​Question: I noticed that there are four different Eucharistic Prayers that the priest can choose from in the Mass. Where did they come from and how can we know which one you will choose for Mass?
 
Answer: You may have noticed, like the questioner, that there are different options that the priest can choose from in the Mass. The central prayer of the Mass, called the Eucharistic Prayer, where the bread and wine are offered to the Lord and become, through the prayer of the priest and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Body and Blood of Christ, has four main options, with five other options that are chosen less often. Let’s look at the history of the main four prayers. 
     Eucharistic Prayer I, called the Roman Canon was the only option in the Roman Church for most of our history. Very early in the history of the Church the prayers of the Mass differed from place to place, and we have evidence of what these prayers were like in the writings of the early Christians. These prayers typically followed similar patterns but differed in the exact wording. They began to be standardized in the first few centuries of the Church. Some of these ancient prayers, including the Roman Canon, are still used today. Some scholars have suggested that parts of the Roman Canon may go back to St. Peter himself. Pope St. Gregory the Great, around the year 600 A.D., collected the prayers of the Mass all in one book, and it was this form of the Roman Canon that was used in the Church until 1970. In the revisions of the Mass after Vatican II there were a few changes made to the Roman Canon, but it was left mostly intact. The Roman Canon has been used in the Roman Catholic Church for at least 1600 years, and parts of it go back even further.
     In the 1960’s a desire began to grow in some parts of the Church for more options in the Eucharistic Prayers, mainly out of a desire for variety. Throughout this time hundreds of unauthorized Eucharistic Prayers were written and distributed in various languages, especially Dutch, French, and German. The committee that was given the task of revising the Mass composed three new Eucharistic Prayers in the 1960’s. They were approved by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and they were issued in 1970. Those are the current Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV.
     The three new Eucharistic Prayers are different lengths, on purpose, with II being the shortest, III in the middle, and IV the longest, although IV is still a bit shorter than the Roman Canon. Eucharistic Prayer II is based on the Anaphora of Hippolytus (an anaphora is a Eucharistic Prayer), from The Apostolic Tradition by St. Hippolytus of Rome around 215 A.D. It isn’t a direct translation of that prayer, but it was clearly inspired by it, so this prayer also has a long history in the Roman Church. 
     Eucharistic Prayers III and IV are based on Eucharistic Prayers written by Fr. Vagaggini, OSB, in the summer of 1966. They aren’t based on any specific ancient prayers, but rather on Fr. Vagaggini’s and other scholar’s study of ancient anaphoras and modern ideas about theology and liturgy. Fr. Vagaggini had a special devotion to the Holy Spirit which can be seen in Eucharistic Prayer III. Eucharistic Prayer IV, on the other hand, is a summary of salvation history.
     The GIRM, or General Instruction of the Roman Missal, contains the rules on how to celebrate Mass, and it has the force of law. It tells us that the Roman Canon can be used for any Mass, and that it is especially suited for higher solemnities, feasts of the apostles and saints mentioned in it, and on Sundays. I almost always use it on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation and sometimes on other Solemnities and Feasts. Eucharistic Prayer II is suited for weekdays, but it is the one used most often by most priests. Eucharistic Prayer III is suited for Sundays and feast days of saints. I rarely use it on Sundays, but I will often use it for Feast Days that fall on weekdays. Eucharistic Prayer IV can only be used with its own Preface, so it can’t be used during Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter, or on most feast days. I will often use it once or twice a year during Ordinary Time in the summer.
     The other Eucharistic Prayers in the Roman Missal are meant for special occasions. I’ve personally never used them. Four options are enough for me.

