Eucharistic Prayers of Forgiveness and Blessing
Eucharistic Prayer of Forgiveness:
The Apostle Paul instructs Christians to examine themselves as they approach the Lord’s Table.This self examination should be accompanied by a prayer of forgiveness. This prayer must be personal to each communicant. After a time of self examination each person will ask forgiveness of sins of commission and omission; willful sins and sins of ignorance. It is permissible for one person to intercede for the group with each communicant saying “Amen” to the prayer.
The Personal Eucharistic Prayer of Forgiveness should look something like this:
“Holy Father I come to you in Jesus name confessing that I am a sinner saved only by your grace and the shed blood of Your Son. I ask forgiveness of all sins of which I am knowledgeable and those unknown to me; forgive me for missing Your will in my life. I am not worthy of your mercy, but say the word and I shall be clean.”
A Communal Prayer of Forgiveness should look something like this:
“Holy Father we come to you in Jesus name confessing that we are sinners saved by grace and the shed blood of Your Son. We ask forgiveness of our sins of which we are knowledgeable and those unknown to us; forgive us for missing Your will in our lives. We are not worthy of Your mercy, but say the word and we shall be clean.”
Eucharistic Blessing:
The manner in which one blesses the elements of the Lord’s Supper is important but the words are not to be taken as an incantation that works some kind of white magic that changes the elements into the flesh and blood of Christ. Instead, the words of the blessing should beseech the Lord for His body and blood to be present in a real way. The one making the invocation should pray with such earnestness as to expect the desired answer to the request. Thus, the words, not being an incantation of specific words, are to be an earnest prayer as any other prayer that is expected to be answered in the affirmative.
Having stated the above, it should be remarked that the invocation should contain certain specifics:
- Thanks given for the broken flesh and shed blood of our Savior;
- Thanks given for His blessings on the earth that produced the bread and the wine;
- Request made for the blood of Christ to be present: in the cup, around the cup, over the cup, and under the cup.
- Request made for the flesh of Christ to be present: in the bread, around the bread, over the bread, and under the bread;
The Eucharistic Blessing over the Bread should look something like this:
“Lord Jesus we come before You in Your most holy name, thanking You for Your broken flesh. We acknowledge Your blessings upon our land that has produced the bread before us today. Now, we humbly ask that Your body be present in this bread, around this bread, over this bread, and under this bread. This we pray in Jesus name. Amen.”
The Eucharistic Blessing over the Wine should look something like this:
“Lord Jesus we come before You in Your most holy name, thanking You for Your shed blood. We acknowledge Your blessings upon other land that has produced the fruit of the vine that is before us today. Now, we humbly ask that Your blood be present in this cup, around this cup, over this cup, and under this cup. This we pray in Jesus name. Amen.”
The above remarks are intended to assist the Disciples as they begin to observe the Lord’s Supper through out the earth.
I am encouraging you, as Christians, to begin a weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper where ever you may be located. I understand that you will most likely not have the help of local churches; so, this is something you may have to do on your own. Do not be afraid. If you are the head of your household, you are the high priest of your family. If you are the only Christian in your family try to celebrate this with a fellow believer, if no one is available do it by your self.
For extra study material see the following links:
The God of all Mercy bless and keep you, is my prayer for you.
Apostolically Speaking
Bishop Jerry Hayes
Abbot General, Disciples of the Way (Apostolic)
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