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The Liturgy of the

The next part of the Eucharist celebration is the actual sacramental action of the Liturgy. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy calls it the Liturgy of the Eucharist & notes that “The Liturgy of the Word & the Eucharistic Liturgy are so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship” (SC #56). As a result, the Council Fathers urged the faithful to take part in the entire . When the Liturgy of the Eucharist begins, the central focus of the Liturgy moves from the presidential chair or the ambo to the .

The Liturgy of the Eucharist can be sub-divided into 3 parts:  The Preparation of the ,  The Eucharistic Prayer  The Rite.

In the Preparation of the Gifts we have: the Presentation of the Gifts which can take the form of a procession. Then the actual Preparation Prayers, ending with the Washing of the Hands. The Rite of Preparation ends with the Prayer over the Gifts.

The Eucharistic Prayer, formerly known as The Canon, begins with the & the Acclamation “Holy, holy, holy…” This leads into the Eucharistic Prayer in which the gifts of bread & wine that have been presented become the Body & of Christ. The Eucharistic Prayer ends with the & the congregational response “Amen.”

The final section of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the Communion Rite which begins with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. This is followed by the Rite of Peace & the Rite. Then the Communion proper in which the , ministers & congregation receive the Body & . The Communion Rite & the Liturgy of the Eucharist as a whole, ends with The Prayer after Communion.

The Presentation of the Gifts

From the earliest days of the Church, this part of the Mass began with the faithful offering gifts to the ministers of the Liturgy. The Catechism cites the First Apology of Justin: “After the & the Prayers of the Faithful, someone brings bread & a cup of water & wine mixed together, to him who presides over the brethren.”

As centuries passed, the faithful would present many other things as well as the bread & wine needed for the Eucharistic celebration. St. Hippolytus lists other “gifts” such as oil, honey, wool, fruit, wax or flowers. These other gifts were 2 used for the support of the & the poor. Around the 11th cent., the offering took a form closer to that with which we are familiar. A collection of money was made & this was brought to the altar with the gifts of bread & wine for the Eucharistic Liturgy & the support & upkeep of the Church, the clergy & the needs of the poor. This procession was, especially on Sundays, accompanied by the or the Offertory Antiphon.

The Presentation of the Gifts is reminiscent of another offering of bread & wine made in the Book of Genesis: the offering of the priest Melchizedek in Gen 14:18. Melchizedek’s gesture was a sign of hospitality to the nth degree. Bread & water would be sufficient. Bread & wine is royal fayre & regularly accompanied by sacrifice. In the minds of the , Melchizedek’s offering to the King of Sodom, is a type of the bread & wine that will be brought out by Jesus at the , the bread & wine that will become the Body & Blood of Christ. The Catechism interprets this: “the presentation of the offerings at the altar, takes up the gesture of Melchizedek & commits the Creator’s gifts into the hands of Christ, who in his sacrifice brings to perfection all human attempts to offer sacrifice” (CCC #1350).

This raises two questions. First: why bread & why wine? Secondly: was it necessary to present these gifts in the first place, God has no need of them?

The answer to the first question is found in many places where bread & wine appear in the Scriptures. Recall that the Liturgy of the Eucharist is modelled on the Passover Meal. Bread & wine play a prominent role in the Passover Meal; hence they are significant for the Mass.

But even more, bread was one of the major sources of sustenance in that period. The Book of Sirach tells us that life’s prime needs are: water, bread & clothing (Sir 29:21). We see this in the story of Elijah & the widow at Zarephath. Due to famine, the oil was running dry & the flour was running out. The widow would soon be unable to make simple bread cakes. She & her son would not be able to eat & so would die. When Elijah came on the scene, she was willing to feed him & as a result of that her oil did not go dry & her flour was plentiful until the drought ended (1 Kings 17:8-16). Bread for them was thus the staple of life.

Further, bread was to be offered to God at harvest time. “One shall present as offering, unleavened cakes or unleavened wafers & grain cakes, together with loaves of leavened bread, along with a thanksgiving communion sacrifice. From this the individual shall offer one bread of each type of offering as a contribution to the Lord” (Lev 7:13-14).

Wine was a sign of festivity, as the Psalmist sings: “You make wine to gladden people’s hearts & oil to make their faces shine” (Ps 104:14-15). As such wine 3 was served at meals, especially festive meals, as with bread. The first of the wine was also offered to the Lord. “The first batch of our dough & the offerings of the fruit of every tree of wine & oil, we bring to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God” (Neh 10:38). Further, whenever wine was used in sacrifices, a drink offering or libation was poured out (Exodus 29:38-40).

Many in Ancient Israel saw this offering of bread & wine in sacrifice as an offering of one’s self. That’s the answer to the second question. It’s as if we bring our whole lives, with all our little sacrifices symbolized by the gifts, to the hands of Jesus himself who is represented by the priest. The priest then brings our gifts to the altar, the place where Christ’s sacrifice is made present, in order to express our union with Christ’s offering to the Father. It’s very much like the narrative of the multiplication of the loaves. Through the apostles, the young boy presents his meagre offering of five loaves & two fish to Jesus who takes that insufficiency & makes it possible that it feeds a multitude of 5000. In the Mass we bring mere bread & wine to Christ & receive back the Body & Blood of Jesus.

The Preparation of the Gifts

The priest then takes the gifts of bread & wine to the altar & pronounces the offering prayer over them. These offering prayers are taken, nearly verbatim, from the Haggadah, a ritual of the Passover meal. In the Passover Haggadah, the father of the family takes unleavened bread, matza, & prays a prayer of blessing over it: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” Those gathered answer: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments & has commanded us concerning the eating of unleavened bread.”

The father’s blessing is expanded in the Mass, but the basic sentiment is the same. The priest offering the bread says: “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you. Fruit of the earth& work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.” The congregation responds simply: “Blessed be God forever.”

The reference to the Bread of Life at the end of the offering prayer reminds us of Jesus’ great Discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum on the Bread of Life (Jn 6). In this Discourse the author of John’s sets out his theology of the Eucharist.

