Recitation of the Divine Praises
Date: December 14, 2025
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Question: There are so many online articles regarding the Divine Praises. I don’t see any articles that address the method of delivery of the Divine Praises. Example: We have one lector who provides everyone with a scripted worship aide containing all the words of the Divine Praises, yet requires that she speak the first line, and everyone repeat it after her: ‘Blessed be God,’ then, ‘Blessed be God’ and on and on. If the audience were 5 years old and could not read, or if adults had no script, I might understand this, but is it acceptable to let the adults in the room be adults and read the prayer together in concert or unison? As we would recite the Our Father or the Hail Mary? I feel we are treating our adults like children when we pray like this. Perhaps there is a historical or liturgical reason why it must be done as such. I would love to have you weigh in on this. — V.D., Southern California
Answer: With respect to the mode of recitation of the Divine Praises, we are very much in the area of opinion, local custom and common sense rather than that of strict liturgical law.
As we recalled on March 15, 2025, the prayers called the Divine Praises, or the prayers of reparation for profanity and blasphemy, are a sequence of acclamations, blessing God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and all the angels and saints.
They were originally composed in 1797, in Italian, by Jesuit Father Luigi Felici (1736-1818). He composed them after working pastorally with the sailors of Ripa Grande, a fluvial port on Rome’s Tiber River.
The original version had eight praises. Over the centuries the popes have added another six: “Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception” was added by Pius IX in 1851; “Blessed be his Most Sacred Heart” by Leo XIII in 1897; “Blessed be St Joseph, her most chaste spouse” by Benedict XV in 1921; “Blessed be her glorious Assumption,” by Pius XII in 1952; “Blessed be his Most Precious Blood” by John XXIII in 1960; and “Blessed be the Holy Spirit the Paraclete” by Paul VI in 1964.
Insofar as there is an official Latin text, it would be found in the Compendium Eucharisticum published by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 2009, which recovered the Divine Praises within the rite of exposition and Benediction. They had been omitted from earlier editions of this rite.
According to the rubrics, these may be used as an acclamation of the people while the Blessed Sacrament is being reposed following Benediction.
Although this is the official rubric, there are still many places, including some papal events, where the custom prevails that they are recited immediately before the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.
With respect to the manner of recital, these invocations clearly belong to the area of custom and, at least in practice, there would seem to be several possibilities as to how they are proclaimed. This is probably why our reader found few if any precise instructions.
We must remember that they were originally composed as a kind of litany, in a period when there was still widespread illiteracy, and in which perhaps only the officiating priest had a copy of the printed text.
Therefore, the most likely initial scenario was that the minister would read or chant each invocation, and the faithful would repeat the phrase. This manner is still very widespread and, in some places, deeply ingrained as an established custom. This is probably why the lector our reader mentions probably desires to maintain this manner. I doubt very much she is consciously slighting the other members of the assembly.
As our correspondent points out, however, times change. Today practically everybody is able to read the texts that they have before them, whether in books, mobiles or tablets.
Due to this, many communities have abandoned the previous manner of reciting the Divine Praises in favor of the common unified recitation by the whole assembly omitting the repetitions. Effectively, this manner appears to be gaining ground and seems more adequate in modern society.
In some places, rather than the minister, lector or assembly simply reciting the text, the choir and people chant each acclamation in unison. This method was used, for example, at the conclusion of Pope Leo XIV's procession of Corpus Christi in 2025. It was also sung with the Blessed Sacrament returned to the altar after Benediction, with the deacon beginning the reservation only once the Divine Praises had concluded.
Therefore, since there is no official or prescribed form, this is a topic that can be addressed in charity among those of our reader's group who dedicate time for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
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