ASK FATHER: St. Michael Prayer after Novus Ordo Masses

St. Michael by Daniel Mitsui. Click for more.

From a reader…

I am a parishioner at ___. In general, we have been blessed … with clergy who are either traditionally-minded, or at least not hostile to tradition.
Several years ago, one of the priests started us praying the Prayer to St. Michael after daily Mass. It really caught on and some of the congregation took to starting it themselves as the celebrant processes out of the sanctuary. Last summer, we got a new parochial vicar who is not as friendly to tradition. Even though he is theologically orthodox and as far as I can tell politically conservative, he has done some questionable things with the liturgy, which I won’t get into here. He has tried on many occasions to “quash” (his word) the Prayer’s being recited because he sees it as part of some “ultra-conservative agenda.” Whenever someone starts it after Mass, he follows up with that person later and asks them not to. He says that the recitation of the prayer was initiated for a specific purpose, which is no longer applicable, [?!?] though he encourages us to pray whatever we want in the silence of our hearts. What do you make of this?

What do I make of this….?

I wonder if this young man knows that St. John Paul II – who should be named Doctor of the Church – during a Regina Caeli address in 1994 recommended that people pray the St. Michael prayer for the Church.

It is crazy to think of people in church praying a traditional prayer such as the Prayer to St. Michael as being part of an “ultra-conservative agenda”.  Who even knows what that means?  “Ultra-conservative” like… what?  The SSPX?  They don’t say the Leonine Prayers after Mass as far as I know.

If people are moved to pray such a prayer, why should they be stopped?   Is there some other important official business that has to be conducted at that very moment?

It isn’t as if people were attempting glossalalia.  They aren’t babbling incoherently.  The St. Michael was written by a Pope.  Leo XIII had a frightening vision the battle between the Church and Satan. He wrote the prayer and ordered that it be added to the prayers Pius IX had commanded to be recited after Low Masses (Pius X added the three-fold invocation of the Sacred Heart), which continued until the time of Vatican II.

One must ask: Does anyone think that Satan has stopped waging war on the Church?   We still need to say prayers precisely like this.  Is there a better time than when people are together in church?  It doesn’t take very long.  People can have their moment of silent prayer and say their thanksgiving prayers directly after.

Prayers after Mass were commanded by Popes for various reasons, such as defense of the temporal goods of the Papal States against secular aggression.  That intention is outdated.  So what?  They were recited for the “conversion of Russia”.  Some say Russia has been converted.  I am not one of them.  Does anyone think that everything is hunky-dory with a Christian Russia these days?  Even if some say that that intention is no longer a concern, so what?   Pray them for another reason.

How about defense of our Christian brethren in the Middle East and Africa from the hellish attacks by Islamic terrorists?  Is that a good enough reason?  How about defense of religious liberty in these United States?  Is that a good enough reason?

Specific intentions come and go.  The prayers we recite can be reapplied for other intentions.  You could have a different intention each day of the week.

I think that people should pray not only the St. Michael Prayer, but the whole of the so-called Leonine Prayers, including the collect:

O God, our refuge and our strength, look down with mercy upon the people who cry to Thee; and by the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Saint Joseph her spouse, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy mercy and goodness hear our prayers for the conversion of sinners, and for the liberty and exaltation of the Holy Mother the Church. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

What’s wrong with that prayer?  It even mentions mercy, which is quite fashionable these days.  It mentions mercy twice.

We need prayers like these now more than ever.

Bishops everywhere, and the Holy Father too, should reinstate the Leonine Prayers after Masses.  There are urgent and burning intentions to pray for and these prayers are just the thing.

Then I would start a movement for people spontaneously to recite after the Leonine Prayers also a Memorare for their bishop.  Would our young assistant object to that?

Finally, it strikes me that this young assistant is not the pastor. He has no authority on his own. He would do better to pray with the people rather than trying to snuff out what the Holy Spirit could be moving them to do.  He should kneel down at the steps of the altar and lead the prayer.  Don’t beat them.  Join them.  It’s not as if they are praying to Gandhi or are making up stuff.

 

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56 Comments

  1. One might ask not whether the St. Michael prayer should be said following Mass, but whether what personal prayers people say after Mass is any business of the priest. In any event, there is initiative fairly widespread–I understand, with prayer cards distributed–for people to say the St. Michael prayer after Mass for the intention of an end to abortion.