The current translation of the prayer of offering over the bread has restored the indirect object, showing that these offerings are from someone, the people through the priest, to somebody, God Himself. God has given us the gifts from 4 which we fashion a to return to Him in gratitude. The acclamation “Blessed be God forever” reminds us of the opening of Romans where Paul speaks of the idolaters. He says: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie & revered & worshipped a creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever” (Rom 1:25). With that acclamation we affirm the truth of God which for us will be & is salvific. Later Paul again expresses the eternal blessing of God affirmed in this acclamation: “God who is over all, be blessed forever. Amen” (Rom 9:5).

After the Prayer of Offering of the bread, the celebrant or prepares the wine, pouring it into the or & adding a drop or two of water to the wine in the chalice. It was common in the ancient world to add a bit of water to the wine in order to dilute it. In the development of the Liturgy, the Church saw a great symbolism in this act. The water joined to the wine became a symbol of the humanity of Jesus joined to his divinity. This is what the priest says in the accompanying prayer: “By the mystery of this water & wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” Although there is no direct biblical reference here, the short prayer recalls the Prologue of John’s Gospel where the Word became flesh. & the Infancy Narratives of Mt & Lk where Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit & born of the virgin Mary. It also recalls the formula of the Council of Chalcedon expressing the relationship between the two natures in Christ.

In the Passover or Sedar meal, when the father of the family takes the wine, he says a blessing over it & those gathered respond: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.” The prayer that the priest says when he offers the wine is based on that response. “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you. Fruit of the vine & work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.”

In the Prayer of Blessing over the wine, two biblical allusions are found. The reference to wine as “fruit of the vine” recalls the statement of Jesus at the Last Supper when he speaks to his disciples: “I tell you from now on, I shall not drink this fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father” (cf Mt 26:29; Mk 14:25; Lk 22:18). This reminds us of our waiting for the ultimate final feast in the future kingdom which will be inaugurated in the Passion, Death & .

The reference to “spiritual drink” is an allusion to 1 Cor 10:4, where “all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them & the rock was Christ.” This is a reference to a rabbinic legend. In the account of the desert wanderings in Num 20:1-11, we hear of Moses drawing water from a rock for the thirsty Israelites. The rabbis, in traditions that were popular at the time of the writing of the NT, taught that the rock followed the Israelites & 5 always gave them water to drink. Paul takes that tradition & interprets it further, saying that the rock is Christ. This shows that the wine which is here blessed, will become later in the Mass, our spiritual drink i.e. Christ.

In the revisions of the Roman Liturgy after Vatican II it was decided to simplify this rite limiting the prayers that the priest says to the two offering prayers above. These prayers were chosen because they embody three ideas:  Bread & wine are products of this earth & thus symbolize our world, our life.  They also signify the work of our hands & our daily labour.  They are offered here as the matter or material disguise for what they will become in the Eucharistic mystery: the bread of life & the spiritual drink.

Having prepared the gifts, the priest then bows slightly before the altar & prays a private prayer, beginning with the words: “With humble spirit” - a translation of the “in spiritu humilitatis” – “in a spirit of humility.” This prayer aptly expresses the invisible sacrifice of the heart, the interior meaning of all external offering. The prayer speaks of two exteriors: “may we be accepted by you, O Lord,” & “may our sacrifice in your sight this day be pleasing to you, O Lord our God.”

Thus the offering of bread & wine which is to become the sacrifice, is representative of the offering of ourselves to God. This reminds us of the Canticle of the three young men in the fiery furnace (Dan 3:39-40), praying “but with contrite heart & humble spirit, let us be received, as though it were burnt offerings of rams & bulls or tens of thousands of fat lambs, so let our sacrifice be in your presence today & find favour before you, for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.” They see themselves as a sacrifice & their faith in God’s favour saved them. That faith is expressed in this prayer of the priest. In both the prayer & in the Canticle of the Three Young Men, the interior disposition is humility & a contrite heart. That is how we approach God here.

Another action remaining from the larger offertory processions, now takes place. When the people would bring not only bread & wine but many items necessary for the sustenance of the priest & for the poor, the hands of those receiving the gifts would get quite dirty, so it was necessary to wash the hands before continuing with the Eucharistic ritual. As time marched on & the nature of the presentation of gifts changed, the need to wash hands became less & less. But the ritual was kept in the Liturgy with a spiritual significance. This washing recalls the ritual washings necessary for the priests of the Temple to perform their sacred duties. Ritual cleanliness was also required of those who entered the Temple. Ps 24 says: “Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord & who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands & a pure heart” (Ps 24:3-4).

The external clean hands is symbolic of the internal, a pure clean heart. Thus the 6 priest now washes his hands prior to entering the moment of the Liturgy when at his hands the bread & wine will become the very presence of the Almighty, the body & blood of Christ. As he washes his hands, he invokes the words of Ps 51: “Wash me completely from my iniquity & cleanse me from my sin” (Ps 51:4). Notice again the relationship between cleanliness & purity of heart.

Having prepared the gifts & washed his hands, the priest now invites the congregation to pray: “Pray, my brothers & sisters…” What are they to pray for? “That my sacrifice & yours may be acceptable to God.” There is a subtle change in the translation with the New . “Our sacrifice” has become “my sacrifice & yours”. “Our” stressed the equality & commonality between priest & people. “My sacrifice & yours” expresses a distinction between priest & people. The priest is not merely one of the members of the congregation. As the theology of the of tells us, citing Hebrews, the priest is “taken from among men & made their representative before God to offer gifts & sacrifices for sin” (Heb 5:1). The priest is chosen to offer sacrifice on behalf of the people. The people offer themselves in union with Christ in the Mass.

The people respond with a wish that the sacrifice be accepted by God for the praise & glory of his name. Secondarily for the good of the local community & finally, for the good of the entire Church. The new translation added the word “holy” modifying Church, to produce “for the good of all his holy Church”. Again the change is made to bring the translation in line with the Latin. It also recalls the end of Ephesians where in speaking of Christ & the Church, Paul says “that he might present himself, the Church in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy & without blemish” (Eph 5:27).

