Customer Reviews

Prayers of the Faithful: Cycles A B and C

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Between the red and gold covers of this innocuous-looking book there awaits at once horror and joy. These prayers are so poorly written as to be (unintentionally) comical. This is the epitome of history passing a book by. In its defense, it was written (by committee) in 1977. To say that this year was not the high point in liturgical history is an understatement. The prayers shove an ideological cocktail of anti-capitalism, identity politics, environmental radicalism and feeble theology down the throats of an unwilling congregation. Also, one of the most insidious things about it is that it mixes in some pretty decent prayers with some spectacularly awful ones.

But why should I try to condemn it, when it does such a good job of condemning itself? The prayers run the gamut from insipid to earnest from too-clever-by-half to stupid-beyond-belief. Here are the standards that the authors set for themselves, be the judge of their success:

"They should be fresh, clear, varied and of immediate concern, yet not overly dramatic, or, what is worse, coy, cute or obviously clever.... Petitions should not be didactic, and should not be used as a sledgehammer to force upon the people a series of merely personal petitions. The prayers should not be used to manipulate the faithful." (Preface)

Here are some of the "best" petitions:

"For employers whose primary interest is in efficiency, self-confidence, and good appearance, that they will also hire the ugly, create a demand for the unwanted, and support those who are new on the job..." (Immaculate Conception)

"For the homely, that their hearts may be beautiful enough to show through..." (Assumption)

"For activists who spend lonely days fighting strip mining companies, water and air polluters, and others who ravage this world..."

"For a frost that will tarnish the value of gold and put sparkle into the dullness of life..."

"For a society where we don't have t make a million dollars, run the 100 in 10 seconds, invent a laser or die, in order to be believed..."

"That we will reverence the mystery of other people's lives and of our own life when we use words like negro, middle-class, culturally-deprived, and PhD."

"For soldiers who don't get mail, children who flunk, showgirls who grow old, for all who suffer, that they will know there is no suffering unnoticed by God..."

"That those who collect bottle for recycling, and plant trees, and cover up strip mines, will show us how to care for the creation we have been given..."

"For people who are happy, that they may make others happy..."

"For the younger generations that will not accept old ways and values, that they may move us to repentance and renewal..."

"For put-down, stepped on, squelched children exiled to live in dark caverns, that they will survive..."
"
For all who choke on the poisoned water, food or air, that they may receive the gifts of time and courage to work for a restored planet..."

And the best one of them all:

"For the smell of new rain, for pumpkins and Snoopy, for the aroma of homemade bread, for cotton candy, for funny looking animals like giraffes and koalas and human beings...
For the smell of fall in the air, for pay checks, and smoked ribs, for the intricate designs of window frost, and for ice cubes and ice cream...
For clean sheets and peanut butter, and perma-press, and stereo-headphones, for vacations and seat belts, for escalators, and for views from tall buildings, and for red balloons...
For first romances and second romances, for eyes to see colors and ears to hear music and feet to dance, for dissenters and the right to dissent, for black and red and brown power, for pine trees and daises, for newspapers and sandals and frogs...
For parks and woodsmoke and snow, for the smell of leather, for funny buttons and powerful posters, for pecan pies and long hear and french fries and re-cycling centers, for jet planes and for finding a nearby parking space, for zoos and splashing fountains and rock music and Bach music..." --From Thanksgiving Day

This book is a failure, yes, but in a greater way, it is a success. First, it offers a fascinating snapshot of a particularly turbulent time in the life of the Church and the country-1977; second, it is the funniest book I have read in a long time. At some points I was laughing so much that I couldn't breathe. If you want good liturgy, stay away from this book. If you want to cringe at the inanities of the seventies or need a good laugh (or want to play a practical joke on your lector), buy this book!

These so-called "prayers" are simply an embarrassment. As the director of liturgy at our parish, I bought this book in confidence of the quality of Liturgical Press materials. After several months of cringing when hearing them at Mass, I pulled it from use. The Liturgical Press should pull it too.