Liturgical Bits and Bytes
The Holy, Holy, Holy is our response to the preface. It is our declaration of praise to God in words from Isaiah and the gospel of Matthew. It is our change to voice our praise aloud. Because this is a very important part of the ritual, it, along with the other Eucharistic acclamations, is one that should be sung. These acclamations are not singing that is added to the liturgy, but parts of the liturgy that are designed to be sung. It is more important to sing them than to sing the gathering song, recessional, etc. The singing of these acclamations is the actual doing of the ritual itself.
'Epiclesis'
This word, which doesn't find its way into our daily conversation very often, means the 'calling down upon' or 'invocation.'
This is one of the most important parts of the liturgy. It calls down the power of the Holy Spirit. This has always been part of the Eucharistic Prayer. In the Easter rite, this is actually seen as the part that is the consecration.
Other Liturgical Bits and Bytes
The Holy Spirit is invoked as the agent through whose power the transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ can occur. The presider prays, 'And so, Father, we bring you these gifts. We ask you to make them holy by
the power of your Spirit, that they may become the body and blood of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate this Eucharist.' This quote from the Eucharistic Prayer III is probably one of the clearest statements of the involvement of the three persons of the Trinity in our worship.
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