The Prayer over the Offerings

The preparation rite ends with the second of the presidential prayers - the Prayer over the Offerings, formerly known as the Prayer over the Gifts. In the pre- Vatican II Liturgy it was known as The because the priest would pray the prayer almost inaudibly. The Prayer over the Offerings is meant to focus attention on the presentation of the offerings concluding the preparation rite & look forward to the Eucharistic Prayer.

The Eucharistic Prayer

With the completion of the Preparation Rite, the Liturgy moves into what the GIRM calls “the centre & summit of the entire celebration” – the Eucharistic Prayer. This prayer has roots in prayers offered at Jewish meals, but especially in the prayers offered at the Passover meal. In the ritual of Passover there were 7 three offerings of bread, matza, & four cups of wine which were drunk. The action of the Eucharistic Prayer seems to take place with the second offering of the bread & the drinking of the third cup of wine.

Three elements or characteristics are common to the blessing or berakah prayers of the Passover meal & correspondingly of the Eucharistic Prayers of the Mass today:  Praise to God for His creation.  Thanksgiving for God’s redemptive work in the past  Supplication for the future.

These were joined to blessings offered over the bread & wine & a narrative of the salvific events of Jesus’ death & resurrection which included an account of Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper, known as the Institution Narrative.

Prior to the revisions of the one Eucharistic Prayer was recited at every Mass in the Western Church. This was known as the Roman Canon, today known as Eucharistic Prayer No.1. With the reforms of Vatican II, three more Eucharistic Prayers were added to the Roman Missal of 1970. Eucharistic Prayer 2 dating from the time of St. Hippolytus the Great in 215-220 CE. Eucharistic Prayer 3 which derives from an oriental prayer with roots in both the ancient liturgies of Alexandria & Antioch. & Eucharistic Prayer 4 which is the most theological of the Eucharistic Prayers containing a grand panorama of the history of . It’s drawn from the Syro-Antiochean church with elements of the liturgy in ancient Alexandria.

In 1975 two Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation & three Eucharistic Prayers for Children’s use, were added. In 1994 four Eucharistic Prayers for Various needs & occasions were added. Thus there was a choice of 13 Eucharistic Prayers for the celebrant in any given liturgy.

The GIRM indicates 8 elements of the Eucharistic Prayer which are found in some form in all of the Eucharistic Prayers listed above. These elements also represent some of the technical vocabulary used in talking about the Eucharistic Prayer.

1. Thanksgiving - the celebrant gives thanks for the whole work of salvation or for some special aspect corresponding to the particular celebration of the day. This is usually contained in the Preface.

2. Acclamation(s) - the congregation joins the heavenly liturgy in praising God. There are three major acclamations in the Eucharistic Prayer. The Holy, Holy, Holy, also known as the , in response to the Preface. The Memorial 8

Acclamation in response to the Institution Narrative & the Great Amen which concludes the Eucharistic Prayer.

3. from the Greek επι + καλέω which means “to call down.” In technical liturgical language, it’s a calling down of the Holy Spirit to implore that the gifts offered by human hands first be consecrated i.e. become Christ’s Body & Blood. & second, that the Body & Blood of Christ received in communion, be for the salvation of those who partake in it.

4. The Institution Narrative or the is the central part of the Eucharistic Prayer. By means of words & actions of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ is carried out which Christ Himself instituted at the Last Supper when He offered His Body & Blood under the species of bread & wine & gave them to the apostles to eat & drink & left the apostles the command to perpetuate this same mystery.

5. The from the Greek word for memory – anamnesis. At the end of the Institution Narrative Jesus commanded his disciples “to do this in memory (anamnesis) of me.” In the anamnesis of the Eucharistic Prayer the Church carries out that command, keeping the memorial of Christ recalling especially his Passion, Resurrection & Ascension into heaven.

6. The offering. The Church offers in the Holy Spirit the spotless victim to the Father. This offering leads to the faithful offering themselves through Christ, leading to the faithful being drawn day by day into an ever more perfect union with God & with each other (SC #48).

7. The intercessions express the fact that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the entire Church. The offering is made for the Church & for all her members, living & dead, who have been called to share in redemption & salvation.

8. The final doxology through which God’s glory is expressed & confirmed. This ends with the people’s acclamation “Amen”. The word “doxology” comes from two Greek words: δοχα meaning “glory” & λογος meaning “word”. So a “doxology” is a “word of glory” which is answered by the Great Amen of the people.

Let’s look at one Eucharistic Prayer to see how these characteristics are implemented.

The Preface

All Eucharistic Prayers begin with a Preface which has an introductory dialogue that is thought to date back to the 3rd cent. The first mention of this dialogue was 9 in the Eucharistic Prayer of St. Hippolytus c.215 CE. That Eucharistic Prayer is the one we know today as Eucharistic Prayer No.2.

The Introductory Dialogue consists of three statements by the celebrant which are answered by three answers of the congregation. The first is the familiar: “The Lord be with you” used as the simplest form of the greeting in the Introductory Rites & used to introduce the Proclamation of the Gospel. Recall that in the Scriptures, when God called one to a mission the promise that He would be with them always accompanied the call. So here, through this greeting, the priest invokes the presence of the Lord for the people & the congregation in responding “& with your spirit” invoke the presence of the Lord with the priest as he leads them into the most sacred part of the Liturgy.

The second invocation of the priest is “Lift up your hearts”. He invites the congregation to lift their hearts to the Lord in prayer & thanksgiving through the lifting of his hands. In the Hebrew understanding of the human being, the heart not the mind or the intellect, is the centre of thought & action. Intentions & commitments flow from the human heart. Thus the invocation to lift up our hearts, is a call to focus & centre the attention of our hearts on what is about to happen. It’s akin to Paul’s command “to set your minds on the things that are above, not the things of the earth” (Col 3:1-2). The moment of the Mass that is coming leads us into heavenly things, into the heavenly liturgy. The congregation responds “We have lifted them up to the Lord”. In that response they affirm that they are thinking of the things above, not the things below. But the caution of St. Cyril of Jerusalem is to be heeded: “Let there be not among you who shall confess with his lips ‘we have lifted up our hearts’ & allow his thoughts to remain with the cares of this life.”

