The Eucharistic Prayer

[The_Wizard]

I have noticed that there are a number of variations of The Eucharistic Prayer used. I am wondering if there is any method used to select which variation is used or is it just what the priest feels like using that mass?

 

[Oneofthewomen]

It is up to the priest saying the Mass, as to what EP he uses.

There are 4 EP’s for general use, along with 2 that are used for Masses of Reconciliation(which are often used during Lent in my diocese) and a couple for use with Children’s liturgies

However, EP IV, has a “fixed preface” and cannot be used on any day that has it’s own preface (meaning it is mostly used only during Ordinary Time when there isn’t a preferred preface)

 

[TimothyH]

The priest can choose either of the four Eucharistic Prayers as he sees fit.

Some confuse the Preface with the Eucharistic Prayer. There are many prefaces, some used at the priest’s discretion and some prescribed depending on the day.

EP I also has has various additions for specific days and times of the year.





-Tim-

 

[Don_Ruggero]

The priest can choose either of the four Eucharistic Prayers as he sees fit.

Some confuse the Preface with the Eucharistic Prayer. There are many prefaces, some used at the priest’s discretion and some prescribed depending on the day.

EP I also has has various additions for specific days and times of the year.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mc73d1v2cpb2xz3/missal.001.JPG?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ysa6azmo35fipqx/missal.002.JPG?dl=1

-Tim-

Actually, there are 13 Eucharistic Prayers that one could encounter at present in the Roman Rite apart from the variants such as in the Anglican Use.

The four Eucharistic Prayers pictured above with the tabs I, II, III, and IV.

(Eucharistic Prayer IV, as already mentioned, has a fixed preface and the rubrics circumscribe when it may be used. The priest has latitude as to the use of the other three.)

Additionally, the tabs RI and RII above are the two Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of Reconciliation which were gifts to the Church by Blessed Paul VI on the occasion of the Holy Year 1975. There are rubrics which guide the priest in their selection.

There is the so-called Swiss Anaphora which has been approved for many years but which I find less used by the Americans for reasons I do not know; it is designated now as the Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs and Occasion with four permutations and that prayer is seen in the photo above with the tabs above designated as VI, VII, VIII, and VIV…each version has its own theme and there are directives on the use.

Finally, there are the three Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children. With the third Editio Typica of the Roman Missal, it was mandated that these be published in a separate volume, and so they exist as a supplement. There are rubrics which guide the celebrant as to when these may appropriately be chosen.

 

[TimothyH]

Actually, there are 13 Eucharistic Prayers that one could encounter at present in the Roman Rite apart from the variants such as in the Anglican Use.

The four Eucharistic Prayers pictured above with the tabs I, II, III, and IV.

(Eucharistic Prayer IV, as already mentioned, has a fixed preface and the rubrics circumscribe when it may be used. The priest has latitude as to the use of the other three.)

Additionally, the tabs RI and RII above are the two Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of Reconciliation which were gifts to the Church by Blessed Paul VI on the occasion of the Holy Year 1975. There are rubrics which guide the priest in their selection.

There is the so-called Swiss Anaphora which has been approved for many years but which I find less used by the Americans for reasons I do not know; it is designated now as the Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs and Occasion with four permutations and that prayer is seen in the photo above with the tabs above designated as VI, VII, VIII, and VIV…each version has its own theme and there are directives on the use.

Finally, there are the three Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children. With the third Editio Typica of the Roman Missal, it was mandated that these be published in a separate volume, and so they exist as a supplement. There are rubrics which guide the celebrant as to when these may appropriately be chosen.

Thank you for this Father. I own a missal and had forgotten about all that.

Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I and II

Eucharistic Prayers for Various Needs include:

• The Church on the Path of Unity
• God Guides His Church along the Way of Salvation
• Jesus, the Way to the Father
• Jesus, Who Went About Doing Good

These are very beautiful.







-Tim-

 

[InThePew]

Actually, there are 13 Eucharistic Prayers that one could encounter at present in the Roman Rite apart from the variants such as in the Anglican Use.

The four Eucharistic Prayers pictured above with the tabs I, II, III, and IV.

(Eucharistic Prayer IV, as already mentioned, has a fixed preface and the rubrics circumscribe when it may be used. The priest has latitude as to the use of the other three.)

EPII is the shortest (at least in English) and so is commonly used at weekday masses and any other masses when time may be an issue. Possibly for the same reason, it is also (at least in my part of the world) the most common - for better or worse.

EPI is the longest and this, along with its rich and weighty language and phrasing tends to limit its use.

 

[sirach2v4]

It seems it’s just a distant memory of a priest actually singing the Eucharistic Prayer.

Often from the wording there is an indication of what is said to happen on the altar, a union of heaven and earth. It is a recapitulation of the incarnation or enfleshment of Christ, now in sacramental form, as well as a solemn “memorial” of the death and resurrection of Christ.

As Fr. John Riccardo, Detroit radio priest, says, God wants to be a part of us and gives us Himself as food to accomplish this union, this stage of our divinization (not becoming gods, but participating in His nature, at God’s initiative, if I have these words rightly).

 

[Don_Ruggero]

It seems it’s just a distant memory of a priest actually singing the Eucharistic Prayer.

This is provided for in the Missal. Assuredly, no one wants me to do it solo, however. I do not have the talent for that which many of my brother priests do.

I experience the Eucharistic Prayer sung when in monastic community. It is also very helpful when the community has a number of concelebrating priests as we tend to be more in unison when chanting the Eucharistic Prayer than when simply reciting it.

 

[peter26]

At my parish, Eucharistic Prayer II is used in the week and at the vigil Mass. Both Sunday morning Masses (parish and Ordinariate use) use the full Roman Canon and most of the Eucharistic Prayer is sung at those two Masses.