"I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done
and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault,
through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God."
What I've been bringing up is the fact that I rarely hear it during Mass. Except for my spiritual director and the occasional priest, most other priests (at least in my neck of the woods) seem to prefer different variations during the Penitential Rite.
I'll go ahead and admit that, if I don't hear the Confiteor prayed during Mass, it doesn't seem right to me; it feels like something is missing. I don't know if it's because I grew up attending mostly Spanish Masses and the Confiteor is always used (and you always strike your breast during "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault..."). I don't know if it's a sign that I'm sort of a Mass "snob" because that can be very possible (I cringe when I see liturgical abuses).
This week I've decided to figure out why it seems to no longer be commonly used during Masses. Yes, I know it can be a preference thing amongst priests, but I am curious as to why. Are the options (I believe there's about 3 different prayer options during the Penitential Rite; someone correct me if I'm wrong) a product of Vatican II? When were the options introduced? When was the Confeitor introduced? When prayed during the N.O. (Novus Ordo/Ordinary Form) Mass, why do most people not strike their breast? I feel like I'm the only person under 50 who does it. lol. I have so many questions that are currently unanswered and I'm pretty sure they're going to bug me until I get the answers.
So, that is my mission for the week; to find out the answer to these questions. Does anyone know or can anyone point me in the right direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, that's it for now. Yes, I am well aware that I have been posting almost daily. See? I told you Journey of a Catholic Nerd Writer (back to) 1.0 was a good idea. lol. ;)
I hope y'all are having a good day.
As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D
