Praying with the Saints at Mass

AnneMarie Miller shares a comical experience at Mass and discusses the benefit of asking the saints for their intercession.

Do we actively pray with the saints at Mass?

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal observes that as we celebrate Mass,

The Church participates, by a foretaste, in that heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which she journeys as a pilgrim. (318)

The Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the entire Church, of heaven as well as of earth. (70)

References to the saints and angels are sprinkled throughout the prayers of the Mass, from the Collect on feast days to the Eucharistic Prayer, to the closing prayer at the end of Mass.

So, if we want a textbook answer, I think we could affirm that yes, we do pray with the saints and angels at Mass. We join our prayers with theirs as the entire Church participates in the offering of the liturgy. However, textbook answers aside, the question is worth asking again:

Do we actively pray with the saints at Mass?

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I once saw a beautiful image that depicted the entire Church praying at Mass, including the saints and angels in Heaven. However, although I loved this image and all of the “textbook knowledge” I’ve acquired about the liturgy, I didn’t seriously ponder how I could pray with the saints at Mass or ask for their intercession Yet, this changed when my child peed all over the chapel floor.

On that particular day, I had brought my four young children to a daily Mass that our archbishop was scheduled to celebrate. We were surprised to discover that there would also be an additional six priests–most of them visiting from other states–at Mass as well. I hoped that with “so many Fathers” present, my kids would be too enthralled to wrestle each other. Sadly, I was mistaken. We stood for the Gospel, and as I tried to separate two of my children, I glanced over and saw another child quietly peeing all over the floor.

We were in the front row, just a few feet away from the ambo. Here, in full view of the sanctuary, a large puddle was forming, daring to cross into the walkway in front of our pew.

While I tried to discreetly clean the mess, our bishop preached a homily about St. John the Baptist. As he talked about this great saint and the repentance he encouraged, I wondered what St. John was like in his youth. Thinking of his robust preaching as an adult, I wondered if he was ever rowdy as a child, and how his mother responded. I continued to ponder this as we rose for the intercessions, and a prayer lifted in my heart: Saint Elizabeth, pray for me.

Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, lived in a far different time, community, and culture than my own, and I’m guessing they dealt with different challenges than me. Yet, as I thought more about Elizabeth, I began to wonder if she could be a sympathetic listener and intercessor when I take my rowdy, delightful children to Mass.

Click to tweet:
If I’m having a hard time focusing, if I’m exhausted, and if I want to cultivate greater inner silence during the liturgy, I ask a saint to pray for me. #CatholicMom

Since then, I’ve made an effort to pray with the saints at Mass. I remember that I pray in communion with them, as part of the Mystical Body of Christ. I also ask them for help. If I’m having a hard time focusing, if I’m exhausted, and if I want to cultivate greater inner silence during the liturgy, I ask a saint to pray for me. If I need to refocus my mind and heart at Mass, I’ll look for all of the stained-glass windows, statues, or icons of the saints in church and use those to pray a short litany. And always, when heading to the unpredictable adventure of Mass with my kids, I ask the mother of St. John the Baptist for her help: Saint Elizabeth, pray for me.

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