Good morning, Father Angelo,

I have a question for you. Carrying out a service at my parish, I had the grace to see up close how the Holy Mass is prepared and how the lectionaries and the Missal are used. Leafing through the latter, I discovered that there is a section called “Preparatio ad Missam” and “Gratiarium actio Post Missam” where there are prayers that the priest is invited to recite privately (for example in the sacristy) before celebrating, in order to gather spiritually and detach himself from the world, and once the Eucharistic celebration is concluded as thanksgiving.

Reading them, I realized that they are very beautiful and not at all obvious since they offer a great help by expressing well what one must have in one’s heart when one stands before God and gives thanks for His sacrifice. I wonder if, being contained in the Missal, they are to be considered reserved for priests and, therefore, forbidden to all others. In that case I ask you if you could recommend some prayers of preparation for the Mass and of thanksgiving that can equally help those who are not priests to prepare for the Holy Mass and to adequately give thanks to God for all that He gives us.

May the Lord fill you with blessings for all the good you do for souls also thanks to this telematic service.

Kind regards.

Priest’s answer

Dear friend,

1. This email of yours gives me the opportunity to make available to all our visitors those treasures that you have discovered while browsing the pages of the Roman Missal.

In the past, priests had to recite those and other prayers on their knees in the sacristy. They had a large printout in front of them from which they could read them before and after Mass.

Those who went to the sacristy would find the priest kneeling in front of that printout. In the meantime, the utmost silence was maintained in the sacristy because the priest was praying.

Only after he had stood up could one confer with him.

2. Today this rule is no longer prescribed. However, priests are encouraged to pray before and after Mass.

The mere fact that these prayers are reported in the Roman Missal is a sign that the Church wants priests to prepare themselves internally by thinking about what they are doing and what they are going to ask for themselves and for everyone.

These prayers can be said by anyone and certainly help one to prepare oneself in the most devout manner for the celebration of the Mass and to reap its fruits.

In the past they were reported in full in the so-called missals with the Latin and Italian text.

3. Here are the prayers presented in the Roman Missal to be said before the Mass.

Prayer of Saint Ambrose:

I draw near, loving Lord Jesus Christ, to the table of your most delightful banquet in fear and trembling, a sinner, presuming not upon my own merits, but trusting rather in your goodness and mercy. I have a heart and body defiled by my many offenses, a mind and tongue over which I have kept no good watch. Therefore, O loving God, O awesome Majesty, I turn in my misery, caught in snares, to you the fountain of mercy, hastening to you for healing, flying to you for protection; and while I do not look forward to having you as Judge, I long to have you as Savior. To you, O Lord, I display my wounds, to you I uncover my shame. I am aware of my many and great sins, for which I fear, but I hope in your mercies, which are without number. Look upon me, then, with eyes of mercy, Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and Man, crucified for mankind. Listen to me, as I place my hope in you, have pity on me, full of miseries and sins, you, who will never cease to let the fountain of compassion flow. Hail, O Saving Victim, offered for me and for the whole human race on the wood of the Cross. Hail, O noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of Jesus Christ, my crucified Lord, and washing away the sins of all the world.

Remember, Lord, your creature, whom you redeemed by your Blood. I am repentant of my sins, I desire to put right what I have done. Take from me, therefore, most merciful Father,
all my iniquities and sins, so that, purified in mind and body, I may worthily taste the Holy of Holies. And grant that this sacred foretaste of your Body and Blood which I, though unworthy, intend to receive, may be the remission of my sins, the perfect cleansing of my faults, the banishment of shameful thoughts, and the rebirth of right sentiments; and may it encourage a wholesome and effective performance of deeds pleasing to you and be a most firm defense of body and soul against the snares of my enemies. Amen.

Prayer of St. Thomas:

Almighty and ever-living God, I draw near to the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the physician of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the light of eternal brightness, poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

So I ask You, most generous Lord: graciously heal my infirmity, wash me clean, illumine my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.

May I receive the Bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with such reverence and humility, such contrition and devotion, such purity and faith, and such resolve and determination as may secure my soul’s salvation. Grant as I may receive not only the visible sign of the Lord’s Body and Blood, but also all the reality and the power of the sacrament.

Grant, most kind God, that I may receive the Body of Your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which He received from the Virgin Mary, and may receive it in such a way that I become a living part of His Mystical Body and counted among His members.

Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

O Mother of love and of mercy, most blessed Virgin Mary, I, who am a wretched and unworthy sinner, fly unto you with all my heart and will.  And I beseech your mercy that, even as you stood close to your most sweet Son as He hung upon the cross, so may you graciously be near to me and to all priests who offer Mass today, here and throughout all our holy Church; so that, aided by your grace, we may offer a worthy and acceptable sacrifice in the sight of the most high and undivided Trinity.  Amen.

