Oratio Imperata

Last updated
Invocative prayers said by a Catholic bishop. Fresco by Italian Artist Lorenzo Lotto, Suardi, Italy, c. 1524. Lorenzo Lotto 019.jpg
Invocative prayers said by a Catholic bishop. Fresco by Italian Artist Lorenzo Lotto, Suardi, Italy, c. 1524.

Oratio Imperata (Latin, "Obligatory Prayer") is a set of Roman Catholic invocative prayers consisting of the liturgical action and a short, general prayer in which the local ordinary or prelate of the church may publicly pray when a grave need or calamity occurs. [1]

Contents

Common reasons for the religious invocation of the prayer are natural calamities such as storms, snow and drought while rare circumstances which merit the prayer are wars, plague and the disruption of public peace in society. [2] The prayers are customarily invoked by an archdiocese on behalf of overwhelming popular requests, and is authorised by a high-ranking prelate or Metropolitan Archbishop. [3]

History

The customary tradition of reciting such prayers is rooted in Apostolic age, when lay people asked the help and assistance of their bishops in the time of natural calamity, war, or any grave public danger to society. In the Middle Ages, various saints (e.g. Saint Isidore the Farmer) were invoked for the assistance of granting rain, while Saint Roch was invoked for dire calamities and the Black Plague.

Present Catholic discipline allows that any collect prayers from the Mass may be prescribed by the local ordinary as this type of prayer. [4] The prayer itself cannot be a permanent religious recitation, but rather only for used for a short period of time of need. The prayers are often recited postcommunion or after the conclusion or final benediction of the Mass. When the prayer itself is asked, composed, or canonically authorized by the Pope, it can also merit a plenary indulgence. [5]

The invocative prayers prescribed as Oratio Imperata:

In very rare cases of enduring public calamities lasting a longer time, (i,e. national war, calamitous plague, etc.), the local ordinary may indeed impose a suitable Oratio Imperata for an extended period:

Difficulty of approval

At times, the approval to recite the prayers on a diocesan level has been known to be difficult to obtain, usually causing the faithful to rather demand in large numbers to an archdiocese to release an Oratio Imperata. The most commonly authorized prayer is Oratio Imperata Ad Fluviam Petendam, in hopes of asking for rain in times of severe drought. Another one is Oratio Imperata Ad Calamitam et Bellonam, for casualties of war.

In the Philippines, the release of such prayers is often requested during the monsoon season, and their issuance by high-ranking prelates, such as the Archbishop of Manila and the Archbishop of Cebu, is primarily reported in various national media outlets. [7] It is also used during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [8] [9]

Within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in June 2008, a special prayer for the request of more priestly vocations merited the request for the prayers, recited post-communion during Sunday Masses in the San Fernando Valley but was prohibited in being prayed during weekly masses.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tridentine Mass</span> Form of liturgy in the Roman Rite

The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almost exclusively in Ecclesiastical Latin, it was the most widely used Eucharistic liturgy in the world from its issuance in 1570 until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI.

The collect is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy.

Low Mass is a Tridentine Mass defined officially in the Code of Rubrics included in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal as a Mass in which the priest does not chant the parts that the rubrics assign to him. A sung Mass celebrated with the assistance of sacred ministers is a High or Solemn Mass; without them it is a Missa Cantata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intercession of saints</span> Christian doctrine

Intercession of the Saints is a Christian doctrine held by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East and Catholic churches, and some Anglicans. The practice of praying through saints can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century onward.

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. The word comes through Latin litania from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (litaneía), which in turn comes from λιτή (litḗ), meaning "supplication".

In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, a commemoration is the recital, within the Liturgy of the Hours or the Mass of one celebration, of part of another celebration that is generally of lower rank and impeded because of a coincidence of date.

The ordinary, in Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event, or to the common which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints such as apostles or martyrs.

A Catholic order liturgical rite is a variant of a Catholic liturgical rite distinct from the typical ones, such as the Roman Rite, but instead specific to a certain Catholic religious order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass in the Catholic Church</span> Central liturgical ritual of the Catholic Church

The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.

In Christian liturgical worship, preces, also known in the Anglican prayer book tradition as the suffrages, are short petitions that are said or sung as versicles and responses by the officiant and congregation respectively. It is one of the oldest forms of prayer in Christianity, rooted in the pre-Christian Hebrew prayers of the Psalms used in Temple worship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonine Prayers</span>

The Leonine Prayers are a prescribed set of Catholic prayers for recitation by the priest and people after Low Mass required within the Roman Rite of the Latin Church from 1884 to 1965. They are commonly called Prayers after Mass. The name derives from the fact that they were introduced by Pope Leo XIII. They were slightly modified by Pope Pius X.

The General Intercessions or Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful are a series of prayers which form part of the liturgy in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist and other Western Liturgical Churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional Ambrosian Rite</span>

The Ambrosian Rite is a Latin Catholic liturgical Western Rite used in the area of Milan. The Traditional Ambrosian Rite is the form of this rite as it was used before the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marian litany</span>

In Christian worship, Marian litany is a form of prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary used in church services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions.

In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a votive Mass is a Mass offered for a votum, a special intention. Such a Mass does not correspond to the Divine Office for the day on which it is celebrated. Every day in the year has appointed to it a series of canonical hours and a Mass corresponding, containing, for instance, the same collect and the same Gospel. On most days, the Mass will correspond to the Office, but on occasion, other Masses may be celebrated. Votive Masses appear in the Roman and Gallican Rites. The Suffrage Mass is a type of votive Mass that is celebrated in favour to some dead people.

The ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite is a regulation for the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church. It determines for each liturgical day which observance has priority when liturgical dates and times coincide, which texts are used for the celebration of the Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the hours and which liturgical color is assigned to the day or celebration.

The Zaire Use, also called Zairean Rite, officially the Roman Missal for the Dioceses of Zaire, is a Congolese liturgical use of the Roman Rite within the Catholic Church. Approved by the Vatican in 1988, it contains many elements from the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, but also incorporates elements from sub-Saharan African culture, particularly Congolese, including a number of inculturated liturgical modifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Fridays Devotion</span> Set of Catholic devotions

The First Fridays Devotion, also called the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a Catholic devotion to offer reparations for sins and which had its origin in the apparitions of Christ at Paray-le-Monial, France, reported by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century. This devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was fully approved by the Roman Catholic Church and several promises were made to those who practice the First Fridays Devotion, one of which included final perseverance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David John Malloy</span>

David J. Malloy is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the bishop of the Diocese of Rockford in Illinois since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Catholic Church</span>

The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 has significantly impacted liturgical celebrations of the Catholic Church worldwide. The Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) stated that the pandemic has become not "just a medical, social and economic problem, but also a pastoral problem", which led ACN to start encouraging a special program for the actions of priests and religious against the virus spread.

References

  1. "CatholicReference.net : Catholic Dictionary : ORATIO IMPERATA". www.catholicreference.net. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25.
  2. Modern Catholic Dictionary. Father John Hardon. Eternal Life Publications.
  3. "Oratio Imperata para sa Paghinto ng Ulan at Baha". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  4. "The Philippine Star >> Nation | philstar.com". www.philstar.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17.
  5. http://www.mb.com.ph/node/245759/cardinal-vidal-urge [ dead link ]
  6. Article Title [Usurped!]
  7. http://www.rcam.org Archived 2006-02-18 at the Wayback Machine - frontal page
  8. "Oratio Imperata for protection against COVID-19 (Revised January 28, 2022)".
  9. "ORATIO IMPERATA COVID 19 - Tagalog (Revised January 28, 2022)" (PDF).

See also