  2. JamesM says:

    As I understand it the SSPX don’t say the Leonine Prayers after Low Mass….they normally sing the Marian antiphon of the season instead.

  3. JamesM says:

    As I understand it the SSPX have also been known the recite the Our Father on occasion….

    …..probably best to avoid that, lest one be viewed as Catholic….sorry, I mean “conservative”

  4. DavidJ says:

    A visiting priest celebrating Mass for us started both the St. Michael prayer and the memorare after Mass ended before processing out. It was good to hear.

  5. vandalia says:

    My guess is that the parochial vicar views the saying of the prayer as a violation of the law that

    “therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority”

    Now, obviously, after “Mass is ended” this prohibition no longer applies and the faithful are essentially free to do whatever they would like. Given the description, this is probably the issue.

  6. SMC-BC says:

    Could the writers ‘new parochial vicar’ be following the Inter oecumenici where is says “the Leonine Prayers are suppressed”?

  7. Priam1184 says:

    I personally think that all of the Leonine prayers should be said after every Mass… for the conversion of the United States, and for the reconversion of what used to be the Catholic world. We in the West need those prayers a whole lot more than Russia does. At least they haven’t yet reached the moronic depths of both applauding and implementing the idiotic idea of men marrying men and women marrying women.

    In may ways we are doing as much harm to the world, if not more, than the USSR did in its glory days.

  8. KevinSymonds says:

    This is a shameless plug, I know, but my article in the recent Latin Mass Magazine (Winter/Spring 2015) discusses the point of whether the Leonine Prayers should be said or not (in addition to a basic history of the prayers).

    I am working on a follow-up article.

  9. jfk03 says:

    Recently, while visiting a Latin rite parish in my area, I was happy to witness the Leonine prayers being recited at the end of Mass, just as in the pre-Vatican II days. This seems to be catching on.

  10. iPadre says:

    We began praying it following daily Mass shortly after I arrived at Holy Ghost. The spiritual warfare has been non-stop and we need all the help we can get.

    We have also been praying it after weekend Masses for persecuted Christians throughout the world for the last month.

    I would think that everyone could read the signs by now – we are at war and the devil is kicking our but! It’s time to fight back.

  11. Sonshine135 says:

    My family and I are in the habit of saying the three Aves for the Immaculate Conception, Salve Regina, St. Michael Prayer, and Sacred Heart invocation at the end of every NO Mass. If we did it as a congregation, all the better. The Priest probably doesn’t like the idea of spiritual battle or church militant, and he has already given indications that he is less than happy with Traditional Catholic spirituality. I pity him.

  12. Grumpy Beggar says:

    Face. . . Hands . . .

    The day St. Michael becomes outdated would also have to be the day the people of God ceases to exist.

    I guess , no . . . I talk too much, but please have a look:

    Benedict XVI Joins Pope Francis in Consecrating Vatican to St Michael Archangel

    And further to Henry Edwards’ post : Number of Abortions – Abortion Counters

  13. CPT TOM says:

    In my parish and most of the parishes in this corner of our diocese, we say three Hail Mary’s for the souls of those who will die during the week. I tack on the prayer of St Michael as well. Some of us asked one of our older priests (early 70s in age) if we could say the St Michael prayer and we got the same answer “that prayer shouldn’t be said anymore after Mass.” Is it something about the age of priest, because I’ve heard this before from other priests of about the same age.

  14. frival says:

    The pastor of a nearby parish recently added the St. Michael prayer after Mass and also formed teams to lead a Rosary before each Sunday Mass (they already pray a Rosary before each daily Mass). He mentioned that he had been asked when he planned to stop these new additions. His response (paraphrased due to my tired memory): “when abortion has been outlawed, when religious freedom is recognized and respected, when marriage is once again understood as between one man and one woman for life, and when our brethren in the Middle East can live in safety then I’ll think about it – until then I have big guns and I’m going to use them.”

  15. Some must wonder why certain clergy work so hard at squashing the piety of the laity, especially piety that involves direct battles against the demonic.

    And if spiritual warfare is non-stop these days, why give up and risk giving the enemy control over a parish?

  16. HyacinthClare says:

    Oh, frival! Three cheers for that priest!!

