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To some, the Eucharistic prayer before communion is a meaningful
experience where the bread and wine are consecrated and become the
body and blood of Christ. For others this period is one of struggle
whereby the priest utters a long, drawn out prayer which has no
meaning to them. The Eucharistic prayer is a very rich prayer: one
with many elements, each of which is pregnant with meaning for our
Christian lives. The prayer is THE central prayer of our liturgy and
through it "the congregation joins itself to Christ in
acknowledging the great things God has done and in offering the
sacrifice (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 54). But
what does this mean to you?
Below are listed the various elements which make up the Eucharistic
prayer. You may wish to study them a bit, or perhaps glance through
them. At the bottom of the page are some thoughts and statements on
the eucharist. You reflect on these statements in light of the various
elements of the Eucharistic prayer. Or perhaps you may want to make
mental notes on what you've read. Or you may simply wish to listen for
these parts of the prayer as it is prayed on each Sunday. Either way,
these practices can help you to tune into one or more parts of the
prayer and perhaps make it more special to you. But don't worry if it
doesn't all make sense yet. Part of the nature of ritual prayer is
that it is repetitive which allows us to focus on different parts of
it each week.
- Thanksgiving: in the name of
the entire people of God, the priest praises the Father and gives
thanks for the whole work of salvation or for some special aspect
of it that corresponds to the day,
feast or season.
- Acclamation of praise:
joining with the angels the congregation sings the Sactus
(Holy, Holy). This acclamation is an intrinsic part of the
Eucharistic prayer and all people join in with the
priest in singing it.
- Epiclesis: in special
invocations the Church calls on God's power and asks that the
gifts offered by human hands be consecrated, that is, becomes
Christ's body and blood, and that the victim
to be received in communion be the source of salvation for those
who will partake.
- Institution narrative and consecration:
in the words and actions of Christ, that sacrifice is celebrated
which he himself instituted at the last supper, when, under the
appearances of bread and
wine, he offered his body and blood, gave them to his apostles to
eat and drink, them commanded that they carry on this mystery.
- Anamnesis (memorial Acclamation):
in fulfillment of the command received from Christ through the
apostles, the Church keeps his memorial by recalling especially
his passion, resurrection,
and ascension.
- Offering: in this memorial,
the Church - and in particular the Church here and now assembled -
offers the spotless victim to the Father in the Holy Spirit. The
Church's intention is that the
faithful not only offer this victim but also learn to offer
themselves and so to surrender themselves, through Christ the
Mediatior, to an ever more complete union with the Father and each
other,
so that at last God may be all in all.
- Intercessions: the
intercessions make it clear that the eucharist is celebrated in
communion with the entire Church of heaven and earth and that the
offering is made for the Church and all its
members living and dead, who are called top share in the salvation
and redemption purchased by Christ's body and blood.
- Doxology: the praise of God
is expressed in the doxology, to which the people's acclamation is
an assent and a conclusion.
The baptized participate in the paschal mystery not
by application
of The "Amen" to the eucharistic prayer is inseparable from
the
"Amen" at communion. There is merits earned by Christ in
past
events but by personal engagement in a twofold sending of the
Holy Spirit to firstly transform the elements and then to
transform those these events as they occur now in
daily living and in Christian ritual who receive them.
- Kathleen Harmon GIA Quarterly publication -
One Bread, One Body Catholic Bishops conferences
of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland
If the bread becomes the body of Christ,
then those who receive it also become one body in Christ.
If the bread becomes transformed
so too are those who receive it transformed.
The command to "do this in remembrance of me"
is
not simply a recollection of a past event,
but a call to live out today the life we have through Christ.
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