Draw Forth from Our Eyes Rivers of Tears: Praying for Repentance with Alcuin’s Votive Mass Formulary

ABSTRACT: The call to repentance is inseparable from evangelical preaching (Mk 1:4, 15). Shedding physical tears has often been seen as a fitting response to this call, especially in medieval spiritual literature. The value of liturgical prayer for repentant tears was recently reaffirmed in the 2002 revisions to the Roman Missal, in which a preexisting “Mass for tears,” originally composed by Alcuin of York, was reworked and reintroduced as a new votive Mass “for the forgiveness of sins.” After discussing the concept and purpose of votive Masses and analyzing the Mass for tears in light of its history, the author proposes several ways that this new Mass formulary can meet contemporary pastoral needs.