Prayer of the Faithful
Date: May 25, 2025
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Question: According to the GIRM No. 138, the person who announces the intentions during the Prayer of the Faithful should be facing the people. However, in my church, that person faces the altar. The priest explained that this person is a representative of all the faithful who leads parishioners to announce their prayers. As a result, this person should face the altar. Why is facing the people emphasized here? — H.C., Candiac, Quebec
Answer: Number 138 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), cited by our correspondent, says:
“138. After the recitation of the Creed, the priest, standing at the chair with hands joined, by means of a brief introduction invites the faithful to participate in the Prayer of the Faithful. Then the cantor, the lector, or another person announces the intentions from the ambo or from some other suitable place while facing the people, who take their part by responding in supplication. After the intentions, the priest, with hands extended, concludes the petitions with a prayer.”
This number is quite clear that the Prayer of the Faithful is proclaimed facing the people; this norm should be followed.
I think that theological argument proposed by our reader’s pastor to defend a novel means of proclaiming probably requires further refinement before becoming a sufficiently convincing argument to persuade the Church to abandon its legitimate, customary practice.
The principal norms regarding the Prayer of the Faithful are found in the GIRM and the Introduction to the Lectionary. First, from the GIRM:
“69. In the Prayer of the Faithful, the people respond in a certain way to the word of God which they have welcomed in faith and, exercising the office of their baptismal priesthood, offer prayers to God for the salvation of all. It is fitting that such a prayer be included, as a rule, in Masses celebrated with a congregation, so that petitions will be offered for the holy Church, for civil authorities, for those weighed down by various needs, for all men and women, and for the salvation of the whole world.
“70. As a rule, the series of intentions is 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.
"71. It is for the priest celebrant to direct this prayer from the chair. He himself begins it with a brief introduction, by which he invites the faithful to pray, and likewise he concludes it with a prayer. The intentions announced should be sober, be composed freely but prudently, and be succinct, and they should express the prayer of the entire community.
"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.
"The people, however, stand and give expression to their prayer either by an invocation said together after each intention or by praying in silence."
The second source is the Introduction to the Lectionary, Nos. 30-31.
No. 30 states: "In the light of God's word and in a sense in response to it, the congregation of the faithful prays in the universal prayer as a rule for the needs of the universal Church and the local community, for the salvation of the world and those oppressed by any burden, and for special categories of people.
"The celebrant introduces the prayer; a deacon, another minister, or some of the faithful may propose intentions that are short and phrased with a measure of freedom. In these petitions 'the people, exercising its priestly function, makes intercession for all men and women,' with the result that, as the liturgy of the word has its full effects in the faithful, they are better prepared to proceed to the liturgy of the Eucharist."
No. 31 continues: "For the prayer of the faithful the celebrant presides at the chair and the intentions are announced at the ambo. The assembled congregation takes part in the prayer of the faithful while standing and by saying or singing a common response after each intention or by silent prayer."
In the light of the above documents, I believe it is not quite accurate to say that the person proclaiming the intention represents the people’s prayer.
This is because the liturgical norms consider that the minister indicating the intentions of the universal prayer is usually the deacon (see GIRM 171.d), followed by the instituted lector when no deacon is present (see GIRM 187), and lacking both of these, any member or members of the faithful. For a good reason other members of the faithful may indicate the intentions even if a deacon or instituted lectors are present.
Note, GIRM 138 does not mention the deacon because it comes from the section on “Mass without a deacon.”
Since the norms foresee that the person indicating the intentions would usually be a cleric or an instituted minister of the Church, the idea that this person turns toward the altar as “a representative of all the faithful who leads parishioners to announce their prayers” does not seem to follow through. With this logic, the priest should also turn toward the altar for the collect and the conclusive prayer of the general intercessions.
A second, and I believe, stronger reason for facing the people is because the announced intention is not itself the prayer of the congregation but rather what follows the announced intention.
When the Second Vatican Council decided to reintroduce the Universal Prayer to the liturgy in 1963, the Council Fathers stated in Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 53:
“Especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation there is to be restored, after the Gospel and the homily, 'the common prayer' or 'the prayer of the faithful.' By this prayer, in which the people are to take part, intercession will be made for holy Church, for the civil authorities, for those oppressed by various needs, for all mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world."
The Council speaks of restoring an ancient Catholic tradition of intercessory prayer which had fallen by the wayside over the centuries.
St. Paul exhorts Christians to offer "prayers, petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving for all: for rulers and all in authority, so that we may be able to live quiet and peaceful lives in the full practice of religion and of morality" (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
We see similar forms in the witnesses to the early liturgy, such as St. Justin Martyr (circa 155), who wrote that “on the Lord’s Day, after the reading of Scripture and the homily, all stand and offer the prayers” (First Apology, 67).
As the structure of the liturgy developed, the Prayer of the Faithful formed the link between the two principal parts of the celebration: the “Mass of the Catechumens” and the “Mass of the Faithful.” Thus, after the homily, and before the Prayer of the Faithful, those who were still preparing for baptism, and, in some places, those who were doing public penance were dismissed from the celebration since they could not yet receive Communion.
The Prayer of the Faithful at this time took on the form like that which has survived in the liturgy as the universal prayer on Good Friday:
The deacon or the celebrant invites all the faithful to pray on a particular topic “Let us prayer for ….” The assembly prays in silence. The deacon may invite all to kneel during this silence.
After a pause for silence, the assembly is directed to stand if it had been kneeling. The celebrant then prays a “collect” prayer addressed to God that gathers the people’s silent prayer. The assembly assents to this prayer by saying, “Amen.” After this the next subject for prayer is addressed.
After the sixth century, with the prevalence of infant baptism and the advent of private, rather than public, penance, the different dismissals tended to disappear as there were few adult catechumens and no public penitents.
Thus, Pope Gelasius I (492-496), moved the Prayer of the Faithful to the beginning of the Mass and adopted a simpler form like a litany whose response was usually “Kyrie, eleison.” Later, Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) shortened these intercessions even more, leaving only the repeated “Kyrie, eleison” response which we still use today.
The current practice is inspired by the ancient form but in a simplified manner.
It should be noted that Sacrosanctum Concilium 53 refers to prayer “in which the people are to take part.” Therefore, the action of the Prayer of the Faithful is of the whole assembly and not of a representative.
An important point to observe here is that the people's "exercising the priestly function" is not limited to those who read the intentions. Indeed, the announced intentions are not actually prayer formulas as such, insofar as the formulas express an intention for the faithful to pray for but are not directed to God.
The "prayer" of the Prayer of the Faithful consists in the response or silent prayer made by the people after the invitation "Let us pray to the Lord."
Thus, the exercise of the common priesthood lies in the very fact that each member of the assembly participates in offering intercessory prayer for all men and women. Interceding before God for our fellows is an eminently priestly function in which all baptized Catholics may participate albeit always in communion with the sacred priesthood.
To have the person announcing the intention face the altar could be interpreted as elevating the intention to the level of being the prayer itself, thus overshadowing the priestly action of the entire assembly.
By facing the people in announcing the intentions, the person who does so, be he deacon, lector or any member of the faithful, is not set apart as a representative of the faithful but emphasizes his or her ministerial role as a member of the assembly who offers a service that facilitates the exercise of the common baptismal priesthood of the entire assembly.
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