Epiclesis

For the work by Juan Maria Solare see Epiclesis (composition).

In Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Old-Catholic and Lutheran churches, the epiclesis (also sometimes spelled epiklesis, since it is a transliterated Greek word) is that part of the prayer of consecration of the Eucharistic elements (bread and wine) by which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit. Some Eastern Orthodox theologians hold that the epiclesis is essential to the Eucharist, since the entire mystery is based on the action of the Holy Spirit.

In its pure form, the ancient anaphora of the Divine Liturgy of Addai and Mari does include an epiclesis. It does not use the Words of Institution, although they appear directly and indirectly in other parts of the rite.

In the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom for example, the priest says...

"We offer to Thee this reasonable and unbloody sacrifice;

and we beg Thee, we ask Thee, we pray Thee that Thou,

sending forth Thy Holy Spirit on us and on these present gifts"

(the Deacon says: "Bless, Lord, the holy bread")

"make this bread the Precious Body of Thy Christ"

(Deacon: "Amen. Bless, Lord, the holy chalice"):

"and that which is in this chalice, the Precious Blood of Thy Christ"

(Deacon: "Amen. Bless, Lord, both"),

"changing by Thy Holy Spirit"

(Deacon: "Amen, Amen, Amen.")

It is sometime said that in the Tridentine Liturgy of Saint Pope Pius V the Latin prayer known as the Quam Oblationem would seem to take the place of an Epiclesis...

"Do Thou, O God, deign to, bless what we offer,

and make it approved, effective, right and wholly pleasing in every way,

that it may be for our good the Body, and the Blood

of Thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

However, after the Great Schism, at least one Eastern Orthodox liturgical commentator, Nicholas Cabasilas, was of the opinion that another prayer in the Roman Canon, placed, like the explicit epikleses in the Eastern Rites, after the anamnesis and oblation, was functionally equivalent. The prayer, known in Latin as "Supplices te rogamus," is rendered as follows in the contemporary American translation of the Roman Canon, the traditional anaphora of the Latin Rite:

"Almighty God, we pray

that your angel may take this sacrifice to your altar in Heaven,

then, as we receive from this altar the sacred body and blood of your Son,

let us be filled with every grace and blessing."

It is notable that the Roman Canon mentions the Holy Spirit explicitly only once, in the final doxology: "Through Him [Christ], with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is Yours, Almighty Father, forever and ever."

However, the traditional Latin Rite contained an offertory prayer, omitted in the post-Vatican II Novus Ordo Missae which invoked the Holy Spirit as follows:

"Come, Thou Sanctifier, almighty and eternal God,

and bless + this sacrifice prepared for the glory of Thy holy Name."

In the several alternative Eucharistic Prayers of the Novus Ordo, the revised Liturgy of Pope Paul VI, the Quam Oblationem has been replaced by a prayer that is closer to an Epiclesis such as is found in the Eastern liturgies. For example, prior to the Words of Institution, Eucharistic Prayer II reads:

"Lord, you are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness.

Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy,

so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ."

Anglican and Lutheran Eucharistic prayers, and newer Old-Catholic anaphoras, tend to follow the Eastern practice of treating the Words of Institition as a warrant for the action, with the Epiclesis following. For example, after the Words of Institution, the epiclesis in Eucharistic Prayer B in the American Book of Common Prayer (which is found in the Canadian Alternative Service Book and several other Anglican liturgies) reads:

"And we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to you, O Lord of All,

presenting to you, from your creation, this bread and this wine.

We pray you, gracious God, to send your Holy Spirit upon these gifts

that they may be + the Sacrament of the Body of Christ and his Blood of the new Covenant.

Unite us to your Son in his sacrifice, that we may be acceptable through him,

being + sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

After the Words of Institution in the Lutheran Book of Worship, for example, the epiclesis in Eucharistic Prayer III reads:

"And we implore you

mercifully to accept our praise and thanksgiving

and, with your Word and Holy Spirit,

to bless us, your servants,

and these your own gifts of bread and wine;

that we and all who share in the + body and blood of your Son

may be filled with Heavenly peace and joy

and, receiving the forgiveness of sin,

may be + sanctified in soul and body,

and have our portion with all your saints."

Lutheran and Anglican divines have also argued that in earlier liturgies of theirs in which an Epiclesis and unity with the one sacrifice of Christ may not have seemed explicit, it was stated as the point of the consecration in other parts of the rite, notably in required exhortations.

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