  17. jonguz says:

    From Msgr. Pope at OSV:

    Among the devotions that attached themselves were a number of prayers said after the dismissal from Mass, which included the prayer to St. Michael.

    Liturgists of the time sensed that lesser devotions after the greatest devotion somehow implied an inadequacy in the prayer of holy Mass.

    Whether or not you agree, that was the thinking at the time, which led to the elimination of many, if not all, devotions immediately after the Mass.

    That said, you and fellow parishioners are not forbidden from praying certain prayers and devotions after Mass, even with the priest. It is best, however, to allow those who need to depart to leave before the beginning of devotions. Otherwise, people feel trapped, and the instruction that they may go is lost or reduced in meaning.

    I mean, I guess this makes sense. Thoughts? Especially about that last part about beginning devotions after time is allotted for people who need to depart?

    Also re: Fr Z’s comment “Does anyone think that Satan has stopped waging war on the Church?”

    There are many Catholics these days who have been “liberated” from the idea that hell and satan exist, so yes, there are people that think that. I remember CCD class, when several classmates stubbornly professed unbelief in hell and satan, and were still confirmed!

  18. Imrahil says:

    The SSPX? They don’t say the Leonine Prayers after Mass as far as I know.

    After Low Mass they do; as does the FSSP.

  19. acricketchirps says:

    Fr Z answers his own question re the ultra-conservative agenda”.

    Q. Who even knows what that means?
    A. Not praying to Gandhi or … making up stuff.

  20. FranzJosf says:

    On a related note about prayers after Mass for a special intention: When I lived in Mobile, Alabama, the Archbishop asked that the Divine Praises be recited after Mass during Hurricane Season. Interestingly, as far back as anyone can remember, say four or five bishops, every time there was a direct hit by a hurricane, the bishop was out of town. To this day, my friends tell me, if a hurricane threatens, in the grocery store, over the phone, at a cocktail party, someone will ask, “Is the bishop in town?” People call the chancery to ask, as well. Kinda cool.

  21. Supertradmum says:

    Bishop Paprocki ordered all the NO Masses to include the St. Michael’s Prayer. Here is the quotation, but the Catholic Times link is not working. This happened in 2011, I think.

    “Bishop Thomas John Paprocki has authorized that beginning immediately the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel be said at every Mass celebrated in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois after the dismissal and before the recessional or closing song.”

    St. Padre Pio stated that a quiet demon is to be more feared than a raging one. Those bishops who cannot hear the demons attacking the Church must be in trouble….

  22. Sid Cundiff in NC says:

    “One must ask: Does anyone think that Satan has stopped waging war on the Church?”

    and one must answer, “Hardly!” I’m reading Gregory A. Boyd, God at War, which has as its thesis that the Bible from end to end is about God’s war with Satan. The book has an excellent discussion of Our Lord’s exorcisms.

    Boyd might be overstating his case, yet some things need overstating to get people’s attention. The Holy Spirit doesn’t like it when something in revelation is ignored, and He often starts with people who overstate. The Parousia was ignored for a time in theology with the view, not New Testamental, that it’s all about “going to Heaven”. Yes the NT says a few things about going to Heaven, yet it has a lot to say about the Parousia. For starters, see Mark 13 and 1 Corinthians 15. And to fill the void, the Dispensationalists rushed in — clearly a group that gets the Parousia wrong, yet they at least brought it to our attention. The Holy Spirit Himself had become a step child in the Trinity, and in rushed the Pentecostals and Charismatics.

    So the Prayer to St. Michael is needed more than ever, even if a Protestant like Boyd has to rush in to fill the void.

  23. KateD says:

    I have had the opportunity to visit random churches around the country lately, wherever Siri says is the geographically closest Roman Catholic Church when it’s time for Mass on Sunday. The priests seem tickled to see someone in a veil. Maybe they are laughing at me, not with me…that’s okay as long as it brings them a little joy. But whatever church I am in, I say the regular after Mass prayers, including the one to Archangel Michael. Usually somewhat silently, but last week I had to practically SHOUT IT OUT over the raucous visiting going on in the pews. I hope it helped :)

  24. Nun2OCDS says:

    After Mass… First there is the Prayer to St. Michael, then someone leads the rosary and then someone leads the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Lord, have mercy! It is about 35 minutes after Mass before one can attempt some silent thanksgiving. There is only a short time before people start arriving for the next Mass. It may be a good idea for parish priests to specify what is to be prayed aloud after Mass.

