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Exploring the Mass... It is hard to give just one name to this great prayer. The Greeks used the word anaphora, which meant “elevation, lifting up,” and suggested offering. St. Gregory the Great called it simply prex, prayer. In Rome, the term canon actionis came to be used, which literally means ‘the rule for the action.’ Eventually actionis was dropped and the prayer was called simply the canon. It would have made more sense to drop canon and keep actionis! For this prayer is an action; these words make something happen. As with all our sacramental celebrations, word, sign, and gesture are inseparable from each other. “There is no fully satisfactory name for this action that is unparalleled in human experience” (Cabié). The Sacramentary provides special prayers for every Sunday of the year and a great variety of prefaces as well. The same is not true, in the western tradition, for the lengthy prayer that follows. In fact, for some hundreds of years, there was just one Eucharistic Prayer, the same at every single Mass, known as the Roman Canon. This prayer was immutable, or so it seemed, and there was considerable hubbub when, in 1962, Pope John XXIII actually changed the Canon by inserting the name of Saint Joseph after that of the Blessed Virgin Mary! That was very far from the practice in the early Church, when it was common for the presider to improvise this prayer. One early guidebook provided some simple rules: for example, “the prayer at the altar should always be addressed to the Father.” The second century martyr Saint Justin describes an early eucharist, noting how each presider “prays and gives thanks according to his ability.” The liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council provided several additional Eucharistic Prayers, restoring some of the ancient richness to this part of the Mass. The old Roman Canon remains in pride of place as the first Eucharistic Prayer (it is the prayer that begins “We come to you, Father, with praise and thanksgiving”). The second Eucharistic Prayer (“Lord, you are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness”) is the most ancient: it is based on the earliest existing text, attributed to St. Hippolytus, who died around 235. Eucharistic Prayer III (“Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise”) is a new prayer, composed in response to the Second Vatican Council, and “is without doubt the most elaborate on the theological level” (Deiss). Eucharistic Prayer IV is not often heard because of its great length and its rather difficult language; it is based on the Eastern anaphoras, particularly those of the great 4th century St. Basil. In addition to the four principal Eucharistic Prayers, the Sacramentary includes three adapted to the understanding of children, and two more “For Masses of Reconciliation.” And several additional prayers are likely to be included in the forthcoming new translation of the Sacramentary. Different as they are, all of the Eucharistic prayers have a similar shape. This great prayer falls into five principal parts: invocation, narrative, remembering, intercessions, doxology. After an introduction, which varies in length, each of the Eucharistic Prayers begins by invoking the power of the Holy Spirit. The priest extends his hands over the gifts and prays, “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ” (II). He then makes the sign of the cross over the bread and wine that have been presented by the faithful. The laying on of hands is one of the most ancient and powerful signs of blessing. “Many of our sacramental rituals, such as confirmation, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, and ordination, include this laying on of hands. These actions convey directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, blessing and healing, forgiveness and consecration, the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit” (Champlin). Here, the laying on of hands invokes the Spirit, by whose power alone our offering can become the body and blood of Christ. This is a holy moment: in fact, in many of the Eastern Churches this moment of the invocation of the Holy Spirit is seen as the moment of consecration. Narrative – Account of the Institution After the invocation of the Spirit comes the institution narrative, as the priest—praying in Christ’s own words—tells the story of the Last Supper. “In this elaborate act of remembering… that original event becomes the event of the community that hears it…. We enter into the hour of Christ” (Driscoll). Though the Eucharistic Prayer is one single prayer, the institution narrative is set apart in various ways. The rubrics indicate that these words, even more than the others, should be spoken “clearly and distinctly, as their meaning demands.” The priest bows slightly. The host and then the chalice are held high for all to see. Bells are rung. An acclamation is sung by all the people. The Church teaches that the entire Eucharistic Prayer, from preface dialogue to final Amen, is consecratory; but at the same time special reverence is given to the words of Christ. And while it is the priest