Common Prayer as the Prayer of the Faithful

Abstract

The approval that was expressed after the Vatican Council II had reintroduced common prayer, confirmed its significant role in the liturgy of the Holy Mass. In the article an analysis is made of common prayer as the prayer of the faithful. The roots of common prayer and its development in the first centuries are shown. It has always had the character of the prayer of the faithful – said by the christened ones; sometimes penitents were not admitted to it. Along with the decline of the catechumenate, part of the intentions of the prayer of the faithful were taken over by the Gelasian litany ad introitum, which was then reduced to the phrase Kyrie eleison. Other calls of common prayer have found their equivalents as intercessory prayers in the canon of the Holy Mass. Relics of common prayer were preserved in the form of “prayers after the sermon”. The lack of common prayer in the Holy Mass gave rise to its substitutes in folk religiousness.

The post-Council liturgy shows common prayer as a prayer actualizing the faithful’s universal priesthood. The rites in the missal, emphasizing the role of the priest who directs the prayer, at the same time raise the status of the participation of the deacon and the laity in them.

The author of the article also cites some liturgists who considered common prayer a separate part of the Holy Mass between the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. Other liturgists distinguish the liturgy of love in the Holy Mass that consists of common prayer and preparation of the offertory – the spiritual and material gifts. Although these conceptions have not been accepted, they shed important light on the essence of common prayer.

A careful and profound preparation of common prayer is an important task for liturgical formation.