[Magdalen] Epiclesis.

[Joseph Cirou]

When I played the organ in the Greek Orthodox Church 20 years ago, the
people (even on Sunday) knelt for the Epiclesis but they called it the
Consecration--what the Roman Church calls the Words of Institution. During
the  Byzantine Epiclesis or Consecration the choir usually sings one of the
more mystical hymns of the Liturgy -sometimes more moving than the Cherubic
Hymn at the Great Entrance--We Praise Thee or Se hymnoumen.
A bride recently requested the Se hymnoumen for part of the Prelude Music
to her Wedding at our Greek Cathedral in Atlanta.

A good Armenian choir can make these even more profoundly mystical sounding

Joe Cirou

On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 5:01 PM, Jon Egger <revegger at gmail.com> wrote:

> When I was in the RC laity, we were taught that epiclesis occurred when the
> priest said "This is my body" and "This is my blood" NOT the way we do
> it...which I love.
>
> +++
> Grace & peace,
> Deacon Jon Egger
>
>
>
> *“In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who
> has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to
> deceive and overawe the People."(Eugene V. Debs, Anti-War Speech, June 16,
> 1918) *
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 6:57 AM, <sally.davies at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > This got me curious, David! I checked and we have something of the sort
> in
> > all four Eucharistic prayers. The first three have it after the Sanctus,
> > the Fourth Eucharistic prayer a bit later. The Fourth version:
> >
> > "We ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon the offering of your holy
> Church.
> > Gather into one all who
> > share in these sacred mysteries, filling them with the Holy Spirit and
> > confirming their faith in the truth,
> > that together we may praise you and give you glory through your servant,
> > Jesus Christ"
> >
> > The First Eucharistic Prayer has the words:
> >
> > "Hear us Father, through your Son Christ our Lord; through him accept our
> > offering of thanks and praise,
> > and send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts of bread and wine
> so
> > that they may be to us his
> > body and his blood"
> >
> > There are slight differences in each version which might mean something
> to
> > a liturgy expert, but to me they all seem fair and square within the
> > Anglican tradition of "consubstantiation". There's no implication that
> > Christ is being re-sacrificed but neither is it a memorial as such;
> though
> > all go on to include a Scriptural memorial paragraph, "Who, in the same
> > night that he was betrayed, etc".
> >
> > Very interesting. I appreciate your interest in this and have taken to
> > heart the discussion we had some years back about participation in the
> > Eucharist being timeless. Recently I was studying Luke 22 with a Bible
> > Study group and realised that the words of Jesus in that passage, "I
> shall
> > not eat of [this Passover) again, until the Kingdom of God is fulfilled"
> > could be heard as a promise to meet with us as we share in the
> Eucharist,,
> > as well as looking forward to the Great Supper of the Lamb.
> >
> > BTW speaking of Catholics, the website I used for that study and will use
> > again as it was very helpful, was the US Conference of Catholic Bishops,
> > www.usccb.org. I think their text is the Contemporary English Version
> and
> > there are some useful scholarly notes and cross references.
> >
> > Sally D
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 at 9:11 PM Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> > magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Elsewhere there was a discussion with input from several conservative
> > > Roman Catholics questioning the validity of the current RC Ordinary
> > > Form Liturgy (the "Novus Ordo") which has been the norm since
> Vatican-2.
> > > These complaints always seem to center on "too much memorialism" and
> > > not "enough Sacrifice".
> > >
> > > I am amused by this attitude since there is a glaring absence of an
> > > epiclesis, in the Eucharistic Prayer ("Canon") where the Holy Spirit is
> > > invoked  to
> > > validate the Sacrament and also to bless the faithful and ensure their
> > > full participation, in the old Latin Rite (the
> "Tridentine"/Extraordinary
> > > Form
> > > of the RC Liturgy).
> > >
> > > There are a couple of places in that Tridentine Liturgy where experts
> > > say an epiclesis is "inferred" but not outright stated.  This is in
> > > contrast
> > > to all the Eastern Rites that always contain an epiclesis.
> > >
> > > So it seems Tridentines have little justification to point fingers at
> > the
> > > current Novus Ordo Liturgy, in which a complete epiclesis has been
> > > placed into all four Eucharistic Canons.
> > >
> > > I'm not sure that ++Cranmer had a full epiclesis in the First and
> Second
> > > Prayer Books of Edward VI or that there was one in the later CofE 1662,
> > > so long the standard in so many Anglican jurisdictions.
> > >
> > > However, there is an epiclesis, in all the Eucharistic Prayers of TEC
> > '79
> > > Prayer Book.
> > >
> > > Even the Lutherans have added an epiclesis to their bare "Verbum" of
> > > the Eucharistic Prayer (ELCA).
> > >
> > >
> > > David Strang.
> > >
> >
>