The Eucharistic Epiclesis: A Detailed History from the Patristic to the Modern Era

John McKenna

The moment in which the Eucharistic gifts of bread and wine become the consecrated body and blood of Christ has long been a point of contention between the Churches of the East and West. John McKenna seeks to offer a separate approach to this issue by exploring the role of the epiclesis throughout history and proposing a theology that focuses on the efficacy of the entire Eucharistic prayer.

The Eucharistic Epiclesis includes:

Part I: The Historical Heritage

Chapter 1: The Epiclesis in Early Liturgical Texts as a Basis of Interpretation
Possible Forerunners of the Developed Epiclesis
The Epiclesis in the Early Anaphoras
Chapter 2: The Epiclesis and the "Moment of Consecration" Problem: A Brief History
The Epilcesis in Patristic Writings
The Emergence of the Problem of the "Moment of Consecration"

Part II: The Interpretations of the 20th Century Liturgists and Theologians: The Epiclesis in the Shadow of the "Moment of Consecration" Problem

Chapter 3: Understanding of the Terminology of the 20th Century Writers
Primitive Meaning of the Word "Epiclesis" in 20th Century Writings
20th Century Descriptions of the Developed Epiclesis
Chapter 4: Reconstructions of the History of the Eucharistic Epiclesis

From Logos to Spirit Epiclesis
From Sanctification to Consecratory Epiclesis
From EPICLESIS to "Epiclesis"
From Appeal for Unity to Epiclesis Proper

Chapter 5: Theological Explanations of the Eucharistic Epiclesis

Epiclesis as a Consecration Formula
Epiclesis: Expression of the Church's Consecratory Intention
Epiclesis within the Framework of a Consecratory EPICLESIS
Epiclesis as Realizing the Sacremantum
Epiclesis: Bond between "Consecration" and Communion
Epiclesis: Appeal for Unity
Epiclesis: Phenomenon of Liturgical Language

Chapter 6: The Epiclesis and the Structure of the Sacraments
The Epiclesis and the "Substantia Sacramenti"
The Epiclesis and the Praying, Believing Assembly
The Epiclesis and the Holy Spirit

Part III: Synthesis

Chapter 7: The Epiclesis and the "Moment of Consecration" Problem Reexamined
Within a Scholastic Framework
Within a Personalistic Framework
Implications of a Personalistic Approach for Epiclesis
Chapter 8: The Epiclesis and the Realization of the Eucharist
The Epiclesis and the Praying, Believing Assembly
The Epiclesis and the Holy Spirit
Is the Epiclesis Proper Necessary?

This title is part of the Hillenbrand Books imprint, Classics series.

See What People are Saying about The Eucharistic Epiclesis:

"Some issues in the history of theology never go away. John McKenna's 1975 book, Eucharist and the Holy Spirit, of which the present update is more precisely entitled, The Eucharistic Epiclesis: A Detailed History from the Partistic to the Modern Era, tackles one such intractable problem. Along with Edward Schillebeeckx's 1963, Christ, the Sacrament of Encounter with God, McKenna's study remains one of the most important liturgical publications in English to emerge from that heady, immediate post-Vatican II fallout that changed sacramental theology for the better and--dare we hope?--forever.
McKenna's deceptively simple discourse and clear language, like that of Schillebeeckx, results from the clarity, not the simplicity, of his thinking on a still disputed and more often than not misunderstood topic in eucharistic and ecumenical theology: in the Eucharist, who offers what to whom, when, and how? Every professor of liturgical and ecumenical theology should have this book in his or her library."

Robert F. Taft, S.J.
Professor Emeritus of Oriental Liturgy
Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome

Paperback, 6 x 9, 288 pages

978-1-59525-025-4
Order Code: HEE
Text Language: English

SALE PRICE: $27.95
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