Praying the mass

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Hello

Can we as layit pray the Mass on our own, at home? I’ve seen in many prayer books, especially in the old ones, that there is a whole Mass written down word by word. Should the laity pray the Mass? I assume we should skip the part on the consecration and other parts that are reserved for a priest?

Thank you! God bless
 
I have an ancestor who kept a diary. Almost every Sunday he went to mass wherever he hapened to be. However whenever he wasn’t able to go to mass he wrote that he red from his mass book.
 
Tim_D said:
Isn’t that the purvey of a priest?
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We pray the mass when we pay attention to wha tis going on and make the appropriate responses to what the priest says.
Pope Pius XII wrote that we all participate when for example at the offertory the priest says “we” when the gifts are offered up.
 
TwoNames said:
Hello

Can we as layit pray the Mass on our own, at home? I’ve seen in many prayer books, especially in the old ones, that there is a whole Mass written down word by word. Should the laity pray the Mass? I assume we should skip the part on the consecration and other parts that are reserved for a priest?

Thank you! God bless
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Here’s my opinion:
0) Technically it is not “Mass”. You are reading the words from the Missal.
  1. For obvious reason, it will not satisfy that Sunday obligation (or other Devotional mass)
  2. As a way to understand how the mass go, it may be good to know how the words go. I am going to refrain from determinign if reading from the mass in a prayerful manner is good or not.
  3. The Propers of the Day could be a good Lectio Divina/Bible Study?Daily reading. You do lack the homily, however… but then, so does Lectio Divina.
  4. You may as well do some kind of Divine Office. Church Latin have the 1962 Psalter. It does not have readings should they exist back then. Please use with a DR bible.
 
You can pray the prayers of the Mass at home but this isn’t the same as actually participating in the Mass. When you can’t get to Mass, it’s a good idea to make a spiritual communion and unite yourself to the priest who is celebrating Mass at your parish, or any other priest for that matter. I often unite myself in prayer to my Bishop when I know he’s celebrating Mass. I can’t be physically present, but I’m there in prayer.

I’d also add that the Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a form of prayer that mirrors the prayers of the Mass. You offer the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world - and this is exactly what the priest does at Mass.
 
poche said:
We pray the mass when we pay attention to wha tis going on and make the appropriate responses to what the priest says.
Pope Pius XII wrote that we all participate when for example at the offertory the priest says “we” when the gifts are offered up.
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True but we do that under an ordained minister. Doing it on our own is not Mass or anything equivalent; it is simply reading the words.
 
Tim_D said:
True but we do that under an ordained minister. Doing it on our own is not Mass or anything equivalent; it is simply reading the words.
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when we show up at mass, pay attention, and make the appropriate responses we arer also praying the mass, although our part is different, but complementary to that of the priest.
 
poche said:
when we show up at mass, pay attention, and make the appropriate responses we arer also praying the mass, although our part is different, but complementary to that of the priest.
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But it doesn’t work the other way around. Praying the Mass with a priest, yes; praying it by yourself outside of Mass, no.
 
We have become used to Missalettes in the pews of churches when we attend Mass. That has not always been the case. Indeed it was not the case when I lived overseas.
During my childhood, we each carried our own missal to church every Sunday, and on any other day that we might attend Mass.
It is a pious devotion to read the daily Mass readings even if a person does not attend daily Mass.
 
During my childhood, we each carried our own missal to church every Sunday
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The vast majority of traditional Catholics still do this. I’m hardly without my Baronius 1962 Missal.
 
TwoNames said:
Hello

Can we as layit pray the Mass on our own, at home? I’ve seen in many prayer books, especially in the old ones, that there is a whole Mass written down word by word. Should the laity pray the Mass? I assume we should skip the part on the consecration and other parts that are reserved for a priest?

Thank you! God bless
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Can we or SHOULD we?

Certainly one can; but as the main Grace of the Mass is the Most Holy Eucharist, and Only an Ordained Priest can make Jesus Present; the graces received are not even close.

There are MANY worthy prayers that are efficacious susch and the Rosary and the Divine Chaplet, that one might consider rather than praying at home :the Mass"

God Bless you,

Patick
 
I take it, OP, you are asking if you can recite the prayers of the Mass devotionally, i.e. as personal prayers, rather than attempting to celebrate Mass or Mass Lite.

The answer is yes, and this is in fact done by many personal devotional prayer books; they take excerpts from the Mass and compile them into devotionals for personal use.

It can be quite edifying, for example to recite the Collect from the day’s Mass as part of one’s daily devotions (assuming one isn’t praying the Office), and even the Prayers over the Offerings make very good short prayers for the day. Reciting the Confiteor at night is also a good devotional practice.

