríæ semper Vírgini, beáto Michaéli Archángelo, beáto Ioánni Baptístæ, sanctis Apóstolis Petro et Paulo, et ómnibus Sanctis, quia peccávi nimis, cogitatióne, verbo et ópere: percutit sibi pectus mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa. Ideo precor beátam Maríam semper Vírginem, beátum Michaélem Archángelum, beátum Ioánnem Baptístam, sanctos Apóstolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes Sanctos, oráre pro me ad Dóminum Deum nostrum.
Misereatur nostri omnípotens Deus, et dimíssis peccátis nostris, perdúcat nos ad vitam ætérnam. Amen.
Indulgéntiam, ✝️ absolutiónem et remissiónem peccatórum nostrórum tríbuat nobis omnípotens et miséricors Dóminus. Amen.
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Wouldn’t it make sense to say it this way if you’re saying the Prayers privately instead of both Confiteors and “Misereatur tui/Misereatur vestri etc.”? Or am I just overcomplicating things? :confused:
 
In keeping with our previous Pope, when I’m at an OF Mass I try to follow the OF rubrics. I do the same at the EF Mass (follow the rubrics). To do anything different is, to me, being disobedient.

However, I much prefer the EF Mass and therefore tend to avoid the OF.
 
JReducation said:
Is it omitted or abbreviated? The rubrics allow for just the Kyrie to be used without the confetior. Though I rarely see it omitted in my neck of the woods.
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Thank you, yes, that’s what I meant - sometimes the Kyrie is used right away, but I am so used to the idea of both the Confiteor and the Kyrie that I still do it beforehand :o Not that I am more worthy to receive Him this way…but I am personally in a better disposition afterwards.

As corsair mentioned, it is proper to follow the rubrics, so I bite my lips and keep standing for the Agnus Dei and the final blessing :o But any private prayer is proper before Mass begins, as far as I know. Some also silently pray the Anima Christi (Soul of Christ sanctify me) after receiving Communion.
 
R_C said:
Thank you, yes, that’s what I meant - sometimes the Kyrie is used right away, but I am so used to the idea of both the Confiteor and the Kyrie that I still do it beforehand :o Not that I am more worthy to receive Him this way…but I am personally in a better disposition afterwards.

As corsair mentioned, it is proper to follow the rubrics, so I bite my lips and keep standing for the Agnus Dei and the final blessing :o But any private prayer is proper before Mass begins, as far as I know. Some also silently pray the Anima Christi (Soul of Christ sanctify me) after receiving Communion.
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There are several spaces built into the Ordinary Form for private prayer. Unfortunately, our parochial system does not allow for them. What I mean by that is that when they wrote the missal, they were thinking of Europe. In the USA, where you usually have one mass after another, you don’t have the luxury of taking your time for fear of causing a traffic jam in the parking lot and leading people to sin. 😃

But what it’s worth, here they are. You’re supposed to have silence between the readings and the Gospel, after the homily, and after communion.
 
corsair said:
In keeping with our previous Pope, when I’m at an OF Mass I try to follow the OF rubrics. I do the same at the EF Mass (follow the rubrics). To do anything different is, to me, being disobedient.

However, I much prefer the EF Mass and therefore tend to avoid the OF.
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I agree: certainly one should always follow the rubrics. That’s half the reason why I don’t do the hand-holding thing at the Our Father, for instance (the other half being that I’m an ex-Protestant). However, I was referring to private prayer before the start of Mass in the OP. Maybe I should ask Father what he thinks once he returns from his trip. 🤷
 
Spencer3096 said:
The reason I asked specifically about the Confiteor is because it would seem strange to “double” it – there would be no dialogue between yourself and a priest – and omitting the “et tibi pater/et te pater” would make sense linguistically for the same reason. I did see the Confiteor thru “Indulgentiam, absolutionem &c.” as follows on the following website for saying the Divine Office in Latin:

divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl

Wouldn’t it make sense to say it this way if you’re saying the Prayers privately instead of both Confiteors and “Misereatur tui/Misereatur vestri etc.”? Or am I just overcomplicating things? :confused:
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Yes and yes. Sounds right to me.

I say it (and Psalm 42) often so I don’t forget it. 🙂
 
I just remember this term as what we altar boys recited with the priest at the beginning of Mass. Thankfully I suppose we did not pray in Latin.
 
Yep, Praying the PATFOTA along with the priest is fine, as is the Mass itself.

**The Holy Mass is a prayer itself, even the highest prayer that exists. Is is the Sacrifice dedicated by our Redeemer at the Cross, and repeated every day on the Altar. If you wish to hear the Mass as it should be heard, you must follow with eye, heart, and mouth all that happens at the Altar.

Further, you must pray with the priest the holy words said by him in the Name of Christ and which Christ says by him. You have to associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens on the Altar. When acting in this way, you have prayed Holy Mass.

Pope Pius X **
 
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