Liturgy of the Eucharist: The Epiclesis

In today’s discussion of the Mass, we come to a prayer called the Epiclesis, which means “invocation upon,” or more simply, the blessing over the cup. In ancient Jewish table prayers, the blessing over the cup included a supplication that God send the Messiah to Israel and restore the Kingdom of David. Quite naturally, the early Christians included in the Eucharistic Prayer a similar supplication. In this prayer, the priest prays that the Father send the Holy Spirit so that the gifts of bread and wine may be changed into the body and blood of Christ. The priest says in the prayer, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Like the ancient Jews who pleaded with God to send the Messiah, so also the priest petitions that the Messiah-King be made present once again, this time under the appearances of bread and wine.

There is a second Epiclesis prayer, after the words of institution, that relates to the other petition made in ancient Jewish prayers, that of the

House of David being restored. Just as many Jews expected the Messiah to unite God’s people in a restored Kingdom of David, so we confidently hope that the Messiah who comes to us in the Eucharist will unite us more deeply together in the Church. When the Priest says, “Grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with the Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ,” he is calling on the Holy Spirit, praying that the Eucharist may draw all those who receive it into a greater communion with God.