interwiki, renameuser, Administrators
13,552
edits
Changes
m
→The Eucharistic Prayer
After remembering the history of our fall and redemption and the institution of the eucharistic meal, the priest invokes the Holy Spirit, asking that he be sent down on the gifts. It is sometimes noted that this invocation, the ''[[epiclesis]]'', is the moment of transformation of the gifts of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, but there is not total agreement among Orthodox scholars whether the transformation can actually be pinpointed to a single moment in the service. It is certainly true that the prayers of the service treat the gifts as consecrated and transformed after this point.
Having invoked the Holy Spirit and consecrated the gifts, the priest commemorates the saints, beginning with the [[Theotokos]]. At this point, the assembled faithful chant the ancient hymn in honor of the Virgin, "It is truly meet to bless you, O [[Theotokos|Mother of God]], ever blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God. More honorable than the [[cherubim]], beyond compare more glorious than the [[seraphim]], without corruption you gave birth to God, the Word. True [[Theotokos]], we magnify you."
The priest prays the the bishop, in whose name he is celebrating the Liturgy, will be kept in the Orthodox Faith and preserved in health and years.
