Preces
Encyclopedia
Preces are, in liturgical
worship
, short petitions that are said or sung as versicle
and response
by the officiant
and congregation respectively. This form of prayer is one of the oldest in Christianity
, finding its source in both the pre-Christian Hebrew prayers of the Psalms in Temple Worship,
is the opening versicles and responses of the Anglican
services of Morning
and Evening Prayer
according to the Book of Common Prayer
:
This particular form has existed in all of the liturgical churches since well before the Reformation
. The responses continue later in the service, after the Apostle's Creed.
There are many musical settings of the text, ranging from largely homophonic settings such as those by William Byrd
and Thomas Morley
, to more elaborate arrangements that may even require organ
accompaniment.
Liturgy of the Hours
, the word preces is freely used in the Latin
text with its generic meaning of "prayers", but it has a specialized meaning in reference to the prayers said at Morning and Evening Prayer after the Benedictus
or Magnificat
and followed by the Lord's Prayer
and the concluding prayer or Collect. They vary with the seasons (Advent
, Christmas
tide, Lent
, Easter
tide, and Ordinary Time
), being repeated generally only at four-week intervals, and with the celebration of saints. In the most widely used English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours, they are referred to as Intercessions, and are very similar to the General Intercessions
found within the confines of the Mass
.
An example is that of Morning Prayer on Thursday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time:
) and Evening (Vespers
) Prayer. Here follows the Dominical preces from the common Prime office, from an edition of the pre-1962 Breviary
online
After which would follow the General confession of sins.
This form of prayer has ceased to be used in all of the Roman rite, aside from some of the more traditional groups.
the Preces or Preca are chants of penitential character used only in Lent. They are in the form of a litany
, with a short response (usually miserere nobis - have mercy on us) to each invocation
prelature Opus Dei
, the Preces are a special set of prayers said by each member every day.
The Preces is a daily vocal prayer said by members of the Roman Catholic prelature of Opus Dei
. It is also called "Prayers of the Work." Preces is the Latin word for "prayers."
The prayer was originally composed by Josemaría Escrivá in December 1930. It was the first common activity of the members of Opus Dei in history. Escrivá commented, "Since the heart of Opus Dei has to be like this, it is clear that the Lord wanted that we start with prayer. Prayer will be the first official act of the members of the Work of God." Escrivá in accordance to what he preached in The Way
86, about "using the psalms and prayers from the missal" for one's prayer, composed the prayer putting together phrases that he took from established liturgical prayers, and from the psalms. The prayers have undergone several changes through time.
The Preces, which is called "the universal prayer of the work", is described by one journalist as including "blessing of everyone from the Pope to Virgin Mary to the prelate of Opus Dei". John L. Allen describes its contents as follows: "invocations to the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the Guardian Angels, and Saint Josemaría, then prayers for the Holy Father, the bishop of the diocese, unity among all those working to spread the gospel, the prelate of Opus Dei and the other members of the Work, and invocations to Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Peter, Paul, and John (the Patrons of Opus Dei)".
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
, short petitions that are said or sung as versicle
Versicle
A versicle is the first half of one of a set of preces, said or sung by an officiant or cantor and answered with a said or sung response by the congregation or choir...
and response
Response (liturgy)
A response is the second half of one of a set of preces, the said or sung answer by the congregation or choir to a versicle said or sung by an officiant or cantor...
by the officiant
Officiant
An officiant is someone who officiates at a service or ceremony, such as marriage, burial, or namegiving/baptism. Officiants may be ordained by any denomination as members of their clergy, or by secular/Humanist or interfaith/interspiritual religious bodies...
and congregation respectively. This form of prayer is one of the oldest in Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, finding its source in both the pre-Christian Hebrew prayers of the Psalms in Temple Worship,
The Anglican tradition
An example familiar to AnglicansAnglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
is the opening versicles and responses of the Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
services of Morning
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
and Evening Prayer
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
according to the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
:
- Priest: O Lord, open thou our lips:
- People: And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
- Priest: O God, make speed to save us:
- People: O Lord, make haste to help us.
- Priest: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
- People: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
- Priest: Praise ye the Lord.
- People: The Lord's name be praised.
This particular form has existed in all of the liturgical churches since well before the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. The responses continue later in the service, after the Apostle's Creed.
There are many musical settings of the text, ranging from largely homophonic settings such as those by William Byrd
William Byrd
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
and Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. He was the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England and an organist at St Paul's Cathedral...
, to more elaborate arrangements that may even require organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
accompaniment.
The Latin Rite
In the Roman Rite, the term preces is not applied in a specific sense to the opening versicles and responses of the different liturgical hours, on which those used in the Anglican services are based. In the Roman RiteRoman Rite
The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...
Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
, the word preces is freely used in the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
text with its generic meaning of "prayers", but it has a specialized meaning in reference to the prayers said at Morning and Evening Prayer after the Benedictus
Benedictus
-Music:* Benedictus , the canticle sung at Lauds, also called the Canticle of Zachary.* The second part of the Sanctus, part of the eucharistic prayer* Benedictus , a song by Simon and Garfunkel...
or Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
and followed by the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
and the concluding prayer or Collect. They vary with the seasons (Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
, Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
tide, Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
, Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
tide, and Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
), being repeated generally only at four-week intervals, and with the celebration of saints. In the most widely used English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours, they are referred to as Intercessions, and are very similar to the General Intercessions
General Intercessions
The General Intercessions or Universal Prayer or Prayers of the Faithful are a series of prayers which form part of the liturgy in the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and other Western liturgical Churches.-Roman Rite:...
found within the confines of the Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
.
An example is that of Morning Prayer on Thursday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time:
- Versicle: Blessed be our God and Father: he hears the prayers of his children.
- Response: Lord, hear us.
- Versicle: We thank you, Father for sending us your Son: - let us keep him before our eyes throughout this day.
- Response: Lord, hear us.
- Versicle: Make wisdom our guide, - help us walk in newness of life.
- Response: Lord, hear us.
- Versicle: Lord, give us your strength in our weakness: - when we meet problems give us courage to face them.
- Response: Lord, hear us.
- Versicle: Direct our thought, our words, our actions today, - so that we may know, and do, your will.
- Response: Lord, hear us.
The Latin Rite before 1962
In earlier iterations of the Roman Breviary before 1962, however, the preces proper referred to a series of versicles and responses which were said either standing or kneeling, depending on the day or season in which the prayers were to be uttered. There were two forms, the Dominical or abridged preces, and the Ferial or unabridged preces. These were said, as in the Anglican communion, at both morning (PrimePrime (liturgy)
Prime, or the First Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight , between the morning Hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. Hour of Terce. It is part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity, but in the Latin Rite it was suppressed by the...
) and Evening (Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
) Prayer. Here follows the Dominical preces from the common Prime office, from an edition of the pre-1962 Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
online
- Versicle: Lord, have mercy upon us.
- Response: Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.
- Our Father. (Said aloud, and the rest silently until:)
- Versicle: And lead us not into temptation.
- Response: But deliver us from evil.
- I believe in GodCreedA creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
. (Said aloud, and the rest silently until:) - Versicle: The Resurrection of the body.
- Response: And the Life † (Sign of the CrossSign of the crossThe Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
) everlasting. Amen. - Versicle: Unto thee have I cried, O Lord.
- Response: And early shall my prayer come before thee.
- Versicle: O let my mouth be filled with thy praise.
- Response: That I may sing of thy glory and honour all the day long.
- Versicle: O Lord, turn thy face from my sins.
- Response: And put out all my misdeeds.
- Versicle: Make me a clean heart, O God.
- Response: And renew a right spirit within me.
- Versicle: Cast me not away from thy presence.
- Response: And take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
- Versicle: O give me the comfort of thy help again.
- Response: And stablish me with thy free Spirit.
- Versicle: Our help † (Sign of the CrossSign of the crossThe Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....
) is in the Name of the Lord. - Response: Who hath made heaven and earth.
After which would follow the General confession of sins.
This form of prayer has ceased to be used in all of the Roman rite, aside from some of the more traditional groups.
The Mozaribic Rite
In the Mozarabic RiteMozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
the Preces or Preca are chants of penitential character used only in Lent. They are in the form of a litany
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
, with a short response (usually miserere nobis - have mercy on us) to each invocation
The Opus Dei Preces
In the CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
prelature Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
, the Preces are a special set of prayers said by each member every day.
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
. It is also called "Prayers of the Work." Preces is the Latin word for "prayers."
The prayer was originally composed by Josemaría Escrivá in December 1930. It was the first common activity of the members of Opus Dei in history. Escrivá commented, "Since the heart of Opus Dei has to be like this, it is clear that the Lord wanted that we start with prayer. Prayer will be the first official act of the members of the Work of God." Escrivá in accordance to what he preached in The Way
The Way (book)
The Way is a book on spirituality written by Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. The book was first published in 1934 under the title Consideraciones espirituales. It later received its definitive title in 1939. More than four and a half million copies have been sold, in 43 different...
86, about "using the psalms and prayers from the missal" for one's prayer, composed the prayer putting together phrases that he took from established liturgical prayers, and from the psalms. The prayers have undergone several changes through time.
The Preces, which is called "the universal prayer of the work", is described by one journalist as including "blessing of everyone from the Pope to Virgin Mary to the prelate of Opus Dei". John L. Allen describes its contents as follows: "invocations to the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the Guardian Angels, and Saint Josemaría, then prayers for the Holy Father, the bishop of the diocese, unity among all those working to spread the gospel, the prelate of Opus Dei and the other members of the Work, and invocations to Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Peter, Paul, and John (the Patrons of Opus Dei)".