Prayers of the Faithful

After the creed we have the Prayers of the Faithful. The deacon or one of the lectors reads each prayer, and we respond with, “Hear our prayer.” Please join in on that response. If you don’t say anything, then you are not offering up that prayer. Parents should encourage their children to also say the response. The Prayers of the Faithful are an ancient part of the mass. For some reason they weren’t part of the mass for a number of centuries before the Second Vatican Council, but in a description of the mass that we have from Justin Martyr in the year 150, the Prayers of the Faithful were part of the mass back then. The Second Vatican Council brought back that part of the mass, and we will continue offering up our prayers in the third edition of the Roman Missal.