Even meditating on the Eucharistic Prayers, including the words of consecration is perfectly fine, although I couldn’t think of any scenario where you would actually say them as devotional prayer and have it make any sense.

If you have a missal for the Extraordinary Form, can even find more prayers that are recited silently by the priest, but you wouldn’t normally hear. The three silent prayers before Communion for example, can be well adapted to your own personal preparation for Mass or Communion.

Generally speaking, the prayers of the Missal are available to you to adapt in your personal devotional life, insofar as it makes sense. Collects, confessions, Secrets and preparatory prayers are great to use. Eucharistic Prayers as objects of medidation, yes. Actually praying Eucharistic Prayers, welll, I wouldn’t say it would make much sense.
 
I have a copy of Oremus, A Treasury of Catholic Prayers and Devotions.
Like many prayer books, it does indeed have the ordinary prayers of the Mass with responses that were in effect at the time of its printing–just before the latest changes.
The Mass is actually at the beginning, denoting its importance.
The Mass is a communal prayer. I noted in my earlier post that I lived overseas where there were no missalettes in the pews. Having the ordinary in prayer book was to have the prayers had hand.
The prayer book was then divided into sections for Traditional Prayers, Daily Prayers, The Rosary,Stations of the Cross, Making a Good Confession, Prayers before the Blessed Sacrament, Prayers to the Saints, Seasonal Prayers…In other words, it was divided into various sections as one would find in traditional prayer books.

A person could take his/her Oremus to Mass, and then into the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. It was not unusual to find people praying in front of the grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a replica of Lourdes.
 
Many people have subscriptions to Magnificat or Give Us This Day. Each of these pocket size magazines has a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours (Morning and Evening Prayer) plus the Daily Mass.
I subscribe to The Word Among Us with the Mass insert because it is cheaper. I do own a Daily Roman Missal, which has its own devotional section. I do like to begin my day with the Liturgy of the Hours followed by the readings of the day from the Mass.
Not everybody has the opportunity to go to daily Mass, and reading the prayers of the day is simply one way to read scripture.
 
Yes! The Missal is a book for the home just as much as it is for the Church. Of course you could not say the prayers to consecrate a host, but you can meditate on the Canon and say the other prayers. It would be a great way to follow the liturgical year.
 
porthos11 said:
It can be quite edifying, for example to recite the Collect from the day’s Mass as part of one’s daily devotions (assuming one isn’t praying the Office), and even the Prayers over the Offerings make very good short prayers for the day. Reciting the Confiteor at night is also a good devotional practice.
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I’m surprised you didn’t bring up your dedication to the Liturgy of the Hours which we both share 😉

Of course that collect is also prayed at the LOTH, and the Confiteor, recited at Compline before bed… Then there are the readings and psalm of Mass which provide food for the day, and I generally read at least the Mass Gospel every day even if not attending Mass.

But the LOTH goes one step above: even when we cannot make it to Mass, either for valid reasons on a day of obligation/Sunday, or during the week (which is not mandatory), with the LOTH we are still participating in the official liturgy of the Church, of which the Mass is a part but also the summit. Still, when we can only go part way up the hill, the LOTH gets us as close to the summit as possible.

The LOTH is not a replacement for the Mass of course, but it is very much a part of the same, continuous prayer as the Mass itself and is a most laudable liturgical prayer for even the laity, whether they can make it to Mass or not.
 
OraLabora said:
I’m surprised you didn’t bring up your dedication to the Liturgy of the Hours which we both share 😉

Of course that collect is also prayed at the LOTH, and the Confiteor, recited at Compline before bed… Then there are the readings and psalm of Mass which provide food for the day, and I generally read at least the Mass Gospel every day even if not attending Mass.

But the LOTH goes one step above: even when we cannot make it to Mass, either for valid reasons on a day of obligation/Sunday, or during the week (which is not mandatory), with the LOTH we are still participating in the official liturgy of the Church, of which the Mass is a part but also the summit. Still, when we can only go part way up the hill, the LOTH gets us as close to the summit as possible.

The LOTH is not a replacement for the Mass of course, but it is very much a part of the same, continuous prayer as the Mass itself and is a most laudable liturgical prayer for even the laity, whether they can make it to Mass or not.
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The LOTH honors the hours of the day while the Mass is outside of time.
Still it is not unusual for some religious orders to go from Lauds into the Mass.
I have been on retreats where this has occurred.
What I have noticed is that the closing prayer for Lauds is often the opening prayer for the Mass of the day.
 
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