Having sought the presence of the Lord & turned our being to the things above, the final invocation focuses on what we are about to do: “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” The priest extends his hands to embrace everyone in this great act of thanksgiving. One of the earliest names given to the Liturgy was “the Eucharist” from a Greek verb εύχαριστέω (eucharisteo) meaning “to give thanks”. In the Jewish tradition, thanksgiving is one thing we could actually offer the Creator that he does not already possess. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria said “to give due worship to God is the only one duty incumbent upon us, that of giving thanks, so we carry it out in all times & in all places.” This is especially so in the action we are about to participate in.

The congregation again affirms what the priest has said; “It is right & just.” This is a simplification of the response in the earlier translation & it is much closer to the original Latin. The earlier English translation added words in an attempt to explain the meaning of the response. In a sense the additional words – “to give him thanks & praise” - made the response more complex than it need 10 be. Two Latin adjectives are used. One – dignum – basically “worthy.” As explained above, giving thanks to God is something we are worthy to do & hence it is right to do so. The second adjective – justum – basically “just”. “Justice” in its Greco-Roman sense is being in proper relationship with another, whether the “other” be another human being or God. So giving thanks is “just” because we are in proper relationship with God. Thus thanksgiving is the right thing to do. We owe God a debt of gratitude.

The Preface then follows the dialogue. It is essentially a prayer of thanksgiving. In the Roman Liturgy there are some 60 plus prefaces which are recited on particular feasts & at particular types of Masses e.g. funerals, weddings, the administration of , holy days etc. Then there are a series of Common Prefaces which can be used on multiple occasions. Each Preface basically consists of 3 parts:  An introduction  A core that makes reference to the feast or the Mass  A concluding call to join the heavenly hosts in acclamation.

The Introduction picks up the response of the people to the final acclamation. E.g. in the Fourth Preface for the Sundays in Time, the celebrant begins: “It is truly right & just, our duty & our salvation…” This says it is no haphazard action we are about to embark upon. It is a duty. & that duty pertains to salvation. He goes on delineating that duty: “Always & everywhere to give you thanks.” Giving thanks – Eucharist – is not when we can get to it. It’s our duty. & the first part of the Preface ends with a mention of whom this duty to give thanks is addressed to: “Lord, Holy Father, Almighty & Eternal God.” However, it’s not just “us & God”. This prayer is addressed through the mediation of Christ our Lord.

In this Preface, the Core narrates the key role of Christ in the history of salvation, beginning with the incarnation i.e. the moment the second person of the Trinity takes on human flesh & becomes one of us. The Preface shows that the process of righting Adam’s sin began for “by his birth he brought renewal to humanity’s fallen state.” The text shows Christ as the new Adam. Many would see this renewal as an allusion to the Lord’s words in the Book of Revelation: “Behold I make all things new” (Rev 21:15). The fallen state referred to is the old man dominated by Adam’s sin. This renewal is putting off that old man & putting on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness & holiness (cf. Eph 4:24).

From the incarnation the text moves to redemption & in particular Jesus’ suffering whereby he cancelled out our sins, his Resurrection whereby he opened the way to eternal life & his Ascension whereby he unlocked the gates of heaven. In rising from the dead, Jesus rolls away the stone that blocks us. He 11 clears our path & shows us the way to go. Our barred way blocked by sin is made open & cleared for us through Christ. This is the essence of this Preface.

The Concluding Call to acclaim then follows as a logical conclusion. Introduced in the Latin with the phrase “et ideo”, translated as “& therefore…” or in the current English translation “& so…” Then in the most solemn language of the acclamation, the acclamation of praise is stated: “With the company of angels & , we sing the hymn of your praise, as we acclaim without end…” as in the great hymn at the end of Rev 5 where the praise of God & the is joined by Twenty Four Elders, who are then joined by countless angels surrounding the throne. Then every creature in heaven & earth & under the earth, & finally everything in the universe cries out & acclaims to the one who sits on the throne & the Lamb: “Blessing & honour, glory & might, forever & ever. Amen.” Similarly having heard & giving thanks for God’s great actions in history, we now join the heavenly host in praising God in an acclamation of God’s holiness.

Acclamation – Holy, Holy, Holy…

The Acclamation is a combination of two biblical texts. It begins with the words of the angels in the heavenly throne room in the inaugural vision of Isaiah. Isaiah is in the Temple in Jerusalem & he has a vision of the divine throne room. He sees the angels attending to the throne of God & hears their cry: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts. All the earth is filled with His glory” (Is 6:3). In this Acclamation the congregation is joining the whole heavenly host in proclaiming God’s glory. In Hebrew it is: Qadosh, Qadosh, Qadosh, Adonai Sabaoth. The triple holy or Qadosh is the way that the superlative is constructed in Hebrew. Thus they acclaim that the Lord is the holiest. The title given to the Lord in Hebrew is “sabaoth”, translated in recent English texts as “of hosts”. Previously an attempt was made to further describe “of hosts.” It was “Lord of power & might.” That translation misses the nuance of “sabaoth.” It’s actually “Lord of the armies.” The picture is not just “power & might”, but the “power & might of an army”. So “the Lord of the most powerful army” is “the holiest”.

Then following Isaiah: “Heaven & earth are full of your glory”. The Acclamation adds “heaven” to “earth” to give a greater sense of universality to the Acclamation. Since the Acclamation is addressed to God, it’s “your glory” rather than “his glory”.

