Preparation of the Altar- response

[5Loaves]

Recently I’ve been wondering about this:
I’ve read various places and been instructed in Master Catechist classes that in the Roman Rite Ordinary Form of the Mass the priest’s words of preparation of the gifts on the altar are intended to not be audible. Frequently they are spoken as loudly as anything else and we the people respond.

I’m curious if these words are intended to be said softly or silently why then is there a response for the people to speak?

Preparation of the Altar:
Priest: Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.
All: Blessed be God for ever.

Priest: Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink.
All: Blessed be God for ever.

 

[bnbkaine]

I have understood it to be that if the song the choir sings during the Preparation of the Gifts runs into the blessing that the priest says, then we don’t hear it. If the song is shorter, than we do hear it and respond accordingly. Also, I have been present when the song ended after the first blessing over the bread and we heard and responded to the blessing over the wine. If it was not intended at all, then there would be no responses for the blessing.

 

[JMJ_coder]

The GIRM states this in reference to these prayers:

1. …If, however, there is no Offertory chant and the organ is not played, in the presentation of the bread and wine the priest may say the formulas of blessing aloud, to which the people make the acclamation, Benedictus Deus in saecula (Blessed be God for ever).

 

[CB_Catholic]

The GIRM states this in reference to these prayers:

1. …If, however, there is no Offertory chant and the organ is not played, in the presentation of the bread and wine the priest may say the formulas of blessing aloud, to which the people make the acclamation, Benedictus Deus in saecula (Blessed be God for ever).

This is what is folowed in my parish. At the daily Masses, where there is no Offertory music, (no music period), the priest speaks the words out loud. On Sundays, the blessing is not said aloud.

 

[ocleirbj]

This has always bothered me, too. I really like these two prayers and responses, and the first church I attended after I became a Catholic always included them, so I thought that they were a normal part of the Mass. I love saying “Blessed be God forever” out loud, it’s very affirming. Then I noticed that in some other churches, we didn’t say them, so I concluded (sadly) that they were optional. However I discovered a few years ago that the priest was still saying them, but not out loud so that we could give the response. What usually happens is that after the bread and wine are prepared and everything is ready for the consecration, the priest starts up without waiting for us to finish the offertory hymn, so that by the time we stop singing, he is already at “Pray brethren that our sacrifice…”

Once I realized that this was going on, it struck me as gravely discourteous. If the hymn being offered to God by the congregation is an act of worship, and not just something to keep us occupied while the priest gets on with things, then he should have the courtesy to wait until we have finished before moving on to the next part of the prayers. If the people’s role at Mass includes giving the responses at the right time, and if this is important to the Church, then we should be allowed to participate here. I do not understand why it is the priest’s choice to keep part of these prayers from the people, or why, when they do have the choice to include us, they so often don’t.

Possibly I am insufficiently catechized. However, this is how it has appeared to me over the years, and I confess that I have sometimes resented what looks like the deliberate omission of a prayer that I love so much that it unsettles me for the rest of Mass. I’m getting better at tolerating it now that I’m older, though. (Middle age has its rewards!)

 

[Chatter163]

Once I realized that this was going on, it struck me as gravely discourteous. If the hymn being offered to God by the congregation is an act of worship, and not just something to keep us occupied while the priest gets on with things, then he should have the courtesy to wait until we have finished before moving on to the next part of the prayers. If the people’s role at Mass includes giving the responses at the right time, and if this is important to the Church, then we should be allowed to participate here. I do not understand why it is the priest’s choice to keep part of these prayers from the people, or why, when they do have the choice to include us, they so often don’t.

Possibly I am insufficiently catechized.

:yup:

 

[japhy]

In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the Offertory is done without vocal participation by the congregation: the priest receives the bread and wine at the altar (although the offertory procession is absent from the E.F.) and says certain prayers over them without the congregation making any response.

