Private Devotions during Mass

[NotWorthy]

Is there any good book or website out there that describes some of the popular private devotions I see going on at Mass?

I see people say a private prayer immediately after the priest raises the host and the wine. I see others say a private prayer right before they receive communion, especially Eucharistic Ministers. I’d love to know what they are typically saying and where these came from.

I put a little insert in our parish bulletin that covers several topics and I thought this would be a good topic to cover. I’d especially like a book that covers the roots and meanings behind these devotions. When we understand the meaning behind our beliefs and rituals, we come to appreciate them so much more!

Thanks and God Bless!

NotWorthy

 

[Ter]

One prayer used when the priest raised the chalice & the host is often “My Lord and my God, My God and my All” - that’s what Dad taught us and I think a lot of people in Ireland use it. It’s based on the words of St. Thomas acknowledging Jesus as God.

The prayers before receiving could be any one of prayers before Communion as given in prayerbooks. Some were composed by Saints and some appear to just have been used as long as people can remember. I was given the ‘St Anthony’s Treasury’ prayerbook for my confirmation so the ‘adult’ prayers before and after Communion that I use come from that. The prayers before Communion are almost always some act of adoration, sorrow for past sins; acknowledgement that you are receiving God etc. but the wording varies depending on what prayer the individual learned. St. John Vianney maintained that no one should receive the Lord without having first made some act of adoration to prepare their soul to receive Him.

Sometimes people just repeat silently parts of the mass e.g. ‘Lord wash away my iniquity cleanse me from my sin’ or ‘Lord I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word and I shall be healed’ - applying these words to themselves