XIX

During the Eucharistic prayer the congregation was on its knees. Why

By kneeling, we’re completely surrendering ourselves to God and humbling our spirits before Him. It’s incredibly profound. We believe that Jesus becomes really present in the Eucharistic elements once the priest prays the Eucharistic Prayers which Christ taught us during the last supper.

At consecration the bells are rung which is an ancient practice, alerting the congregation that Jesus is really here in those elements.

Once we’re kneeling we only rise again for two things which happen back to back: The Lord’s Prayer and the Sign of Peace.

Our Father:

The priest raises his hands to heaven just as Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ hands while he prayed for Israel’s triumph over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:12).

Before the revised version of the mass came out congregation in some places used to hold hands. There is no prescribed posture for the hands during the Our Father and that, so far at least, neither the Holy See nor the U.S. bishops' conference has officially addressed it. 

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal is completely silent about it, indicating only that “all the faithful say the prayer with” the priest. “No position is prescribed in the Roman Missal for an assembly gesture during the Lord’s Prayer.”

However, the General Instruction also encourages “a common bodily posture” as “a sign of the unity of the members of the Christian community.” 

And in this diocese the bishop directed that practice of holding hands be discontinued; may be to bring a uniformity throughout the diocese. When the flu season is around people are hesitant to hold hands any way. 

XVIII

Eucharistic prayer continued:

After the proclamation of the faith the remainder of the prayer has three sections, which appear in all Eucharistic prayers but in differing order; a prayer for the Church, a prayer for unity with the saints, and a prayer for the dead.

During the Eucharistic prayer the whole church is remembered: the triumphant (those saints in heaven beginning with Bl.Virgin Mary and St.Joseph). We ask intercession from them saints, the apostles and patron of the day or the patron of the parish.  Then we pray for the militant church: the church here on earth, starting with pope, local bishop and clergy, people all over the world and particularly those present. Then the Church prays for those dead and particularly if the mass is said for any deceased person. The offering of the mass for the repose of the souls departed is believed to be very established practice since the early time. Peter says that Jesus went down to Sheol or hell and freed those who were detained there, Remember the word hell is not the hell we generally understand. It is the place all the dead go. It is not the place of torture.  

The Eucharistic prayer ends with the doxology: Through him, with him…etc.

It is a short hymn of praises to God the trinity.

These words at the same time encapsulate the prayer of the church: honor and glory to the triune God through, with, and in Christ. Although the words are directed to the Father, all glorification of the Father is at the same time glorification of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

All praise of God is through, with, and in Christ.

Through him, because only through Christ does humanity have access to the Father and because his existence as God-man and his work of salvation are the fullest glorification of the Father; with him, because all authentic prayer is the fruit of union with Christ, and because in honoring the Son one honors the Father and vice versa; in him, because the praying church is Christ himself, with every individual praying member as a part of his Mystical Body, and because the Father is in the Son and the Son the reflection of the Father, who makes his majesty visible.

The dual meanings of through, with, and in clearly express the God-man’s mediation.

The prayer of the church is the prayer of the ever-living Christ. Its prototype is Christ’s prayer during his human life. 

XVII

Continuing on the Eucharistic prayer:

Structure of the Eucharistic prayers:

Although the Eucharistic prayers are different in emphasis and each includes unique elements, their topics are the same. Each begins with praise to the Father, to whom the whole prayer is addressed. The length varies from two lines to most of a page.

In the Eucharistic prayer Thanksgiving is done for all the wonderful things God has done to all the people. We trace the whole history of his relationship to the human race through creation, through Israel, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, through the church.

All except the first prayer invoke the Holy Spirit’s blessing on the gifts; all the prayers request that the gifts become “the body and blood” of Jesus Christ.

One of the most striking notes in the comparison of the Eucharistic prayers is that the first three mention Jesus’ betrayal, suffering and death. The fourth speaks only of Jesus’ glorification- exactly as does the fourth gospel. In John, the passion and the glorification were just two views of one single act in which Jesus was shown to be the redeemer, the Son of God, the Lord we love.

It is at Consecration we believe that transubstantiation takes place, the changing of the substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. At consecration Jesus said take this is my blood which is poured out for you and for many. We may wonder why “many” rather than “all” as Jesus died for all, not just a few. The reason is that the word ‘all’ in Semitic language is the same as many.  (Mk.10:45)

As with all the Sacraments, Jesus is the primary act-er of the Eucharist. They are His hands (through the ordained minister) which grasp the bread and the chalice filled with wine.  They are His words spoken in the first person through the priest.  He is both the priest and the victim.  The sacrifice of the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the Cross — it culminates in God being glorified and humanity being sanctified. 

The priest invites us to “proclaim the mystery of faith” the acclamation that responds to the consecration.

The mystery of the faith,” or “the deep truths of the faith”  in the New Testament is something that had at one time been hidden but is now revealed to God’s people.

The consecration has made a tremendous change in the celebration. We stop soon after the consecration to speak to Jesus. Because He is now present on the altar. We pause to greet him by means of the acclamation. It actually emphasizes the importance of the consecration. The presence of the Lord on the altar provokes a response.

That is why it is natural that the acclamation that was perhaps the most popular in use has been eliminated in the new translation: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. The three phrases are declarations, not prayers. They are in the third person, not the second. Therefore they were discarded.

The new translations are as follows:

“We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.”

“When we eat this Bread and Drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.”

“Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.”

These can be unpacked theologically and merit our meditation. Each one is spoken to Jesus and recapitulates the deep mystery of our redemption by means of our Savior’s cross and resurrection.

We will continue from here next Sunday.

XVI (Continuing on the  explanation of the mass from where we left off from before the Easter).

Eucharistic prayers

There are 4 main ones of which 3 are mostly used. Eucharist prayer 1 is the most solemn one which has the prayers proper for Easter and Christmas and other major feasts with invocations to several saints.

II is the shortest of all and is usually used on week days and the 3^rd one is mostly used on Sundays. All the Eucharistic prayers have the mention of Mary the Mother of God but the second and the third did not have the name of St.Joseph mentioned and Pope Benedict added the invocation of st.Joseph in both the Eucharistic prayers. 4^th is also used on Sundays once in a while. In addition there are two for reconciliation and 4 others for special occasions.  What you hear mostly is 2, 3 and 1.

All of them invariably contain Epiclesis or prayer to the Holy Spirit to come down on the gifts and sanctify them. (that is the time when the server rings the bells for the first time). In the Oriental Churches the epiclesis prayer is after the consecration prayer and in the Latin rite it is before the consecration.

The celebrant lays hands on the gifts in the form a cross to bless them and makes the sign of the cross on them. In the O.T. we see that Jacob had 11 sons and there are 12 tribes. How is that?. Jacob had accepted the two sons of Joseph as his own and blessed them. So there is no tribe of Joseph but instead two of Joseph’s sons are included in the tribes of Jacob. When Joseph brought his two sons Manasseh the older one and Ephrem, the younger one to be blessed by his Father Jacob, he stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh who was standing on the right, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). (Gen.48:14). Usually the older child gets more of a parent’s share and blessing. Joseph wanted Jacob to bless his older son Manasseh to be blessed more with his right hand and so he was placed on the right side of Jacob. Blessing in the form of a cross is foreshadowed even in the O.T.