After Canticle of Mary, intercessions are offered. The rubric of OCF 392 reads:
The intercessions are then said. The following may be used or adapted to circumstances, or new intercessions may be composed.
The minister says:
We acknowledge Christ the Lord through whom we hope that our lowly bodies will be made like his in glory and we say:
Lord, you are our life and resurrection.
Some observations and comments:
- The texts of these address Christ, as the introduction does.
- Some also add a description, “Son of the living God” and “consoler of those who mourn.” Some people find this bothersome, “telling God who he is,” and the like. I don’t find much credit in the complaint. God is aware of our needs before we are. Such descriptions are traditional in the Judeo-Christian tradition and are suitable for liturgy.
- The assembly response is more of an acclamation than a petition.
- As with many of the post-conciliar liturgical rituals, given texts may be adapted or changed out entirely. If the response “Lord, hear our prayer,” is so engrained from Sunday practice, it can be more of a distraction to change it.
- The sample intercessions to not include a presider prayer to sum it all up. We move directly to the Lord’s Prayer and concluding rites. More on those in a future post or two.
Thoughts?
Catholic Sensibility 