View source for Oremus

{{Short description|Invitation to pray in some Christian churches}}
{{Other uses}}
{{One source|date=February 2024}}
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'''''Oremus''''' ([[Latin (language)|Latin]]: "Let us pray") is the invitation to pray, said before short prayers in the [[Catholic Mass]]<ref name=Catholic/> and the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] [[Divine Service (Lutheran)|Divine Service]], as well as other Western liturgies.

It is used as a single [[ecphonesis|exclamation]] in the East (in the rites of the [[Church of the East|Assyrian]] and [[Syriac Orthodox]] churches), denoting the imperative "Pray" or "Stand for prayer" (in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Church]]); most commonly, however with a further determination, "Let us pray to the Lord" (τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν, used throughout the [[Byzantine Rite]], where the laity replies with ''[[kyrie|Kyrie Eleison]]'' before the priest recites the prayer), and so on. [[Louis Duchesne]] thought that the [[Gallican Rite|Gallican]] [[Collect]]s were also introduced by the word "Oremus" ("Origines du Culte", Paris, 1898, 103). That was not the case in the [[Mozarabic Rite]], where the celebrant uses the word only twice, before the ''[[Trisagion|Agios]]'' and ''[[Lord's Prayer|Pater noster]]''.<ref name=Catholic/>

''Oremus'' is said (or sung) in the [[Roman Rite]] before all separate [[collect]]s in the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], [[Canonical hours|Office]], or on other occasions (but several collects may be joined with one Oremus). It is also used before the [[Post-Communion]], the [[offertory]], and before the introduction to the ''[[Lord's Prayer|Pater noster]]'' and other short prayers (e.g., ''Aufer a nobis'') in the form of collects.<ref name=Catholic/><ref>{{Cite web |title=586 – Pokrop mě yzopem |url=https://kancional.cz/586 |access-date=2022-11-09 |website=kancional.cz}}</ref>

It appears that the ''Oremus'' did not originally apply to the prayer that now follows it. It is thought that it was once an invitation to private prayer, very likely with further direction as to the object, as is now the case in the liturgy for [[Good Friday]] (''Oremus pro ecclesia sancta Dei''). The deacon then said: ''Flectamus genua'' ("let us kneel"), and all knelt in silent prayer. After a time the people were told to stand up (''Levate''), and finally the celebrant collected all the petitions in one short sentence said aloud (hence, the [[collect]]).<ref name=Catholic>{{Catholic|wstitle=Oremus|inline=1}}</ref>

==References==
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==External links==
*[https://www.oremus.org Home page of Church of England Oremus website]
*[https://www.oremusmusic.net Home page of Roman Catholic Oremus Music website]
*[https://www.oremuspress.com Home page of Orémus Press Newspaper website]

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{{Lutheran Divine Service}}
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[[Category:Latin religious words and phrases]]
[[Category:Order of Mass]]


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