Over the past few weeks, with a few interruptions, we’ve been looking at, what are called, the Introductory Rites, the Opening Prayer.

  We call the Opening Prayer, the Collect. The prayer gains this name because of the purpose that it serves, to collect all of our prayers together into one as we begin the Mass. When the Priest says, “Let us pray,” there is meant to be a moment of silence. That silence isn’t meant simply for the Server to bring the Roman Missal to the Priest or for the Priest to make sure he’s on the right page. That call to “Let us pray,” & the silence following is meant for us to do just that, to pray. In that moment of silence we should become aware of the presence of God & bring to our heart & mind the personal intentions that we bring with us to that Mass. After we’ve done that, the Priest prays the Collect, the Opening Prayer, that collects all of our individual prayers & lays them before God.

  The basic structure of the Collect & many of the other prayers at Mass is YOU, WHO, DO, THROUGH. We address God in some title (YOU), we acknowledge something that God has done or a characteristic of HIS (WHO), we ask God to DO something, & then we recognize that our prayer is always done through Christ & with the help of the Holy Spirit (THROUGH). Listen for this structure in the Collects that you hear at Mass.

  Next, we’ll begin to look at the Liturgy of the Word. Have you ever wondered how often the readings at Mass repeat?