  25. Elizabeth D says:

    This doesn’t make sense and is surely a misunderstanding, especially since the prayer was started by a former pastor and not by ideologically motivated parishioners. A number of different groups were promoting the recital of the St Michael Prayer a couple years ago for religious freedom, for instance. The USCCB still suggests people to fast every Friday for religious freedom so it would not make any sense to say the religious freedom cause is over the top ultra-conservative. Or to say an end to abortion is ultra-conservative, like another person said some had promoted the St Michael prayer for that.

    The church a block from me always says the St Michael Prayer after weekday Masses and has been doing that for some years. Parishioners initiate it. I may vaguely recall having been told it was originally started by a former pastor, but that was longer ago than I have attended the parish so I don’t know for sure. This church has a nice traditional statue of St Michael the Archangel so devotion to him has always been pretty strong. The people doing this at my parish are not doing so because they are agitating for the Traditional Latin Mass. We DID have the Traditional Latin Mass for a few years in fact, and the main people who lead the St Michael Prayer after daily Mass were not TLM attendees. They have no discernable agenda whatsoever except wanting satan and all the evil spirits to be cast into hell and not bring ruin to souls. Pope Francis talks about the devil all the time.

  26. bernadette says:

    I belong to a parish run by the Norbertines and the priest leads the congregation in the St. Michael prayer after every Mass. We need that prayer now more than ever!

  27. Vincent says:

    I’m sure someone else has said it, but yes, the SSPX do say the Leonine Prayers after Low Mass – as it should be.

    Indeed, I’ve not been to an EF Low Mass in England where the Leonine prayers are not said – and I’ve certainly not heard of any that don’t say them. (that includes SSPX, Oratorians, ICKSP, FFI, – and LMS Masses)…

  28. paulineo says:

    I wonder if that priest would object to the congregation reciting the prayer to one’s angel guardian after Mass, or the Memorare or the Angelus, or the Magnificat? The St. Michael prayer is a prayer of Exorcism – I recite it every day. In 1987, I believe it was, that St. John Paul the Great asked that it be recited every day, by everyone, for an end to abortion and euthanasia!
    Our parish priest has implemented its recitation for the past 2 years, AFTER Mass. It has never been part of the Mass and never will be. So, what is that priest’s problem?

  29. Lori Pieper says:

    Yes, we definitely should have prayers after Mass for all the intentions stated. If the older prayers are going to be contentious, let’s ask Pope Francis to compose some new ones. Then we would have the “Franciscan prayers”. Knowing Pope Francis, they would undoubtedly include prayers against the devil. The need to pray for an end to the persecution of Christians would be a good occasion for their introduction.

  30. albizzi says:

    Instead of lamenting and questioning the right of the lay faithfuls to say the St Michael prayer, it would be more interesting to ask why this prayer which was mandatorily to be recited at the end of every low mass by express order of the Pope Leo XIII was suddenly suppressed in 1964 by Pope Paul VI’s Inter Oecumenici instructions.
    Until now I got no reply.

  31. thehabitofbeing says:

    Our parish says the St. Michael prayer after the morning and noon Masses and I’m so glad we do. Now to get the priest to say it after every Mass…I think I shall forward your rather persuasive argument to him.

  32. DanielG says:

    I recite all of the Leonine Prayers after Mass every Sunday, whether at home or on vacation, while all of my fellow parishioners are spilling out of the pews and blocking the aisles discussing their plans for the rest of Sunday. One does not need a priest’s permission to say these prayers, just stay and recite them alone if necessary.

  33. Geoffrey says:

    What is the difference between this and a few of the faithful remaining after Mass to publicly recite the Rosary? I actually see this quite often.

  34. iamlucky13 says:

    “Ultra conservative agenda?” Really?

    One of the relatively liberal parishes near us prays it after every Mass.

    They’ve got “On Eagles Wings” fever (and the only cure is more “On Eagles Wings”), a hidden tabernacle, a near universal habit of genuflecting to a bare altar, a prolonged and noisy sign of peace that usually lasts until after the Agnus Dei is over, a mariachi band for the Spanish Mass, and ushers who only wear sports jerseys to Mass (it’s a small solace to me that soccer season and ordinary time simultaneously call for green in our area).