​            Hans Christian Andersen lived from 1805 to 1875, and he left the world 156 stories. His fairy tales are a wealth of storytelling that are still inspiring people today. It’s no coincidence that so many of the most popular children’s movies and shows are based on his work, like “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Thumbelina.” In the last few decades we’ve seen a lot of shows that are dark, gritty, and morally ambiguous. It can be good to remember that life sometimes presents us with difficult situation where it’s difficult to know right from wrong, and that even good people are tempted to sin and sometimes fall. However, we have to remember that there’s a golden ideal to aspire to. Andersen’s fairy tales don’t shy away from the reality of sin, but he uses it to highlight everything that is true, good, and beautiful. He reminds us to put the most important things first and not to compromise our principles. 
            These stories are good for children, because they show us the higher ideals. They present the beauty of virtue and the baseness of sin and vice by holding both of them up to the light and revealing their true nature. They show that virtue is worth working and sacrificing for. They do it by presenting a stark contrast. They show that virtue doesn’t depend on how you were born but on how you live, like in “Children’s Prattle.” They express the teaching of the Bible that we must become like little children to inherit the kingdom of heaven, as in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Old House.” They illustrate the Lord’s question, “For how does it benefit a man, if he gains the whole world, and yet causes harm to his soul,” and the parables of the pearl of great price, in stories like “The Swineherd” and “The Goblin and the Huckster.” 
            They’re also good for adults, even if you’ve already read them as children. We often get caught up in the details of life and our adult responsibilities. We learn to “go along to get along,” and we learn that life is full of compromise. There are things in life that are urgent and things that are important, and they aren’t always the same things. Urgent things need to be taken care of because they’re on a deadline. Important things are concerned with higher things, the things that make life worth living, like God, family, love, and joy. Some things aren’t important or urgent, and those can be safely ignored. Some things are both important and urgent, like a sick family member or friend, and those are easy to place at the top of our list. The difficult choice is when something is urgent but not important, like paying our bills, or important but not urgent, like prayer. We often let the urgent things distract us from the important things, because the urgent things get worse if we ignore them. Hans Christian Andersen can teach us that ignoring the important things can have consequences as well, so we need to make time every day to give some of our attention to God, in prayer, to family, in conversation, and to putting first things first. One of the ways you can do that is by taking the time to read some old stories with your children or grandchildren.

            The Ten Commandments, also called the Decalogue, which means “Ten Words,” are a summary of the Divine Law and the basis of all morality. Although they are in the Old Testament, Jesus still requires us to follow them. To the young man who asks, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life,” the Lord tells Him to follow the commandments before adding that he should sell what he has and give to the poor (Mt. 19). The Church’s Tradition has consistently taught that the Commandments are obligatory for Christians, and this was reaffirmed in the Council of Trent (1547), and the Second Vatican Council (1964). 
            The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Since they express man’s fundamental duties towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart” (CCC 2072). 
            The Commandments regulate our relationship with God, in the first three Commandments, and with our neighbor, in the last seven Commandments. They express our obligations, in justice, to God and to our neighbor. Justice means giving people what they are owed. Think of the criminal justice system; someone who commits a crime is owed a punishment, and someone who’s innocent is deserves their freedom. Justice isn’t just about crimes, though. Someone who gives you a gift deserves to be thanked for it. Parents deserve to be honored by their children for giving them life and raising them. God deserves to be revered for creating us, holding us in existence, and redeeming us. 
            The Ten Commandments are unchangeable; they apply to all people in every time and circumstance. They are basic rules of morality. The Natural Law is based on our nature as human beings. We’re living beings, so we ought to promote life. We’re also rational beings, so we ought to act rationally and seek the truth. The Catechism explains in this way, “They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person. The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law” (CCC 2070). The Fifth Commandment says that we ought not to kill, meaning murder, because humans have a right to life. 
            Finally, the Catechism says that they are engraved by God in the human heart. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments after the Exodus from Egypt, when He engraved them on the stone tablets. The Prophet Jeremiah says, “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Jer 21:33). How will it be written in our hearts? Listen to the Prophet Ezekiel, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees” (Ez 36:25-27). On our own we are prone to sin, but God makes us able to follow His Commandments by giving us His own Holy Spirit, cleansing us from sin, and writing the Law on our hearts. 
            Look out for bulletin articles on each of the Ten Commandments.
 
            ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m starting a new series of pastor’s bulletin articles. In addition to the regular articles and “Fr. Bryan Recommends,” I’m adding a series of questions and answers. Once a month I’ll write an article answering a question from a parishioner on the Church, the Mass and sacraments, the Bible, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints, spiritual theology, or anything related to Christianity. Either write your question down and put it in the collection basket, or email me at [email protected]. 
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            On Tuesday, June 29, we celebrate the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul. Each of these saints has their own feast day, as well: The Chair of Peter on February 22, Saint Peter in Chains on August 1, and the Conversion of Saint Paul on January 25. Though they only met a handful of times, we celebrate them together because they represent the spread of the faith and development of the Church in the time immediately after Christ’s Ascension. Recognizing the importance of Ss. Peter and Paul is not meant to diminish the importance or work of the other apostles and early Christians, but even the Bible recognizes the importance of these two apostles, “the Gospel to the uncircumcised was entrusted to me, just as the Gospel to the circumcised was entrusted to Peter” (Gal 2:7).
            St. Peter represents the hierarchy and structure of the Church, because the Lord gave St. Peter the keys to the kingdom (Mt. 16:19) and entrusted his sheep to him (Jn. 21:15-17). St. Peter gave the speak at the feast of Pentecost that resulted in 3,000 converts (Acts 1-2), and we see St. Peter taking the initiative in leading the Church in many circumstances. Although St. Paul says that St. Peter was entrusted with the Gospel to the circumcised (Israelites), we also know that St. Peter was the first one to bring Gentiles in the Church, starting with the family of Cornelius (Acts 10).
            St. Paul was counted as one of the Apostles, even though he only became a follower of Christ after the Ascension. He is an Apostle, and not just a bishop like Timothy or a missionary like Apollos, because He had an encounter with the Lord Himself when He was struck blind by God (Acts 9). St. Paul, since the authorities in Jerusalem were now trying to arrest him, had to leave town, but He used the opportunity to begin spreading the Gospel everywhere he went, making converts and founding Churches in present day Turkey and Greece, and eventually ending up in Rome. He wrote letters to many of these Churches, which have become part of the New Testament of the Bible and continue to shed light on the teachings of Christ. Also, even though St. Paul, above, describes himself as the apostle to the gentiles, he would normally first preach in the synagogues in each new city he traveled to (Acts 13:46), and only then preach to the gentiles. 
            St. Peter’s primary responsibility was in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, where there were more Jews, and St. Paul’s was primarily outside of Israel, where there were more gentiles, they were not exclusive, and would bring any new converts into the Church. They also both wrote letters that ended up as part of the New Testament, and spoke of each other in their letters. They also both ended up in Rome, the heart of the Roman Empire that would become the center of Christian persecution for most of the next 300 years. St. Peter, like St. Paul, eventually left Jerusalem, made missionary journey’s, and spent the last part of his life in Rome, where he was martyred. St. Paul, likewise ended his journey’s in Rome, where both he and St. Peter ministered to the Christian community. According to St. Clement of Rome they were martyred in the persecutions of the Emperor Nero. As to the importance of the ministry and martyrdom of Ss. Peter and Paul at Rome I’ll give the last word to Tertullian, an ancient priest who died around 220 A.D., “If thou art near Italy, thou hast Rome where authority is ever within reach. How fortunate is this Church for which the Apostles have poured out their whole teaching with their blood, where Peter has emulated the Passion of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John” (De Praescriptione 36).
 
            ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m starting a new series of pastor’s bulletin articles. In addition to the regular articles and “Fr. Bryan Recommends,” I’m adding a series of questions and answers. Once a month I’ll write an article answering a question from a parishioner on the Church, the Mass and sacraments, the Bible, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints, spiritual theology, or anything related to Christianity. Either write your question down and put it in the collection basket, or email me at [email protected].