The prayer of the Epiclesis: 'Moreover we offer unto Thee this reasonable (...)'

The central act of the Divine Liturgy and the culmination of the Sacrament is the Epiclesis, i.e. the Invocation of the Holy Spirit, who will sanctify the Gifts and change them into the Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist is in its totality the work of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who continues Christ's work. The temporal mission of the Comforter to the world is a confirmation of God not having abandoned His children. Therefore, in the Divine Liturgy the Church asks God to send down the Holy Spirit so as to consecrate the offering, i.e. the bread and wine. Thus, the working of the Holy Spirit constitutes for the Church a reaffirmation of God being present through His divine energies in the Church's life. The presence of the Spirit in the Church does also remind us of the invisible presence of Christ in the Divine Liturgy, as is noted in another prayer (Christ is the one that sits on the right hand of the Father and at the same time is invisibly present in the church during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy). With the invocation of the Holy Spirit the members of the Church receive the gift of the Eucharistic unity, for it is the Holy Spirit who 'holds together the whole institution of the Church'. The Divine Liturgy is love, God's love for humans and vice versa. In every Divine Liturgy, during the Epiclesis, the Church re-experiences the Mystery of the Pentecost. At that day the Most-Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles; now the Holy Spirit descends so as to consecrate the Gifts, i.e. the offering of the faithful. The presence of the Holy Spirit changes the bread and wine into the Body proper and the Blood proper of Christ. The Epiclesis is not simply intoned by the priest; it is rather officiated by the whole Body of the Church.

27 from Αθωνική Ψηφιακή Κιβωτός on Vimeo.

The prayer of the Invocation of the Holy Spirit mentions the benefactions received by the faithful, upon partaking of the Sacrament, namely: inner peace; the remission of sins; the gifts of the Holy Spirit; the Kingdom of Heaven; boldness towards God; and the avoiding of sin and of divine condemnation. The promise that the Lord made in the Last Supper is now fulfilled. So despite the fact that the Epiclesis is pneumatological in content, it also bears the signs of historical symbolism, alluding to Christ's work for the salvation of humankind.


Last modified: Wednesday, 7 October 2020, 10:10 PM