Q: In the new missal, at the penitential at, Option C – is it permissible to use other tropes besides the ones in the missal?
e.g. Lord Jesus, you are the way that leads to life, Lord Have Mercy.
Over the years I think lots of priests often made up their own. Possibly a fine use of the expressions “using these or similar words”
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A: In my book Let Us Pray, I correctly state this about the tropes found in the Order of Mass and in the sixth appendix of the missal: “All these invocations in the Missal are samples; others may be freely composed.”
But I didn’t give a citation.
Order of Mass #6 says, “The Priest, or a Deacon or another minister, then says the following or other invocations.”
They may be freely composed, but it’s good to follow the models. These invocations are about how wonderful Christ is, not how miserable we are.
Not, “For the times we didn’t love our neighbor, Lord, have mercy,” but “By your life and death, you taught us to love our neighbor, Lord, have mercy.”