Coming Closer to Eucharist: Mystagogy on the Text of the Eucharistic Prayer

In the National Directory for Catechesis (17D) we are invited to engage our young people in mystagogy, a way of reflecting on the experience of liturgy to deepen our understanding of the Christian life. For a long time this activity was connected to the time between Easter Sunday and Pentecost when the homilies and general intercessions of Sunday Mass are composed with attention to the newly baptized. Lately, theologians urge us to think beyond the mystagogical homily as the sole “vehicle.”

These writers tell us that mystagogy, as a method, honors the fact that Eucharist forms us (NCD 33) and respects the person’s experience. This method can help children connect what we do and say in Eucharist to living a Christian life. Because it is less didactic than poetic, it is more easily adapted to age or circumstance (i.e., first Communion candidates or their parents or Communion ministers). The vehicle I’m suggesting employs imagery and questions to do the work of deepening understanding.

The Eucharistic Prayer is the highpoint of Mass so our children should be closely connected to it and its implications. I’d like to suggest a mystagogical reflection on Eucharistic Prayer for Masses With Children II that could be adapted for any of our Eucharistic Prayers. This reflection can take place before or after the Mass. The language used for questions, the amount of time spent in reflection, the visual images presented are adapted to the group. This mystagogy had seven to nine year olds as the target. The full texts of the three prayers for children may be found in the Sacramentary and on the Internet at: catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/EPC1-3.htm.

During the catechetical reflection, I proclaimed the priest’s part of the Eucharistic Prayer in sections. Each section had two to four slides (or PowerPoint™ graphics) as illustrations that were presented with the text, e.g., groups of friends, a priest elevating the chalice, children helping others, an artist’s conception of the Holy Spirit. At the end of each section I asked reflection questions and the children responded. We sang and spoke the acclamations as presented in the prayer. Because the flow of the prayer is interrupted I occasionally, changed a word to keep the focus straight (see below). I also sang or said the extra acclamations first and invited the children to repeat them with a gesture. One section looked like this:

(A slide shows Jesus with children.)

Priest: Blessed be Jesus, O God, whom you sent to be the friend of children and of the poor. He came to show us how we can love you, Father, by loving one another.

(A slide shows children fighting.)

He came to take away sin, which keeps us from being friends, and hate which makes us all unhappy.

(Reflection) Think about what it means to be a friend. Who are Jesus’ friends? What does it mean to be a friend of Jesus? Is there anything different about it?

Priest: (Jesus) promised to send the Holy Spirit, to be with us always so that we can live as your children.

(A slide shows children hugging.)

Sung by Priest: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
All: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

There is much to see, hear, and think about. There is singing and speaking. There is no right or wrong answer to a question. To each answer the leader says, “Thank you.” Later, when the children hear the priest voice the Eucharistic Prayer, or if they have just heard it recently, they will remember. This contemplation of the word “friend” may affect the behavior on the playground or in the neighborhood.

Mystagogy teaches through imagery so cover a table in seasonal, liturgical color. A candle, a plate with flat bread, and a cup with grape juice should be on the table. If there is room, an open Sacramentary could be there, too. A circle of chairs somewhat oriented to the screen is placed around the table.

According to the Directory for Masses with Children, “the Liturgy itself always exerts its own inherent power to instruct.” Additionally, it is necessary to involve children in ongoing catechetical experiences that lead to their “active, conscious, and authentic participation.” “This is especially true of the text of the Eucharistic Prayer and of the acclamations by which the children take part in this prayer” (12).

Important note from the editor:
In October 2008, the chairman of the US Bishops’ Committee on the Divine Worship (usccb.org/liturgy), Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey, announced that the Vatican will remove the present Eucharistic Prayers for Children from the Roman Missal. He said that the Holy See’s Congregation for Divine Worship plans “to publish a separate text at a later time.” According to Bishop Serratelli, “this does not change our present practice.” The change will take effect at an unspecified future date.

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Vivian E. Williams is a workshop facilitator and speaker for the Archdiocese of Chicago and nationally. She also has experience as a Catholic school teacher, catechist, and parish cantor. She is the author of Classroom Prayer Basics (ocp.org/products/6102), published by OCP.