Shouting out intentions during Prayer of the Faithful - What does the Church say?

[victrolatim]

I attended a Mass this evening where, during the Prayer of the Faithful, the celebrant invited the congregation to shout any intentions audibly to be added to the prayers. As the church was large and full of probably 400+ people I couldn’t make out what it was I was supposed to be praying for. I’ve only encountered this once before and am curious as to what, if anything, the Church says on the matter. I’m not trying to start a debate, just curious as the practice seems odd to me.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

I have never seen anything written definitively about it (as in, Church directive). I’ll be interested to see if anyone else provides anything - other than opinion, which is never in short supply here!

 

[zab]

**From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:
****The Universal Prayer
**69. In the Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful, the people respond in some sense to the Word of God which they have received in faith and, exercising the office of their baptismal Priesthood, offer prayers to God for the salvation of all. It is desirable that there usually be such a form of prayer in Masses celebrated with the people, so that petitions may be offered for holy Church, for those who govern with authority over us, for those weighed down by various needs, for all humanity, and for the salvation of the whole world.[66]
70. The series of intentions is usually to be:
a) for the needs of the Church;
b) for public authorities and the salvation of the whole world;
c) for those burdened by any kind of difficulty;
d) for the local community.
Nevertheless, in any particular celebration, such as a Confirmation, a Marriage, or at a Funeral, the series of intentions may be concerned more closely with the particular occasion.
71. It is for the Priest Celebrant to regulate this prayer from the chair. He himself begins it with a brief introduction, by which he calls upon the faithful to pray, and likewise he concludes it with an oration. The intentions announced should be sober, be composed with a wise liberty and in few words, and they should be expressive of the prayer of the entire community.
They are announced from the ambo or from another suitable place, by the Deacon or by a cantor, a reader, or one of the lay faithful.[67]
The people, for their part, stand and give expression to their prayer either by an invocation said in common after each intention or by praying in silence.

 

[MorEphrem]

Well the GIRM directive is that “the intentions are announced from the ambo or from another suitable place, by the deacon or by a cantor, a lector, or one of the lay faithful” (par. 71). It seems incorrect for people to be haphazardly shouting out intentions since it seems that would be neither from a suitable place nor by a singular individual as stated. Unfortunately, I have seen this “shout out” your intercessions at mass, as well as at matins and vespers. I’ve heard the practice justified by some supposed imitation of primitive litanies (-.-).

 

[Usige]

My parish used to do this, but then we started getting political “prayer wars” going on during Mass:

Layperson 1: Pray for the end of conflicts.
Layperson 2: Pray for our troops in harms way.
Layperson 3: Pray for the US to end of middle east occupation.
Layperson 4: Pray for those who protect liberty… even for those that don’t deserve it.

It just got ugly or banal (We pray that the Broncos continue to win).

When writing the universal prayers we were taught to use the 4 or 5 intentions as outlined in the GIRM 70. Since they are Universal prayers, they are not supposed to be fairly general and not personal intentions per se.We also will generally add intentions for the repose of the souls of any who have recently died and the souls in purgatory. Any specific intentions are addressed by something like “We pray for the intentions in the parish book of prayer requests and the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.”

 

[Don_Ruggero]

My parish used to do this, but then we started getting political “prayer wars” going on during Mass:

Layperson 1: Pray for the end of conflicts.
Layperson 2: Pray for our troops in harms way.
Layperson 3: Pray for the US to end of middle east occupation.
Layperson 4: Pray for those who protect liberty… even for those that don’t deserve it.

It just got ugly or banal (We pray that the Broncos continue to win).

When writing the universal prayers we were taught to use the 4 or 5 intentions as outlined in the GIRM 70. Since they are Universal prayers, they are not supposed to be fairly general and not personal intentions per se.We also will generally add intentions for the repose of the souls of any who have recently died and the souls in purgatory. Any specific intentions are addressed by something like “We pray for the intentions in the parish book of prayer requests and the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.”

To the original poster, I can only say that I hope the Presider was not so indecorous as to invite people to begin shouting…that strikes me as one step from bellowing.

I remember when I was visiting parishes or oratories in the United States where I would offer Mass, I encountered this practice on a fairly wide basis but that was years ago.

A problem, as Usige notes, is that there are, actually, specific criteria for the composition of the bidding prayers. There are also specific proscriptions. Unless one is trained in liturgy, one would not reasonably be expected to know these points but the result of the not knowing tends toward intentions that are very highly personalised when that is the opposite of bidding prayers, as they are intended in the Mass, actually.

(I presume you meant to type “they are supposed to be fairly general…” with an unintended “not” finding its way in there as well as in the second clause of the sentence, where it is quite correct.)

The “prayer wars” does sound particularly lamentable.

 

[Reuben_J]

The prayers should be universal or at least common because they require the congregation to corporately respond, “Lord, hear our prayer.” Thus the prayer of the faithful should be prepared and vetted, and recited by a single person. The danger of having to open it to the congregation would be - a specific personal prayer become the the prayer which everybody has to accede to.

 

[Usige]

(I presume you meant to type “they are supposed to be fairly general…” with an unintended “not” finding its way in there as well as in the second clause of the sentence, where it is quite correct.)

Opps… Yes in editing from a different phrasing I did not remove the “not” from the previous formulation. Mea culpa.

 

[Reuben_J]

Opps… Yes in editing from a different phrasing I did not remove the “not” from the previous formulation. Mea culpa.

No worries. It’s just a typo.

