Prayer is the second part of the Liturgy of the Table. Our prayer is called The Great Thanksgiving because “Eucharist” means “to give thanks”. It opens with a dialogue in which we all take part.

The prayers of Consecration which follows the Sanctus, are based on the Jewish blessing over bread and wine and include three essential parts: the words of institution said by Jesus at the Last Supper; the anamnesis, Greek for “memorial,” which recalls the passion, resurrection and ascension of Christ; and the epiclesis, the petition which asks God to send the Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine and on all of us gathered as the body of Christ.