The Epiclesis: Invocation to the Holy Spirit
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of a heifer sanctify the unclean unto the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself unblemished unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb 9:13‑14).
In the Epiclesis, the priest requests God the Father to send the Holy Spirit so that the bread and wine offered may become Christ’s body and blood and so we may be able to celebrate the Eucharistic mystery, and to make all the effects of the sacrament operative in us.
At the same time, the priest extends his hands, palms downward,[1] over the chalice and host, and traces the sign of the cross over them. With this gesture, he asks God to pour his blessing over the gifts offered and to turn them into his Son’s body and blood.
St. Thomas Aquinas asks himself, “Why does the priest ask for what he positively knows will happen at the Consecration?” And he answers, “How many times did Jesus Christ ask for what he well knew would infallibly happen? The priest seems to pray, not so much for the miracle of transubstantiation as for the happy fruits it may produce in our souls.”
After the last notes of the Sanctus, the people again fall silent. For it is how man should approach God –in silence.
In the Old Testament, the high priest, carrying the blood of the victims (Heb 9:7), entered alone the Holy of Holies once a year. Leaving behind the people, he offered a sacrifice to God in an atmosphere of awe and respect for God.
In the early Middle Ages, the priest entered the sanctuary, and curtains were drawn, thus isolating him from the people. To accentuate the importance of this part of the Mass, clerics carrying candles placed themselves on either side of the altar. This is the origin of the custom of placing a lighted candle on the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer. The people attended these ceremonies kneeling.
In the Roman Canon, the Epiclesis begins with:
To you, therefore, most merciful Father,
we make humble prayer and petition
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord:
that you accept and bless + these gifts,
these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices
The original (Latin) version of the First Eucharistic Prayer acknowledges God the Father as clementissime Pater (our most loving and merciful Father) so that we may deal with him with the confidence of children.
At this point, the Epiclesis is interrupted with a first series of intercessions. (There are two such series.) The invocation is resumed with greater intensity and expressed with greater detail afterward. With hands outstretched over the offerings, the priest says,
Be pleased, O God, we pray, to bless, acknowledge,
and approve this offering in every respect;
make it spiritual and acceptable,
so that it may become for us the Body and Blood
of your most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we read these two parts in sequence, we will recognize the original idea in them, that of intercession. These parts are to be found in the very oldest forms of the Roman Canon.
In the original Latin, the Son of God is referred to as dilectissimi Filii tui (your most beloved Son). His work of salvation is now getting close to completion, and the Church shows her appreciation with delicate expressions of tenderness.
We find the Epiclesis at the beginning of the Second and Third Eucharistic Prayers. On the other hand, the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer, which has its own Preface, links it, after the Sanctus, with a narrative of the history of salvation in the form of anamnesis (remembrance). The Epiclesis comes after:
Therefore, O Lord, we pray: may this same Holy Spirit
graciously sanctify these offerings,
that they may become the Body and + Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
for the celebration of this great mystery,
which he himself left us as an eternal covenant.
How often have we relegated the Holy Spirit to a secondary role. We now promise him we shall be more docile to his sanctifying action. “That means we should be aware of the work of the Holy Spirit all around us, and in our own selves we should recognize the gifts he distributes, the movements and institutions he inspires, the affections and decisions he provokes in our hearts.”[2]
Footnotes:
[1]It is inspired by the Mosaic ritual (Lev 1:4; EX 29: 10). The high priest placed both his hands on the head of the scapegoat, thus symbolically heaping upon it the sins of the Israelites (Lev 16:21).
[2]St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, Christ Is Passing By, no. 130.
In the Epiclesis, the priest requests God the Father to send the Holy Spirit so that the bread and wine offered may become Christ’s body and blood and so we may be able to celebrate the Eucharistic mystery, and to make all the effects of the sacrament operative in us.
At the same time, the priest extends his hands, palms downward,[1] over the chalice and host, and traces the sign of the cross over them. With this gesture, he asks God to pour his blessing over the gifts offered and to turn them into his Son’s body and blood.
St. Thomas Aquinas asks himself, “Why does the priest ask for what he positively knows will happen at the Consecration?” And he answers, “How many times did Jesus Christ ask for what he well knew would infallibly happen? The priest seems to pray, not so much for the miracle of transubstantiation as for the happy fruits it may produce in our souls.”
After the last notes of the Sanctus, the people again fall silent. For it is how man should approach God –in silence.
In the Old Testament, the high priest, carrying the blood of the victims (Heb 9:7), entered alone the Holy of Holies once a year. Leaving behind the people, he offered a sacrifice to God in an atmosphere of awe and respect for God.
In the early Middle Ages, the priest entered the sanctuary, and curtains were drawn, thus isolating him from the people. To accentuate the importance of this part of the Mass, clerics carrying candles placed themselves on either side of the altar. This is the origin of the custom of placing a lighted candle on the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer. The people attended these ceremonies kneeling.
In the Roman Canon, the Epiclesis begins with:
To you, therefore, most merciful Father,
we make humble prayer and petition
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord:
that you accept and bless + these gifts,
these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices
The original (Latin) version of the First Eucharistic Prayer acknowledges God the Father as clementissime Pater (our most loving and merciful Father) so that we may deal with him with the confidence of children.
At this point, the Epiclesis is interrupted with a first series of intercessions. (There are two such series.) The invocation is resumed with greater intensity and expressed with greater detail afterward. With hands outstretched over the offerings, the priest says,
Be pleased, O God, we pray, to bless, acknowledge,
and approve this offering in every respect;
make it spiritual and acceptable,
so that it may become for us the Body and Blood
of your most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we read these two parts in sequence, we will recognize the original idea in them, that of intercession. These parts are to be found in the very oldest forms of the Roman Canon.
In the original Latin, the Son of God is referred to as dilectissimi Filii tui (your most beloved Son). His work of salvation is now getting close to completion, and the Church shows her appreciation with delicate expressions of tenderness.
We find the Epiclesis at the beginning of the Second and Third Eucharistic Prayers. On the other hand, the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer, which has its own Preface, links it, after the Sanctus, with a narrative of the history of salvation in the form of anamnesis (remembrance). The Epiclesis comes after:
Therefore, O Lord, we pray: may this same Holy Spirit
graciously sanctify these offerings,
that they may become the Body and + Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
for the celebration of this great mystery,
which he himself left us as an eternal covenant.
How often have we relegated the Holy Spirit to a secondary role. We now promise him we shall be more docile to his sanctifying action. “That means we should be aware of the work of the Holy Spirit all around us, and in our own selves we should recognize the gifts he distributes, the movements and institutions he inspires, the affections and decisions he provokes in our hearts.”[2]
Footnotes:
[1]It is inspired by the Mosaic ritual (Lev 1:4; EX 29: 10). The high priest placed both his hands on the head of the scapegoat, thus symbolically heaping upon it the sins of the Israelites (Lev 16:21).
[2]St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, Christ Is Passing By, no. 130.