The second part of the Acclamation is drawn from words addressed to Jesus in the NT. As he entered the city of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, the assembled crowds shout or acclaim: “ in the highest.” Mt’s Gospel records: “the crowds preceding him & those following him kept on crying out & saying ‘Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.’” (Mt 21:9) 12

“Hosanna” comes from the Aramaic hosha’na, literally “O Save” which became a liturgical cry of jubilation. It is close to “God save…” or “Praised be…” The dative “in the highest” is added. Thus praise or glory in the highest. There is an allusion to Ps 118:25-26 where a form of the same verb as “hosanna” is used: “Save us, we beseech thee, O Lord.” In v.26, we have the rest of the acclamation: “blessed is he who enters in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the House of the Lord.” This psalm was chanted by the people of Jerusalem as the messianic king returned from battle & approached the walls of the city. Thus in the Matthean text the crowds acclaim Jesus as the promised descendant of David, who would bring the promised blessing of the kingdom.

So in this acclamation we join our voices to the heavenly host to announce the holiness of God who is Lord of the Armies & we acclaim him as the one who comes in the name of the Lord who is most significant in our salvation. It is an appropriate acclamation as we embark on the Eucharistic Prayer where Jesus will become present in the name of the Lord in the Eucharist on the altar.

Eucharistic Prayer No.2

There are now 13 Eucharistic Prayers in the Roman Missal. We’ll look at Eucharistic Prayer No.2. in more detail. It is the shortest of the Eucharistic Prayers – which may account for its popularity! However it’s also a prayer which contains much theology & several allusions to the Scriptures.

The Epiclesis

Following the Acclamation “Holy, Holy, Holy…”, the celebrant continues with the epiclesis of the Eucharistic Prayer. The epiclesis is a “calling down” from έπίκαλέω [epikaleo] (έπί “upon” + καλέω “to call”) of the Holy Spirit to effect the consecration of the gifts i.e. their becoming the Body & Blood of Christ, & that the Body & Blood of Christ received in communion effects salvation for the people. Thus the role of the Spirit here is key. As the priest intones the words of the epiclesis, he holds his hands out-stretched over the Gifts with palms downward. This is the sign of the calling down of the Spirit upon the Gifts. In the Eastern Rites, this moment is considered to be the moment of consecration. This same palm downward gesture of out-stretched hands is also used in the sacraments of Confirmation & Holy Orders.

The epiclesis begins with a solemn declaration of the holiness of God: “You are indeed holy, O Lord.” The Latin word for “indeed” is vere which is translated “truly”. In a sense the Prayer is saying that “the truth about you, O Lord, is that you are holy.” But the Lord is not just holy. The Lord is the source of all holiness, “the fount of all holiness.” Then comes the request that the Lord, the source of all holiness, make the gifts that are on the altar at this moment, holy. 13

“Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray.” The order of the phrases is determined by the Latin text of the prayer. How is the Lord to effect this holiness? Through the sending of the Holy Spirit down upon them – hence the name epiclesis. That sending is likened to the morning falling of the dew.

The reference goes back to the falling of the manna in the desert (Ex 16:13-14). In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp & when the layer of dew evaporated, fine flakes like hoarfrost were on the surface of the ground. Moses tells the Israelites the flakes are the bread that the Lord had given them to eat. So on several fronts, reference to the Spirit & the dew is appropriate. Often God’s actions come to us quietly, like the dew in the early morning. But more significantly the dewfall described in Exodus is linked to the falling of the manna, bread from heaven. Several theologians throughout Church History saw this manna as a type of the Eucharist.

The prayer continues with the purpose of this sending or calling down of the Spirit: so that the “gifts may become for us, the Body & Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through the action of the Spirit a change will occur in the bread & wine, the gifts now upon the altar. That change has been explained by theologians since the time of St. Thomas Aquinas with the word “.” This rather complicated word is taken from two Latin words: trans which literally means “across”, but when compounded with other words has the sense of “change”. & substantia which literally means “substance” i.e. something of which something is made, what it is. So on the surface, transubstantiation is a change of substance. This concept is based on Thomistic Aristotelian philosophy which saw things as a union of substance (what something is made of) & accidents (the outward appearance of a thing), its colour, size, taste, shape etc.

Put simply what happens through the action of the Spirit at Mass is that the substance of the bread & wine is changed, but the accidents remain the same. The bread & wine become the Body & Blood of Christ, but they retain the look, feel & taste of bread & wine. In this epiclesis the Lord is petitioned to send the Spirit to effectively transubstantiate the bread & wine & make present the presence of Christ under the appearances of bread & wine, quietly as the falling of the dew.

The Institution Narrative

The Institution Narrative is the key action of the Eucharistic Prayer & is drawn from the narrative of the Last Supper found in the Passion Narratives of Mt, Mk & Lk. In the Synoptics Jesus eats the Last Supper with his disciples on the night before he died. That Last Supper was a Passover meal. The Passover celebrated once each year beginning on the 14th day of the month of Nissan, fulfilled the 14 command of Ex 12:14 “this day will be a day of remembrance for you which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimages to the Lord. You will celebrate it as a statute forever.” The Passover meal was one in which the events of the exodus from Egypt & the founding of the nation of Israel were remembered. It is important to realise that remembering in a Semitic context is quite different from a Greco-Roman or a British context. In a Semitic context, remembering is an actual participation in the event which is re-lived. In describing their remembrance of the exodus, later rabbis used the phrase: “Our fathers passed through the Red Sea, & our feet got wet.” When the Passover Meal was celebrated, those participating in the meal were also participating in the events it commemorated.

The Catechism explains how this notion of remembrance is incorporated into the Institution Narrative: “In the Institution Narrative the power of the words & actions of Christ & the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread & wine, Christ’s Body & Blood, His sacrifice offered on the once for all.” (CCC #1353)

The Institution Narrative begins specifying the time of the action: “At the time he was betrayed.” In the Synoptic accounts, the Last Supper precedes the account in the garden where Judas betrays Jesus to the Jewish authorities. So “at that time” is an appropriate translation. It continues: “He entered willingly into his Passion.” The adverb “willingly” (voluntarie) has the sense of “voluntarily”. This is not something Jesus had forced on him, but something He takes on willingly or voluntarily. That’s brought out in the account of the Good Shepherd in John’s Gospel: “I lay down my life in order to take it up again…” Jesus says, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own” (Jn 10:17b-18).

