Reflections on the Mass: The Doxology and Amen

At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest takes the chalice and paten in his hands and raises them up before us. Then he proclaims the doxology, a prayer of praise and worship:

Through Him, and with Him, and in Him,
O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is Yours,
for ever and ever.

We channel our worship of God through His Son, Who is now present on the altar, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We praise the Father with the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. We entered into divine life in Christ when we were baptized, and we are about to dive deeply into intimacy with the Blessed Trinity when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist.

We join our hearts in adoration as we gaze upon the Eucharist, and at the end of the doxology, we say or sing “Amen!” We proclaim our “Yes!” to God. We declare, “It is true!” We profess our belief that Jesus is really present. Our “Amen” should ring out with joy and awe that we should receive such a gift.

Reflections on the Mass: The Eucharistic Prayer

We now enter into the climax of the Mass as the priest begins to recite the Eucharistic Prayer. There are four major Eucharistic Prayers that the priest can choose from. They are of varying lengths and complexities, but they all contain the necessary elements of the epiclesis, the institution narrative and consecration, and the anamnesis.

The epiclesis invokes the Holy Spirit to come down upon the gifts of bread and wine and transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ. We watch as the priest extends his hands over our offerings and asks God to accept them and to change our hearts and minds and lives along with them so that we may be all the more ready and eager to receive our Lord. A server will sometimes ring a bell to remind us that a very important invocation is taking place.

The institution narrative follows. While the prayers are slightly different in each Eucharistic Prayer, they all recall how, on the night before He suffered and died for us, Jesus took bread, broke it, gave thanks to the Father, and said, “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is My Body, which will be given up for you.” With these words, the bread on the altar becomes the Body of Christ. The priest is acting in persona Christi, and Christ acts through Him as the Holy Spirit answers the prayer of the epiclesis. This is the first part of the consecration.

The priest is holding the bread as he speaks the words of consecration and the transubstantiation takes place on the altar. He then raises the Host up for all to view. We cannot see the transformation happen, but we know it by faith.

The priest then takes up the chalice, recalling how Jesus took the chalice in His hands and said the blessing before giving it to the disciples with these words: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of My Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of Me.” With these words, the wine is transformed into the Blood of Christ.

Jesus Christ is now present on the altar, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We have the obligation to worship Him in wonder and awe and to receive Him with the greatest reverence. We declare this mystery of faith with a brief response proclaiming the death and resurrection of our Lord and declaring that He has set us free and that we will continue to proclaim this mystery until He comes again.

Each Eucharistic Prayer also features an anamnesis, a remembrance. In the anamnesis, we do exactly what Jesus commanded us to do when He said, “Do this in memory of Me.” We remember what Jesus did, but we also remember the people with whom we share in this offering and those for whom we pray. We remember the whole Church, clergy and laity together. We remember those living and those who have gone before us. We remember the saints and those who may still be suffering in Purgatory. We remember our own special intentions. What is more, we ask God the Father to remember all of this, too. It is not that He will ever forget, but we reverently place all of this before Him so that we do not forget.

Reflections on the Mass: The Preface Acclamation

The priest ends the Preface of the Eucharistic prayer with an invitation to us. We are to join our voices to those of the angels and sing a hymn of praise to God in all His glory. So we lift up our voices and our hearts in praise.

“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.” We proclaim three times that God is holy, and this reminds us that God is Trinity in Unity. He is one God, one divine substance, but three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We don't have to understand it, and we never fully will, but we do have to belief it. For God has revealed it. “Lord God of hosts” reminds us that God is the God of the angels, too, of His angel army. This is His military title, reminding us of His omnipotence.

“Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.” This is more true than we realize. God's glory surrounds us. His creation reflects it, each element in its own way. We, too, are called to reflect God's glory and to respond to His glory with awe and wonder. Everything around us is a gift from Him. We don't deserve any of it. He gives it freely out of love. Are we grateful?

“Hosanna in the highest.” Hosanna is a cry of rejoicing, but the word literally means “save us” or “rescue us.” As we pray this line, we are to recognize that only God can save us and rescue us from our sins and our weakness and the horrible messes we get ourselves into. God is the Savior. We need His salvation to the maximum. We rely on His help, for we cannot save ourselves. So when we say “Hosanna,” we cry out to God for something that only He can give: our salvation.

“Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord.” This line comes from Matthew 21:9. Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on the day that would come to be known as Palm Sunday. The crowd is celebrating before Him, crying out that He is blessed and that He has come in the name of the Lord. They are recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, but they do not fully realize yet that He is also God. Yet their praise is sincere, and now we echo it, and we have all the more reason to do so, for we know Who Jesus is.

“Hosanna in the highest.” Still echoing the crowd in Jerusalem, once more we proclaim, “Hosanna in the highest.” We join our voices to theirs, asking God to save us and rejoicing because He has, He is, and He will.

Reflections on the Mass: The Preface

The Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer varies with the liturgical seasons and solemnities. Priests can choose from a number of different Prefaces for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Each one specifically addresses the season and provides a beautiful reflection on salvation history and on the mystery and awe of the Eucharist.

Each Preface begins with a reference to our previous response of “It is right and just.” The priest reiterates, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give You thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.” Think about these words for a moment. God deserves all our thanks and praise. It is our duty to thank and praise Him. It is our salvation to thank and praise Him, for in doing so, we open ourselves to His grace, and we repent of our sins.

The Eucharist is the high point of our praise and thanksgiving. We join ourselves to Jesus as He offers the highest sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the Father, the almighty and eternal God, Who graciously bows down to accept our sacrifice of His beloved Son. Then we have the opportunity to receive the Son in the most intimate way possible.

The Preface helps us meditate on the sheer beauty and wonder of the Eucharistic mystery we are entering into. Yet it goes by so quickly that we may miss it if we aren't paying close attention. It helps to read through the Prefaces for the current liturgical season in the missal and reflect on them, allowing them to sink deeply into our minds and hearts. Then when we hear them at Mass, we can bask in their depths and in the light of their truth.