THE PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL AS PART OF THE LITURGICAL TREASURY OF THE CHURCH

The Communion of Saints and Christ's Salvific Sacrifice on the Cross

In one of the forums I am participating, one of our friends posted this statement. I am not attacking the person of the one who sent but I am rejecting the idea that the Prayer of the Faithful in Novus Ordo Mass is adopted from Lutheran heretical service. As a Catholic I do not accept the Lutheran Service and will never be; and the Prayer of the Faithful is rooted in Catholic Faith not in Lutheran Service. Here is the statement:

"The ad orientem orientation of the altar and the priest plus the use of Latin as the mandatory way to celebrate the Novus Ordo would be a great advancement of the improvement of the Liturgy. But as discussed in last Saturday's Catechism class of Bro. Mark, one should also re-think whether or not to allow the retention of the Prayer of the Faithful which was adopted from the heretical service of the Lutherans. But most importantly, the full implementation of the pro multis (for many), and the location of the Mysterium Fidei, from the current eschathological emphasis, back to the sacrificial." [Name withheld]

Here is my response to the Letter:

We must not believe the Propaganda of the enemies of the Church that the Novus Ordo is heretical. Because to claim that the Novus Ordo 'ADOPTED' the heretical Lutheran service then it automatically means that the Novus Ordo adopted a heresy. Thus, since 99% of Catholics [with exceptions of Eastern Rite Catholics who are few and those who exclusively attend the TLM who are fewer] are worshipping and adoring God every Sunday through the Novus Ordo then the whole Church is committing heresy. So, Satan has infiltrated the Highest Form of Worship of the Church and the very Seat of Peter has been conquered by Hell contrary to the promise of the Redeemer.

I cannot in conscience subscribe to such a claim and I denounce it as preposterous and irresponsible. Because the Prayer of the Faithful is not originally belonging to the Lutherans but from the Catholic Church. On the contrary it was the Lutherans who got it from us.

The Prayer of the Faithful is rooted in the Dogma of Communion of Saints and in the Basic Elements of Catholic Prayers which are:

1. Adoration and Worship

2. Thanksgiving

3. Petitions and Supplications [for self, family, local church, universal church, church leaders starting from the Pope down, nation, kings and temporal leaders, for good weather, harvests, health, etc.]

If you want a particular example in the Liturgy wherein the Prayer of the Faithful originated it is in the long petitions during the Good Friday Liturgy. The Mass of Pope Paul VI [of Blessed Memory] simply adopted it and made it a regular Sunday element of the Mass in a simplified form. The Servant of God Pope Paul VI, who is the Great Defender of Catholic Morality and Champion of the Gospel of Life, didn't get it from the heretics but from the Spiritual and Liturgical life of the Church. In short, the Prayer of the Faithful is part of the Deposit of the Faith.

We can read and re-read the testimony of Protestant Ministers converted to the Catholic Church through attendance in Novus Ordo Mass. Take the story of Dr. Scott Hahn, of Steve Ray and many others. While it is very obvious that Protestants hate the Novus Ordo. It is constantly under attack by Protestant apologists and anti-Catholic.

The Lutheran sings O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL during Christmas and so we do. So we are heretic then by singing it. NO because that song is in harmony with the Dogma of Incarnation.

The Lutherans read the Bible in vernacular so we have adopted the heretical practice of reading the Bible in vernacular. NO because the Catholic Church has promoted and approved vernacular translations of the Bible prior to Vatican II. One of them is the LATIN VULGATE which is also a translation for those who are not aware. The Latin readings in the Mass including the TLM are mere translations. The early Christians were reading in their Worship the original Greek.

Once again, I admonish our readers not to believe the Propaganda propagated by the enemies of the Church against the Novus Ordo. Their goal is to undermine the authority of the Pope so that they can lure us to make them our PSEUDO-POPE. O, NO. We rejected them and we will reject them still. WE TRUST PETER AND WE REMAIN WITH HIM. The TLM is a great treasure of the Church, the best Jewel in the Roman Rite but the Novus Ordo is valid and not heretical. It is the simplified form of the TLM with other elements of the Catholic liturgical treasury.

"AND THE GATE OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT!" [cf. Matthew 16:18-19]

Fr. Abe, CRS