Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book is a historical-theological commentary on the approved, postconciliar, Eucharistic prayers of the Roman Rite. The author, Father Enrico Mazza, traces each prayer to its root time and gives the reader the cultural-theological climate of those times before analyzing the theological principles as translated in the prayers today.

From USCCB Publishing, this revision of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) seeks to promote more conscious, active, and full participation of the faithful in the mystery of the Eucharist. While the Missale Romanum contains the rite and prayers for Mass, the GIRM provides specific detail about each element of the Order of Mass as well as other information related to the Mass.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy says "The Church earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators. On the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action, conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration." What is needed and what the author offers here is that "good understanding" of the meaning and value of the Mass. After examining its historical development, Professor Adam explains each part of the Mass as it is currently celebrated. He uses understandable terminology and a form of presentation designed to increase appreciation of the Mass among the faithful and to provide the knowledge and impetus to achieve this in family and group discussions, in catechetical instruction, and in preaching.

In this book, updated with the texts of the third edition of the Roman Missal, Kevin Irwin reflects on the jewel in the crown of Catholicism—the celebration of the Eucharist. His book—theological, pastoral, and contemporary—is essentially concerned with issues about the Eucharist that face us today, decades after the truly historic and unprecedented revisions that took after the Second Vatican Council. Some of these concerns are the result of unforeseen developments about the Eucharist resulting from other factors, for example the decline in numbers of clergy, which has led in some places to Sunday celebrations without the Mass. Other concerns arise from a lack of proper catechesis about the Mass and a keen desire to understand why and how the Eucharist is at the center of Catholic life. In addition to being expressly theological, this book is also expressly pastoral in that it is a reflection on the life lived by the church as it enacts the Eucharist and seeks to live out what the Eucharist celebrates. The book is aimed at the audience of educated Catholics who seek a deeper appreciation of what the Eucharist is and who want to appropriate that understanding in the way they live their lives. This book will be of particular interest to pastoral ministers, both those present and those in training, and the communities of faith whom they serve.

Eucharistic liturgy has differed through the centuries and in different Churches. Because of these differences, it is essential that eucharistic liturgy be studied from ahistorical perspective. In The Celebration of the Eucharist, Enrico Mazza offers a thorough account of the theology of the Eucharist and presents a historical analysis of the origin and variety of eucharistic liturgies and their development in the Church. Beginning with the Last Supper, Father Mazza weaves his way through interpretations elaborated by the Fathers of the Church and medieval writers to provide the rich tapestry of concepts and categories adopted by Vatican Council II. Complete with an appendix including Jewish texts and early Eucharistic Prayers, abbreviations, bibliography, and notes, The Celebration of the Eucharist is a comprehensive source for those who have an interest in the theology of the Eucharist in the course of history. Chapters are Old Testament Sacrifices and Ritual Meal," "The Origin of the Christian Eucharist," "From the Jewish Liturgy to the Christian Eucharist," "Primitive Anaphoras: From the Didache to the Mystical Eucharist," "Primitive Anaphoras: Developments of the Eucharistic Liturgy," "Thematic Developments in the Eucharistic Liturgy," "The Early Patristic Period," "Tertullian and Cyprian," "The Fourth Century," "The Early Middle Ages," "The Scholastic High Middle Ages," "The Eucharist and the Relics of the Saints," "The Reformation and the Council of Trent," "The Liturgical Reform of Vatican Council II," "The Implementation of the Liturgical Reform," "The Parts of the Eucharistic Prayer," and "The Last Supper and the Church's Eucharist." Enrico Mazza is professor of liturgical history at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He is the author of Mystagogy: A Theology of Liturgy in the Patristic Ages, Eucharistic Prayers of the Roman Rite, and The Origins of the Eucharistic Prayer published by The Liturgical Press. "

Volume III: The Eucharist contributes to the reflection on the meaning and purpose of the eucharistic celebration. It also offers to teachers and students of liturgy a handbook for studying this subject according to a system based on historical development, theology and doctrine, liturgical texts and traditions in both East and West, and pastoral considerations. Articles and their contributors are A Eucharistic Lexicon," by Marcel Metzger; "The Eucharist in the First Four Centuries," by Enrico Mazza; "The Various Orders of Celebration," by Stefano Parenti; "The Oriental Anaphorae," by Enzo Lodi; "The History of the Roman Eucharistic Liturgy in Rome," by Marcel Metzger; "The Sacramentary of Paul VI," by Michael Witczak; "The Roman Lectionary for Mass," by Adrien Nocent, OSB; "The Homily," by Domenico Sartore, CSJ; "Musical Elements in the Ordo Missae of Paul VI," by Jan Michael Joncas; "The Eucharistic Celebration in theNon-Roman West," by Gabriel Ramis; "Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass," by Nathan Mitchell; "The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts," by Nicola Bux; "The Viaticum," by Philippe Rouillard, OSB; "Questions about Specific Points," by Adrien Nocent, OSB; "Theology of Eucharistic Celebration," by David N. Power, OMI Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB, is the director of the Paul VI Institute of Liturgy in the Philippines and professor of liturgical inculturation at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. He is the author of Liturgies of the Future: The Process and Methods of Inculturation, and Liturgical Inculturation: Sacraments, Religiosity, and Catechesis, published by The Liturgical Press. "