The Fourth Eucharistic Prayer : a general analysis of its structure and content to appreciate its ecclesiological meaning

Abstract

In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (1970), it is asserted that the Eucharistic prayer is the "climax and the very heart of the entire celebration [of the Mass], a prayer of thanksgiving and sanctification". In fact, each of the Eucharistic prayers - whether present in the liturgy of the early Church or else introduced after the reforms of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council - is a lyric proclamation of what it means for the Church to celebrate the Eucharist". On closer examination and upon meditation of the text of any Eucharistic prayer, one, encounters the use of highly evocative language which is pregnant with Christological and ecclesiological meaning.