Intentional Intentions: ​Writing Petitions For The Prayer Of The Faithful

The Liturgy of the Word at Mass is brought to a conclusion - and reaches its climax - with the Prayers of the Faithful in the Roman Missal also referred to as the Universal Prayer or Bidding Prayers. 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal explains that, in the Prayer of the Faithful, the people exercise the office of their baptismal priesthood by offering prayers to God for the salvation of all (GIRM 69). The early Church took this so seriously that only the baptised were allowed to be present for this part of Mass. 

As the name 'Prayer of the Faithful' indicates, it is the prayer of the gathered members of the assembly, the Body of Christ, not of the presider, nor the person who composed or reads them, nor someone who has taken ready-made intercessions from a book. 

This is one of the most misunderstood and poorly celebrated parts of the Mass. Often it is not the 'prayer of the faithful' at all but more like the private prayers of the writer. Some are more like mini-homilies or news bulletins. 

The pattern is: 

• The presider begins by addressing the faithful to draw them into prayer.

• The intentions are announced by a deacon, cantor or reader. These are an invitation to pray.

• After each petition there is a period of silence. If there is no silence, then there is no prayer - just a list of statements. The petitions only become the 'Prayer of the Faithful' when the people respond to the invitation and formulate a prayer in their hearts.

• After a substantial time of silence, the reader give a cue, such as Lord, hear us, to bring the assembly's separate prayers to a close with a common response, Lord, hear our prayer.

• The presider concludes with a prayer in the form of a Collect which sums up the prayer of the assembly.

Because the Universal Prayer makes a connection between the Eucharist and the daily life of Christians, the intentions need to encompass both the day-to-day lives of people in the community and also what is happening in the world. Published sets of bidding prayers in books or on websites should be used only as models as they do not include current local, national and global issues. 

Those responsible for preparing the petitions for the parish's Prayer of the Faithful at Mass have an important role. Preparing the Prayer of the Faithful petitions is easy to do well if the writer follows a couple of straightforward principles. 

The GIRM 70 sets out the typical sequence of intentions: for the needs of the Church, for public authorities and the salvation of the whole world, for those burdened by any kind of difficulty, for the local community. These are taken broadly. At weddings and funerals, the intentions will refer more specifically to the sacramental occasion. 

The petitions should be brief, simply constructed and clearly articulated; there is absolutely no need to turn them into mini-homilies by telling God what to do and how we want it done! The phrase Let us pray for/that ... which is often used to introduce intentions gives a good indication of the style that is called for here, for example, Let us pray for those suffering the effects of drought in outback Queensland. 

Because the reader is not addressing prayer to God but announcing intentions to the people, the word "you" should not appear. The petitions are NOT prayers; they simply name those people and causes which are the object of our prayer. 

Preparing the prayers requires commitment: 

• Read the scriptures set down for that Mass

• Check the Ordo for special commemorations

• Consult any material sent by Church agencies

• Check published models for new ideas and variety

• Make careful choices - limit the number of petitions to 5 or 6

• Remember it is a petitionary prayer, not thanksgiving, praise, or penitence

The intentions announced should be sober, be com­posed with a wise liberty and in few words ... (GIRM 71). The importance of using discretion when writing the Universal Prayer cannot be overemphasised. Those who write prayer petitions need to be judicious in respecting people's privacy and (especially in relation to controversial issues) their sensibilities. How do you pray at election time? What prayer do you make for refugees and migrants? When is it appropriate to use someone's name in a prayer for the sick or the dead? 

Protestant theologian Karl Barth's advice to preachers is relevant for preparing intercessions: write with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. By being attentive to what is happening in the world and in the local community, by respecting the Church's liturgical prayers and readings, and with a little practice, most people can prepare intercessions that are truly worthy of the community's prayer. It is an awesome task to formulate the words with which the gathered Church seeks God's help. 

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This article was originally published in Liturgy News ​Vol 49(2) June 2019. Reprinted with permission.