Eucharistic Prayer F

14 Eucharistic Prayer F

Prayer F is probably the richest prayer in terms of its theology and strong memorable images. Its origins lie in the fourth-century Eucharistic Prayer of St Basil, still in occasional use in the Eastern churches. In the West it has been experienced, in a very modified form, as Eucharistic Prayer 4 of the Roman rite – but there remodelled to fit the traditional Western shape – and as Eucharistic Prayer D of the 1977 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church of the USA, both of which stay closer to the original text than does Prayer F of Common Worship. In terms of the text, the interest lies particularly in the preface and indeed in all the words before the institution narrative…