The Mass: Liturgy of the Eucharist - Part XI

We will now take a look at Eucharistic Prayer III. While not as commonly used as Prayer II, which we looked at last week, it still tends to get a fair amount use by priests, especially on saints’ feast days. It was devised by the working groups that also gave us Prayers II and IV in 1968, and was meant to shorten and solidify the ideas of Prayer I but to do it in a way that had a better flow.

The main themes that thread together this prayer are ones of sacrifice and the Holy Spirit. We will see this as we examine the text.

After the Preface and Sanctus the prayer opens with a beautiful outpouring of thanksgiving. We immediately are introduced to the theme of sacrifice. This sacrifice is offered “from the rising of the sun to its setting,” which has echoes from the Old Testament (Malachi 1:11). We also acknowledge God as the source of all life and holiness. The epiclesis occurs, followed by the Institution Narrative and Consecration.

Next, we recite the Mystery of Faith. During the anamnesis, we recall the entire Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Passion, death, Resurrection and Ascension, in very few words. We then hear a line borrowed from Theodore of Mopsuestia, who was a theologian in the fifth century, in which we recognize that we are offering a “holy and living sacrifice”. The second epiclesis recognizes our desire to become one by the Holy Spirit as we refer to Jesus as the “sacrificial Victim.”

The Intercessions mention Mary and the saints in a prayer for “peace and salvation for all the world”. Prayers are offered for clergy and for those who have died. In conclusion, we look forward to that time when we all will share in “the fullness of [the Father’s] glory, through Christ our Lord,” and then enter into the Final Doxology.

“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 by the Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.” – Eucharistic Prayer III, no. 113.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact me at eucharist@stmli.org.