The Leonine Prayers after Mass (Part 2)

For a better understanding of a small but powerful devotional treasure

In the first part, we looked at the origins of the Leonine Prayers and began to consider their richness and beauty, looking in particular at how they invoke the intercession of the saints and thus teach us to do the same in our personal prayer. This set of prayers perfectly illustrates the relationship between the primacy of Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and mankind, and the fitting role of His most holy Mother in leading us to Him and obtaining His grace for us.

Christ and His Bride, the Church: Song of Songs 1:1, Bible moralisée (76 E7, f. 122r): c. 1371 - 1372, National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague (source)

The Head and the members

As soon as our lips form the word “Mary,” the word “Jesus” is not long in coming, for Mary always leads to Jesus; when we pray to our most gracious Advocate, we pray for nothing else but that she may show Jesus unto us and form Him within us.

When we pray to all the saints, what do we pray for? The conversion of sinners — our own conversion, too, for sin begins in my own breast. The freedom and exaltation of Holy Mother Church, which includes our freedom and exaltation as members of the militant Church. We are asking the saints to bring Jesus to us, to make us like Jesus. We are asking them to ask God to convert our hearts so that we, too, may stand among those who are perfect imitators of Jesus and mediators of His life to others. We beg for a taste of true liberty which is none other than Jesus Christ. We ask for true exaltation, which is none other than the heavenly glory of beholding Him face to face.

Notice the way the Leonine Prayers sweetly, lovingly invoke the name of Jesus, the Name above all other names, God’s Anointed One or Christ:

• “blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”;

• “after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus”;

• “pray for us . . . that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ”;

• “most sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.”

This is the same Lord that we — O wonder of wonders! — have just received in Holy Communion, sharing in the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. These prayers keep our hearts fixed on the beloved whom we have received, or rather, the divine Lover who has called us and caught us up to Himself.

“Let nothing come between us,” the Lord seems to be saying. “Let our friendship grow until it is vast and great, like the communion of hearts I enjoy with My Mother; let My ever-flowing grace make you worthy of Me and of My promises, that we may never be parted in time or in eternity; let the prayers of all My friends, the angels and saints, win favor for you and carry you forward until the day of your liberation and exaltation, the day when you will be freed at last from the malice and snares of the devil and will behold Me face to face—your divine Redeemer, the One who loves you with a gentle and fiery love that you could never fathom...”

In this way one can see the indissoluble bond between the communion of saints, the Mystical Body of Christ, and its Head, the Lord Jesus, who is the holiness of the saints, the source of their prayers’ power, the King from whom their glory radiates. There is no attainment of Christ apart from belonging to His Body, the Church, for whom He gave up His life on the Cross, that “she might be a spotless bride, free from all blemish” (Eph. 5:27).

This is what we signify every time we invoke the saints, our patterns in the faith, our brothers and sisters, our heavenly patrons, who are already perfectly free and exalted in the City of the living God, while we are yet struggling to be worthy of our calling.

Our Lady is the Church’s most perfect member and exemplar — she is the Queen of the Angels, standing at the pinnacle of the entire created order

The beauty of order, with Our Lady first

Another thing one sees in the Leonine prayers is the beauty of their order — their order with respect to one another, and the internal order of their petitions.