Then the action of Jesus at the Last Supper is narrated: “He took bread &, giving thanks, broke it, & gave it to his disciples…” These words are taken nearly verbatim from the Institution Narrative that’s found in the Last Supper account in Lk 22:19 & the account of the Last Supper narrative found in “the tradition received from the Lord” by Paul (1 Cor 11:23-24). There is another similar variant in Mt 26:26 & Mk 14:22 which has the word “blessed” instead of “giving thanks.” It is thought by experts in liturgical studies that the wording of the Gospel reflects the wording of the Eucharistic celebration in the communities where the gospels originated. Hence the general wording of this Institution Narrative was similar in all communities with the one exception: between the communities of Mt-Mk & between the communities of Lk & Paul. The similarity between Lk & Paul suggests that Lk was in some way connected to, maybe even a travelling companion, of Paul.

Then the celebrant pronounces the words of consecration, the words whereby the bread becomes the : “Take this, all of you & eat of it, for this 15 is my Body which will be given up for you.” These words are a combination of the words used in Mt, Mk & Lk. Mt & Mk began with the imperative “Take”. Mt adds the second imperative “Eat”. All three gospels have the central affirmation “This is my Body” & Lk adds “which is given for you.” Paul in 1 Cor. puts it simply “which is for you.” The Latin translation of the text of Luke sheds light on the meaning of these words. Luke uses the Greek word Διδόμενον (didomenon), a participle from the verb Διδόμαι (didomai) meaning “given.” However the Latin does not translate that Greek verb with the usual Latin word dare meaning “to give”. Instead it chooses tradere which means “to hand over”. Thus the speak of the Body of Jesus being “handed over”. That word will be used over & over in the Passion Narrative to show the progress of Jesus towards his ultimate death. Judas will hand him over to the arresting party, who will hand him over to the Sanhedrin, who will hand him over to Pilate, who will ultimately hand him over to the executioners.

Further, Jesus will be “handed over for you” – the disciples. Again the Greek preposition is telling. It is ύπέρ (huper) which is “for” or “on behalf of”. Earlier in the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples in a rather climactic moment of defining his mission; “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve & to give his life for (ύπέρ) the many” (Mk 10:45). In this giving of his life for the many, Jesus is like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah “who bore the sins of many & interceded for their transgressions” (Is 53:12). Jesus the Suffering Servant, Jesus the Messiah, takes our place before the throne of God making intercession on our behalf.

The Institution Narrative continues with the Prayer of Consecration over the wine: “In a similar way, when supper was ended…” This makes reference to the third cup which was consumed at the Passover meal. “He took the chalice” is one of the changes in the new translation. Previously the word “cup” was used which is a proper translation of the Greek ποτήριον (poterion). However the Latin chose to translate it with the word calix which can mean “cup”, but also has the meaning of “chalice”, which is the word the new translation uses. This change reflects the fact that the object which contains the wine about to become the blood of Christ is no ordinary cup. The celebrant continues: “& once more giving thanks, He gave it to his disciples…” This follows closely the words of the Institution Narrative in all the gospels.

The words of consecration of the wine begin: “Take this all of you, & drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the New & Eternal Covenant…” The notion of “new & eternal covenant” calls to mind the “old covenant”. In the covenant ratification ceremony on Mount Sinai (Ex 24), Moses took the bowls of blood from the sacrifice, splashed half on the people & half on the altar, showing that both God & the people would be bound by the 16 covenant. As he splashed the blood on the people he said; “this is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words” (Ex 24:8). That covenant was commemorated in the Passover Meal. In this Passover Meal Jesus now says his Blood is the blood of a . But not just a new covenant, but a “new & eternal covenant”. It is the new & eternal covenant established by Jesus shedding his blood on the cross in just a matter of hours. The Catechism says: “the Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re- presents (makes present again) the sacrifice of the cross because it is its memorial & because it applies its fruit” (CCC #1366).

The celebrant continues: “Which will be poured out for you & for many…” Again we find a rather significant change in the translation. The previous translation read “for you & for all.” In the current translation “all” has been changed to “many”. The obvious reason given for the change is to conform more closely to the Latin which is “pro multus”, “for the many”. The Latin is a fair translation of the Greek of Mt & Mk which says ύπέρ ρολων (huper polon) or “on behalf of the many”. Does that imply there are those who are not beneficiaries of this sacrifice of Jesus? No. Both in the biblical texts & here, the contrast is not between “the many” & “the all”. The contrast is between “the many” & “the one life which is given up for them.” The noted Scripture scholar Joachim Jeremias has argued that in Semitic texts “many” often has the inclusive sense of “all” & cites particularly the Fourth Servant Canticle. But then adds “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” which is found in Is 53:6 just a few verses earlier. Thus “many” as it is used in both Second Isaiah & in Mt & Mk & correspondingly in the Institution Narrative of the Eucharistic Prayer, indicates not “many” but “the sum total of all humanity”.

The Prayer of Consecration ends with “for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus’ blood is poured out in order that our sins may be forgiven. This goes back to a point in the Creed: “Jesus is both truly God & truly human.” Alone we are unable to achieve forgiveness for our sins. It was necessary that God become one of us, truly human & truly divine, in order to achieve that forgiveness. That action will be accomplished on the cross & resurrection & it is remembered here in the sacred action of the Mass.

The prayer closes with the command: “Do this in memory of me!” Again, this memory is not an intellectual recollection rather it is the Church celebrating Christ’s Passover & it is made present. The sacrifice of Christ offered once for all on the Cross remains ever present according to the Catechism #1364.

The

The Memorial Acclamation follows the of adoration to the now consecrated Blood of Christ. The celebrant proclaims: “”. 17

The term “mystery of faith” appears in the instruction to in 1 Tim 3:9. In the new translation of the Roman Missal the acclamation has been simplified to correspond to the Latin mysterium fidei. The previous translation read “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.” The added words have been dropped, thus the simplicity of the Latin has been restored. But more significantly, the added words change the nuance of the acclamation. When we say “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith”, it implies that the mystery is what we are about to say or proclaim. In other words, the content of the acclamation. That’s not the intent of the invitation. Saying simply “The mystery of faith” implies that what has just happened is the mystery of faith, that is the fact that Our Lord Jesus Christ has become present on the altar under the forms of bread & wine. That truly is a mystery.