who speaks the prayer, “the entire liturgical assembly is celebrating and consecrating” (Yves Congar). It is important to notice the shift in tense in the institution narrative. The first part is in past tense, in familiar storytelling style: “On the night he was betrayed, he took bread and gave you thanks and praise.” But when we come to the words Jesus spoke on that night, we move into present tense: “This is my body.” Why? Because we believe that Christ truly becomes present in this moment, as present as on the first Holy Thursday when he himself broke the bread and gave the cup. His present becomes our present. We acknowledge this in the Memorial Acclamation, sung by the people, when we proclaim the death of the Lord, celebrate his presence, and look to his future coming: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” After holding up the bread, and then the cup, for all to see, the priest genuflects, a sign of adoration. It is a sign of the transformation that has taken place. The simple signs—bread and wine—have become the body and blood of Christ. After the Memorial Acclamation, we enter a new part of the Eucharistic Prayer, called the anamnesis or remembering. Jesus said, “do this in memory of me,” and so at this moment we remember him, and offer to God the gift he has given to us. Each of the Eucharistic Prayers says this in a different way: “We celebrate the memory of Christ, your Son” (I) As we fulfill Christ’s command to act in his memory we can offer to God what he has given to us, “the holy and perfect sacrifice” (I), the “life-giving bread, this saving cup” (II). And in making this offering, we offer ourselves as well: “Accept us, together with your Son” (R2); “make us an everlasting gift to you” (III). At the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest invoked the Holy Spirit on the gifts; now we pray that Holy Spirit will come upon all of us: “Fill us with his Spirit through our sharing in this meal” (R2). “May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit” (II). Next the prayer moves into a series of intercessions for various needs, more formal than the prayers of the faithful which concluded the Liturgy of the Word. “While still in this sacred, powerful, and special moment, the priest in the people’s name calls upon those in heaven, the saints, to speak on our behalf” (Champlin). We pray for the Church throughout the world, asking God to bless it with “faith and love” (III), “unity” and “peace” (R2). We pray for our Pope and our bishop, mentioning them by name; we pray for all the clergy and the faithful. We pray for the dead who “have gone before us marked with the sign of faith” (I). And finally, we pray “for ourselves, too” (I). We ask for God’s “forgiveness” (I) and “mercy” (II); and we pray that we may be made “worthy to share eternal life” (II) with Mary and all the saints. Earlier in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we sang the song of the heavenly liturgy; and at the conclusion of our prayer we invoke the communion of saints again, asking the prayers of all the saints in heaven. The first Eucharistic Prayer includes not one but two wonderful litanies of names, a long, breathless reminder of how much heavenly help we have—“John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all the saints.” The end of the Eucharistic Prayer takes us back where we began, to the liturgy of heaven: “We hope to enjoy forever the vision of your glory” (III); “in that new world, where the fullness of your peace will be revealed, gather people of every race, language, and way of life to share in the one eternal banquet with Jesus Christ the Lord” (R2). The Eucharistic Prayers always conclude with a doxology, sung by the priest. Here, as at other points in the Mass—the Gloria, for example—the words of praise defy the rules of grammar, and language seems to struggle to express what the heart nevertheless understands: “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.” As he chants this prayer to the triune God, the priest holds up the consecrated bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ. This time, the elements are not held up for us to see and adore; rather, they are held up in a “gesture of offering” to God the Father (Deiss). “We would not be wrong to think of the Father as being overwhelmed by what He sees coming toward Him. He sees His Son coming and the whole world reconciled to Him in the body of His Son” (Driscoll). To this doxology—to the entire Eucharistic Prayer—the assembly sings “Amen!” It is no wonder that this is often called the “great” Amen, because “This is the biggest Amen of the Mass and so is the biggest Amen in the world…. This Amen contains all the others…. In the Mass, from our own place and time, we are spliced into this eternal Amen, and we shall sign forever what we are singing now. Amen!” (Driscoll) Joining in the final Amen is one of the most important ways in which the faithful participate in the Eucharistic Prayer. We should make it resound. We should make it count! Continue on to: The Communion Rite Return to the Believe, Celebrate, Live main page
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