12. Memorial Acclamation & Anamnesis

Today we invite you to continue to deepen your understanding of the Eucharistic Prayer by examining the Memorial Acclamation & Anamnesis  (Remembrance)

Recall . . .The Eucharistic Prayer is the Central Part of the Mass.

It has the appearance of a re-enactment of the Last Supper, but it is much more.  It is an act of making Jesus present through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and through the ministry of the Priest.

Last week we focused on the Calling-Down of the Holy Spirit (called the epiclesis), the Narration of the Last Supper and the Consecration of the Bread and Wine.

Today, we focus on the parts of the Eucharistic Prayer which immediately follow that moment when we adore the Eucharist as the Priest holds high the Body and Blood, and the bells are rung.

• The Memorial Acclamation . . . we know better as “the Mystery of Faith”

o   The words we say together at this moment are a response to the mystery of Christ’s presence which has just taken place with the consecration of the Bread and Wine.

o   The phrases of acclamation designated for this moment remind us of the way in which Jesus gave us his life as the greatest gift . . . a life which is made present under the signs of the Bread and Wine.

o   We say . . .”Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will Come again.”  Or, “When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim his death until he comes again.”  Etc.

o   The Mystery of Faith reminds us that the “fullness of life” which Jesus promised us, as his disciples, is nothing less than a share in his own divine life.  To share his life is called “Holy Communion.”

• Immediately following this acclamation, is a prayer of Anamnesis, which expresses that our celebration remembers the saving acts of Jesus, but also makes them present in our celebration.
• Note that we recall past and future in memorial:

“In memory of his death and resurrection…”

(Anamnesis, Eucharistic Prayer II)

“Father, calling to mind the death your Son endured for our salvation, his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven, and ready to greet him when he comes…”

(Eucharistic Prayer III)

In the Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas points to the joining of past and future to the present in Eucharist: “The Eucharist

looks to the past, commemorating the passion of Christ… [It] looks to the present, signifying the unity of the

Church… [It] looks to the future, prefiguring our enjoyment with God in heaven.”

(Summa Theologiae, “On the Eucharist, IIIa, Question 73, Article 4)