Our Eucharistic Prayers
Rite one (contemporary language) in Common Worship contains eight Eucharistic Prayers and I want to say something about their character and our use of them.
Prayer A we use on special Sundays such as Trinity Sunday, Dedication Festival, Saints Days and during the Kingdom season between All Saints day and Advent. It is based on the contemporary Eucharistic prayers first introduced in the 1960’s in Series 2, and developed in Series 3, Rite A, Prayers 1 and 2, and now in this prayer. It combines the ancient structure of the Eucharistic prayer with a traditional Anglican restraint in language in a way that is not too long or wordy but does justice to the great central themes of Eucharistic prayers through the ages.
Prayer B we use after Christmas and after Easter. It is based on the earliest known western Eucharistic prayer, that of Hypolytus which come from Rome around 250. Its language is less doctrinal than prayer A and relies more of images referring to the heart of all God does for us. It contains what is known as a second epiclesis missing from Church of England liturgies since 1552 but present in those of the Episcopal Churches of Scotland and the USA. This prays for the Holy Spirit to be sent onto the people of God so that we may praise and glorify God for ever.
Prayer E we use in Advent and Lent. This has much simpler language than is usual in Eucharistic prayers while as the same time referring to all the major themes of our faith. It is marked by evocative intercessions in the last section ‘help us to work together for that day when your kingdom comes and justice and mercy will be seen in all the earth’.
Prayer F which we use in Ordinary Time (that is between Trinity Sunday and All Saints day) is a completely new composition using the structure common to a number of eastern prayers, that is before the Sanctus the reference is to the Father, between the Sanctus and the acclamation to the Son and the final section to the holy Spirit. It is more in the form of the story of our salvation than in colder doctrinal statements. It has several fine images. Again, I like the intercession, ‘Look with favour on your people and in your mercy hear the cry of our hearts. Bless the earth, heal the sick and let the oppressed go free’.
Prayer G which we also use in Ordinary Time because with Prayer F it is a fixed prayer, unlike A, B and E, without the possibility of a proper preface, that is the section before the Sanctus which speaks of the special occasion, Easter, All Saints, Dedication or whatever. Prayer G has a rather complicated evolution. It started life when the Roman Catholic introduced liturgy in English in the 1970’s. Their texts were translated into English from the Latin but then local bishops were encouraged to write a new Eucharistic prayer reflecting the literary traditions of their own culture. So we have phrases such as ‘the silent music of your praise’ from English translations of St John of the Cross and ‘as a mother tenderly gathers her children’ from a prayer of St Anslem drawing on Isaiah 66.13 and Matthew 23.37. This was then anglicised by removing one or two phrases more definite in teaching than we are used to and one or two phrases which didn’t find a home in another Eucharistic prayer were added, for example, ‘form us in the likeness of Christ, and build us into a living temple to your glory’ from ASB prayer 3. Unfortunately the phrase ‘we plead with confidence his sacrifice made once for all upon the cross’ was to be in prayer E then was removed, found a home here and then was added back into E while remaining in G. There is much I like about this prayer, its imagery, its train of thought, its essentially simple and apt language, but one or two unevenesses could have been ironed our.
Now a word about the prayers we rarely use. Prayer C is a modern language version of the Eucharistic prayer in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. It is a great improvement on the version in prayer 3 of the ASB; it has a strong emphasis on the passion and so we use it on Palm Sunday. Prayer D to my mind falls between two stools. It has a rather chorus like acclamation that repeats itself too often suggesting it is suitable for use when there are present children or others with low concentration levels but has a complexity of thought, which includes several good evocative phrases. This makes it not so suitable for children or adults; it also omits several key elements one would wish to see in a Eucharistic prayer, for example there is no mention of the ascension or of Christ in glory or of the creation; the intercession section is too thin. Prayer H is even worse. Its theology is very brief; it contains congregational responses of some complexity and overall it is too brief to be an adequate Eucharistic prayer. If it is used the whole prayer should be completely sung by a congregation with a sophisticated understanding who can develop the hints offered in the text.
The great features of the Anglican Eucharistic prayers compared with those of other Christian traditions is their reluctance to be too explicit so as to embrace a wide range of views and their wide range of scriptural allusion. I believe that with thought and devotion the prayers we use are very helpful vehicles in doing what a Eucharistic prayer should do, namely recalling what Jesus did with his disciples on the night before he died, to thank God for all he gives to us and in union with Christ to offer our lives and the life of the church in his service. These prayers have a richness that help us lift our hearts and minds to God so that we can more adequately praise him in heaven and serve him on earth.
Christopher Morgan-Jones
