Universal Prayers

Schools and young people

Prayers of the Faithful for Schools

A school community includes pupils, teachers, families, and many people whose quiet work supports daily life. Choose the page that matches the actual need: a whole-school Mass, examinations, graduation, or prayer for a particular group. The sets keep the language clear for young readers while retaining prayer for the Church and the world.

GIRM 69–71 structure Preparation guide & source links

Choose the celebration before the age group

A school Mass, graduation, and an examination period each have a different focus. Use the matching set, then simplify a word if a young reader needs help. Do not make every intention about study; the school joins the wider Church’s prayer.

Prepare the readers

Give each reader a complete sentence, rehearse at a measured pace, and mark the people’s response clearly. A child should not need to explain a difficult phrase while reading it aloud.

Beginning of term and Catholic Schools Week

The school Mass page includes options for a new term and a Catholic school celebration. Name the occasion once and use one local need to make the prayer relevant, without adding a separate petition for every class.

School celebrations

Pupils sit quietly on wooden benches facing the cross in a sunlit school chapel.School Mass and beginning of termA red graduation cap and a gold-ribboned diploma rest on a stone ledge by a chapel garden.Graduation and baccalaureate MassA pencil lies across a plain burgundy folder beside a brass analog clock on a sunlit desk.Examinations

People in the school community

A child plants a green seedling while an adult steadies the terracotta pot.Children and young readersFour teenage students read and write together at a wooden library table.StudentsA teacher points to an exercise book while a teenage student listens at a classroom desk.Teachers and school staffYoung adult volunteers carry baskets of bread and vegetables toward an open parish hall.Young people and youth Mass

Prepared with GIRM 69–71 as the guiding standard: brief, sober intentions for the Church, the world, people in difficulty, and the local community, with an introduction and conclusion for the priest. These original examples may be adapted for the celebration and reviewed by the celebrant.

GIRM 69–70 ↗ · GIRM 71 ↗

PRACTICAL GUIDANCE

Preparing these prayers.

Can children read these prayers?

Yes, with suitable preparation. Choose a clear sentence, check pronunciation, and allow enough practice that the reader can pray calmly.

Do school prayers follow a different overall order?

At Mass, the ordinary Universal Prayer still includes the Church, the world, those in difficulty, and the local community. School needs give the set a fitting local focus.

Continue preparing.

A pearl rosary and white flowers lie on a lace-trimmed First Communion dress.Prayers of the Faithful for First Holy CommunionA glass vessel of golden chrism oil sits beside a folded red and gold stole.Prayers of the Faithful for Confirmation MassA microphone rises beside open blank pages on a wooden lectern, with church pews beyond.How to Read Prayers of the Faithful and General Intercessions

Explore this collection

Four teenage students read and write together at a wooden library table.Prayers of the Faithful for StudentsA teacher points to an exercise book while a teenage student listens at a classroom desk.Prayers of the Faithful for TeachersPupils sit quietly on wooden benches facing the cross in a sunlit school chapel.Prayers of the Faithful for a School MassA red graduation cap and a gold-ribboned diploma rest on a stone ledge by a chapel garden.Prayers of the Faithful for Graduation and Baccalaureate MassA child plants a green seedling while an adult steadies the terracotta pot.Prayers of the Faithful for ChildrenA pencil lies across a plain burgundy folder beside a brass analog clock on a sunlit desk.Prayers of the Faithful for Students Taking ExamsYoung adult volunteers carry baskets of bread and vegetables toward an open parish hall.Prayers of the Faithful for Young People

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