Praying the Mass

Dora Holvey of Palm Beach kneels in prayer before Mass at St. Edward Catholic Church

Daily News Photo Credit: Meghan McCarthy  

“What is “praying the Mass”?  The Mass is made up of several prayers which take the form of responses, chants, and orations of varying length, but the Mass is one coherent, constant prayer.  Rather than thinking that you are praying at Mass (and then, only when you are saying something), you should come to realize that everything you sing and say and do and see and hear and smell is one great prayer, the greatest prayer.

 …The whole Mass is a prayer of worship and an encounter with the mystery of God.  When you do more than just move your lips and your arms, when you pray the Mass, then you will be doing more than just “going to Mass,” you will be worshipping God:  you will learn how to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke10:27)."

Excerpt from Praying the Mass, The Prayers of the People (2nd Ed - 2010), Jeffrey Pinyan