My Dear Friends,

I will wrap up the first Eucharistic Prayer (the Roman Canon) with a few more examples of why this canon is venerable and worthy to be prayed at every Mass. Besides being the one Eucharistic prayer in our Roman Missal that is unabashedly sacrificial, it is also the most Catholic of all Eucharistic prayers for the reasons I have been writing these last few weeks.

In the consecration of the wine, the priest takes “this precious chalice.” It is the only Eucharistic prayer that mentions the word “precious” during the consecration. The tradition in our Catholic faith is that when the bishop in Rome celebrated the Mass, he used the actual cup that our Lord used at the Last Supper.

After the consecration, the priest mentions the names of Abel, Abraham, and Melchisedek. Abel, the younger brother to Cain, was a shepherd. It is the beginning of God’s preference for the younger brother in the Old Testament: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his ten brothers, and David over his brothers. God accepted Abel’s offerings of the fatty portions of the firstlings of his flock. He is making a sacrificial offering to his Lord.

Abraham is also a man who made sacrificial offerings to the Lord, including the offering to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Melchisedek is a priest who made offerings of bread and wine, not an animal. Jesus is a priest forever, in the line of Melchisedek. Melchisedek is also a king of Salem, who blessed Abram (Abraham). He is a king of peace (Salem comes from the Hebrew word for peace, “Shalom”) and is understood to be Jerusalem (they will see wholeness and completeness, which translates into peace).

After these names are mentioned in the prayer, the priest will bow to the altar and recite the next section of the prayer. “In humble prayer, we ask you, Almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty, so that all of us, who through this participation at the altar receive the most holy Body and Blood of your Son (at this moment the priest stands and makes the sign of the cross as he finishes this section of the prayer) may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing.”

The angel referenced in this section is understood in tradition to be the Archangel Michael, who serves at the altar of God in the heavenly realm and is the bridge between heaven and earth during our Lord’s sacrifice which we commemorate at every Mass.

As you can see, it is no wonder that the Protestant reformers under Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli would have an issue with this Eucharistic prayer because it reinforces the Catholic teaching that the Mass is truly the Most Holy Sacrifice.

God bless.

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