the word, since they talk Greek and we Latin, they will go on saying (
Greek characters) while we say Transubstantiatio.[1]
5. The Epiklesis.
A more serious discussion about the Holy Eucharist concerns the moment at which this change takes place. All the Eastern liturgies contain the words of institution, our Lord's own words "This is my Body," and "This is the chalice of my Blood."[2] But the Orthodox do not believe that these are the words of Consecration; they recite them merely historically, and afterwards they have a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, praying him to change this bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. This invocation is the Epiklesis ((Greek characters)), and they believe that then, and not till then, are the bread and wine consecrated.[3] They also reproach us that we have no Epiklesis in our liturgy, and are disposed to doubt the validity of our Holy Eucharist for this reason. In the first place we have an Epiklesis, although a hardly recognizable one. The prayer Supplices te rogamus in our missal is the remnant of the old Latin invocation.[4] Secondly the Orthodox admit that the words of institution must be said first, and that an Epiklesis alone would not be sufficient. Both sides in this controversy, then, use the two forms, words of institution and Epiklesis; the only question at issue is as to the moment at which Consecration takes place, as to which is, as we should say, the form of the Sacrament. The Roman Church has settled the matter for us by commanding the priest to kneel, adore, and then elevate the Blessed Sacrament immediately after the words of institution
1 The Russians now seem to prefer a really Slav word, presushchestvlenie, which they say is an exact rendering of (Greek characters). They are certainly right in avoiding derived words as far as possible.
- ↑ 1
- ↑ With the doubtful exception of the Nestorian rite; see Brightman: Eastern Liturgies, p. 285.
- ↑ The Byzantine Epiklesis is: "We offer to thee this reasonable and unbloody sacrifice, and we pray thee, beg thee, and implore thee to send down thy Holy Spirit on us and on these present gifts, and to make this bread the sacred Body of thy Christ, and to make what is in this chalice the sacred Blood of thy Christ, changing them by thy Holy Spirit" (Brightman, pp. 386-387).
- ↑ See Duchesne: Origines du culte, p. 173.