In response to this, the people affirm that mystery & their incorporation into. The intent of that acclamation was to help the faithful become more fully aware of the meaning of their action.

There were four acclamations in the former translation. In the current translation that number has been reduced to three. The reason for the reduction is that there are only three acclamations in the Latin text of the Roman Missal. Prior to the new translation, the Missal included another Acclamation based on a text composed by Lucien Deiss in 1964 & which was very popular in musical settings of the Memorial Acclamation: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” The acclamations contained in the Roman Missal express in some way the proclamation of the assembly’s incorporation into the Paschal Mystery, signified by first person pronouns which are lacking in this acclamation.

Let’s look at the three acclamations contained in the Roman Missal. The first Acclamation (second in the former Missal) was originally translated: “Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life, Lord Jesus come in glory.” This translation addresses the acclamation to the Lord Jesus almost with the intent of commanding him to return as a result of his death & resurrection. That’s not the intent of the Latin. The new translation brings out the intent of the original Latin more clearly. The congregation professes & proclaims the Paschal Mystery until the Lord comes. “We proclaim your death, O Lord, & profess your resurrection until you come again.” This translation also brings the text closer in conformity to 1 Cor 11:26 on which it is based: “As often as you eat this bread & drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.” In 1 Cor 11 Paul deals with abuses that have occurred in relation to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. That Supper is a proclamation of the Lord’s death. When the participants, both then & now, realise that, they will not over- indulge themselves, despise others, shame them or allow them to go hungry.

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The second Memorial Acclamation is another variant on the text of 1 Cor 11:26 “When we eat this bread & drink this cup, we proclaim your death O Lord, until you come.” Participation in the Eucharist, eating & drinking, is a proclamation of the death & resurrection until the Lord comes. The Catechism points out that “in an age of the Church Christ manifests, makes present & communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church until he comes” (CCC #1076). These two acclamations affirm our participation in that through the liturgy.

The final Memorial Acclamation is based on Jn 4:42 which is the reaction of the Samaritans to their encounter with Jesus, not just to the mediated story of the Samaritan woman. They say “We no longer believe because of your word (viz. the woman’s) for we have heard for ourselves & we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.” The current translation of the acclamation is similar to the previous one in general. It basically rearranges the order of the phrases to conform more closely to the Latin text. The final phrase “You are the Saviour of the world” is brought to the beginning & placed in the imperative as in the Latin: “Save us, Saviour of the world.” The new translation departs a bit from the Latin inserting a connector “for” which gives the reason for the saving: “By your cross & resurrection you have set us free”. The Latin has a relative pronoun connecting those two phrases: “who by your cross & resurrection have set us free.” The acclamation stresses the saving power of the death & resurrection of Jesus.

The Anamnesis

After the Memorial Acclamation, the Eucharistic Prayer continues with the anamnesis, the memorial. This memorial or the remembering, derives from the command Jesus gave the apostles at the end of the Institution Narrative: “Do this in memory of me.” Thus the link to the Institution Narrative is “therefore”. In the recent translation, “the memory of his death & resurrection” has become “we celebrate the memorial of his Death & Resurrection.” The celebration of the memorial is a more solemn way of expressing in biblical terms what has just happened. “Memorial” as we have seen, is a significant term, referring not just to an intellectual memory but to actually participating in the events remembered. Thus “we celebrate”, even though the verb is not in the Latin.

The priest & the people have just participated in Christ’s saving action on the cross & in his resurrection, not merely remembering it. Then comes the action of offering: “we offer you Lord, the Bread of Life & the Chalice of Salvation.” This is a much more biblical translation than the previous one which simply said: “we offer you, Father, this life-giving bread & this saving cup.” When we say “Bread of Life”, we immediately think of Jesus’ great statement in John’s Gospel, the Bread of Life Discourse, “I am the Bread of Life” (Jn 6:35 & 6:48). 19

This is the bread that he commands that we eat in order that we have eternal life (Jn 6:51). This is the Eucharist, the bread become the Body of Christ that is our source of life. To participate of the Bread of Life is to unite oneself with Jesus the Resurrection & the life.

Similarly, the “chalice of salvation” recalls the words of Ps 116:13 “I will raise up the cup of salvation & call upon the name of the Lord.” The change from cup to chalice in the Institution Narrative has been maintained here. The verse in the psalm is parallel to v.17 “I will offer a sacrifice of praise & call upon the name of the Lord.” On the basis of this parallelism the Catechism points out that the Mass can be known as “the holy sacrifice of the Mass, a sacrifice of praise, a spiritual sacrifice & a pure & holy sacrifice.” So this is no ordinary bread & no ordinary cup. This bread gives life, this chalice gives salvation.

Also to be noted is the change from “Father” to “Lord”. Again that brings the recent translation in line with the Latin where the word is “Domine” (Lord) not “Pater” (Father). But also the use of “Lord” for “God” recalls the Jewish practice of substituting “Adonai” (my Lord) for the divine name, to save them from having to pronounce the Divine Name.

The prayer continues: “Giving thanks that you have held us worthy, to be in your presence & minister to you.” The prayer of memorial ends with thanksgiving to God recognising our unworthiness to stand before Him & to minister to Him. Curiously the recent translations altered “stand” to “be”, since the Latin astare has the sense of “stand at”, “stand by” or “assist.” The change of “serve” to “minister” not only brings the translation in line with the Latin ministrare, but also brings out the biblical connection of ministering as the priests of the OT ministered in the Temple. This recalls 2 Peter which extends that notion of priesthood to the community, calling it “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own who announce the praise of Him who called them out of darkness into his own wonderful light” (2 Pt 2-9).

The Intercessions

The conclusion of the prayer introduces the intercessions. “Humbly we pray…” Here the verb deprecor has the sense of “intercede”, “entreat” or “beg”. So “standing in the presence of God”, we now realise that our place is humbly to intercede with God or entreat God. Thus we are ending this Eucharistic Prayer with intercessions which we do as a result of our partaking of the Body & Blood of Christ, the memorial of his saving death & resurrection.

