On the Holy Mass: The Liturgy of the Eucharist
The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the preparation of the gifts. Bread and wine, the material signs of the Sacrament that will become the Body and Blood of Christ, are offered and prepared at the Altar. The bread must be unleavened and the wine must come from grapes. The bread proper for the Mass is called “Host”.
It is during the period of the preparation of the gifts too, that the offerings of the Faithful for the Poor and for the support of the Church are collected and brought to the sanctuary. The Prayer over the Offerings that petitions God to accept the humble sacrificial offering concludes this part.
The Eucharistic Prayer, which is the center and summit of the entire celebration, now follows. The Priest, in persona Christi, begins with the Preface that invites the people to lift up their hearts to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving. We remember here that Eucharist primarily means to offer praise and thanksgiving to God. Thus, the Preface, which is chosen by the Priest according to the Season, Solemnity, Feast or Memorial proper for the day, proclaims that it is “truly right and just, our Duty and Salvation, always and everywhere, to give thanks to God the Almighty”. The high importance of the Preface requires us to reverently take its words to heart so that we truly mean our praise and thanksgiving due to God that we ought to offer. The Preface is concluded by the Acclamation called the Sanctus that begins with the Trisagion and aptly concludes with Hosanna in the Highest.
Now comes the most solemn part of the Eucharistic Prayer, that because of its highest value, calls the faithful to kneel in utmost reverence and silence. It begins with the epiclesis, which is the prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit to come down and transform the host and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The Institution Narrative and Consecration follows: “by the words and actions of Jesus Christ, the Sacrifice is carried out which Christ himself instituted at the Last Supper, when he offered his Body and Blood under the species of bread and wine, gave them to his Apostles to eat and drink, and left them the command to perpetuate this same mystery” (GIRM 79d). At this very moment when the Priest says the Words of Consecration said by Jesus himself at the Last Supper, “Take and eat, this is my body; Take and drink, this is my blood”, the miracle of transubstantiation happens. The Sacrament of the Eucharist is effected.
Transubstantiation is the changing of the substance while its accidents remain. The substance of the host and wine is changed into the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ. Although they still have the appearance, texture, taste and smell of host and wine, they are no longer host and wine but the real Body and Blood of Christ.
After the Consecration, the whole assembly proclaims the mystery of Christian faith: The Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Coming Again of Jesus. This is called the Anamnesis because it proclaims the memorial character of the Eucharist which is the remembering of the Paschal Mystery.
With the Body and Blood of Jesus now at the Altar, the Priest presents them to God who Himself made it a fitting and pleasing offering of the faithful in fulfillment of their duty and obligation to adore and thank God. The Priest then, by an act of intercession, pleads before God on behalf of the entire Church, to accept the offering made by and for the Church herself and all her members, living and dead, to receive the redemption and salvation ransomed by the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
As a fitting conclusion, the Final Doxology that means the Glorification of God, ends the Eucharistic Prayer. When the Priest raises the Body and Blood of Christ while saying “Through Him, with Him and in Him” (all referring to Christ), he proclaims that in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all eternal glory and honor belongs to God, the Almighty Father. When we gloriously acclaim with joy as we respond “Amen”, we give our highest assent of faith to the Living God that is why this is also called the “Great Amen”.
Sources: Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), and General Instructions of the Roman Missal (GIRM).
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