Universal Prayers (Prayers of Petition)
The marriage rite concludes with the Universal Prayers, or Prayers of Petition. This is a set of prayers specifically directed to the larger needs of the world, the church and our communities. Usually, the priest, or members of the parish write these prayers for Sunday Mass. For the wedding liturgy, you may want to write them or, at least, suggest specific intentions or adaptations to be included in the prayers. This is a good opportunity to personalize the liturgy, while remembering the needs of others in the midst of the day's joy.
The Universal Prayers begin with a brief introduction by the priest or deacon. Then, the intentions are announced by a lector. There are ordinarily five or six intentions, each simple and relatively brief. Following each intention, the reader says "Let us pray to the Lord ..." After the last intention, the priest or deacon says a concluding prayer which sums up and completes the Universal Prayer.
Following are two samples (in Microsoft Word) for you to personalize. Once you have completed this task, save the document to your computer. Email your completed intercessions to Paul Trzebiatowski for review/approval.
Universal Prayers (Prayers of Petition)
Please follow these directions:
For each of the documents, click on option 1 or option 2. Click your mouse to save them to your computer. You can then open the document and save any changes before emailing it for review/approval.
Once you have completed your adaptations/changes, please email the WORD document (as an attachment) to Paul Trzebiatowski.