In the Ordinary Form, the option of having the congregation make a vocal response to the priest’s prayers was introduced. The priest can choose to say the prayers in a low voice (not for us to hear) or in a regular voice (for us to hear), and even when the prayers are said aloud, it is not required (although it is usually the case) for the congregation to say “Blessed be God forever”.

The Missal is quite clear about this:
*23. Sacerdos, stans ad altare, accipit patenam cum pane, eamque ambabus manibus aliquantulum elevatam super altare tenet, submissa voce dicens:

Benedíctus es, Dómine, Deus univérsi, quia de tua largitáte accépimus panem, quem tibi offérimus, fructum terrae et óperis mánuum hóminum: ex quo nobis fiet panis vitae.

Deinde deponit patenam cum pane super corporale. Si vero cantus ad offertorium non peragitur, sacerdoti licet haec verba elata voce proferre; in fine populus acclamare potest:

Benedíctus Deus in saecula.*

1. The priest, standing at the altar, takes the paten with the bread and holds it slightly raised above the altar with both hands, saying in a low voice:

Blessed are you, …

Then he places the paten with the bread on the corporal. If, however, the offertory chant is not sung, the priest may speak these words aloud; at the end, the people may acclaim:

Blessed be God forever.
As for the OP: “if these words are intended to be said softly or silently why then is there a response for the people to speak?” There is a response provided in case the prayers are not said quietly.

 

[japhy]

Once I realized that this was going on, it struck me as gravely discourteous. If the hymn being offered to God by the congregation is an act of worship, and not just something to keep us occupied while the priest gets on with things, then he should have the courtesy to wait until we have finished before moving on to the next part of the prayers. If the people’s role at Mass includes giving the responses at the right time, and if this is important to the Church, then we should be allowed to participate here. I do not understand why it is the priest’s choice to keep part of these prayers from the people, or why, when they do have the choice to include us, they so often don’t.

The priest, as the celebrant, has the authority to make certain decisions about the celebration of the Mass. He can decide which greeting (of three) to use; he can decide which Penitential Act (of three) to use; he can decide whether to say the Offertory Prayers aloud or not; he can decide which Eucharistic Prayer to use; he can decide (although I’m not sure many do – they usually leave it up to the director of music) which acclamation (of four, currently) is made after the “Mystery of Faith”; he can decide whether or not to have the Sign of Peace distributed among the congregation; he can decide which dismissal text (of four) to use.

Our participation in the Mass is not simply to say things. Our participation in the Offertory is primarily that of offering ourselves. That participation can be expressed in many ways, some of which are vocal (saying “Blessed be God forever” or singing the Offertory chant or some other hymn), some of which are physical (bringing up the bread and wine, putting money in the collection baskets), and some of which are interior (watching what the priest is doing, listening to the Offertory chant, and, most importantly, joining ourselves to the bread and wine being offered to God as fitting manner for the Eucharist). If simply saying “Blessed be God forever” to the priest’s prayers is what you base your “participation” in the Offertory on, you’re not getting the whole picture of this part of Mass!

 

[ocleirbj]

Thank you all for clarifying this for me.

“Our participation in the Mass is not simply to say things. …
If simply saying “Blessed be God forever” to the priest’s prayers is what you base your “participation” in the Offertory on, you’re not getting the whole picture of this part of Mass!”

Oh no, I’m not limiting my participation to just saying things, I realize that there is a whole interior movement of the spirit that is the main part of what we do at Mass, and I try to focus on this as much as I can when I am there.

The thing about liturgy for me is that when the words are familiar they become a kind of background and support to what is going on in me spiritually, the prayers, offerings, insights etc that happen as the Mass proceeds through all its parts. It all flows along. This is the great thing about a fixed text, that the familiarity doesn’t make it boring, but it helps me to open up to God in a way that’s unlike any other. So having learned and gotten used to a certain form of words initially, the absence of this part at other Masses stood out like a sore thumb, especially since I didn’t understand the omission. I understand it better now.

 

[JerrySeibert]

There are other prayers which are said inaudibly. But, the Preperation of the gifts and prayers are allowed to be said aloud.