Intention to be expressed before the celebration of Mass:

My purpose is to celebrate Mass and to make the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the rite of the holy Roman Church, to the praise of almighty God and of the whole Church triumphant in heaven, for my own welfare and that of the whole Church militant on earth, for all who in general and in particular have commended themselves to my prayers, and for the well-being of the holy Roman Church. Amen.

May joy and peace, amendment of life, room for true penitence, the grace and comfort of the Holy Ghost, and steadfastness in good works be granted us by the almighty and merciful Lord. Amen

4. And here are the prayers provided in thanksgiving after Mass:

Prayer of Saint Thomas:

I give thanks to Thee, O Lord, most holy, Father almighty, eternal God, that Thou hast vouchsafed, for no merit of mine own, but out of Thy pure mercy, to appease the hunger of my soul with the precious body and blood of Thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Humbly I implore Thee, let not this holy communion be to me an increase of guilt unto my punishment, but an availing plea unto pardon and salvation. Let it be to me the armour of faith and the shield of good will. May it root out from my heart all vice; may it utterly subdue my evil passions and all my unruly desires. May it perfect me in charity and patience; in humility and obedience; and in all other virtues. May it be my sure defence against the snares laid for me by my enemies, visible and invisible. May it restrain and quiet all my evil impulses, and make me ever cleave to Thee Who art the one true God. May I owe to it a happy ending of my life. And do Thou, O heavenly Father, vouchsafe one day to call me, a sinner, to that ineffable banquet, where Thou, together with Thy Son and the Holy Ghost, art to Thy saints true and unfailing light, fullness of content, joy for evermore, gladness without alloy, consummate and everlasting happiness. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen

Aspirations to the Most Holy Redeemer:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me,

Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.

Water from the side of Christ, wash me.

Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

O good Jesus, hear me.

Within Thy wounds hide me.

Permit me not to be separated from Thee.

From the malicious enemy defend me.

In the hour of my death call me,

And bid me come to Thee,

That, with thy saints, I may praise Thee,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

An oblation (St Ignatius Loyola)

Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess.  Thou hast given all to me.  To Thee, O Lord, I return it.  All is Thine; dispose of it wholly according to Thy will.  Give me Thy love and Thy grace.  With these I am rich enough, and I ask for nothing more.

Prayer to Our Lord Jesus Christ crucified:

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before Thy face I humbly kneel and with burning soul pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment; while I contemplate with great love and tender pity Thy five most precious wounds, pondering over them within me, while I call to mind the words which David Thy prophet said of Thee, my Jesus:  “They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones. Amen

Universal Prayer transmitted under the name of Pope Clement XI:

I believe, O Lord, but may I believe more firmly; I hope, but may I hope more securely; I love, but may I love more ardently; I sorrow, but may I sorrow more deeply.

I adore you as my first beginning; I long for you as my last end; I praise you as my constant benefactor; I invoke you as my gracious protector. 

By your wisdom direct me, By your righteousness restrain me, By your indulgence console me, By your power protect me. 

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts to be directed to you, my words, to be about you, my deeds, to respect your will, my trials, to be endured for you. 

I will whatever you will, I will it because you will it, I will it in the way you will it, I will it as long as you will it. 

Lord, enlighten my understanding, I pray: arouse my will, cleanse my heart, sanctify my soul. 

May I weep for past sins, repel future temptations, correct evil inclinations, nurture appropriate virtues. 

Give me, good God, love for you, hatred for myself, zeal for my neighbor, contempt for the world. 

May I strive to obey my superiors, to help those dependent on me, to have care for my friends, forgiveness for my enemies. 

May I conquer sensuality by austerity, avarice by generosity, anger by gentleness, lukewarmness by fervor. Render me prudent in planning, steadfast in dangers, patient in adversity, humble in prosperity. 

Make me, O Lord, attentive at prayer, moderate at meals, diligent at work, steadfast in intent. 

May I be careful to maintain interior innocence, outward modesty, exemplary behavior, a regular life. 

May I be always watchful in subduing nature, in nourishing grace, in observing your law, in winning salvation. 

May I learn from you how precarious are earthly things, how great divine things, how fleeting is time, how lasting things eternal. 

Grant that I may prepare for death, fear judgment, flee hell, gain paradise. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Mary, holy Virgin Mother, I have received your Son, Jesus Christ. With love you became His mother, gave birth to Him, nursed Him, and helped Him grow to manhood. With love I return Him to you, to hold once more, to love with all your heart, and to offer to the Holy Trinity as our supreme act of worship for your honor and the good of all your pilgrim brothers and sisters. Mother, ask God to forgive my sins and to help me to serve Him more faithfully. Keep me true to Christ until death, and let me come to praise Him with you for ever and ever. Amen.

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