The Eucharistic Prayer is the prayer that is said by the celebrant (i.e., the priest who is presiding at the Eucharist) at the altar before Communion.  Although it may sometimes seem that the priest is speaking to the people, the Eucharistic Prayer is actually addressed to God by the whole congregation, with the celebrant acting as sort of a spokesperson.  The elements that make up the Eucharistic Prayers in our prayer book and the structure that holds them together have their roots in ancient forms that date to the early centuries of Christianity.

Our 1979 Book of Common Prayer includes six different Eucharistic Prayers-Prayers I and II in Rite I, and Prayers A, B, C, and D in Rite II.  This summer, as we alternate between Rite I and Rite II for our 10:30 Eucharist, we will use different Eucharistic Prayers.  If you listen (or read) attentively, you’ll notice that all the Prayers include the same basic elements:  the Great Thanksgiving, which includes an account of our understanding of God’s work in creation and human history; the “institution narrative,” in which we remember the Last Supper, when Jesus “instituted” the sacrament of Holy Communion; and the “epiclesis,” when we pray that God would sanctify the bread and wine to be for us the body and blood of Christ.

All of the Eucharistic Prayers in our prayer book were written-some over the course of many centuries, some more recently-by hanging words on the ancient framework that our Church understands as defining the Eucharist.  Because it is that framework, and not the particular words, that define the Eucharist, the prayer book provides for a service in which very few of the words and prayers are specified.  The guidelines for such a service are found on pages 400 and 401.  Even if you never attend such a service, it’s interesting to look at those pages to see what our Church considers essential to the celebration of the Eucharist.