The Nine Prayers of Holy Mass That Forgive Venial Sins

There are nine prayers in the Ordinary of the traditional Latin Mass that may be efficacious for the forgiveness of venial sin. This depends, of course, on the sentiments of contrition inhering in the heart of the worshiper who is offering the prayers along with the celebrant as he follows the latter’s sacrificial actions with his own missal. Father Michael Jarecki, our chaplain for many years, made note of these prayers from time to time, mentioning seven of them as potentially purgative of venial sin. However, in counting each Mass petition for forgiveness of sin individually I came up with nine.

All but the last of these prayers are recited in preparation for Holy Communion. The final one is a petition that the all-holy Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, of the Incarnate Victim will perfect our purification, left imperfect through the human weakness of our prior solicitation, as we are assimilated into Him by a worthy and fervent Communion. If there was ever an incarnational prayer, a prayer that takes into account our entire body, inside and out, as well as our soul, it is the Communion prayer Corpus tuum, Domine.

How powerful indeed is the holy Mass, wherein, as Father Feeney used to say, God offers God to God, and the priest is so divinely elevated that he is vested to act as His instrument, in persona Christi. No wonder Saint John Chrysostom is his Eucharistic sermons was so bold as to say that when the faithful leave Mass after Communion they should descend upon the world as “roaring lions” for Christ.

Below is my list of the purgative prayers offered by the priest at holy Mass as you have it in your missal in Latin and English.

Foot Prayers

Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis vestris, perducat vos ad vitam aeternam.

May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and bring you to everlasting life.

Indulgentiam absolutionem, et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum, tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus.

May the Almighty and Merciful Lord grant us pardon, + absolution, and remission of our sins.

Aufer a nobis, quaesumus, Domine, iniquitates nostras ut ad Sancta sanctorum puris mereamur mentibus introire. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

Take away from us our iniquities, O Lord, we beseech You, that we may enter with pure minds into the Holy of Holies. Through Christ our Lord.

Oramus te. Domine, per merita Sanctorum tuorum, quorum reliquiae hic sunt, et omnium Sanctorum: ut indulgere digneris omnia peccata mea.

We beseech You, O Lord, by the merits of Your Saints whose relics lie here, and of all the Saints, deign in your mercy to pardon me all my sins.

The Canon

Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis, de multitudine miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam, et societatem donare digneris, cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus, cum Joanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino, Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Caecilia, Anastasia, et omnibus Sanctis tuis, intra quorum nos consortium, non aestimator meriti sed veniae, quaesumus, largitor admitte. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

To us sinners also, Your servants, trusting in the greatness of Your mercy, deign to grant some part and fellowship with Your Holy Apostles and Martyrs with John Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all Your Saints. Into their company we implore You to admit us, not weighing our merits, but freely granting us pardon. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion

Libera nos, quaesumus, Domine, ab omnibus malis, praeteritis, praesentibus, et futuris, et intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beatis Apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, et omnibus Sanctis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris, ut ope misericordiae tuae adjuti, et a peccato simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturbatione securi. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus. Per omnia saecula saeculorum.

Deliver us, we beg You, Lord, from every evil, past, present, and to come; and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever-Virgin, Mother of God, Mary, and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, of Andrew, and all Saints. Grant of Your goodness, peace in our days, that aided by the riches of Your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all disturbance. Through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.

Domine Jesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi, qui ex voluntate Patris, cooperante Spiritu Sancto, per mortem tuam mundum vivificasti: libera me per hoc sacrosanctum Corpus et Sanguinem tuum ab omnibus iniquitatibus meis, et universis malis, et fac me tuis semper inhaerere mandatis, et a te numquam separari permittas. Qui cum eodem Deo Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas Deus in saecula saeculorum.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who, by the will of the Father, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, have by Your death given life to the world, deliver me by this Your most sacred Body and Blood from all my sins and from every evil. Make me always cling to Your commandments, and never permit me to be separated from You Who with the same God the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign, God, forever and ever.

Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.

Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But say the word and my soul will be healed.

Corpus tuum, Domine, quod sumpsi, et Sanguis quem potavi, adhaereat visceribus meis.. et praesta, ut in me non remaneat scelerum macula, quem pura et sancta refererunt sacramenta. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.

May Your Body, Lord, which I have eaten, and Your Blood which I have drunk, cleave to my very soul, and grant that no trace of sin be found in me, whom these pure and holy mysteries have renewed. You, Who live and reign, world without end. Amen.