The Hidden Depths of the Mass #23

The Eucharistic Prayer – Preface

The Eucharistic Prayer starts with a preface.  The preface begins with the priest saying, “The Lord be with you” and the people responding, “and with your Spirit.”  The preface ends with the “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

The GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal) divides the Eucharistic Prayers into eight parts.  The first part is “thanksgiving.”  Our thanksgiving is explicit when the priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.”

There are 10 Eucharistic Prayers.  There are over 50 separate prefaces.  The preface changes with the seasons or for special feasts.  Like other parts of the Mass, some of the words of the prefaces come from the Bible, most evident is Isaiah 6:3 in the “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  Also evident is “blessed is he who comes…” from Psalm 118:26 along with Matthew 21:9; 23:39, Mark 11:9, Luke 13:35; 19:38, and John 12:13.