Private prayer
In the liturgy of Holy Mass, private prayers are called private prayers that are spoken by the celebrating priest or bishop and, in part, by the deacon before, during and after Holy Mass. While the official or presidential prayers are formulated in the we-form, the private prayers as elements of concentration and personal piety are usually in the first- person form. At the Mass, the private prayers are recited silently and in a flexed posture that Präsidialgebete however, be loud and upright in Orantenhaltung spoken or even sung.
In the Roman-Franconian liturgy of the Middle Ages, the mass liturgy contained numerous occasions for private prayer elements, which as an "expression of private devotion" (Jungmann) were often left at the discretion of the individual priest. The importance of private prayers in Holy Mass was increased as a result of the Reformation from the 16th century and at the same time made more binding in order to oppose the general priesthood of all baptized by the Reformers on the part of the Catholic Church with the special priesthood of ordained ministers . Thus the dividing line between priest and people was emphasized, the idea of the faithful participating in the priest's prayer was removed.
Private prayers in the Roman rite
The prayers before and after the celebration of Holy Mass are recommended for prayer, the private prayers during the Mass are an obligatory part of the liturgy and as such are included in the Roman Missal . Their number was reduced by the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council due to the more pronounced communal character of the Holy Mass ( Participatio actuosa ), and the preparatory and thanksgiving prayers have been omitted. They are still practiced in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite .
Extraordinary shape
The Roman Missal contained the following private prayers until 1962:
- Preparation prayers to do when the priest appears useful ( Praeparatio ad Missam per opportunitate sacerdotis facienda ) including Ankleidegebete ( Missale S. (44) - (50)). The missal offered a choice of psalms and orations.
- Before reading the Gospel , the priest, in the Levite Office the deacon, said the prayer Munda cor meum ( Missale p. 246); the priest said it bowed, the deacon kneeling. The deacon then asked the celebrating priest for the blessing, which the priest then gave him.
- The prayers for the preparation of the gifts , including the wash basin for hand washing, ( Missal p. 247ff.) Were spoken by the priest on behalf of the community, who brought the gifts in the early liturgy and placed them on the altar. They had an accompanying, interpretative function and, according to the liturgical scholar Josef Andreas Jungmann , were semi-private in character. In the Middle Ages, the singular, the first-person form, predominated in these prayers, which was retained until the Missal of 1962 in the prayer for the offering of bread, Suscipe sancte Pater .
- Communion prayers and closing ( Missals p. 341f.): Before receiving communion , the priest said two private preparatory prayers ; The reception of the Eucharistic gifts of bread and wine was accompanied by short prayers, as was the final purification of the chalice. Before giving the final blessing , as an accompanying prayer to the altar kiss , the priest said the prayer Placeat , addressed to the Trinity ( Missal p. 345).
- Thanksgiving after the holy mass ( Gratiarium actio post missam ) ( Missale p. (51) - (53)): When leaving , the priest quietly spoke the Benedicite , the hymn of praise of the three young men in the fiery furnace from Dan 3.51–90 EU . The missal contained further orations and meditative texts for the priest's private prayer.
Ordinary form
Even after the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, a distinction is made between prayer “in the name of the Church” and private prayers “in one's own name”:
“The priest, in his capacity as ruler, recites prayers on behalf of the Church and the assembled community; but sometimes he also prays in his own name in order to carry out his ministry with greater concentration and devotion. Such prayers, which are scheduled before the preaching of the Gospel, when preparing gifts, and before and after the priest's communion, are spoken quietly. "
The accompanying prayers for the preparation of the gifts (“Praised are you, Lord”, Benedictus es, Domine and “Through the mystery of this water and wine”, Per huius aquae , GORM 141f.) Continue to have a semi-private character and can be spoken softly or loudly; if they are spoken aloud, the congregation replies: “Blessed are you forever, Lord our God”.
Before communion, the priest says only one of the two earlier private prayers. When communicating he speaks two short formulas (“The body / blood of Christ keep me for eternal life”, Corpus / Sanguis Christi custodiat me in vitam aeternam. ) When purifying the chalice, he continues to say “What we have received with the mouth”, Quod ore sumpsimus (GORM 156-163).
In the mass with the deacon , the deacon continues to ask for the celebrant's blessing before the Gospel: “Lord, speak the blessing”, Iube, domne, benedicere . The celebrant blesses him with the words: “The Lord be in your heart”, Dominus sit in corde tuo (GORM 60, 175). At the concelebration , the priest who recites the Gospel also receives the celebrant's blessing (GORM 212).
Private prayers in other Christian liturgies
- In the Eastern Orthodox churches , the clergy's private prayers are part of the liturgy, such as the “ inclination prayers” before and after communion . In the Divine Liturgy , the church service is preceded by a preparatory liturgy by the clergy, the proscomidy .
- In the Anglican Community , private prayers were largely abolished with the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer . In the course of Anglo- Catholicism , they are practiced in high church parishes and dioceses, but always at the discretion of the celebrant .
- The Old Catholic Mass forms usually follow the Roman rite. According to Adolf Thürlings' missal (1888), the priest said the prayers in silence. Today, in general, private prayers are no longer customary in the liturgy.
Individual evidence
- ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Missarum Sollemnia. A Genetic Explanation of the Roman Mass , Volume One , 5th Edition. Herder, Vienna / Freiburg / Basel 1962, p. 102.
- ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Missarum Sollemnia. A Genetic Explanation of the Roman Mass , Volume One , 5th Edition. Herder, Vienna / Freiburg / Basel 1962, pp. 128f.188.
- ↑ Missale Romanum ex decret SS. Concilii Tridentini restitutum Summorum Pontificium cura recognitum. Editio XXIX post typicam . Ratisbonae n.d. [1953].
- ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Missarum Sollemnia. A Genetic Explanation of the Roman Mass , Volume Two, 5th Edition. Herder, Vienna / Freiburg / Basel 1962, p. 52.
- ↑ [1]
- ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Missarum Sollemnia. A Genetic Explanation of the Roman Mass , Volume Two, 5th Edition. Herder, Vienna / Freiburg / Basel 1962, p. 428.
- ↑ Urs Küry : The Old Catholic Church. 3. Edition. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt / M. 1982, here p. 74.
- ^ Joachim Pfützner: Basics of the old Catholic liturgy. (PDF; 870 kB) Part II: Lord's Supper. Old Catholic seminar at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, p. 7f. , accessed on April 6, 2020 .