Epiclesis
TODD E. FRENCH
The Epiclesis is the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharistic Anaphora so as to descend and sanctify the people of God, and especially the holy gifts which have been offered. The Epiclesis (Greek for “calling upon”) is solemnly recited by the presiding bishop or priest after the words of institution, and is seen as a defining moment when the gifts are sanctified and become the body and blood of the Lord. Although several commentators resist the splitting up of the whole liturgical action of the divine liturgy into moments of consecration (as in line with the Catholic belief that the words of institution form the precise moment of eucharistic consecration), it is nevertheless widely understood in Orthodoxy that the Epiclesis is that most sacred moment when the words of Christ over the holy gifts are spiritually effected by the descent of the Holy Spirit. The faithful bow down low at this solemn moment in the liturgy.
The first attestation of the Epiclesis is found in the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus from the 3rd century. Within this text is a call for the Holy Spirit to descend and strengthen the church through the sacrifice. There are also 4th-century versions of the Epiclesis in the liturgy of St. James, the Euchologion of Serapion of Der Balyzeh, and the writings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. The theology that serves as a foundation for this prayer demonstrates the patristic teaching that God the Father’s revelation and work comes through the Son and is completed by the Holy Spirit. The church’s call to the Spirit to sanctify and strengthen the community of believers (as well as consecrating the gifts) relates the church and the Holy Eucharist to the day of Pentecost and shows the eschatological nature of the church’s trinitarian prayer. The Epiclesis in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom marks a shift from the Holy Spirit “showing” the gifts to be the body of Christ towards “making” the gifts into the body of Christ. The earlier form in the Epiclesis of St. Basil is still used on those days on which his liturgy is appointed to be served, notably the Sundays of Great Lent.
SEE ALSO: Divine Liturgy, Orthodox; Eucharist; Holy Spirit; St. John Chrysostom (349–407)
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Atchley, C. F. (1935) On the Epiclesis of the Eucharistic Liturgy and in the Consecration of the Font. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Solovey, M. M. (1970) The Byzantine Divine Liturgy: History and Commentary, trans. D. E. Wysochansky. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.
Stuckwisch, R. D. (1997) “The Basilian Anaphoras,” in P. F. Bradshaw (ed.) Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, pp. 109–30.
Taft, R. F. (1997) “St. John Chrysostom and the Byzantine Anaphora that Bears His Name,” in P. F. Bradshaw (ed.) Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, pp. 195–226.