Home Page             Table of Contents         List of Abbreviations

The Resurrection of Lazarus

* * *

Since Christ's sacrifice is the preeminent and eternal act of intercession, the intercessory prayers that form part of the Eucharistic Prayer are suitably placed at the heart of the Anaphora.

At Mass, we not only pray for ourselves, but also join our prayer to that of our brethren. The Intercessions make it clear that we celebrate the Mass in communion with the entire Church in heaven and on earth; and that we make the offering for the Church and for all her members, living and dead.[1]

We tell God in the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer:

"Foreshadowed by Malachi (1:11), this new oblation of the New Testament has always been offered by the Church, in accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the apostles, 'not only to atone for the sins and punishments and satisfactions of the living faithful and to appeal for their other needs, but also to help those who have died in Christ but have not yet been completely purified.'"[2]

The Intercessions are usually divided into three sections: for living Christians, for the dead, and in relation to the saints in heaven.

Intercessions for the living

The first generations of Christians prayed constantly for the whole Church, following Christ's command of mutual love.

We have a testimony, for instance, in the Didache, written around A.D. 110: "May your Church be gathered from the ends of the world in your kingdom, as this bread, scattered on the mountains, became one."[3]

St Polycarp, the Bishop martyr of Smyrna in 155, prayed aloud "for all the Catholic Church spread about over all the earth,"[4] before being delivered up to the stake.

And when St Fructuosus, the Bishop of Tarragona, was going to the stake in 259, a certain Christian commended himself to him: "Father, pray for me." The Bishop answered, "It is fitting that I should pray for the entire Catholic Church, spread out from east to west."[5]

St Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (318‑386), wrote the following for those he was instructing in the Christian faith:

After the spiritual sacrifice, the unbloody act of worship, has been completed, we bend over this propitiatory offering and beg God to grant peace to all the churches, to give harmony to the whole world, to bless our rulers, our soldiers and our companions, to aid the sick and afflicted, and in general to assist all those who stand in need; we all pray for all these intentions and we offer this Victim for them.[6]

We find similar expressions of intercession in the Eucharistic Prayers:

* * *

We pray for the pope and for the bishop of our diocese. This union with them is necessary because "the Church of God is really present in all legitimate organized local groups of faithful, which, in so far they are united to their pastors...are called churches."[8]

Two elements are important here: The community must be legitimately organized; and the members of the community are the Church when they are united with their pastors. What do these conditions mean? They mean, in the first place, that no one can make himself the Church. A group cannot simply come together, read the New Testament, and say, "Now we are the Church because the Lord is found wherever two or three are gathered in his name."[9] They also mean, that, like the Eucharist, the Church cannot be made, but can only be received by us. To be legitimate, each Mass presupposes union among the faithful, and of the faithful with their bishop, the pope, and the universal Church. Moreover, that solid union is made stronger with the celebration of the Eucharist and is a consequence of it.[10]

Therefore, we feel united now with the pope's Mass, and with that of our bishop, and pray for both of them by name. In that way, the words of Pope Pelagius (year 561) won't apply to us: "How can you take for granted you are not separated from the communion with the Christians of the whole world if, contrary to custom, you keep my name silent during the sacred mysteries?"[11]

We pray for all the bishops, for all priests, and for all of us who take part in this celebration. We pray for all who seek God with a sincere heart.

In the second section, we pray for those who have died in the peace of Christ.

How can we fail to remember here on earth this or that person so dear to us? Perhaps, during his lifetime, he did not seem to have as much faith as we would have liked to see in him. Hence, we find ourselves a bit concerned about his salvation. Therefore, we pray for all the dead whose faith, perhaps hidden to men's eyes, only God knew.[12]

In all Masses, the Church prays for the dead, so that on the basis of the communion existing among all of us as Christ's members, our petition for spiritual help may bring comforting hope for our faithful departed.[13] "We pray for our deceased forefathers and for all those who have lived among us. For we have a deep conviction that great help will be afforded those souls for whom prayers are offered while this holy and awesome Victim is present."[14]

At this moment, the priest may add a beautiful prayer for a deceased person whenever the Second or Third Eucharistic Prayer is used. He asks God to remember that person; since "in baptism he died with Christ, may he also share his resurrection, when Christ will raise our mortal bodies and make them like his own in glory."[15]

Seeking the intercession of the saints

Finally, the Intercessions have a third section to invoke the help of those brothers of ours now enjoying themselves in the glory of heaven. We manifest also the desire of sharing with them the heavenly inheritance. "Celebrating the eucharistic sacrifice we are most closely united to the Church in heaven in communion with and venerating the memory first of all of the glorious ever-Virgin Mary, of the blessed Joseph and the blessed apostles and martyrs and of all the saints."[16]

In the Roman Canon we find the three sections of the Intercessions split into two fragments.[17] The first fragment was included in the Epiclesis (before the Consecration) at around the fifth century.

Intercession for the living

Invocation to the saints

We find in this prayer, first, the intercessions for the living members of the Church. The priest declares that the Church is holy, because we are sanctified by the water and the Holy Spirit. "The Church is called catholic or universal because she has spread throughout the entire world, from one end of the earth to the other. Again, she is called catholic because she teaches fully and unfailingly all the doctrine...because she cures unrestrictedly every type of sin...and because she possesses within herself every kind of virtue that can be named."[18] She is "the sign or instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race."[19]

After asking for unity and beseeching God to preserve the Church from heresy and schism, it is natural that we pray for those whom the Holy Spirit has set as shepherds over the Church of God; the pope and our bishop.