The first intercession is for unity, particularly that by partaking in the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit will gather us into one. This recalls Paul’s teaching on the Eucharist: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the 20 blood of Christ. The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ. Because the loaf of bread is one, we though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” Partaking of the Eucharist makes us one, not just the community gathered in a particular church at a particular time, but all those who partake of the Eucharist in all churches, at all times, are united.

The recent translation strengthens the verb from “sharing in the Body & Blood of Christ” to “partaking of the Body & Blood of Christ”. This implies a more active participation & brings the translation more in line with the Latin “participes.”

Therefore we can also pray “remember your church, spread throughout the world.” The GIRM tells us that “the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the entire Church of heaven as well as of earth & the offering is made for her & for all her members, living & dead, who have been called to participate in redemption & salvation” (GIRM #79G).

The participle translated “spread” (diffusae from the verb defundo) actually has the sense of “pour out” or “spread out”. The implication is that through the pouring out of the word of God to all nations, the Church has spread out throughout the world. The purpose of remembering is that the Church’s love or charity may be brought to completion, as signified by the verb perficio which has the sense of “complete.” This implies that the Church wants more than simple growth in love or charity. She prays for a completion or perfection of love or charity. This is not the love that exists between human beings expressed in Latin by the word amor. Rather it is the great virtue of “charity” expressed in Latin by the word caritas, so eloquently described by St Paul in 1 Cor 13:1-13.

Mention of the fullness of charity also brings to mind the First Letter of John where he says “there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment & so one who fears is not yet perfect in love” (1 Jn 4:18).

This union in love & charity begins at the top of the Church hierarchy & works its way down. So we pray “Together with Francis, our Pope; Vincent, our (or whoever the bishop may be) & all the clergy.” The mention of “all the clergy” is derived from the Roman liturgical tradition. Some may be put off by the mention of pope, & clergy with no mention of “lay people”. However the Latin clerus, translated “clergy”, has a broader connotation. It is not just those in Orders but all who are engaged in ministry. Thus the would also be included.

From the Church & its ministers, we move to remember those who have died. In Masses for the Dead there is a special added for the person for 21 whom the Mass is being offered. In all Masses the general commemoration of the dead follows. “Remember also, our brothers & sisters, & all who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection.” All believers in Jesus have the hope of the resurrection. St. Paul speaks of the hope of the resurrection when he says “hope that is not seen is not hope, for who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom 8:25). That’s the case of the Christian with regards to the resurrection: we have not seen it, but we wait patiently for it.

The memorial is then expanded to “all who have died in your mercy”. Both groups are to be admitted into the light of God’s countenance. The Latin is further translated: “Welcome (admitte) them into the light of your face (vultus).” The Latin verb “admitto” has the sense of “urge”, but also “let in”, “admit” or “receive.” This is an allusion to Ps 89:16 which says: “How blessed the people who know the festal shout, who walk O Lord in the light of your face.” The “festal shout” is in worship a cry or a shout of acclamation & joy towards God. So those who cry out with that festal joy & shout, are those who live in the radiance of God’s countenance. Ps 27:8 says: “your face O Lord we seek.” Ps 4:7 notes that the countenance or face of God brings us light: “O Lord, let the light of your countenance shine upon us.”

Underlying this is a blessing heard many times in Jewish liturgy: the Aaronic Blessing found in Num 6, in particular the invocation “The Lord make his face shine upon you & be gracious to you. The Lord will lift up his face to you & give you his peace” (Num 6:25-26). The “shining of the face” is a figure of speech for benevolence or favour. Putting all this together, the sense of the phrase of the Eucharistic Prayer is to show benevolence & favour to all who have died.

The final prayer of intercession is a plea for mercy for those gathered in the Eucharistic assembly. “Have mercy on us all, we pray (quaesumus)”. The sense of the Latin verb quaeso is “ask” with a sense of “seeking” or almost “begging.” The purpose of this mercy is that the company of all who have gone before us, in particular Mary the Mother of God, the blessed apostles & all the saints who have pleased God, we may come to be co-heirs of eternal life. Paul notes that we are children of God: “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God & if children, then heirs, heirs of God & joint heirs or co-heirs with Christ. If only we suffer with him, may we be glorified with him” (Rom 8:16-17). Mary, the apostles & the saints experienced suffering in their lives & through that suffering they have achieved eternal glory.

We end the Eucharistic prayer praying that we also having suffered in this life, may achieve eternal life & may praise God for it. As with all prayers, we conclude our prayer “through your Son, Jesus Christ.” 22

The Final Doxology

All of the Eucharistic Prayers end with a final word of praise known as “doxology”. In Eucharistic Prayer No.2 that doxology expands the final words “through your Son, Jesus Christ”. The celebrant takes the chalice & the containing the Body & Blood of Christ & elevates them before the people. The words he says are an ancient prayer of praise common in the Church of the 3rd & 4th cent. That prayer is an address to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. This is a classic formula underlying all .

The doxology begins: “Through him & with him & in him, O God almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.” The phrase “unity of the Holy Spirit” recalls Eph 4:3 which speaks of the preservation of unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. In Paul, as well as in the final doxology of the Eucharistic Prayer, that unity is the unity of the Church, a unity whose foundation is the Holy Spirit.

The main clause follows: “All glory & honour is yours.” All glory & honour are offered to God through Christ. But now, in what has just occurred in the sacramental liturgy, Christ is united to the community of the redeemed in the glorification of God which takes place with him & in him.

Finally, that glory is said to be eternal: “forever & ever.” Thus, we the community celebrating the Eucharist, join with Jesus in offering to the Father eternal honour.

To that great final doxology the gathered congregation makes yet another acclamation, the Amen, known as the Great Amen. “Amen” is an Anglicised form of the Hebrew for “I believe.” In other words, through this Great Amen the congregation puts its assent on all that has happened in the Eucharistic Prayer.