Penitential Act
What is this part of the Mass?
After the greeting and response, the priest invites us to ask for God’s mercy. Mercy means both kindness and forgiveness. A merciful person is willing to help people in need. When we ask for God’s mercy during this part of the Mass, we recognize our sinfulness and we trust that God in His infinite kindness is ready to forgive us and make us one with Him. We admit that we are weak and in need of God’s help. To be penitent means to show we are sorry for having done something wrong; to have sinned against God and His Church. During the Penitential Act we express our sorrow for our sins through both words and actions. Note that referring to this as an act rather than a rite more strongly conveys the reality that admitting guilt and asking for forgiveness have an actual effect. In other words, the very uttering of these words achieves the desired effect of true contrition.
What do we say now and what is changing?
The priest will choose from three different ways to pray during the Penitential Act. In each option, the priest begins by calling us to prepare with these words: “Brethren (or Brothers and Sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.” We then stay quiet for a moment…to give us time to think about why we need God’s mercy. Use this Sacred Silence as a time to reflect on your own faults and shortcomings.
The first option is to pray together the Confiteor (con-FIT-ee-or). This is a prayer of confession. We pray this aloud together and admit our sinfulness while asking for God’s Mercy:
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, <strike your chest three times> through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Notice any changes? By saying “greatly sinned” we echo the humble words of King David in 1 Chronicles 21:8 when the prophet Nathan confronted him over his sins of adultery and murder. The triple admission of our fault follows the Latin text and is a more faithful translation: ”mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” It also follows the literary element of repetition found in other ritual texts of the Mass; the Holy, Holy, Holy of the Sanctus, and the three invocations of Lord have Mercy, Christ have Mercy, Lord have Mercy. Striking our chest three times while admitting our fault brings to mind the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector that Jesus told in Luke 18: “but the tax collector standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”
The second option in the Penitential Rite is the shortest. It is a dialogue between the priest and the assembly whose origins are found in the Old Testament in Baruch 3:2 and Psalm 85:8:
Priest: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
People: For we have sinned against you.
Priest: Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
People: and grant us your salvation.
The third option is very familiar and unchanged. In this option we pray three invocations followed by “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy and Lord have mercy” again, repeating the ending phrase after the priest. If the priest uses the Greek words, we respond in Greek: “Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.”
If the first two options are used, they are followed by the Kyrie as well, but without invocations.
After the greeting and response, the priest invites us to ask for God’s mercy. Mercy means both kindness and forgiveness. A merciful person is willing to help people in need. When we ask for God’s mercy during this part of the Mass, we recognize our sinfulness and we trust that God in His infinite kindness is ready to forgive us and make us one with Him. We admit that we are weak and in need of God’s help. To be penitent means to show we are sorry for having done something wrong; to have sinned against God and His Church. During the Penitential Act we express our sorrow for our sins through both words and actions. Note that referring to this as an act rather than a rite more strongly conveys the reality that admitting guilt and asking for forgiveness have an actual effect. In other words, the very uttering of these words achieves the desired effect of true contrition.
What do we say now and what is changing?
The priest will choose from three different ways to pray during the Penitential Act. In each option, the priest begins by calling us to prepare with these words: “Brethren (or Brothers and Sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.” We then stay quiet for a moment…to give us time to think about why we need God’s mercy. Use this Sacred Silence as a time to reflect on your own faults and shortcomings.
The first option is to pray together the Confiteor (con-FIT-ee-or). This is a prayer of confession. We pray this aloud together and admit our sinfulness while asking for God’s Mercy:
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, <strike your chest three times> through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Notice any changes? By saying “greatly sinned” we echo the humble words of King David in 1 Chronicles 21:8 when the prophet Nathan confronted him over his sins of adultery and murder. The triple admission of our fault follows the Latin text and is a more faithful translation: ”mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” It also follows the literary element of repetition found in other ritual texts of the Mass; the Holy, Holy, Holy of the Sanctus, and the three invocations of Lord have Mercy, Christ have Mercy, Lord have Mercy. Striking our chest three times while admitting our fault brings to mind the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector that Jesus told in Luke 18: “but the tax collector standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’”
The second option in the Penitential Rite is the shortest. It is a dialogue between the priest and the assembly whose origins are found in the Old Testament in Baruch 3:2 and Psalm 85:8:
Priest: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
People: For we have sinned against you.
Priest: Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
People: and grant us your salvation.
The third option is very familiar and unchanged. In this option we pray three invocations followed by “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy and Lord have mercy” again, repeating the ending phrase after the priest. If the priest uses the Greek words, we respond in Greek: “Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.”
If the first two options are used, they are followed by the Kyrie as well, but without invocations.