The Eucharist is referred to as the “source and summit” of the Christian life. Jesus instituted the Eucharist during the Last Supper with simple, unleavened bread, and wine. This is what makes the Eucharist our “source.” The main focus of the Mass is doing what Jesus commissioned His Church to do at the Last Supper. We continue to bring the Eucharist into the world through the power of God by the prayers of the priest and the congregation gathered. As for the Eucharist being our “summit,” we are all (hopefully) looking forward to a life of eternity in Heaven (rather than the alternative), and so we look to the Eucharist, the Body of the Risen Christ, as our ultimate goal. So how does the source and summit of the Christian life come into existence at Mass? That’s what we’re about to find out through the next series of posts.
The Eucharistic Prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving (which is what the word “Eucharist” means) and sanctification. In this post, I’ll give you a snapshot of what the Eucharistic Prayer consists of, then in our next posts, I’ll take one part at a time and unpack what is said and explain what’s not obvious.
First, we have a bit of back-and-forth prayerful dialogue with the celebrant:
Current Text:
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Priest: Lift up your hearts
People: We lift them up to the Lord
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Beginning Advent 2011:
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.
Priest: Lift up your hearts
People: We lift them up to the Lord
Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right and just.
…again, these revisions coming in Advent 2011 are meant to provide a better, more directly literal translation of the Latin that was spoken at Mass until the 1960s when the Mass began to be prayed in the local language of the Church.
Next comes the Thanksgiving, expressed in the Preface. Much like the preface of a book, this is a short introduction to what’s about to happen that says why we’re about to do what we’re about to do and why we’re glad to do it. At the end of the Thanksgiving is an invitation for everybody to proclaim the Acclamation.
The Acclamation is a song of praise to God that we sing at the start of the Eucharistic prayer. It’s the “Holy Holy Holy Lord, God of Power and Might…” song that can also be recited if there’s no choir present.
The next few parts might come in different orders depending on which Eucharistic Prayer the priest celebrant chooses to pray:
Epiclesis: the invocation of the Power of the God the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into the Body & Blood of the Risen Christ.
Institution Narrative & Consecration: the reciting of the words and mimicking of the actions of Christ at the Last Supper by the priest.
Anamnesis: collective remembrance through a short song about the passion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus (may also be recited if there’s no choir).
Offering: offering of the “spotless victim” (Jesus like the spotless lambs that were sacrificed in the Old Testament by the Jews) by the Church in hopes that we can learn to offer ourselves to God.
Intercessions: prayers that show that the Eucharist is celebrated with the WHOLE Church of Heaven and of earth, and that the offering is made for all the members of the Church (living AND dead)
Final Doxology: hymn of praise to God that concludes the Eucharistic Prayer, to which we respond, “Amen.”
So there’s your snapshot of the Eucharistic Prayer. Like I said earlier, our next few posts will take each of these in more detail.
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