During the summer months here at St. Paul’s, Ivy, our Sunday 8:30 a.m. worship service continues to be Holy Eucharist Rite I.  At our 10:30 a.m. service, however, we are alternating between Holy Eucharist Rite I and Rite II.  On the Sundays we use Rite II, we will be alternating among Eucharistic Prayers A, B, C and D. (At our weekly Wednesday morning Eucharist services, we use all of these prayers from time to time.)

All of the Eucharistic prayers have their roots in the ancient liturgies of the church and contain the same basic elements: thanks and praise to God for his mighty acts in creation and human history; the remembrance of the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the offering of the bread and wine; the epiclesis, where we pray that the Holy Spirit would sanctify the bread and wine, that they would be for us the body and blood of Christ; a reference to the second coming of Christ, and, finally, unity with Christ for all who participate in the body and blood of Christ. Prayers A, B, C and D each have some unique features, which we will explain as the summer moves on.

Prayer B, which begins on Page 367,  has a special emphasis on the incarnation of Jesus, “the Word made flesh.”   There is also special mention of the prophets.  This prayer is often used during Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and some “green” Sundays, when the incarnate Christ is emphasized. Although this prayer was not completely assembled in its present form until the 20^th century, some of the phraseology of this prayer comes from the third century.

Prayer C begins on page 369 of the Book of Common Prayer.  This prayer emphasizes creation and how God is revealed in the Old Testament.  Prayer C is the most interactive eucharistic prayer in that there are several acclamations made by the congregation.  It is often used by churches on “green” Sundays, which means most of the Sundays after Pentecost.  The liturgical color green signifies growth.

Prayer D is the eucharistic prayer that is used most widely in the Christian world, including the Greek and Slavic Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church in Canada and the United Methodist Church.  It allows for the insertion of special petitions.  Its roots come from the ancient liturgy attributed to St. Basil.