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The Eucharistic Prayer:
Praise, Thanksgiving and Petition

The General Instruction speaks of the Eucharistic Prayer as "the center and summit of the entire celebration" by which the assembly "joins itself to Christ in acknowledging the great things God has done and in offering the sacrifice."

(General Instruction of the Roman Missal, #54)


The Eucharistic prayer recalls God's past works, proclaims God's activity on our behalf in the present, and invokes a future that surpasses our hopes and dreams. Expressed in ritual language which is both formal and beautiful, the Eucharistic Prayer summarizes what it means to celebrate Eucharist together.

Like so many elements of Christian worship, the Eucharistic Prayer originated in Jewish cultic life, especially in the prayer form known as the berakah. Jewish people prayed the berakah on both public and private occasions. Jesus used this kind of prayer at the Last Supper, i.e. a short formula over the bread and a longer formula over the wine, as was customary in Jewish meal practice.

Although assuming various forms, the berakah prayer contains four elements:

    1. Exclamation. The prayer begins by proclaiming admiration and awe prompted by remembering God's good deeds. Thus the primary theme is praise and thanksgiving.

    2. Memorial or Remembrance. The reason for praise is then expressed. God is glorified not only for past deeds but also for present actions on behalf of the people.

    3. Supplication. God is requested to extend divine assistance and protection. The works of creation and redemption are to continue and be ultimately fulfilled in the establishment of the kingdom.

    4. Doxology. The prayer concludes with a short hymn or statement of praise.


The Jewish berakah prayer form, specifically the prayer pronounced toward the end of the meal over the wine, served as the model for the Eucharistic prayer. The early Christian community used the berakah prayer-form elements and developed them to express its own experience of God's wonderful and saving deeds, especially as manifested in the Lord Jesus. In time, the language and thought became more distinctively Christian. During the first centuries, there was no fixed text. The bishop followed the basic model or format, prayed his own words of praise over the bread and wine. Fixed formulas became the norm by the end of the fourth century,

From the Fifth Century until the reforms of Vatican II, the Latin (Roman or Western) rite used one Eucharistic prayer, termed "the Roman Canon." The liturgical reforms after Vatican II introduced 3 additional Eucharistic prayers. Later, 2 Eucharistic prayers for Reconciliation and 3 Eucharistic prayers for use with children were introduced. Recently, 4 more Eucharistic prayers for "Special Needs and Occasions" were approved.
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Today, the chief elements making up the Eucharistic Prayer are these:

    a. Thanksgiving in the name of the entire people of God, the priest praises the Father and gives thanks for the whole work of salvation or for some special aspect of it that corresponds to the day, feast, or season.

    b. Acclamation. joining with the angels, the congregation sings or recites the Sanctus. [Holy, Holy]

    c. Epicksis: in special invocations the Church calls on God's power and asks that the gifts offered by human hands be consecrated, that is, become Christ's body and blood, and that the victim to be received in communion be the source of salvation for those who will partake.

    d. Institution narrative and consecration: in the words and actions of Christ, that sacrifice is celebrated which he himself instituted at the last supper, when, under the appearances of bread and wine, he offered his body and blood, gave them to his apostles to eat and drink, then commanded that they carry on this mystery.

    e. Anamnesis: in fulfillment of the command received from Christ through the apostles, the Church keeps his memorial by recalling especially his passion, resurrection, and ascension.

    f. Offering: in this memorial, the Church - and in particular the Church here and now assembled — offers the spotless victim to the Father in the Holy Spirit. The Church's intention is that the faithful not only offer this victim but also learn to offer themselves and so to surrender themselves, through Christ the mediator, to an ever more complete union with the Father and each other, so that at last God may be all in all.

    g. Intercessions: the intercessions make it clear that the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the entire Church of heaven and earth and that the offering is made for the Church and all its members, living and dead, who are called to share in the salvation and redemption purchased by Christ's body and blood.

    h. Final Doxology: the praise of God is expressed in the doxology, to which the people's acclamation is an assent and a conclusion.

                (General Instruction of the Roman Missal. #55)

Questions for your reflection and prayer during the week:
    · Have you ever prayed the words of the Eucharist prayers during your personal prayer time to "make them" your own?

    · Which Eucharistic prayer most clearly expresses your thoughts and feelings in prayer? Which is most difficult for you to pray?


Bibliography: Johnson, Lawrence J., The Word and Eucharist Handbook San Jose, CA, Resource Publications, Inc., 1998
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, The Liturgy Documents. Mary Ann Simcoe, Editor, Chicago, Liturgy Training Publications, 1985

Community of St. Malachi, August 2000

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