Epiclesis


The epiclesis is the part of the Anaphora by which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit upon the Eucharistic bread and wine in some Christian churches.
In most Eastern Christian traditions, the Epiclesis comes after the Anamnesis ; in the Western Rite it usually precedes.

Eastern churches

While in the Roman Catholic Church, the Words of Institution are considered to be the moment of Transubstantiation, the Eastern Orthodox Churches do not hold this belief. Instead, the Epiclesis is believed to be the moment at which this change is completed. However, the actual process of change is not considered to begin at this moment, but begins with the Liturgy of Preparation—it is merely completed at the Epiclesis.
The Epiclesis is considered to be essential to the validity of the Sacred Mystery, and in the 20th century, when Western Rite Orthodox parishes began to be established, it was necessary to add an Epiclesis to their Eucharistic rites, if one was not already there

East Syriac

In its pure form, the ancient anaphora of the Divine Liturgy of Addai and Mari does include an epiclesis. It does not use the Words of Institution, although they appear directly and indirectly in other parts of the rite.

Liturgy of St. James

In the Liturgy of Saint James, according to the form in which it is celebrated on the island of Zakynthos, Greece, the anaphora is as follows:

Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

In the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom an epiclesis is present ; the priest says:

Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

In the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great according to the Greek recention of the prayers, the liturgical actions described above for the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom are the same. The formula is as follows:

Roman Rite

Implicit epiclesis

It is sometimes said that, in the Roman Rite of Mass, the prayer Quam oblationem of the Roman Canon represents an implicit epiclesis:
The Roman Canon mentions the Holy Spirit explicitly only once, in the final doxology: "Through him , and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church considers an at least implicit epiclesis to be a vital part of the sacrament: "At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood."
Nicholas Cabasilas was of the opinion that the functional epiclesis in the Roman Rite is instead the prayer Supplices te rogamus, which, like the explicit epicleses in the Byzantine Rite, is placed after the anamnesis and oblation:
In Western Rite Orthodox parishes, an epicleses, modified from that of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, is inserted into the Roman canon, immediately before the supplices. The addition of an epicleses was originally suggested by Joseph Overbeck, the first person to make serious petitions for the restoration of an Orthodox western rite. This opinion on the need of an epicleses was shared by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, who added an epicleses to the modified book of common prayer, later known as the Divine Liturgy of St. Tikhon. When the Gregorian Liturgy was approved for use in 1961, the Overbeck missal was approved for use, including the epicleses. This epicleses shares most of its text with that of the Liturgy of St. John, but with certain omissions, streamlining it better into the canon.
And we beseech, Thee, O Lord, to send down Thy Holy Spirit upon these offerings, that He would make this bread the precious body of Thy Christ, and that which is in this cup, the precious blood of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Transmuting/Changing by the Holy Spirit
Many variances exist in the exact text of the epicleses, due to translation inconsistency and different schools of thought on how the modified canon should be handled

Explicit epicleses

The additional Eucharistic Prayers introduced into the Roman Rite in the 1969 revision have both a pre-consecration and a post-consecration epiclesis.

Pre-consecration

Post-consecration

Protestantism

Anglicanism and Lutheranism

s in the USA and American Lutheran Eucharistic prayers and newer Old Catholic anaphoras, tend to follow the Eastern practice of treating the Words of Institution as a warrant for the action, with the Epiclesis following the anamnesis/oblation. For example, after the Words of Institution, the epiclesis in Eucharistic Prayer B in the American Book of Common Prayer reads:
After the Words of Institution in the Lutheran Book of Worship, for example, the epiclesis in Eucharistic Prayer III reads:
Lutheran and Anglican divines have also argued that in earlier liturgies of theirs in which an Epiclesis and unity with the one sacrifice of Christ may not have seemed explicit, it was stated as the point of the consecration in other parts of the rite, notably in required exhortations.

Methodism

According to a 2003 report of the British Methodist Church, His Presence Makes The Feast: Holy Communion in the Methodist Church: "The one Spirit by whom we are all baptised into the one body is the same Spirit who unites us in and with the body of Christ in Holy Communion. The Holy Spirit at work in the Church of the Acts of the Apostles brings into effect a witnessing and preaching community in which there is apostolic teaching, fellowship, prayer and the breaking of the bread." The epiclesis of the Methodist liturgy draws from both the Anglican tradition, such as the 1549 Prayer Book, and the liturgical renewal movement of the 20th century that focused upon liturgies of the ancient church, such as the early rite of Hippolytus. From these traditions, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, inherited the notion that the Holy Spirit was to be invoked to make real and true all that God had promised to bestow on the faithful through Holy Communion. This theology of epiclesis is evidenced in several Methodist hymns written by Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley.
The epiclesis used in The United Methodist Church is as follows:
The traditional rite of Holy Communion used before the publication of the 1989 hymnal did not include an explicit epiclesis. The traditional text, with slight revisions, is Word and Table IV, and it contains a 16 word, two line epiclesis, as follows:
Another epiclesis used in the Methodist Church in Great Britain is as follows:

Use in other sacraments

A similar invocation of the Holy Spirit by the priest in some other sacraments is also called an epiclesis. The Eastern Orthodox Church holds that such an epiclesis is necessary for the validity of the Holy Mystery of marriage; the Roman Catholic Church holds that it is not, since for them the bride and groom are the ministers of that sacrament.
An epiclesis also appears in the Orthodox rite of Baptism. Baptism in the Roman Rite includes an epiclesis as part of the blessing of the baptismal water:
In the Roman Rite sacrament of Confirmation, the bishop invokes the Holy Spirit upon those being confirmed:
Other epicleses include that in the Eastern Orthodox Great Blessing of Waters on the feast of the Theophany.