Sacred Heart Parish
August 21, 2011
Praying the Liturgy: The Eucharistic Prayer (The following is taken from Understanding the Revised Mass Texts, second edition, by Rev. Paul Turner, Liturgy Training Publications, 2010), p.28,29
To help you concentrate on the text, it may help to know how a Eucharistic Prayer flows from start to finish.
Opening Dialogue: You exchange lines with the priest, lifting your heart, as you solemnly announce the start of the prayer.
Thanksgiving: The priest recites the Preface, which gives thanks and praise to God. Most prefaces have a theme that makes them appropriate for the season, feast, or purpose of this particular celebration.
Acclamation: All sing the Holy, Holy, Holy, joining their voices with those of the choirs of angels to give universal praise to God.
Epiclesis: After a brief transition, the priest asks the Holy Spirit to come down upon the bread and wine, and change them into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Institution Narrative and Consecration: The story of the Last Supper is recounted, together with the sacred words, “This is my Body.” and
“This is… my Blood.” We firmly believe that the bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Christ.
Anamnesis: We proclaim the death and Resurrection of Christ until he comes again. You sing the Memorial Acclamation, and the priest repeats its message immediately afterward.
Offering: The priest offers to God the consecrated bread and wine. It is the perfect self-offering of Jesus Christ.
Intercessions: The first intercession prays for the unity of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit. We pray for the Holy Spirit to come down upon all of us, binding us in unity as we prepare for Holy Communion. We also pray for the living and the dead, for Christians, and for all people.
Final Doxology: The entire prayer concludes with praise to God the Father; through, with and in Christ; in the unity of the Holy Spirit. You respond in faith with one of the most important words at Mass:”Amen.”
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the changes in the translation will affect what you hear more than what you say.”