    Yet along with that they have a devotion to St. Michael. Granted, he’s their patron, but clearly they’re not afraid of being too conservative.

  35. Uncledan says:

    It seems to me the best thing we all can do is immediately commit to praying for this parish and it’s priest(s) so that the St. Michael prayer – which is incredibly powerful – keeps being said. Fair enough?
    Let’s get started! Rosaries, fasts, novenas! And even the St. Michael prayer itself. Who’s in?

  36. Landless Laborer says:

    As Father said this priest is an assistant. Someone needs to take the matter to the pastor.

  37. Legisperitus says:

    I agree with Uncledan… this young priest could use prayers. Perhaps he needs some sort of deprogramming.

  38. jameeka says:

    I wonder if some priests realize what a heartening example it is to pray with the people some of these devotions ( either before or after the actual Mass).

  39. DAndrew says:

    I dunno. So he is not the pastor. He is still an ordained priest and wields significantly more authority in the parish than any layman.
    The mass is the priests’ ceremony. At the very least it is more his than any layman’s. I am pretty sure that recitation of the St Michael prayer is not integral to the Mass. So if the priest decides it is not to be said as he processes out, then it is becoming unto the laymen to shut up an color. [Do you readers agree with that?]

  40. Pingback: Fighting As they Can: The Prayer To St. Michael The Archangel | Mundabor's Blog

  41. Gratias says:

    About 10 years ago we attended mass in the Fiesta Americana hotel in Puerto Vallarta. The priest gave communion by intinction, the first time I had seen this practice. When the mass was ended the young priest said that now we will say three Hail Marys. Many languages ringed out and we all left uplifted. I think we do not honor the Mother of God enough in the Paul VI Reformed Liturgy.

  42. S.Armaticus says:

    “The SSPX? They don’t say the Leonine Prayers after Mass as far as I know.”

    I was at the SSPX Warsaw (Poland) chapel a year ago. At their 18:30 mass (Low Mass – Msza Cicha), they recite the Leonine Prayers. In Latin.

    I mumble along in English… a bit embarressed.

    It won’t happen again, I can assure you!

  43. Gaz says:

    After daily Mass in the Cathedral here, devotions after Mass begin as the celebrant leaves the chapel. The first prayer is a prayer for our priests composed by the previous Bishop, God rest his soul.

  44. Nicolas Bellord says:

    Pope Pius XI in 1930 increased the indulgence attached to saying the Leonine prayers after Mass from 300 days to 10 years. So think about it: Say you have not said them for the last 50 years 52 times a year then maybe we have all been exposed to the risk of an extra 26,000 years in Purgatory???

  45. Miriam says:

    We say the St Michael prayer after daily Mass and a prayer for the end of abortion after Sunday Mass.

  46. We also pray the prayer to St. Michael after every Mass, for an end to abortion.

  47. paladin says:

    Supertradmum wrote:

    Bishop Paprocki ordered all the NO Masses to include the St. Michael’s Prayer.

    Our bishop (Bishop Callahan, of La Crosse, WI) also told all priests in the diocese to lead the Prayer to St. Michael (many do so even before the final blessing–though that may be personal choice and/or error on the part of the individual priest), as a specific reaction to (and prayer against) the HHS mandate. I’m afraid the priest in the original story is a bit out to sea, on this one.

  48. robtbrown says:

    Imrahil says:
    The SSPX? They don’t say the Leonine Prayers after Mass as far as I know.

    After Low Mass they do; as does the FSSP.

    My experience with low masses at the FSSP seminary in Nebraska is that some celebrants do, and some don’t

  49. StWinefride says:

    Albizzi says: “…it would be more interesting to ask why this prayer which was mandatorily to be recited at the end of every low mass by express order of the Pope Leo XIII was suddenly suppressed in 1964 by Pope Paul VI’s Inter Oecumenici instructions.
    Until now I got no reply”.

    An answer possibly found here:

    2. …the partisans of error are to be sought not only among the Church’s open enemies; they lie hid, a thing to be deeply deplored and feared, in her very bosom and heart, and are the more mischievous, the less conspicuously they appear. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to the Catholic laity, nay, and this is far more lamentable, to the ranks of the priesthood itself, who, feigning a love for the Church, lacking the firm protection of philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of modesty, vaunt themselves as reformers of the Church…”

    https://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_19070908_pascendi-dominici-gregis.html

    St Pius X, pray for us!
    St Michael the Archangel, pray for us!

