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Prayers Before Mass

Since the Mass looks ordinary to our own eyes, we need the grace of God to help us to even begin to comprehend the beauty and treasure of what we are about to experience. These prayers before Mass assist us with asking God for this blessing.

Catholic Prayer Library, Prayer and Devotion, On by CTS Staff

The prayers featured below can all be found in The CTS Sunday Missal 2024.

Prayer of Saint Ambrose

I draw near, loving Lord Jesus Christ, to the table of your most delightful banquet in fear and trembling, a sinner, presuming not upon my own merits, but trusting rather in your goodness and mercy. I have a heart and body defiled by my many offences, a mind and tongue over which I have kept no good watch.

Therefore, O loving God, O awesome Majesty, I turn in my misery, caught in snares, to you the fountain of mercy, hastening to you for healing, flying to you for protection; and while I do not look forward to having you as Judge, I long to have you as Saviour. To you, O Lord, I display my wounds, to you I uncover my shame. I am aware of my many and great sins, for which I fear, but I hope in your mercies, which are without number.

Look upon me, then, with eyes of mercy, Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and Man, crucified for mankind. Listen to me, as I place my hope in you, have pity on me, full of miseries
and sins, you, who will never cease to let the fountain of compassion flow.

Hail, O Saving Victim, offered for me and for the whole human race on the wood of the Cross. Hail, O noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of Jesus Christ, my crucified Lord,
and washing away the sins of all the world.

Remember, Lord, your creature, whom you redeemed by your Blood. I am repentant of my sins, I desire to put right what I have done. Take from me, therefore, most merciful Father, all my iniquities and sins, so that, purified in mind and body, I may worthily taste the Holy of Holies. And grant that this sacred foretaste of your Body and Blood which I, though unworthy, intend to receive, may be the remission of my sins, the perfect cleansing of my faults, the banishment of shameful thoughts, and the rebirth of right sentiments; and may it encourage a wholesome and effective performance of deeds pleasing to you and be a most firm defence of body and soul against the snares of my enemies. Amen.

Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Almighty eternal God, behold, I come to the Sacrament of your Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as one sick to the physician of life, as one unclean to the fountain of mercy, as one blind to the light of eternal brightness, as one poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

I ask, therefore, for the abundance of your immense generosity, that you may graciously cure my sickness, wash away my defilement, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, clothe my nakedness, so that I may receive the bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with such reverence and humility, such contrition and devotion, such purity and faith, such purpose and intention as are conducive to the salvation of my soul.

Grant, I pray, that I may receive not only the Sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, but also the reality and power of that Sacrament.

O most gentle God, grant that I may so receive the Body of your Only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, which he took from the Virgin Mary, that I may be made worthy to be incorporated into his Mystical Body and to be counted among its members.

O most loving Father, grant that I may at last gaze for ever upon the unveiled face of your beloved Son, whom I, a wayfarer, propose to receive now veiled under these species:

Who lives and reigns with you for ever and ever. Amen

PRAYER BEFORE MASS

O God, to whom every heart is open, every desire known and from whom no secrets are hidden; purify the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily praise your holy name. Amen.

Go Deeper Into the Mass With The CTS Sunday Missal 2024

This paperback Sunday Missal for 2024 offers a practical and comprehensive solution for your Mass needs:

  • Masses and Readings for Every Sunday and Solemnity (UK & Ireland) in the 2024 liturgical year.
  • Coverage from the First Sunday of Advent in 2023 through to Christ the King in 2024.
  • Conveniently arranged in chronological order according to the calendar.
  • Inclusion of all significant feasts and seasons.
  • Side-by-side presentation of the Latin and English texts.
  • Thoughtful introductions by Pope Francis.
  • Musical accompaniments for the Mass.
  • Acts of Spiritual Communion for those unable to get to Mass.
  • Prayers from the saints for both before and after Holy Communion.
  • Prayers for before and after the Mass.
  • The complete Rite of Eucharistic Exposition & Benediction.

All of these essential components are thoughtfully compiled within a lightweight paperback volume, making it the ideal Sunday Missal for every Catholic to carry to Mass.

The CTS Sunday Missal is in stock and available to order now.