We continue to follow
Eucharistic Prayer III as a model as we look at the different elements of our
Eucharistic Prayers. The words of
Eucharist Prayer III will be in bold,
while some brief commentary will appear in italics.
After the consecration, the
anamnesis, or
remembrance, is a recollection of the saving death and resurrection of
Christ. An anamnesis is never a simple
memorial, however. This kind of
remembering actually makes present the reality being recalled. We are not just remembering the Paschal Mystery;
we are participating in it:
Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the
saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into
heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in
thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice. (Notice that, in recalling the Paschal
Mystery of Christ, the Church also offers to the Father that same sacrifice of
Christ, “this holy and living sacrifice.”)
There can then be discerned a second invocation of the
Holy Spirit, an epiclesis in which
we ask the Holy Spirit to transform, not bread and wine, but those who will
receive them:
Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church and,
recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to
yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son
and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ. (Notice again the language of sacrifice:
oblation, sacrificial Victim.)
Filled with the Holy Spirit, we then offer intercessions
for both the living and the dead. We
pray for the leaders of the Church, those present, and all of God’s people, that
they may holiness and eternal life. We
also at this time call upon the intercession of the saints in heaven who are
present with us, united in the liturgy:
May he make of us an eternal offering to you,
so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect,
especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother
of God,
with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs and
with all the Saints,
on whose constant intercession in your presence we
rely for unfailing help.
May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation,
we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of
all the world. Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim Church
on earth,
with your servant N. our Pope and N. our Bishop,
the Order of Bishops, all the clergy,
and the entire people you have gained for your own.
Listen graciously to the prayers of this family,
whom you have summoned before you:
in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to
yourself all your children scattered throughout the world.
To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who
were pleasing to you
at their passing from this life,
give kind admittance to your kingdom.
There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your
glory through Christ our Lord,
through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Then, the final doxology,
taken largely from Romans 11:36, directs all our praise and honor and that of
all of creation to God the Blessed Trinity:
“Through him, and with him, and
in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and
honor is yours, for ever and ever.”
We respond with our “Amen.” This
Amen sums up the entire Eucharistic Prayer that has been prayed on our
behalf. In our Amen, we unite our
hearts, minds, and voices to the praise, thanks, and joy of the whole church of
heaven and earth. The great Amen was
said to have “resounded in heaven, as a celestial thunderclap in the Roman
basilicas” (St. Jerome).
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