Liturgy of the Eucharist: The Preface

Today’s highlight is the Preface, a prayer which is the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayers and is a three-part dialogue recited in the Church since at least the third century.

Priest: The Lord be with you.

People: And with your spirit.

Priest: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right and just.

The opening exchange between the priest and people we have heard before in the introductory rites at the start of Mass and just before the reading of the Gospel. This greeting is a signal that God is calling us to a very important mission.

In the second exchange, the priest is asking us to lift up our hearts, meaning that we are to give our fullest attention to what is about to unfold. Think of it as a ‘Wake Up Call.’ We answer that we will lift them up to the Lord as we prepare for the Eucharistic Feast. In the last liturgical exchange, the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” As we have already seen in the ‘Gloria’ and in response to the scripture readings, thanking God for his goodness is a common biblical response. In the Jewish tradition, thanksgiving is one thing we can actually offer God that he does not already possess. There is so much to be thankful for at this moment in the liturgy that it is fitting that we acknowledge God’s actions in our lives. We respond with “It is right and just.”

Following our exchange with the priest, he addresses God in a prayer of thanksgiving saying, “It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father most holy....” The priest then thanks God for the love he continues to display for his people recounting his marvelous deeds in salvation history. The preface prayers, which change with the church seasons, focus on thanking God for the very heart of his saving plan: Christ’s life-giving death and resurrection.