Session Reflections - October

The Trinity in the Prayers of the Eucharist

Last Sunday during Mass, I was surprised to notice how Trinitarian Eucharistic Prayer II is.  It's one of the prayers commonly said for the Consecration, so having heard it so often I hadn't really noticed not only the Trinitarian language, but also how Dominican it is in its form. The prayer begins by addressing God, then requesting the descent of the Holy Spirit, before proclaiming the words of Consecration, making Christ Eucharistically present. There's a movement of the Holy Trinity that is reflected in the congregation through Praising, Blessing and Preaching.

As we talked about at the sessions during October, St. Catherine used the image of a "deep well" to explain the Trinity, saying that like a deep well, the Trinity is life giving and eternally refreshing.  Eucharistic Prayer II incorporates Catherine's water imagery, saying that God is the "fount" of all holiness and asking the Holy Spirit to descend upon the gifts of bread and wine like "the dewfall." 

The prayer also follows the Dominican motto of "Praise, Bless, Preach" in that it starts off praising God (You are indeed Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness) then asks God to bless us and the gifts we offer (Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.) We receive this blessing at Communion, and then are called to Preach - to go out into the world and spread the Good News, to do something with the Blessing.

"Praise, Bless, Preach" - words to take with us on the journey as we seek to be in Trinitarian relationship with others.
The Dominican Order celebrated their 800th Anniversary in 2016.  The Dominican community of Santo Domingo in the Phillipines  produced a video to the song "Praise, Bless, Preach" to celebrate. This is the Official Hymn of the Jubilee for the Order of Preachers. You can see and hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGgVbTV1nqE
Blessings,
Sarah