All of us notice the praise given us in this passage. The priest tells God of us, "You know how firmly we believe in you and dedicate ourselves to you." God alone can read the consciences of men, but we want to always be his faithful and loyal children and we want to do everything we can so as to obey his will, with piety and cheerfulness.

We then find the invocations to the saints. This last section dates from the third century. It includes, with obvious enthusiasm, a mention of "Mary, the ever-virgin mother of Jesus Christ" and St Joseph. Then follow the names of the eleven apostles plus St Paul and twelve martyrs held in special honor in Rome.[20] This first fragment ends with the "Father, accept this offering..." It was affixed here by Pope St Gregory about the year 600. It warns us of the imminent return to the Epiclesis or Invocation, which was interrupted earlier.

* * *

The second fragment of intercessory prayers in the Roman Canon is placed after the Consecration, specifically, between the Oblation and the Final Doxology.

Intercessions for the dead

Intercessions for the living

The theme of intercession reappears here first to commend to the Lord his deceased servants. The priest uses expressions sounding as though they had been borrowed from the catacombs: "May these, and all who sleep in Christ, find in your presence light, happiness, and peace [locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis]." (The word "death" is not said in the presence of Christ, our eternal Life.)

Next, we ask for ourselves using a prayer that dates from the seventh century, at least. It begins with the expression, "Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis": "For ourselves, too...though we are sinners..." we still are your children. While the priest strikes his breast at these words, we unprofitable servants call on our Father God, "Have mercy on me, a sinner!" (Lk 18:13).

The prayer continues with a second list of saints which completes that placed before the Consecration.[21] It seems that the first list of saints was not satisfying enough to Roman piety, which desired to fill certain gaps and make public mention of other saints venerated in the City. Thus, the Christians of Rome seized the opportunity of the remembrance of the dead to complete the first list. We ask God some share in their fellowship, humbly acknowledging, "Do not consider what we truly deserve, but grant us your forgiveness."

1. See GIRM, no. 55g.

2. DC, 29; quotation from Council of Trent, Doctrine on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, c. 2.

3. Didache, IX,4; see also X,5.

4. Martyrium Polycarpi, c.8, 1; see also 5.1.

5. G. Villada, Historia eclesiastica de Espana, vol. I, p. 257.

6. St Cyril of Jerusalem, Catecheses, 23 [Mystagogical. 5], 8‑18; PG 33:1115.

7. Eucharistic Prayer III.

8. LG, no. 26.

9. J. Card. Ratzinger, "The Ecclesiology of Vatican II", in L'Osservatore Romano, (25 November 1985).

10. LG, no. 3: "In the sacrament of the Eucharist, the unity of believers who form one body in Christ is both expressed and brought about."

11. Pope Pelagius I, Ep. 5, PL 69:398C.

12. Eucharistic Prayer IV.

13. GIRM, no. 335.

14. St Cyril of Jerusalem, Catecheses, 23 [Mystagogical. 5], 8‑18; PG 33:1115.

15. Eucharistic Prayer III.

16. LG, no. 50.

17. A letter of Pope Innocent I (401‑417) gives us the reason for the interruption of the Roman Canon and the insertion of the intercessory prayers: The desire to hear within the Sacred Action (inter mysteria sacra) the names of those who are prayed for. As to what determined its present position, we can only fall back on some theories, of which Cardinal Schuster's appears to be the most plausible: While the celebrant commemorated the apostles and dead popes, the deacon began to read the list of names (called diptychs) of the lay offerers; both ended their readings at the point at which "Father, accept this offering" is said, before the Consecration. There the deacon stopped, and, after the evangelical words of the Institution, again began the reading of the diptychs, now having reached the list of names of the dead, which he concluded while the celebrant, for his part, finished saying the Canon. See also G. Chevrot, Our Mass, pp. 179‑180.

18. St Cyril of Jerusalem, (318‑386), Catechetical Instruction, 18, 23‑25: PG 33:1043.

19. LG, no. 1. The term catholic was already used by St Ignatius of Antioch (in 110). Its use in the Mass is attested by Optatus of Milevi (year 312); see CSEL 26:47.

20. Perhaps, we have heard little of them. Five popes head the list: St Peter's three successors, Linus, Cletus, Clement; then two popes of the third century, Sixtus II and Cornelius; Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, the intrepid defender of Catholic unity; the deacon Lawrence, who when his persecutor demanded from him the "treasures" of the Church, showed him hundreds of poor people; Chrysogonus, a Roman priest who carried out the holy work of comforting the Christians who were in prison; two brothers, John and Paul, both officers of the imperial palace, who were put to death under Julian the Apostate; and lastly, Cosmas and Damian, two oriental physicians who gave their aid freely, and at whose graves there occurred "yet more cures than they had effected in their lives."

21. It mentions, in the first place, John (here obviously St John the Baptist), and then seven men, followed by seven women, all martyrs. Stephen is the first deacon whose glorious martyrdom is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles (6:8 ‑ 7:60). Two apostles come next: Matthias, elected to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:15‑16) and left out of the first list, probably not to exceed the number of twelve, and Barnabas, St Paul's companion in his first missionary journey. Ignatius is the famous bishop of Antioch, sentenced to be fed to the wild beasts in Rome under Trajan. Besides their names and the place of their martyrdom, little else is known of Alexander, the priest Marcellinus, and the exorcist Peter who were put to death in the great persecution of Diocletian. The list continues with the names of the two young girls, Felicity and Perpetua (their names form the expression "everlasting happiness"), who confessed their faith at Carthage; and of Agatha and Lucy in Sicily. It concludes with the names of two young martyrs beloved by the Romans, Agnes and Cecilia; and of Anastasia, martyred at Sirmium and later honored in Rome.

 --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --