Great intercessions

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The great intercessions ( Latin orationes solemnes ) are special prayers in the celebration of the passion and death of Christ on Good Friday , used in the Old Catholic , Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches .

Roman Catholic Church

Structure and order

The Great Intercessions form the third part of the Good Friday celebration in the Good Friday liturgy of the Roman rite . They formulate the answer of the worship meeting to the previous scriptures and lamentations ( improperies ).

All great intercessions consist of three parts: the priest sings an invitation to prayer with an indication of the matter; he or a deacon present asks you to bend your knees. To kneel the community a silent prayer follows. After the request “Rise up” the priest summarizes the prayer request with the oration , to which everyone answers with “ Amen ”.

The following requests are made:

  1. For the holy church
  2. For the Pope
  3. For all levels of the Church
  4. For the catechumens (baptismal applicants)
  5. For the unity of Christians
  6. For the Jews
  7. For those who don't believe in Christ
  8. For everyone who doesn't believe in God
  9. For those in power
  10. For all people in need

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic , the German Bishops' Conference published a special intercession for Good Friday in 2020 at the suggestion of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Order of the Sacraments all people in need ”could be inserted.

history

From the 5th century to the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council and still in antiquity today , these intercessions in the Roman liturgy were or are the only remnants of the early church intercession practice. The great intercessions were made on the epistle page by the priest . The deacon asked to squat, the sub-deacon asked to stand up after the knee, and the priest asked for prayer .

The intercession of the Jews represented a special feature. From around 800 to 1960 kneeling down was omitted, and the Jews were described in the prayer text as perfidis (etymologically: “unbeliever”; historical effect: “ faithless, vile ”, etc.), their religion as iudaicam perfidia (“Jewish Infidelity ”). Since 1956 the Vatican has gradually eliminated these anti-Judaistic elements. In 1965 and 1970 the prayer text itself was revised several times. The intercession of the Jews is still a particularly critical point in the Jewish-Catholic dialogue .

Another special feature of the great intercessions before the liturgical reform was the intercession for the Roman emperor . It was recorded in the Missal until the Editio typica of 1962 and was in fourth place (after the intercession for the Church, the Pope and the Estates of the Church). The priest asked “that our God and Lord subdue all barbarian peoples to him for our permanent peace”. In the case of a non-winning Emperor who wrote categories before, per imperatore electo to pray; on the other hand, there is no indication of the possibility of an omission - although there has in fact been no Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire as patron of the Church since 1806 - even if this has been handled differently in some places. Instead of this, in the renewed Good Friday intercession from 1970/75, the intercession for those in power is ninth.

Old Catholic Church

The following requests were or will be made:

No. Concern Altar Book 1885 Concern for the Altar Book 1959 Request for the Eucharist 1995/2006
1. For the holy church of God For the holy church of God For the holy church of God
2. For all communities in our church; for our bishop; for all rulers, priests and deacons; and for all of our believers For our Bishop N. For our Bishop N., the community of bishops, all men and women in the apostolic service and for the whole people of God
3. For our youth For all bishops, priests and deacons, for all parishes of our church and for all of God's holy people For everyone preparing to be baptized
4th For our king (prince); for our emperor (king and emperor); and for the whole dear fatherland For all worldly authorities For all brothers and sisters who believe in Christ
5. For the weak and the fallen; for the erring and deceived; the sad, needy, and sick; the outcast and the persecuted For our youth For those who don't believe in Christ
6th ... that God with his light enlighten all humanity, that all superstition will disappear; the night of sin will be taken away; the deluded and hardened hearts awaken to new life; and all people hear the voice of your truth ... that He would cleanse the world of all errors, take away diseases, drive out famine, open dungeons, loosen shackles and let those who are on the way reach their goal For all who do not know God
7th For all separated and erring brothers For those in power
8th. For the Jews For everyone who needs help
9. For the heathen

In addition, the 2006 Eucharist book offers two other forms for the Great Intercessions to choose from, one of which is from Huub Oosterhuis . The altar book from 1885 does not contain a special intercession for the Jews. There was one in the 1959 edition; in the 1995 Eucharist it was omitted without replacement.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German Bishops' Conference: Press Release No. 048 - Special Intercession for the Good Friday Liturgy. March 25, 2020, accessed March 25, 2020 .
  2. ^ The holy office for the festivals and times of the year , self-published by the Synodal Representation, Bonn 1888; quoted from the prayer and hymn book for the members of the old Catholic Church of the German Empire , Verlag der Bischöfliche Kanzlei, Bonn 1909.
  3. Altar book for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Catholic Diocese of Old Catholics in Germany, ed. on behalf of the bishop by the Liturgical Commission, Bonn 1959, pp. 76–82.
  4. The celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics . Developed for use in worship services by the Liturgical Commission and published by the Bishop and Synodal Representation, Bonn: Alt-Katholischer Bistumsverlag 2006, p. 71; ISBN 3-934610-30-7