Epiclesis
“You are indeed Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness. Make holy,
therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon
them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
These words, from Eucharistic Prayer II at Mass, are called
the epiclesis, or Prayer for the Sending of the Spirit. Each
Eucharistic Prayer contains a slightly different epiclesis,
who transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph 1105, says
this: “The Epiclesis is the intercession in which the priest begs the
Father to send the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, so that the offerings
may become the body and blood of Christ and the faithful, by
receiving them, may themselves become a living offering to God.”
For further study:
CCC 1105-1106 • CCC 1353
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which is a Greek word that means “to call upon.”
The epiclesis reminds us that it is not simply the man in the vestments
of Christ, but the Holy Spirit. Just as it was the Holy Spirit who
conceived Christ Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary, so it is
through the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ becomes sacramentally
present.
Notes