Prayers Over the People
Date: March 29, 2026
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Question: During Lent the presider at Mass has the option of saying, after the Postcommunion prayer, a Prayer over the People. I have seen presiders go directly from the Postcommunion Prayer to the Prayer over the People, as though they were two paragraphs of the same prayer, and then say the simple form of the final blessing. In my reading of the rubrics, however, the Prayer over the People is part of the final blessing, and the blessing should be the longer form, not the usual one. Therefore, the proper sequence seems to be the following: 1) Postcommunion Prayer; 2) Announcements (if any); 3) “The Lord be with you …”; 4) “Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing”; 5) Prayer over the People; 6) Longer form of final blessing, which includes “now, and remain with you forever”; 7) Dismissal. Unfortunately, the Roman Missal does not provide a single place with a full script for this scenario, leaving us unsure of what exactly to do. — D.J., Buffalo, New York
Answer: As noted by our reader, during Lent, the historic Prayers over the People have been restored to the Roman Missal after an absence of over 30 years. The missal provides these texts for each day of Lent and does not offer the triple solemn blessings for the Lenten season except for the "Passion of the Lord" which could be used on Palm Sunday or Good Friday.
The 1970s missal did contain some of these prayers in an appendix among other prayers and blessings for use during the year.
The 2001 missal restores a distinct Prayer over the People for each day of Lent as well as retaining the section of prayers for other times of the year.
On weekdays of Lent there is a rubric that says that the Prayer over the People is optional. On Sundays the prayer is also there but lacking the rubric “for optional use.”
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) says the following about solemn blessings and prayers over the people:
“167. On certain days and occasions this blessing, in accordance with the rubrics, is expanded and expressed by a Prayer over the People or another more solemn formula.
“185. If a Prayer over the People or a formula of Solemn Blessing is used, the Deacon says, Bow down for the blessing. After the Priest’s blessing, the Deacon, with hands joined and facing the people, dismisses the people, saying, Ite, missa est (Go forth, the Mass is ended).”
This indication is repeated in the rubrics before the section containing solemn blessings and other prayers over the people which follow immediately after the order of Mass. It contains blessings and prayers for specific times and seasons of the year. Some special feasts and celebrations have proper solemn blessings.
The fact that GIRM 167 says that the blessing is "expanded and expressed" by the prayer over the people helps resolve the question as to if it is recited immediately after the closing prayer preceding the blessing. It is clearly part of the blessing as an optional expansion. GIRM 185, in clarifying the role of the deacon, further cements the position of the Prayer over the People within the context of the blessing.
Note that the text in the missal no longer says that the deacon “may” say the invitation "Bow down for the blessing." It would thus now appear to form a stable part of the rite whenever a solemn blessing or Prayer over the People is chosen.
The overarching rule is that these may be used “at the discretion of the priest at the end of the celebration of Mass, or of a Liturgy of the Word, or of the Office, or of the Sacraments.”
Since the general rule leaves the use of these prayers and blessings to the priest’s discretion, the absence of an indication that they are optional on Sundays would not translate into an obligation to use them, although it would indicate a strong encouragement to use them every Sunday. Likewise, the fact that they are printed for each day of Lent also motivates their daily use.
According to eminent scholars, the tradition of these orations has its roots as far back as the third century. The deacon’s invitation to the people to bow the head for the blessing is also very ancient, even though the present Latin formula does not appear before the year 800.
It is not fully understood why these prayers became reserved for the Lenten season in the Roman liturgy, since many of the ancient sources contain similar prayers for all seasons of the year. Perhaps it is because Lent and the Easter triduum have usually retained the older traditions.
Apart from the evident difference that the solemn blessing uses three prayers rather than the single prayer over the people, there are also some stylistic differences. The solemn blessing is usually addressed directly to the faithful, imploring God’s blessing upon them. Let us take as an example the solemn blessing for the Passion of the Lord.
“May God, the Father of mercies, who has given you an example of love in the Passion of his Only Begotten Son, grant that, by serving God and your neighbor, you may lay hold of the wondrous gift of his blessing. R. Amen.
“So that you may receive the reward of everlasting life from him, through whose earthly Death you believe that you escape eternal death. R. Amen.
“And by following the example of his self-abasement, may you possess a share in his Resurrection. R. Amen.
“And may the blessing of almighty God ….” “The Mass is ended .…”
The Prayer over the People, however, is mostly addressed directly to God for the faithful. Other characteristics of these formulas is that the personal object of these blessings is not usually designated as “us” but rather as “your people," "your servants," "your faithful," "those who bow before your majesty," "those who make supplication to you," "those who call upon you.”
A further characteristic is that the spiritual graces implored for in the prayer are sought not in a general way as in other prayers but for the indefinite future with phrases such as "always," "perpetual protection," "constantly," etc.
One example of these characteristics is found in the prayer used for the first Sunday of Lent:
May bountiful blessing, O Lord, we pray,
come down upon your people,
that hope may grow in tribulation,
virtue be strengthened in temptation,
and eternal redemption be assured.
Through Christ our Lord.
Another example is a text currently used on Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent, although already present in the seventh- and eighth-century Gelasian and Veronese Sacramentary manuscripts:
“Be gracious to your people, Lord, we pray,
that, as from day to day they reject what does not please you,
they may be filled instead with delight at your commands.
Through Christ our Lord.”
Hence, the scheme proposed by our reader in his question is broadly correct.
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Follow-up: Altar of Repose
Finally, in the wake of our comments in a previous article on not using a monstrance for adoration on Holy Thursday, a reader from Oaxaca, Mexico, asked: "In my city, every year they make several altars of repose having exposition with a monstrance. Is this incorrect and should it be avoided?"
I think it was clear from the previous article that, except where there is an explicit indult from the Holy See, this practice is forbidden.
Therefore, our reader should first point out the relevant norms to his parish priest. If this is indeed a widespread situation in the diocese, he should bring the question to the bishop's attention.
The bishop, in his role as regulator of the liturgy for the diocese, can either give instructions to the priests regarding respect for the universal norms, or, if he considers that it is a longstanding custom, petition the Holy see for an exception to the universal norms.
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Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word "Liturgy" in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.