The Collects and Postcommunions of the Revised Roman Missal
Placid Murray offers a reflection on the significance of the Collects and Postcommunions in the Roman Missal (1970). This Missal is the second Missal promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church, with the first being that of 1570, following the Council of Trent. Murray suggests that the new Missal differs in character from that of 1570 in relation to ‘the three presidential prayers said by the priest in the name of the assembly’, that is: Collect; Prayer over the Offerings, and; Postcommunion. Murray focuses on the opening and closing prayers said in the Mass, and identifies three themes within them: 1) the Image of Christ 2) the scope of Christian prayer, and 3) the place of the Eucharist in the Christian life.