  50. JesusFreak84 says:

    1) frival, that priest rocks ^_^ 2) I privately recite the Leonine prayers after every Mass/Divine Liturgy, regardless of form or rite. (My Ukrainian parish also has a beautiful icon of St. Michael on the Deacon’s door of our iconostasis, so it almost seems a shame not to ask his intercession when gazing upon it!)

  51. thefeds says:

    I’m a deacon at a Church dedicated to St. Michael, and we pray this prayer after every mass. Our Bishop gladly prays it with us (the Archangel is his Patron Saint). We pray this prayer after the deacon (or Priest) has declared “Go forth, the Mass has ended”, which, at least in my mind means that the prayer isn’t being prayed during the Mass. Right?

  52. Michael says:

    We have been saying The Saint Michael Prayer after Mass since the HHS Mandate reared its ugly head.

  53. Andrew Rivera says:

    Just to pile on further, the SSPX does invariably pray the Leonine Prayers after a priest’s Low Mass (Latin in houses of formation, usually vernacular in chapels) and in some places, the seasonal Marian Anthem after High Masses.

  54. rwj says:

    If Catholic Churches can sing Marty Haugen’s greatest hits at the end of mass (and during mass), without anyone batting an eyelash, who are we to judge when somebody wants to pray after mass.

  55. WYMiriam says:

    Fr. Z asked if we agree with what DAndrew said:
    “The mass is the priests’ ceremony. At the very least it is more his than any layman’s. I am pretty sure that recitation of the St Michael prayer is not integral to the Mass. So if the priest decides it is not to be said as he processes out, then it is becoming unto the laymen to shut up an color.”

    1. I have never heard that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is “the priests’ ceremony” — if a source citation for that could be given, I could read it and decide whether I agree with it.
    2. Not only is the prayer to St. Michael “not integral to the Mass”, it is not a part of Holy Mass at all; I disagree with the use of this argument in this discussion.
    3. In the vast majority of cases (for Sundays and holy days, anyway), there is a song [sometimes even a hymn!] being sung as the priest processes out. Praying the prayer to St. Michael at the same time could be viewed as disruptive, so I agree it ought not to be done.
    4. However, one could pray the prayer silently as the priest processes out (song or no song), or one could pray it sotto voce at that time, or one could wait until the priest has exited the church before praying it quietly with others.
    5. Unless the “laymen” DAndrew refers to are quite small children, I think they shouldn’t be coloring at all in church, so I disagree with him on that point.

  56. IHSV says:

    Whoa, the reason I was going to comment here is that dollars-to-donuts I know exactly where this place is and when I read it I had to double check to make sure I wasn’t the one who wrote it! I used to be one of those who would start the prayer _after_ Mass. I would never do it while the priest is IN the Sanctuary (as the Holy Mass is on going until he leaves) nor during a procession (EF High Mass or OF Sunday’s [typically] )as I see it as a continuation of the Mass. But as soon as he steps out… Different ball-game.

    Anyways, after a number of dirty looks, I noticed the changing winds there (e.g. Confession times were suddenly massively downsized and moved to awkward times, and a number of other occurrences) and got out. I’m now gratefully challenged and swimming in new waters at our somewhat-close-by Fraternity Parish. Which I suggest the OP try.

    I have not sung Amazing Grace during a procession in over 8 months, by the Grace of God.

    The mass is the priests’ ceremony. At the very least it is more his than any layman’s. …. So if the priest decides it is not to be said as he processes out, then it is becoming unto the laymen to shut up an color.

    ~DAndrew

    In a super condensed nutshell, as a beginner myself, I think the problem here arises different views on _Where we got the Mass:_

    –View 1: Given to us. Received from God, From the Holy Spirit/Ghost Himself. Only to be changed or modified by inspired Saints.
    –View 2: Made by us. As fruit of the work, thought, and doings of men for God.

    As Council of Trent, Session XXII, Chp. I states that the Mass is a commemoration and an application of the Sacrifice of Calvary, I think it makes sense to view it as given to us as we did not take Christ’s life but rather Christ gave His life for us.

    There is a lot more that can be (and has been said) but maybe this helps. I would recommend listening to Archbishop F. Sheen’s talks and reading “The Latin Mass Explained” by Msgr. Moorman.

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