 

[Nigel7]

Good info and reasoning behind it not being proper. I’ve seen it on occasion and thought it was strange for a lot of the reasons already posted. Especially awkward for myself at the Hispanic parish that I run to sometimes when I need confession and a mass since I don’t really even speak Spanish, therefor praying with no comprehension what I’m praying for.

Yeah, I’d rather leave those universal prayer intentions to the Church. The “and for the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts” followed by a moment of silence is nice, and quite sufficient I think.

Thanks for asking the question. I’d wondered myself if the ‘shout-outs’ were proper or not.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I have only ever seen this in Masses with a small attendance, usually in Masses or Liturgies at such things as retreats. It seems more appropriate in that setting.

 

[Reuben_J]

I have only ever seen this in Masses with a small attendance, usually in Masses or Liturgies at such things as retreats. It seems more appropriate in that setting.

Yes, that’s what our celebrant asked us also, when we had rather private mass - in retreat or small prayer group where people knew each other (mostly matured Christians) and there was no risk of us making ‘wrong’ embarrassing petitions. Also in such mass, we often received the Precious Blood, if the celebrant decided he wanted to do it that way, which was not practiced in our cathedral.

 

[truetofaith]

Opps… Yes in editing from a different phrasing I did not remove the “not” from the previous formulation. Mea culpa.

It’s always good to re-read before posting.

At our charismatic mass the people would give their personal intentions but one at a time.

 

[tawny]

I have only ever seen this in Masses with a small attendance, usually in Masses or Liturgies at such things as retreats. It seems more appropriate in that setting.

Same here.

 

[Irishmom2]

My parish used to do this, but then we started getting political “prayer wars” going on during Mass:

Layperson 1: Pray for the end of conflicts.
Layperson 2: Pray for our troops in harms way.
Layperson 3: Pray for the US to end of middle east occupation.
Layperson 4: Pray for those who protect liberty… even for those that don’t deserve it.

It just got ugly or banal (We pray that the Broncos continue to win).

There was a man at our parish years ago when people were allowed to speak their intentions, that would give a memorized speech every week about abortion. Nothing wrong with that, except that it went on for 3 minutes. (Yes, I timed it one week.) Every single week. You could hear people sighing as he began… He included a dig at the priesthood “who by their silence give tacit approval” within his petition.

Arguments ran for and against him being able to speak for so long. 3 minutes is a very long time for one person’s petition no matter what it is for. He could have just said “for an end to the tragedy of abortion.”

And then, he was not at mass any longer. And eventually, petitions were said “in the silence of our hearts.”

 

[John_Lilburne]

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 138:

“Then the cantor, the reader, or another suitable person announces the intentions from the ambo or from some other suitable place while facing the people.”

So the intentions are required to be said by someone “facing the people”. So they should not be said by people in the congregation.

 

[Anne1964]

I have seen this at weekday Masses but not on Sunday when the church is full.

 

[NPC]

There was a man at our parish years ago when people were allowed to speak their intentions, that would give a memorized speech every week about abortion. Nothing wrong with that, except that it went on for 3 minutes. (Yes, I timed it one week.) Every single week. You could hear people sighing as he began… He included a dig at the priesthood “who by their silence give tacit approval” within his petition.

Arguments ran for and against him being able to speak for so long. 3 minutes is a very long time for one person’s petition no matter what it is for. He could have just said “for an end to the tragedy of abortion.”

And then, he was not at mass any longer. And eventually, petitions were said “in the silence of our hearts.”

This is what I see as one of the main difficulties in opening the Prayer of the Faithful to the congregation - the fact that people can use the opportunity to voice their own agendas. As you say, there is nothing wrong with praying for life, an end to abortion, etc., but there is something wrong with using the opportunity to take a dig at the clergy or some other group - that is not prayer.

The GIRM, as others have pointed out, is very clear - the prayers should be universal, that is, concerning the Church, the world, those in difficulty, and the local community. As I see it, every intention is included in the Canon of the Mass anyway, so that is probably the best time to offer one’s private intentions - i.e. uniting oneself and one’s intentions with the Holy Sacrifice. Otherwise the Prayer of the Faithful can become a free-for-all - are the people going to respond, “Lord, hear our prayer” when a person decides to pray that the Church changes her position on contraception or women priests?! In addition to this, I think it is best to stick to the GIRM even when it comes to small groups or retreats.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I struggle with the prayers of the faithful in general. To me, prayer is a willing, an action that we choose. Many times the prayers of the faithful become just an automatic response. I’ve seen where people can’t hear the intention and yet the response is automatic. I’ve been to masses where people are encouraged to come up with thier own. It’s hard because I’ve heard from both these spontaneous shout outs and the pre written ones, prayers that I could not pray for on good conscience.
My rule is if I don’t hear what the intention is, understand the problem or issue, or agree with it, I don’t pray for it.

 

[zab]

I struggle with the prayers of the faithful in general. To me, prayer is a willing, an action that we choose. Many times the prayers of the faithful become just an automatic response. I’ve seen where people can’t hear the intention and yet the response is automatic. I’ve been to masses where people are encouraged to come up with thier own. It’s hard because I’ve heard from both these spontaneous shout outs and the pre written ones, prayers that I could not pray for on good conscience.
My rule is if I don’t hear what the intention is, understand the problem or issue, or agree with it, I don’t pray for it.

It doesn’t matter if you hear it, understand it, agree with it or not. Those are the intentions that the Mass is being offered for- with or without your agreement or response.