Feature Image: Title page of the Roman Missal of 1719, depicting the Angels adoring the Blessed Sacrament.
There are three sets of prayers in the Catholic Mass that are proper to the specific Mass of the day that is being offered. They are traditionally known as the Collect, the Secret, and the Post-Communion prayers. Since the Novus Ordo Missal of Pope Paul VI (the New Order of Mass published in 1969), the Secret is now prayed aloud (it used to always be prayed silently by the Priest at the Altar), so its name was changed to the Prayer over the Offerings (or, literally in the Latin, Oratio Super Oblata: the Prayer over the Oblations). The Post-Communion prayer was renamed the Prayer after Communion – probably because the liturgists who created the new rite thought that the faithful would not know that the word post means after in Latin. And the Collect was given back its proper name of Collect in 2011, whereas from 1969 to 2011, it went by the rather banal name of Opening Prayer.
In the modern rite of Mass, the faithful only ever hear one Collect, one Prayer over the Offerings, and one Prayer after Communion. In communities that still use the 1962 Missal (so in the vast majority of places where the Traditional Latin Mass is still being offered), one sometimes does hear a second – and rarely, even a third – Collect, Secret, and Post-Communion prayer. However, before the reforms of 1955, it was normal to hear three sets of these three prayers at every Mass that had the rank of semi-double or lower (including the vast majority of Sundays). This past Sunday, known as Quadragesima Sunday or the First Sunday of Lent, is one such example (barring the fact that this year, there was a commemoration of Saint Frances of Rome on the First Sunday of Lent, so the above does not apply this year due to the commemoration; although normally it would).
When there is no commemoration of a saint on the First Sunday of Lent in the pre-1955 Missal, the second Collect, Secret, and Post-Communion prayers are to ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints. The third set of these prayers consists of a commemoration of all the living and the dead. I would like to focus today's blog post on the third Post-Communion prayer of this First Sunday of Lent, since it highlights in a marvellous way some of the principal effects of Holy Communion on the soul.
Here is the Latin version of the prayer, followed by an English translation:
Puríficent nos, quǽsumus, omnípotens et miséricors Deus, sacraménta quæ súmpsimus: et, intercedéntibus ómnibus Sanctis tuis, præsta; ut hoc tuum sacraméntum non sit nobis reátus ad pœnam, sed intercéssio salutáris ad véniam: sit ablútio scélerum, sit fortitúdo fragílium, sit contra ómnia mundi perícula firmaméntum: sit vivórum atque mortuórum fidélium remíssio ómnium delictórum. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
May the Sacraments which we have received purify us, we beseech Thee, O almighty and merciful Lord; and through the intercession of all the Saints, grant that this Thy Sacrament may not be unto us a condemnation, but a salutory intercession for pardon; may it be the washing away of sin, the strength of the weak, a protection against all dangers of the world, and a remission of all the sins of the faithful, whether living or dead. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, for ever and ever.
This beautiful prayer is, as its name indicates, a prayer of intercession for all the living and the dead. It is a prayer that asks God to apply the merits of the Sacrifice of the Mass (which is the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary) – and especially the Communions of the faithful who have worthily received Holy Communion at that Mass – to the salvation of all the living and the dead (the latter referring to the Holy Souls still in Purgatory, of course). What is particularly interesting about this prayer is that it highlights some of the principal effects of Holy Communion on a soul that receives the Blessed Sacrament worthily and in a state of grace. And not just the effects on the soul that is communing, but also the effects of worthy Communions on the entire Mystical Body of Christ that is the Church. In this way, the prayer shows marvellously the spiritual reality of the Communion of Saints. When we receive Holy Communion worthily and in a state of grace, not only does it profit our own soul, but it also brings down from Heaven tremendous graces on the souls of all the living and the deceased.
Here are the main effects of Holy Communion that are asked for of God in this prayer:
not condemnation, but a salutary (that is, salvation-giving) pardon
the washing away of sins
strength for the weak
protection against all dangers of the world
a remission of all the sins of the faithful, whether living or dead.
Notice that the primary effects are related to the remission, forgiveness, and pardon of sins. This echoes the words that the Priest says after the Confiteor of the Traditional Mass when he grants the faithful absolution from their venial sins:
Misereátur vestri omnípotens Deus, et, dimíssis peccátis vestris, perdúcat vos ad vitam ætérnam. Indulgéntiam, ✠ absolutiónem et remissiónem peccatórum nostrórum tríbuat nobis omnípotens et miséricors Dóminus.
Or in English:
May almighty God be merciful to you, and forgiving your sins, bring you to everlasting life. May the ✠ almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins.
In the new ritual for Mass, the second part above (along with the sign of the Cross over the faithful) is suppressed, with its reference to pardon, absolution, and remission of sins. The current English translation has the Priest say:
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
The third Post-Communion prayer cited above shows that the Church, in her great mercy, does not just ask for remission of the sins of the faithful in the preparatory Confiteor (I confess) of the Mass, but that she repeats her prayer for mercy and forgiveness of sins after the reception of Holy Communion by the faithful (it is, after all, the Post-Communion Prayer). Thus the forgiveness of sins (of both the living and the dead) is one of the primary effects that flow from Holy Communion being worthily received by the faithful.
The prayer also shows that Holy Communion strengthens the weak and protects the faithful against dangers of the world (this includes physical dangers, but especially concerns spiritual dangers that are harmful to one's soul).
This Post-Communion prayer therefore shows, in an admirable way, some of the principal effects of Holy Communion, not just on the person who receives but also on the entire Mystical Body of Christ that is the Church. So when we receive Holy Communion worthily and in a state of grace, we are not just gaining profit for our own soul but also for the entire Church. This is why the Catholic faithful are encouraged to offer up their Holy Communions for the salvation of specific souls in their family, amongst their loved ones, or in general for those souls most in need of pardon and mercy from God.
What a beautiful Post-Communion prayer we had in the Roman Missal, and what a shame that it has been almost completely lost – apart from those few places in the world where the pre-1955 Missale Romanum is still being used.
The Blessed Sacrament is our salvation!